A new tempura rice bowl spot has opened up in Burnaby! Tendon Kohaku specializes in tempura bowls that are made with quality ingredients. They use a specialty rice grain and their house made sauce that is stewed for hours to ensure tasty perfection! This spot is tucked away along Lougheed highway in Madison Centre. If you are looking to give them a visit, I suggest you go early because they have long wait times.
Their menu is pretty basic with 7 different rice bowls to choose from. I like that they offer a vegetarian bowl and ones with sashimi as well. They also offer a variety of appetizers, drinks and desserts.
We weren’t here for drinks on this particular day but it as good to know that they do have specialty cocktails if you’re interested in trying them out!
Sashimi Aimori Tendon
We ordered this don because it had a bit of everything. It had vegetable tempura, chicken tempura, shrimp tempura and a decent portion of mixed sashimi. When you order your dish, they give you an option of having it with their original sauce or the spicy version. You don’t need to commit to one or the other because you can always ask for more if you need it. I could see why their sauce is so unique because it packed a flavourful punch! I’d bottle it up and put it on everything if I could.
The tempura was crispy and airy in texture which was a good sign. I also liked that they had more unique tempura options like chicken, lotus root and green bean. Then the sashimi lover in me, liked having the option of having some freshness added to it.
Instead of ordering two separate bowls, Grayson and I just ordered another bowl of tuna sashimi and rice on the side so we could share everything. We both wanted to have dessert so it only made sense for us to share! I was surprised that the tuna add-on to the bowl was so generous for the price that it was. I recommend doing an add-on for those who are looking for a little more food.
Strawberry cheesecake
I knew I would enjoy the cheesecakes here because I love the one from Kokoro Mazesoba. Unfortunately, they brought this out at the beginning of the meal so by the end, it was warm and less enjoyable. At the bottom of the cheesecake, there was fresh strawberry syrup to add strawberry flavour but I would have liked it more if the cheesecake was also strawberry flavoured. I’d come back for the rice bowls and their yummy kohaku sauce but maybe not dessert.
