Hannosuke at Mitsuwa Marketplace - Torrance

There's no nice way to say it: I'm getting old. OLD. I can't stay up past midnight, my immunity to hangovers has started to wane, and I've started shopping for hair dye to cover up the gray. My metabolism used to sprint, and now I think it crawls.

Unfortunately, in the case of metabolism, slow and steady doesn't exactly win the race. I've had to cut down the calories, and to my great dismay it hasn't been that hard. Turns out, my ability to sample every fried food at the LA County Fair is also seriously impaired. 

But at Mitsuwa I still have hope and its name is Hannosuke. The lighter-than-air, golden-battered, crispy-fried Original Tendon tempura allows me to think I'm young again. The flaky fish puts even the finest fish and chips to shame, the firm-yet-tender shrimp is flavorful, the soft-boiled egg is essential, the shishito is a much-needed sharper, greener contrast, and the kakiage is an unbeatable mix of crunchy seaweed and baby shrimp. And despite my old-lady intolerance for fried food, I can finish an entire bowl of tempura over rice without having to pack the Pepto.

This is not the first time I've moaned and groaned about getting old, and this certainly won't be the last. Probably because getting old is the least fun thing I can think of and because soon my memory will deteriorate to the point I forget that I've already complained. But not all aging is bad. One great thing about getting old is that you have disposable income. And if you're craving tempura, there's nothing better than splurging on the Edomae Tendon, which is identical to the original except the generic fish is replaced by tender, melt-in-your-mouth anago. You definitely pay for the anago, but the price is worth it for me...soon I'll be chewing it with dentures.