Tempura Asakusa SAKURA Menu 2026: Halal, Gluten-Free

Photo by pelican from Tokyo, Japan / Wikimedia Commons (CC BY-SA 2.0)

Tempura Asakusa SAKURA (天ぷら 浅草 サクラ) is a 10-seat tempura counter on the 7th floor of a building directly in front of Asakusa Station Exit A4. Tempura bowls start at ¥3,800 and counter courses run from ¥6,800 to ¥19,800. The restaurant says its food is halal certified by the Japan Halal Foundation, and that its dishes are gluten-free thanks to a rice-flour batter.

This guide pulls the current menu, the booking rules and the halal and gluten-free claims into one place, using the restaurant's own site and blog, its TableCheck booking page and Tabelog. Where something is the restaurant's own statement rather than something we can check independently, we say so.

Photo by Christophe95 / Wikimedia Commons (CC BY-SA 4.0)

The restaurant sits in the Kaminarimon area, so it pairs easily with a Senso-ji visit. Take the lift to the 7th floor; the restaurant says artificial cherry blossoms cover the corridor ceiling all year round.

Photo by Ocdp / Wikimedia Commons (CC0)

The official menu page lists two formats: tempura bowls and omakase-style counter courses. The page does not say whether prices include tax, so check when you book. Prices below are from the official menu page as we checked it in 2026.

Tempura bowls

Each bowl is finished with dashi chazuke (rice with hot dashi poured over it). A bowl puts the tempura on rice and you season it yourself.

The Seafood Tempura Bowl at ¥3,800 is the cheapest way in.

Counter courses

A course starts with an appetizer, then pieces are fried and served one at a time across the counter, each with a suggested salt or dipping sauce, and it ends with a rice dish (egg over rice, wasabi rice or dashi chazuke).

Drink pairings

Pairings are an add-on to a course: Sake Pairing +¥5,500, Half Pairing +¥3,300, and a Beer & Sake Pairing (craft beer, then 3 sakes) priced on site.

What to order

• Wagyu Omakase (¥8,800): the restaurant's own 'most popular' course.
• Seafood Tempura Bowl (¥3,800): the budget way to try the kitchen.
• SAKURA's Omakase (¥7,800): the one with the cherry-blossom-smoked squid in charcoal-kneaded batter.

Practical info

• Budget: Tabelog lists ¥3,000-¥3,999 for lunch and ¥6,000-¥7,999 for dinner as the shop-set range; review-based dinner spend is shown higher at ¥10,000-¥14,999.
• Payment: the official Flow page says cash, credit card or e-money. Tabelog lists VISA, Master, JCB, AMEX, Diners, UnionPay, Suica and QR payments such as PayPay, Alipay and WeChat Pay. One catch: the TableCheck text for the Supreme and Special courses says the course price must be paid in cash on the day, which conflicts with the official payment page, so ask when booking.
• Source: Official menu

The restaurant gives priority to reservations, and walk-ins are seated if there is space. You can book on TableCheck or by phone on 03-6284-7307.

TableCheck offers two seat-hold options, and both ask for a credit card:

• Seat reservation (60 minutes): ¥1,980 hold fee. You order from the menu on the day.
• Seat reservation for Supreme & Special Course only (90 minutes): ¥2,480 hold fee. The whole party must take the same course; it cannot be mixed with bowls or other courses.

The hold fee is not charged if you arrive on time and eat. If you cancel within 24 hours, or arrive more than 10 minutes late, the seat is released and the hold fee is charged. TableCheck fees are tax-included.

Two more details from the official FAQ and TableCheck. Courses are not served between 15:00 and 17:00, when only tempura bowls are available, which makes it the easiest window for an unbooked bowl. And if you book a course 2 or more days ahead, you can have one message plate per group (up to 30 characters).

Children aged 10 and over are welcome. Younger school-age children may be allowed if they can sit safely in the high counter chair.

