There is a shop right outside the Ueno Station Ameyoko exit. It used to be an udon shop, but now it mainly serves tempura rice bowls. I ordered the largest tempura rice bowl and it had a huge amount of toppings. The amount of dipping sauce was a bit too much, so it would be better if they offered it on the side for you to add as needed.

You can enjoy a delicious and generous portion of tempura rice bowl easily with food tickets at this chain-like restaurant. Despite being a chain, they serve high-quality tempura rice bowls at a more affordable price compared to specialized tempura restaurants. It's perfect for when you want to enjoy a satisfying tempura rice bowl without breaking the bank. The conger eel, shrimp, squid, and vegetables were all crispy and delicious.

We visited "Tendon and Soba Tempura Miya Ueno Ekimae" this time, a restaurant that seems to maintain a certain level of popularity despite the fact that not many people mention tempura rice bowls as their favorite food. The restaurant is located on the first floor of a building across from the Hirokoji intersection, just outside the central ticket gate of JR Ueno Station. There are two ticket machines in front of the store, but please note that one of them does not support Japanese. The price range for tempura rice bowls is generally over 1,000 yen. While soba is relatively cheaper, I specifically wanted to eat a tempura rice bowl. I purchased a ticket for the "Chicken Tempura Rice Bowl" (980 yen including tax). The interior of the restaurant has mostly counter seats and a fast-food chain feel to it. The "Chicken Tempura Rice Bowl" comes with large shiso leaf tempura, egg tempura, and two large pieces of chicken tempura. The egg tempura is subtly rare, which may be a first for me. When you take a bite, the runny egg yolk spills out, making it even more compatible with the rice. This might be groundbreaking...! The chicken tempura, with two pieces to start with, deserves high praise. While the price is slightly higher for a tempura rice bowl, the cost performance is not bad at all. The taste is also good. It is hot and spicy. The compatibility with rice may not be the best, but the satisfaction of being able to eat plenty of meat is high.

In early August, at 6 pm, I had dinner in Ueno. It was my first meal of the day as I had been busy and hadn't eaten properly. I didn't have much energy to search for a restaurant, so I went to Tempura Miyako Ueno Station Front store, just across from Ameyoko. I remembered this place used to be a tempura bowl restaurant, but it seems they renovated it a bit in April this year. I bought a ticket for the shrimp and vegetable tempura bowl (980 yen) at the ticket machine outside and went in. The interior was surprisingly spacious, like a fast-food restaurant. It looked a bit messy inside. More than half of the customers were foreigners. I see, there are many foreigners around Ameyoko. This place seems to target the inbound demand for casual Japanese food. I sat at the end of the counter. After waiting for about 10 minutes, the shrimp and vegetable tempura bowl arrived. It was quite a large portion. The shrimp tempura stood out in the middle of the vegetables like a topknot. Maybe the foreigners are happy about it. The tempura batter was a bit hard, sticking tightly to the ingredients. It lacked the fluffy texture of typical tempura. There was an egg tempura in the vegetable tempura, which is rare for a tempura bowl. As I ate a bit, I noticed a lot of sauce at the bottom of the bowl, making the rice soggy. I switched the rice at the bottom with the rice on top to let the sauce blend evenly. For those like me who can eat rice with just the tempura sauce, the soup-soaked rice is appreciated. The shrimp and vegetable tempura bowl was filling, and I left satisfied. Thank you for the meal.

