Tendon Kohaku is the latest restaurant to open in Vancouver to serve up tempura bowls! Tendon Kohaku is a Singapore-based chain that focuses on Japanese tempura dishes. They are cooking up Japanese style tempura rice bowls with the best Japanese rice, signature sauces and the freshest ingredients. I got a sneak peek, but the official open date is Friday April 2. However, if you want to try them out during their soft opening stage they will open Monday, March 29. You need to check out Tendon Kohaku’s epic tempura bowls today!
Tendon Kohaku Menu
Their menu is split by their signature bowls, side dishes, drinks and dessert. It’s not a big menu, but I prefer that because they are focusing on doing what they make best.
Tendon Kohaku – Main Dishes
I got to try three bowls off their main menu – Anago Tendon ($19.95), Sashimi Aimori Tendon ($18.95) and Kaisen Don ($15.95).
The Anago Tendon is the Tendon Kohaku’s signature dish. This bowl consists of tempura anago (eel), prawn, chicken, french beans, lotus root, shiitake mushroom and a deep fried egg! It is such an indulgent bowl, that is best shared. There is a full bowl of deliciously sauced Japanese rice under all that tempura! The deep fried egg was an absolute revelation. The eggs at Tendon Kohaku are a whole other level. They have a gorgeous orange colour which is so hard to find in Vancouver.
The Sashimi Aimori Tendon and Kaisen Don both feature sashimi. The former pairs tempura with sashimi and is a lighter take on their signature bowl. This bowl consists of prawns, chicken, kabocha, french beans, kaisen sauce, tuna, salmon, scallop, ikura, green onion, cucumber and wasabi. The sashimi was so fresh and delicious and went surprisingly well with the tempura. If you are not a fan of tempura (what are you even doing here?), they do have a Kaisen Don that is the exact same as the Sashimi Aimori Tendon but no tempura. If you are feeling particularly fancy like me, you can add additional ikura (for an additional charge).
Tendon Kohaku – Side Dishes
We tried a variety of their side dishes but the two that stood out the most was the Nagoya Chicken Wing ($8.99), Ikura Ajitama ($5.95) and Chawanmushi ($3.99). The Chawanmushi was velvety soft and beautifully steamed. It was full of chicken bits, spinach, fish cake and shrimp. It is one of the best chawanmushi I have had ever.
The Ikura Ajitama is a sight to behold. Look at those beautiful jammy egg yolks. The ikura added a punch of saltiness and these eggs are just flavour through and through. If you need to order one side dish – this is it.
They also have some pretty delicious dessert items like Matcha ice cream and Strawberry Japanese Cheesecake cup!
This spot is not to be missed. Their grand opening will be Friday, April 2 and for the entire long weekend in celebration the menu will be 25% off!