M Tempura, one of only a handful of true tempura restaurants on the East Coast, was named by Bon Appetit as one of the top 50 best new restaurants in the country in 2019. From Chef Mike Lee, who also owns M Sushi, M Pocha and M Kokko downtown, M Tempura is also home to Chef Savannah Miller, one of the 'chef-testants' on season 21 of Bravo's Top Chef.
An amazing restaurant to try if you are a sea food and fish lover and also appreciate fresh produce. I particularly went there to meet Chef Savannah (a Top Chef Finalist). It was amazing to see how friendly she was and she interacts with you while cooking if you are at the bar seating (would definitely recommend that). We went there to celebrate our 6 month wedding anniversary and had a great experience.
We had the M Omakase meal and loved every bit of it. The menu progression is amazing. It starts off with chawanmushi (Japanese savory custard). It is creamy and had a good umami from the walnut oil and trout roe. The salmon crudo was bright and fragrant. Next was the dolma and my favorite dish of the menu. It had a very unique flavor to it. Next were the tempuras and all of the them were out of the world. The batter was the best I had so far. Every produce was fresh. The meal with miso marinated seabass was great.
Overall, a highly recommended restaurant. Everything was seasoned well and the service was fast.
Marci Fradkin
May 4, 2025
5
We went partially because we’re Top Chef fans, but we were also intrigued by a Japanese brunch. We sat at the bar so we could watch the cooking which was really fun to engage. Please be aware there is no Omakase at brunch, but there’s a whole bunch of intriguing choices and we quite enjoyed it. It is meant to be shared the only challenge we had was picking which dishes to order. We thought the omelette was incredible and I think that was the biggest surprise The only disappointment at least for brunch it doesn’t seem you can trust the online system if there’s space or not. We were driving home so we thought we’d chance to see if we could get in for brunch even though it looked like it might be filled.
D F
Jan 19, 2025
5
Amazing food! We opted for the M omakase experience and loved every tasting menu item we were served. The place is quaint and great to go on dates or with a group of friends and is in the heart of downtown Durham with lots of parking on the streets or garage. We were also fortunate to say hi to Chef Savannah from Top Chef that night. Highly recommend trying it out and we will surely come back again!
Luis Sanchez-Vegas
Jan 1, 2025
5
Michelin star quality at NC prices - you’ve never had tempura before until you’ve had this quality.
NSA
Nov 22, 2024
5
reserved online with open table. you need to preselect your experience and put a credit card. Got the tempura experience for 75. it included several small dishes through you the night and a variety of tempura followed by a small rice dish, miso soup and ginger ice cream..
the first shrimp tempura was heavenly !!
overall the experience was really nice. it took around 2 hours to complete. we had our reservation at 7:15 and felt we had to rush at the end since they close at 9. maybe don't let people reserve that ?
other than probably from the best restaurants I had in Durham !
book this for your next date night or special gathering !
Paul Cray
Oct 17, 2024
5
Incredible 7 course omakase! All the bites were perfectly prepared and the soft shelled shrimp were very fun. The wine pairing went great with the courses. It did take a little time between bites and we were there for about 3 hours total. I think this menu is the best bang for your buck compared to all the tasting menu options across the m restaurants.
Phil Angelo Estrada
Sep 16, 2024
5
Phenomenal experience with the crew at M Tempura. We opted for the M Omakase tasting menu and blown away with the 7 courses. Each course was different and this restaurant puts a different twist on each plate. I highly recommend the tasting menu experience.
The staff and service is amazing. Shout out to Nubia!!! Our water was never empty for longer than 10 minutes. This restaurant is top tier when it comes to service and deserves more praise than what they receive.
Han Jang
Sep 9, 2024
5
Highly recommend the tempura tasting menu! I can understand skepticism around the fact that tempura is simply fried food, but tempura is best when “fresh”, so it was nice to have each piece plated in front of us straight from the fryer. This, along with the sides and great service were well worth the $38. We were stuffed before dessert! Would come back for their omakase or kaiseki.
Jordan S
Aug 20, 2024
4
This is definitely my second favorite out of the “M” restaurants (M Sushi takes the cake), but I must say, everything we had was expertly crafted. Typically you need 24hrs notice to do the M Omakase menu, but the chef was able to accommodate us last minute which was awesome. So many unique flavors and pairings (definitely worth the price and trip).
My only qualm with our experience was that it took an obscenely long time to get all our courses. We were in the restaurant for over three hours which really derailed our plans for the evening. The food and service were amazing, but I’ve been to plenty of coursed out fine dining establishments before and never had it take quite so long. However, I will say, we did not give them notice for the Omasake order so that could definitely have contributed.
Weirdly enough my least favorite dish was the tempura! Still delicious, but all the other courses really stood out to me. Can’t wait to try M Test Kitchen next!
