Tendon at Tenya, Tokyo

You know what.

I think I'm addicted to Tendon at Tenya. Heavily addicted.

Well I'm sure I'm addicted, and I'm also confident to say that my husband, Tora, is addicted too. I mean this is our third trip to this 'japanese fast food' joint. 3 times within a week. When we should've tried other varieties of food we simply ignore the rules and come back again (and again) to this eatery. Sigh.

Hello again dear Tenya!

Ok. Let me explain.

Tenya is a fast food joint specialized in tempura (deep fried food), especially tempura don (tendon). They have around 100 branches all over metropolitan area in Japan.

Simply they offer basic things: cheap, fast, fulfilling and most importantly, tasty food.

This is the tempura. But really, you can just forget about them. They are just plain ordinary, nothing special.

But.

This is the tempura tendon. Please don't forget them. They are special.

Bowl of perfectly cooked (still) hot rice topped with ebi and veggies (mostly aubergine) tempura poured with special tare sauce (taste a bit like teriyaki sauce but less sweet). Crispy, crunchy, sweet, salty, succulent, all in one place, giving you a warm and happy feeling.

It's like I'm having a dejavu. The exact same experience with KFC (Kentucky Fried Chicken). You still remember loving KFC as a child and now as an adult you're still loving it. It's like falling in love over and over again with KFC. My kind of comfort fast food, never disappointing. And now, I'm experiencing the feeling again with Tenya.

Well surely it can't be compared to fine dining food. Yes, it's definitely not some fancy food. Yes, it's not that healthy, although in my defense it's much healthier than burger and fried chicken joint. But it has this psychological impact for me (and Tora). That's what matters.


PS: Tendon at Tenya is my new KFC.


PSS: Just saying, please eat the tendon with lots and lots of Tare sauce and the Salt (below), mix them together evenly with the rice.