A restaurant I feel does not get enough attention, Secchu Yokota provides an experience that is rare to come by in NYC. By no means is this the greatest meal you’ll have in NYC, nor does it compare to the remarkable tempura counters in Japan, but it does transport you to the feeling you have when eating in a small kitchen in Japan with a chef that cares deeply about his craft. 

The meal started with a chilled mushroom puree with dashi jelly, crisped koshihikari rice, ikura, chives, and daikon. Nice display of balance between the freshness and umami and between the crispiness of the koshikari with soft explosions from the ikura and dashi jelly.

Next course had four small dishes - octopus with snap peas and sansho pepper, amberjack with various radishes and shiso flower, buckwheat soba with white wine, wasabi olive oil soy sauce, basil, and scallions, and a seasonal eggplant salad with mozzarella cheese, peppercorn, and anchovy. All extremely tasty but the eggplant salad was next level with eggplant so sweet that it tasted like pears. It was a perfect fusion of Italian and Japanese flavors. I communicated my excitement to the front of house who relayed this to the chef, which got the very serious chef to crack a smile.

These dishes paved the way for the eight tempura courses that would follow (listed below). I enjoyed them all but would say my favorites were the Japanese eggplant, sweet potato (satsumaimo), uni on nori tempura, and the scallop.

- Anago - not as tender as I expected but the fry was perfect, got better with each bite
- Manganji Pepper - like a juicy shishito pepper
- Black Tiger Shrimp - buttery and delicious, probably the best shrimp tempura I’ve had in the city but wish there was more
- Japanese Eggplant - was instructed to crush this in the tempura sauce and let it sit because it was so hot, “no patience, no enjoy” (I was as patient as I could be and did in fact enjoy very much)
- Mehikari (Deep Sea Green Eye Fish) - was excited from the description but was pretty standard white fish, no distinctive flavor
- Satsumaimo (Japanese Sweet Potato) - recommended to eat plain as it’s presented as being so sweet, it tastes like honey, very accurate; veggies are fun here
- Hokkaido Uni with Nori Tempura - this was immaculate, perfect combination done right
- Hokkaido Scallop - fantastic cook, worked really well back to back with the uni course

I added on the Miyazaki Wagyu supplement that was served with bok choy, roasted tomato and potato, and a garlic soy sauce with yuzu. The meat was delicious, but I was left thinking the best bites were the meat without any accompaniments, as the vegetables and sauce almost detracted from the flavor and perfect cook of the meat.

The final course was a dessert made up of nectarine compote and nectarine jelly, white sesame sorbet, chestnut and mochi cake, candied red bean, and brown rice cake. This was very toasted rice forward in flavor and was easily my least favorite course. For as many ingredients as it had, it was very one note.

All in all, this wasn’t a traditional fine dining meal by any means, but the attention to detail, dedication to the tempura craft, and warm service made it feel like I escaped from NYC for a bit. A clear change of pace from other top restaurants in the city, there’s something wonderfully calming about eating here. For anyone familiar with Le French Diner in Manhattan, I found Secchu Yokota to evoke a similar feeling of being transported to the place that inspired the food (albeit at half the speed and double the meticulous approach of Le French Diner). You’re invited to feel like family here, and I found myself already thinking of coming back throughout the meal.

Secchu Yokota (NYC) - A Comforting Meal at a Manhattan Tempura Counter