At Ueno station, I searched for soba restaurants on Tabelog and found a new one with a line of about 5 people outside. Even after coming back, the line was still about 5 people long. I used the English instructions on the ticket machine to pay with my IC card and got a ticket in Japanese. I joined the line, wondering if the location and tempura were attracting inbound tourists. After waiting for about 6 minutes next to the Japanese-only vending machine, I was seated at a counter or a table for two. I avoided sitting at the counter due to my tattoo, and prepared for the free pickles that came with self-service. When a bottle of beer arrived, I cheered towards the wall. I ordered the "zaru soba" with number 261 (sequential number?) and waited longer than expected, possibly because the previous customers ordered tempura. The soba for the previous customers was brought out, but they were not the people I had been waiting in line with. I considered getting more pickles and checked my remaining beer before heading towards the cart based on the fact that the previous customer had not been served yet. The tempura and soba for the customers who came after me were served first, which made me feel frustrated by the unfairness. After waiting for 23 minutes, the tray finally arrived from the ticket machine. The soba was placed in a way that felt like it was a side dish to the tempura. I used the wasabi and shichimi pepper on the table, but the soba lacked flavor. There was not enough seaweed, and the broth was insufficient. I finished eating without even checking the soba broth, taking a total of 31 minutes.

I visited Tempura Miyako for the first time after it was renovated from Udon Miyako. I ordered the Zaru Soba and Tempura Don set for 1280 yen. The Zaru Soba can be changed to Kake Soba. The Tempura Don included shrimp, eggplant, sweet potato, shishito pepper, lotus root, and egg. It seems that at this price, having more vegetables is unavoidable. However, I noticed that the quality of the tempura, which I found delicious at Udon Miyako, has clearly declined. It seemed like the completed Tempura Don had been left out for a while. The rice was cold, and the Tempura Don was a disappointment. The Kake Soba was still decently tasty. My wife ordered the Kakiage Soba for 880 yen. I was surprised by how big the kakiage was, almost the size of a child's face. The portion of soba was also quite generous. The soba was tasty, but the kakiage was just average. Apart from the food, there were several issues that bothered me, such as the casual service, inadequate cleanliness, and tables not being cleared. Overall, the cost performance is not great. In the competitive area of Ueno, it might be tough for them to survive as they are now.

I visited during lunchtime on a regular day. About 60% of the customers were there, and there were many foreign tourists. The tempura included shrimp, eggplant, yam, egg, squid, and more. There was also plenty of rice, so I left feeling full. There was a corner in the restaurant where pickles were casually placed for unlimited refills. Personally, I really liked the egg tempura.

I went to Tempura Miyako in Ueno for lunch and ordered the extra-large shrimp and vegetable tempura rice bowl. After finishing my errands on Sunday, I went shopping in Ueno. However, the area around Ameyoko on Sunday afternoon was really crowded. I wanted to grab a bite to eat before shopping, but all the popular places had long lines, so I gave up. I wandered around and found this place, which had a line but not as bad as the others. I bought a meal ticket and joined the line. I didn't have to wait long before being seated. The extra-large shrimp and vegetable tempura rice bowl was served. The tempura made with grated yam had a crispy texture followed by a sticky chewiness, which was really nice. The other vegetable tempura was also good, and the shrimp tempura and egg tempura were a nice addition. Considering the price, it was a good deal. The restaurant stands out near Ueno Station, and I was curious about it at first, but after trying the food, I'm glad I did. I plan to go back again.

When you cross the large road from Ueno Station Central Exit, a flashy sign for tempura, tempura rice bowl, and soba restaurant catches your eye. There are two ticket machines, one in multiple languages and one in Japanese. I ordered the large serving of mixed tempura soba for exactly 1,000 yen. You can choose between hot and cold soba. The restaurant was crowded even though it was past lunchtime, with mostly foreign tourists as indicated by the ticket machines. I thought it would be a standing-eating experience, but they served the tempura and soba properly, although it took some time. The tempura was huge, almost covering the soba completely. It felt more like onion tempura than mixed tempura. It was difficult to eat due to its size. The taste itself was average. Thank you for the meal.

