Date # 19: Tempura Japanese Grill

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  I wasn’t exactly interested when I saw Tempura Japanese Grill from the outside. I mean, hello—the restaurant’s name is Tempura. How un-creative can you get? Initially, Douglas and I had not planned on going there. We were supposed to visit its neighboring restaurant to buy Xiao Long Bao—my favorite food—but the neighboring restaurant had already gone for its afternoon break.

  I was about to go on a raging tantrum when my feet led me to Tempura Japanese Grill. I thought it would be a boring place—but as early as now, I’m telling you, this place definitely turned my mood around.

  Not all the tables in their Trinoma branch have a griller for Yakiniku. I’m not personally affected since I’m not a Yakiniku fan, but since this is a Japanese grill resto, you’d expect them to have grillers on every table. Anyway, you can reserve the tables with grillers in advance if you’re determined to eat Yakiniku. 

  I swear they have the cutest menu and logo ever. Plus, they offer a wide variety of Japanese food, from donburi to ramen, yakiniku, sushi, sashimi, gyoza, yakisoba, sukiyaki—pretty much every well-known Japanese dish.

  We had a pot of house tea for drinks. It was served to us promptly after the waiter took note of our orders—quite efficient. I would prefer my tea much hotter than how it was served to me, because I love how tea warms up the body. Their tea was served a little bit on the lukewarm side already. I’m not disappointed, but could be improved.

  When it comes to more commercialized restaurants, I think it’s better to order fusion maki’s and sushi’s rather than the traditional ones. The strength of fusion maki’s is not in the absolute freshness of the ingredients, but the carefulness that was placed in choosing the ingredients used.

   Douglas and I chose to have an order of their Temari Sushi (P115). I found their round shape quite cute—like a petite version of a nigiri. I was also pleased with the variety of flavors that went into my mouth when I chewed on each one—the salty sweet taste of the raw fish, the enticing kick of the seasonings, and especially the balancing subtle taste of the flakes inside each roll.

   Again, the raw fish didn’t seem like it came fresh out of the water (unlike high end establishments), but it’s not bad, either. It’s the kind of quality you’d expect from a medium priced establishment, so no disappoint whatsoever. There’s only one sushi for each kind of topping though—so only one of you will get to taste one kind. Douglas and I already have an agreement that Tunas should always be mine, and Salmons should always be his. Maybe you guys can have that kind of understanding, too.

  I was quite satisfied—all that for P115. Great value.

   We chose Uncle Sam’s Maki (P200) for our other fusion maki order. We absolutely loved the crunchiness of the toasted sesame seeds that each roll had been coated with. We also found that the mayo and bacon on top comprised most of the flavor, which was quite fine with us. We were very pleased with our Uncle Sam’s Maki order that Douglas said he preferred it over the ones we’ve tried in Omakase.

  I’ve had Ebi Chizu Tempura (P190 3pcs) before, but it was so long ago that I couldn’t remember anymore. Tempura Japanese Grill gave me a nice reminder of what I enjoyed years back. I find it quite appealing that this restaurant has flavors for their tempura—you can go original, cheese flavored (this one) or wasabi flavored. I guess they really were trying to live up to their restaurant’s name.

  If you’ve noticed, I don’t normally order tempura when it’s a commercialized restaurant—because I always find their prawns too small and their batters too thick. But I can say that Tempura Japanese Grill’s crunchy tempura batter wasn’t very thick, and the focus was still on the prawns. The prawns were average sized, not huge, but not puny either. 

  About the cheese flavor, it’s very subtle. You can taste it if you don’t put too much sauce on your tempura. I only noticed it when I was halfway finishing my tempura piece. Meanwhile, Douglas, who loves drowning EVERYTHING he eats in sauce—didn’t notice the cheesiness.

  Overall, I still loved it. Panalo siya.

  Of course, I couldn’t forego ordering their original Tempura (P190 3pcs). Pretty much the same comments as above, minus the cheesy factor. By the way, the cheese and the original flavor have the same price—so it’s not exactly a loss if you don’t get to taste the cheese.

  I now have a staple choice when I have a tempura craving emergency—and it’s surely this restaurant.

  The main event of our meal: Curry Gomoku Yakisoba (P180). We had this to share because we ordered a lot of appetizers and we only had room for half a main course. In normal circumstances, though, I’m sure this will satisfy one hungry person. 

  We were very impressed with the firm and chewy quality of the egg noodles. Each strand was lightly coated in a sweet but deep flavored curry—a real treat for curry lovers. It doesn’t give the spicy kick, but we were already very pleased with the curry flavor without it. I also commend how the sauce was evened out perfectly. 

  You wouldn’t have the nerve to say there were too few of shrimps.

  Another japanalo dish.

  Overall Verdict: This is a perfect place for a Japanese food fest without the heavy cost, whether for dating or for groups—heck, if I were really hungry, I would even eat here alone. Not exactly the kind of restaurant that you’d drive from another city for, but still recommended. 

Tempura Japanese Grill 

Level 2, Trinoma Mall, EDSA corner North Avenue

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With and For Love,
Rina Caparras and Douglas Chong

http://mydailydoseofrina.tumblr.com 

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