You Can Get A Tempura Bowl For Less Than $4 USD At This Restuarant Chain in Tokyo, Japan
What’s Tendon?
In Japanese “tendon” is a shortened abbreviation for Tempura Donburi. In Japanese “ten” is tempura and “don” is donburi (rice bowl). The abbreviated tendon is a bowl of tempura covering a bed of rice.
Tempura is very famous in Japan and you’ll be able to find it everywhere in Tokyo. Tempura for those who haven’t had it before, consists of seafood (shrimp is a staple) and vegetables coated in a thin batter and deep fried. It’s about as delicious as you’d imagine!
There’s a dipping sauce comprised of dashi, soy sauce, mirin, and sugar, called tentsuyu that’s either drizzled over the top of the tendon or served on the side as a dipping sauce.
Budget Tempura in Tokyo
Looking to grab some cheap tempura in Tokyo? Look no further than the Tenya Tendon restuarant chain located throughout Tokyo and Japan in general.
In a city as large as Tokyo with endless alleyways filled with food, tempura is certainly one of the most popular food choices. Price ranges will vary of course, but Tenya Tendon was the cheapest I came across.
They have a touch screen menu which you use to place your order and you can choose English. The above is the standard tendon menu which is exactly what I was looking for.
The most expensive combo for 720 yen is about $4.92 USD. VERY cheap for a full on meal. I didn’t even get those combos opting for the Tendon meal for 560 yen ($3.83). It wasn’t about the difference in price, the Tendon meal just sounded better to me.
The Food
The Tendon meal consists of prawn, squid, sandborer, pumpkin, and green beans, along with a cup of miso soup. There’s a total of six pieces of tempura.
The tempura had a very light outer coating which was nice and crispy. It also wasn’t very greasy which was a pleasant surprise. The shrimp was sweet. The veggies tasty. I’d never had squid or sandborer tempura before and they were pretty solid as well!
The Tentsuyu sauce was drizzled over the tempura and the bed of rice. It’s dispersed well throughout and over the bowl and not further seasoning was needed.
The Verdict
I have to admit, expectations were not super high with this being more of a fast food type, budget friendly type place. Was it the best tempura I’ve ever had? Nope. But the quality and overall taste of the tendon bowl were fantastic for the price. A couple of shrimp, squid, and fish for less than $4 USD? Sign me up!
If you’re on budget traveling through Japan or if you’re looking to save some money for a delicious expenisve dinner later in the day, Tenya Tendon can certainly tide you over with quality cheap food!