On April 27, 2023, before going to see the "Matisse exhibition" at the Tobu Department Store, I needed to grab a bite to eat. The day before, I had lost my Suica card. So, before heading to Ueno, I went to the "Green Window" at Ikebukuro Station to get a replacement, but it was right before Golden Week, so there was a huge line with tourists from overseas, domestic travelers, and students wanting to purchase passes, and I ended up waiting for an hour and a half. When I arrived at Ueno Station, I decided to quickly go for curry at "Crown Ace." Unfortunately, they had already finished serving lunch by 1:59 PM. I couldn't hesitate anymore! I ended up going to "Udon Miya" in the Marui Annex building to have some tempura udon. The building used to be a famous sweets shop called "Delicious Daifuku," but it had been renovated and turned into an udon shop. I had visited shortly after it opened, but the quality was disappointing, so I never went back. It seems like it didn't do well in business, as it quickly changed its concept to focus more on soba and less on udon. Oh well, time to try something recommended! At 2:02 PM, I ordered the "Special Miya Tempura Bowl" for 1680 yen. It was quite expensive compared to the lunch menus at places like "Makoto-ya" and "Tendon Miya." The shop had an odd number of noren curtains, which is a detail that bothered me. When I entered, I saw a large bag of chopped green onions behind a glass door of a commercial refrigerator, which was not a pleasant sight. There were a few Asian tourists sitting at the table seats and some staff members taking a break at the counter, completely ignoring me. Eventually, I was seated and told to wait for the freshly fried tempura. For a tempura bowl shop at this price point, getting pre-fried tempura was unacceptable. The lack of miso soup and pickles was also disappointing for the price I paid. Later, I saw on someone else's Instagram that they received soup with their meal. I went to get some water while waiting for my food. The tempura bowl arrived, and it was quite greasy and the tempura batter was not the usual type you would expect in a tempura bowl. The tempura pieces were pumpkin, okra, lotus root, egg, squid (I think), shrimp, and anago. The anago tasted like crispy small fried fish, which I didn't enjoy. The lotus root tempura was too thick, and the egg tempura had a runny yolk, which is normal. However, I personally don't like having egg tempura in my tempura bowl because it masks the flavors and aromas of the other tempura pieces. The tempura was over-fried, lacked crispiness, and had a strong oil smell. Additionally, the tempura bowl sauce was overly sweet and monotonous. In conclusion, the Miya Tempura Bowl was a disappointment compared to the tempura at "Udon Miya." It was more like a mediocre tempura bowl with an excessive price tag.

After finishing work, I hadn't eaten lunch, so I decided to eat at Ueno, which is a transfer station. I hadn't researched anything, but I had been curious about a restaurant located just across the pedestrian crossing after getting off at Ueno Station, so I decided to give it a try today. It was lunchtime on a Saturday, so there was a line outside, but since it was a tempura rice bowl restaurant and I assumed it would open early, I bought a meal ticket and waited in line. I was a bit excited as it had been a while since I had tempura rice bowl. This time, I planned to have the cheapest option, the chicken tempura rice bowl for ¥950. While all the tempura rice bowls looked appealing, I chose the chicken tempura rice bowl for its good value for money and because I didn't have any appointments. Many other customers seemed to order the "mixed tempura rice bowl," which was filled with various ingredients. After waiting for about 15 minutes, I was finally seated. It took another 7-8 minutes before I finally got my chicken tempura rice bowl. (There were still a few people waiting, so it seemed like it might not be suitable for those in a hurry.) On top were two large pieces of chicken tempura, shiso leaves, and one egg tempura. When I write it like this, it may sound a bit lonely, but the chicken tempura was really big and impressive. I took a bite of the chicken tempura. The texture was amazing! However, I found the slight greasiness a bit bothersome. The flavor was quite strong, and I thought it would have been better if it was a bit less sweet. The sauce was also sweet and salty, so I thought it might be a bit too much. The egg tempura was the best! This, this! The yolk was perfectly half-cooked. This was the most delicious part. The shiso tempura, on the other hand, was very greasy. I think it would have been tastier if it had been fried a bit more crispy. Overall, it was delicious, but maybe the oil wasn't in good condition? The greasiness of the oil seemed to linger until the end. Tempura rice bowls seem difficult, and since many people come and go, it may be difficult to prepare each one carefully. Thank you for the meal.

A person who doesn't know what tempura should taste like might mistakenly think that the crispy texture of the dish is a good thing.