Midtown Lunch

If you are a fan of ten-don but haven’t been to Hannosuke, the new tempura specialist in the Mar Vista Mitsuwa, what the hell is wrong with you!?  Seriously.  You need to go ASAP.  And if your excuse was “I don’t really like eel or fish” or “I’m a vegetarian”, that’s not going to hold water anymore either because Hannosuke has added two more ten-don bowls to their menu.  One replaces the fish with extra shrimp for $8.95, and one is all vegetables.

Check out the new vegetarian bowl after the jump…

Take out is not the prettiest way to go at Hannosuke (and you forfeit the miso soup that comes for free when you eat it there) but you get the general idea.  For $7.95 vegetarians finally have an option, although fish eaters shouldn’t be too jealous.  For some inexplicable reason they don’t include the shishito pepper or the seaweed in the vegetarian box, even though they are two of the best things that Hannosuke does (maybe they fry those in the same wok as the seafood stuff?)  It’s also going to be disappointing for anybody who loves the typical serving of thinly sliced veggies you get at most tempura places.  In this version the lotus root, okra, eggplant, red bell pepper and sweet potato come in chunks, making for a rawer experience. The deliciously runny fried egg is still there (sorry vegans!) but I’d trade 25 squares of red bell pepper for one fried shishito pepper.  Don’t get me wrong, it still tasted good and I’m sure vegetarians will love having an option of their own.  But for the casual vegetarian who sometimes eat meat (and I know there are a lot of you in this town!), I’d stick with the fish or eel bowls.

Related:
Hannosuke Puts All Other Mitsuwa Tempura to Shame