Tempura!

Yesterday after a catastrophic swimming outing that resulted in all of us waiting at Asian Hospital, my sister was said to be well enough for a little dinner before we all headed home. To console our tired and weary bodies after a long day of well... almost nothing, we all decided to eat something yummy. They were voting for North Park, however I've had some bad run ins with them and well... I kinda wanted to eat at a Japanese restaurant again... So off we sped to TEMPURA!




I've been having a craving for Japanese foods lately, mainly maki and sushi. I remembered from past experiences that theirs were kinda good as compared to others so I decided to order a mixed selection of makis. First up was the california maki!

The california maki as pictured above scored VERY VERY well on its own. As we already established from my last Japanese excursion what makes a good maki, I will elaborate on a detail that Teriyaki Boy didn't exaggerate. Notice the nice dollop of Japanese mayo on top. It made a lOT of difference to the flavor as a whole! I sort of forgot that making california maki even better was a generous portion of mayo on top gluing all the pieces together! It also didn't hurt that their mangoes were just right and didn't overpower the maki as a whole! Great...

The california maki however good on it's own will not pair very well with other dishes as I have discovered. I tried pairing it with tempura and some teriyaki chicken and it just didn't go well together. The mayo altered the harmony of the combination, thus alone it is great, with company not so much.

Next up...




FUTO MAKI! Now futo maki happens to be one of my favorite makis ever, and though I was mildly happy with the futo maki from Tboys, TEMPURA'S FUTO MAKI ROCKS! Ahem, let me elaborate, IT'S DAMN GOOD!

I don't remember it being this well made, maybe their ingredients were better, or it's been a while since I've had a good quality futo maki, but hell... This was one well made maki.

If you notice, there is no cucumber to speak off, just the pink stuff the bamboo shoot, the lemon wedge looking thing and some crab stick and tamago. However their combination and proportions were absolutely perfect! YUM, I can't wait until I get to eat these again!




Next up on the agenda (hey I was hungry) is something that a good friend of mine introduced to me. Behold the wonderful tori chizu maki! This ones a doozy, it's made from Philadelphia cream cheese, peas, crabstick, seaweed all wrapped in a roll of tender juicy chicken! The whole concoction is fried until the chicken achieves a golden brown color and the cream cheese melts to a creamy point that holds the whole thing together.

This was a treat! I have to admit that when it was introduced to me, it was more than 5 hours cold, yet even then it was good, when I tasted a freshly cooked batch, it was like biting into a piece of heaven. The yellow mustardy mix dip thingy compliments the fried maki extremely well!

Try this one out folks! It will not disappoint!




However, things can't all be perfect. Marring our stay at Tempura was this thing. To the trained eye it looks like sukiyaki, a yummy Japanese soup base mixed with fresh vegetables, tender meat, eggs, and a wonderfully saki based soup that hints at a deep sweetness within the mixture of flavor.

We thought so as well, unfortunately instead of a mild sweet hint, we were greeted by a very strong sour taste... Wrong!

Well, it cant all be perfect...




Tempura of course serves EXCELLENT quality tempura. However their price is moi excellente as well...





Washing this all down was their citrus green tea, although nowhere near Don Hens masterpiece, it'll do. It's a refreshing drink that's bound to have you coming back for more. Just make sure when they refill your glass, they refill the ice as well, if you run out of ice and only have the tea, it'll be too sweet.

So there you have it, all in all it was a good meal, and Tempura truly left me wanting more because their makis were just fabulous! Their price may be a little on the high end, but still within reason.

Their portions were a little better for their price, at 60 plus bucks you get 4 pcs of california maki, at about 100 - 120 (I forget) you get 5 pieces of futo maki, and for the same price (or near it) 6 pieces of tori chizu maki! WOW!

Their tempura is excellent, however they are also expensive, their iced tea also good went for about 52 bucks and lastly don't even think about the sukiyaki...

Tempura, try it out some time, make sure you get a few rounds in with those makis!

Peace O_o x