Our Tendon Kohaku (Clark Quay) Review
We had our lunch at the Tendon Kohaku Outlet after our Bounce Session at The Central (Clark Quay).
This outlet was a rather small outlet (possibly less than 10 Tables) and had around 3 staffs (1 to assign and take order and 2 to cook in the kitchen) on that day. There was a clear window near the entrance that we could peep through to see what the staff were cooking and preparing in the kitchen.
The Menu
Their menu was really simple. The story behind the Tendon Kohaku concept was on the front page and the drinks plus other outlets were on the last page.
Food wise, they had like 4 Sets to choose from:
- Kohaku Tendon Set (Signature) at $17.80 (a la carte at $14.80)
- Vegetable Tendon Set at $16.80 (a la carte at $13.80)
- Seafood Tendon Set at $23.80 (a la carte at $20.80)
- Truffle Kakiage Tendon Set at $19.80 (a la carte at $16.80)
Options included choice of White or Multi Grain Rice as well as Original, Spicy or Mala Sauce.
Set comes with Chawanmushi / Miso Soup / Yuzu Radish Pickles. We were not sure how many of each item came with the Set. We ordered but they were not served (and we forgot about it!!).
You could also go for Topping of Half Boiled Egg Tempura ($2.00), Additional Smooth Inaniwa Udon Noodle ($4.50) or additional Side Dish of Extra 100gm Rice, Chawanmushi, Miso Soup, Yuzu Raddish Pickles and Wasabi Paste.
What We Ordered
We ordered the Seafood Tendon Set with Original Sauce and White Rice. We also added orders for the Smooth Inaniwa Udon Noodle and the Half-Boiled Egg Tempura with no garnishes. For drinks, we ordered two Coke Light ($3.00 each).
The Taste
— Half-Boiled Egg Tempura
At first, we did not know what this item was until we took some of the tempura apart and saw the wobbly egg yolk. The Half Boiled Egg Tempura came with some sauce which tasted light and sweet. We mixed the egg, tempura and sauce together. The taste was good on its own, or could go with the Udon Noodle and Rice Set.
— Smooth Inaniwa Udon Noodle
The Smooth Inaniwa Udon Noodle was served shortly after the Egg Tempura. The bowl consisted a few mouthfuls of smooth Inaniwa Udon Noodles, a slice of Kamaboko and their light fluffy Tempura batter.
The Kamaboko had no significant taste (can dip it with the egg tempura). Soup was light to taste. The Udon Noodle was really smooth and we could easily do a slurping sound with it. The tempura batter came in small flakes and we were happy that this came with the Udon Noodle. Though well soaked in the soup, we could still taste slight crunchiness on some bits. We ate some of the noodles with the Egg Tempura and it was another different taste.
— Seafood Tendon Set
It took a while and the Seafood Tendon was served. We had initially ordered as a set but only the Seafood Tendon bowl was served. We had confused the first two items as part of the set.
The presentation for the Seafood Tendon bowl was rather impressive with a small plate stacked behind. This also required some careful handling (we nearly toppled the bowl as we tried to position the bowl in the middle).
We first tasted the pair of French Beans. There was enough tempura batter around it and no raw taste to the French Beans. Seaweed was crispy but was a bit bland to taste. There was plenty of Ikura so it added some bursts of goodness to the taste.
We tasted the White Fish next. It was soft and tasted rather similar to Fish & Chip. Lotus Root was next and it had a sweet taste. Baby Corn was long and had a crunchy taste.
We liked the Scallop piece which had a seafood soup kind of juicy taste. Prawn came in 2 pieces and they were tender and we could nearly finish till the end of the tail area. Squid tasted pretty normal even with the tempura batter around it. Rice looked like those short-grain Japanese rice and was well covered in a layer of sweet and fragrant sauce. We also ate it with the egg tempura to get a different taste.
Overall, the Tempura Batter was light and not oily or soggy. Items were mostly well-covered with batter. We enjoyed this meal a lot and we did not had any bloated or greasy feeling after the meal. Though we only ordered one Seafood Tendon Bowl and some additional dishes, the serving side was enough for two.
We made payment at the counter. Interestingly, they added Service Charge of 10% individually to each order instead of a lump sum. GST of 7% was also charged.
How To Get To Tendon Kohaku (Clark Quay)?
Address: 6 Eu Tong Sen St, #B1-52/53, The Central, Singapore 059817 (Google Maps)
Other Outlets:
- 3 Temasek Boulevard, #03-311, Suntec City Mall, Singapore 038983
- Chinatown Point, #02-341, 33 New Bridge Road Singapore 059413
- Boat Quay #01-01, 64 Circular Road, Singapore 049418
Opening Hours:
- Daily: 11:30am–3:30pm & 5–9:30pm
Website: Click Here