Hooray! 6 Wallet-Friendly and Delicious Tendons Under $20!

Things are always better deep-fried. When dropped into a vat of hot oil, most foods are transformed into crunchy and juicy beauties. I’m no food chemist here, but you and I know that deep-fried foods are freaking good.

Recently, more and more restaurants are coming up with tendons (otherwise also known tempura don), but who does it best? We present to you 6 tendon bowls that you can get for below $20!

CRISPIEST TENDON

Manzoku Japanese Restaurant

Expect a totally different tendon at Manzoku Japanese Restaurant.

I fell in love at first sight with the Ten-Don ($12) – it is a huge mess of 3 delicious looking Ebi tempura and seasonal vegetables encased in crispy fried tempura batter (agedama), all served on top of Japanese white rice. The inner greedy fat kid in me couldn’t wait to devour it right away.

I dug in excitedly for my first bite, only to realise that the prawns are much smaller than what I had expected it to be. However, I’ve got to praise them for their crispy batter. It was the crunchiest ever, remaining crisp even until the end of my meal. Unlike the ebi, the tempura batter coating the vegetables are much thinner. I like how this allows me to taste the natural sweetness of the vegetables itself.

Haru Haru

For a mere $10.90, get a big slice of green capsicum, mushroom , carrot and 2 medium-sized prawns. The tempuras were fried lightly – the vegetables retained their crunch and flavours. The batter used for the tempura at Haru Haru is surprisingly light, airy, crispy and had a pleasant mouthfeel. Although the batter had a subtle oily taste to it, the texture of the batter was well complemented by the thin sweet tendon sauce drizzled over the tempuras.

Sadly, the rice used for the Ten-Don is not Japanese rice. I guess you can’t expect much for $10.90, but this is sure a good bowl of tendon for its price.

DAMN WORTH IT

Tendon Kohaku

Tendon Kohaku is undoubtedly an expert in tendon. There are only a few options to choose from – KOHAKU tendon ($15), Vegetable Tendon ($14), KOHAKU tendon spicy flavour ($15) and Vegetable Tendon Spicy Flavour ($14). Add on $4.50 to make it a set which comes with a bowl of miso soup and udon noodles.

Sure to satisfy both protein lovers and those with big appetites, the KOHAKU tendon was the most filling tendon I’ve ever had. It comes with 2 huge chucks of succulent chicken breast fillets that are longer than the length of my palm. The prawns are huge and fresh and the vegetables refreshingly crunchy. The premium Hokkaido rice used here is moist and cooked just right.

Tendon Ginza Itsuki

At Tendon Ginza Itsuki, diners are only given 2 choices – Special Tendon ($13.90) and Vegetarian Tendon ($12.90). Both tendons come with chawanmushi.

The skilful chefs here even fry the vegetables and meat in different pans with specific and precise timings to craft the best tendon bowl. Oh and did I mention about the egg? It was phenomenal. Crispy on the outside and yet still runny on the inside. I love the tender chicken breast too. 

Just $13.90 for a well crafted dish, this is definitely damn worth it.

WORTH A TRY

Tempura Tsukiji Tenka

A proclaimed tempura and donburi specialist, Tempura Tsukiji Tenka is the very first restaurant that the Toyko Sushi Academy opened in Singapore.

There are many reasons why I love the Tenka Tendon ($19.80++). The ingredients used are the freshest of all the tendons that I’ve tried. The Tenka Tendon will easily top my list of favourite tendons in Singapore if not for the tempura batter used. Instead of a crispy batter, the one at Tempura Tsukiji Tenka is soft, soggy and a little oily.

While it may be a little more expensive than the rest, it definitely is worth a try!

Tensho 天勝 by MOF

Similar to Tendon Ginza Itsuki, Tensho uses a light batter that just slightly coat the ingredients. Thin, crispy, and best eaten hot. Pick from the Mixed Tendon ($14.90), Vege Tendon ($13.90), Anago Tendon ($18.90) and Ebi Lover Tendon ($19.90). For any of the tendon choices that you pick, you will also get a side of smooth chawanmushi and miso soup. 

The prawns in the Mixed Tendon are relatively small, but delicious. I thought that the dory fillets are an interesting addition to the tendon too.

MissTamChiak.com made anonymous visits and paid its own meals at the stalls featured here.

Let’s build a food community that helps to update the food news in Singapore! Simply comment below if there’s any changes or additional info to the stalls listed above. We will verify and update from our side. Thanks in advance!