There are still people who believe the idea of a classy kushi-age is a downright contradiction in terms. After all, they reason, it's a cross between two basic, blue-collar staples: yakitori and tonkatsu. How could such a mongrel hybrid, better suited to greasy neighborhood nomiya, ever be worthy of genteel consideration?

Obviously they've never been to Hantei. For two decades now this shitamachi institution has done more than anywhere else to redefine and elevate the humble kushi-age to the status of a ryori in its own right, a cuisine on a par with some of the best tempura.

Much of Hantei's claim to fame rests on the wonderful old building in which it is housed. Quite simply, it's a classic -- an immaculately preserved three-storied, turn-of-the-last-century town house, all jutting wooden beams and balconies. Its proud frontage is remarkable, even for the back streets of Nezu, where the echoes of prewar shitamachi still resonate as in few other areas of the metropolis.