• Source: Official FAQ

The restaurant's blog post of 23 August 2024, titled 'Tempura Asakusa SAKURA Has Obtained Halal Certification', says it officially obtained certification from the Japan Halal Foundation after a document review and an on-site inspection. It also says the restaurant employs Muslim staff. The restaurant said in 2024 that about 30% of its guests are Muslim, 50% are non-Muslim travellers and 20% are Japanese.

What '2 star' means here. The official menu page describes a 'Halal 2 star certification for all our meals' and explains it as: all meals are halal, but alcohol is served. So the food is halal, but the premises are not alcohol-free. Alcohol is served in different glasses, according to the restaurant. If a no-alcohol dining room is a requirement for you, this is not that.

Wagyu. The blog post of 4 December 2024 says the Miyazaki Kuroge Wagyu was slaughtered at SE Meat Miyazaki, a halal-certified facility, and explains how to check the 10-digit wagyu ID on the NLBC site. TableCheck states that all ingredients are halal certified and meet halal standards.

Prayer space. We found no prayer room mentioned on the official site, blog, FAQ or TableCheck, so do not plan on one. If you need to pray nearby, ask the restaurant directly when you book.

For other halal options across the city, see our Tokyo halal food guide and our halal wagyu guide.

• Source: Restaurant's halal certification post

The official FAQ says the dishes are completely gluten-free, without wheat. The About page says the batter is made with rice flour, gluten-free soy sauce is used, and there are dedicated procedures to reduce cross-contact. The restaurant's halal post adds that no regular wheat flour is used in the kitchen.

One exception matters: TableCheck says all meals and drinks except beer are completely gluten-free. If you take the beer and sake pairing, the beer is the part that is not gluten-free.

This is the restaurant's own description of its kitchen. If you have coeliac disease or a severe allergy, tell the staff when you book and again at the counter, and ask them to explain their process.

Vegetarian options. The restaurant uses separate frying oils for vegetables, seafood and Japanese beef, and describes a dedicated vegetable fryer with a vegetable-based dipping sauce. The Vegetable Omakase is ¥6,800. TableCheck asks vegetarians whether they can accept bonito broth, so say so when you book.

More options for gluten-free diners are in our gluten-free restaurants in Tokyo guide.

• Source: Official About page

It depends on what you need from the meal.

Worth it if you want halal tempura or gluten-free tempura at all, because both are hard to combine with traditional tempura. Older Asakusa tendon houses use wheat batter fried in sesame oil, so they do not offer that. It also suits you if you want a counter experience with English-speaking staff, a 10-seat room and a chef frying in front of you, and if you are happy to build a bowl or a course around your budget.

Think twice if you want a no-alcohol room, because alcohol is served. Also reconsider if you need a prayer space on site, or want a long, slow dinner: the official FAQ describes a course as under one hour, and the TableCheck seat holds are 60 or 90 minutes.

Budget view. The ¥3,800 Seafood Tempura Bowl is the low-risk way to test the kitchen. The Wagyu Omakase at ¥8,800 is the restaurant's pick as its most popular, and the ¥19,800 Supreme is for a special occasion. Prices on the menu page may not include tax, so allow a margin.

The restaurant only has this one location; we found no other branches. It also sells a SAKURA Gluten-Free Tempura Meal Kit to take home.

• Second halal Japanese meal: Asakusa Sushi Ken is an Edomae sushi counter in Asakusa which says its food is halal-certified (alcohol served). See our halal sushi in Tokyo guide.
• Cheaper bites around Senso-ji: our cheap street food in Asakusa guide covers snacks and low-cost meals near Nakamise.
• Another counter-style meal: if you like the omakase format, read our omakase in Tokyo guide for how counter dining and reservations work.

Tempura Asakusa SAKURA works best as a booked, early or off-peak stop built around Senso-ji. Check the current menu on the official site, hold a seat on TableCheck, and combine it with our Tokyo halal food guide or gluten-free restaurants guide if you are planning several days of meals.