tendon – Jellybeans in the City

Teishoku Sets at Tendon Kohaku, Uptown Mall

Food destinations abound in Bonifacio Global City, giving foodies that frequent the area with an exciting array of options for gastronomic adventures.

Uptown Mall, for example, is the site of one such establishment: Tendon Kohaku.

A member of the Mugen Group which also manages other Japanese restaurant brands such as UCC Cafe, Mitsuyado Seimen, MOS Burger and Coco Ichibanya, Tendon Kohaku specializes in tendon, a wordplay on tempura (lightly battered and deep-fried meat, seafood or vegetables) and donburi (“rice bowl”).

Here, Japanese food lovers can look forward to an elevated tempura experience, made possible by four elements:

Fresh Ingredients. Only the freshest ingredients, chosen with professional care according to exacting standards, are used in Tendon Kohaku’s tempura dishes.
Tempura Batter. Tendon Kohaku’s tempura better is using premium-grade flour and employing traditional tempura techniques to produce a coating that is light, crispy and flavorful.
Cooking Technology. The restaurant uses a high blend of sesame and cooking oil applied with a special filtration system that keeps it clean and light for cooking.
Secret Sauce. Tendon Kohaku’s two signature sauces are made in-house using a special blend of spices to create a distinctively sweet-savory flavor. The Sweet sauce is crafted to balance out the saltiness of the tempura while the Spicy sauce does the same with an additional spicy kick.

To give my daughter a change of scene away from her workplace nearby, I decided to treat her to lunch at Tendon Kohaku.

Our meal started with the complementary Japanese tea, available hot and iced.

We opted to get teishoku – Japanese set meals that already include rice, tuna sashimi, tamago rolls and potato salad – quite a complete and nourishing meal that combines interesting flavors and textures.

My order was the Tempura Teishoku (Php590) which consist of various tempura such as Chicken Breast, Wild Tiger Prawns, Squid, Crabstick, Green Beans, Shiitake, Young Corn and Pumpkin accompanied by tempura sauce.

My daughter, on the other hand, opted for the Tonkatsu Teishoku (Php650), which consist of three slices of panko-breaded and deep-fried pork cutlets served with katsu sauce.

With these teishoku, my daughter and I were able to enjoy a filling meal during her lunch break.

Tendon Kohaku is located at the Third Floor, Uptown Mall, 36th Street, Uptown Bonifacio, Bonifacio Global City, Taguig, open for dine-in, pick-up, takeout and delivery. For inquiries, reservations and orders, call +63 956 2792961.

Other branches are located at:

4th Level, Japan Town, Ayala Malls Vertis North, North Triangle, Bagong Pag-Asa, Quezon City (Tel: +63 927 5005977)
Ground Floor, Building 7, Forbestown Road, Burgos Circle, Bonifacio Global City, Taguig (Tel: +63 956 2792966)

Tendon Kohaku also delivers via GrabFood, FoodPanda, Pick-A-Roo and Booky.

To know more about Tendon Kohaku, follow it on Facebook and Instagram.

Feel good food at Recovery Food, SM Megamall

Whether you’re trudging in from a busy workday, or amping up for a hectic one, you need some comforting and nourishing food to rev you up.

Some tasty feel-good food would be just the thing, right?

Well, if you happen to be at the Eatogether Food Hall in SM Megamall, you can just head over to the Recovery Food stall.

Recovery Food is a casual dining concept that offers a variety of comfort foods which range from Asian-inspired hot noodle soups, home-style pressed sandwiches and to simple rice bowls.

During a recent meetup with my fellow foodies, we were able to sample first-hand Recovery Food’s signature dishes, which include:

Balbakwa (Php195). Extra tender beef skin in tomato-based broth, great for warming up our tummies!

Doc Sisig (Php155 for regular | Php235 for full recovery). Recovery Food’s house sisig – the Kapampangan dish made with various pig parts flavored with calamansi, onions and chilis – served with fried egg and garlic rice.

Tapa de Morning (Php185 for regular | Php265 for full recovery). Home-made tapa – tender slices of salt-cured beef – served with fried egg, garlic rice and ensalada, one of my personal breakfast faves.

Tomarrow Never Dies (Php235). RF’s newest offering: roasted bone marrow topped with garlic served on a sizzling plate along with beef bits and rice. Food for the fearless!

Champosandro (Php99). Recovery Food’s version of the champorado, a chocolate-rice based porridge served with milk and salted fish on the side. Whether for breakfast, a snack or as a dessert, it sure hits the spot.

So if you want some real good, feel-good food to power you up for all you need to accomplish, make a pitstop at Recovery Food!

This Recovery Food branch is located at Eatogether Food Hall, Second Floor SM Megamall Building A, Ortigas Center, Mandaluyong City.

Other branches are located at:

Ground Floor, Crossroads Building, 32nd Street Corner 8th Avenue, Bonifacio Global City, Taguig City
BGC Stopover Pavilion, Rizal Drive Corner 31st Street, Bonifacio Global City, Taguig City
Molito Commercial Complex, Alabang, Muntinlupa City

Disclosure: I attended a food-tasting here together with fellow foodies. All food items mentioned here were served for us to sample the fare and elicit our honest feedback.

Pinoy comfort food at Goto Tendon, Tomas Morato

Would you believe that Tomas Morato’s newest gotohan and paresan came about partly out of boredom?

As the story goes, Jenny Penaloza was feeling bored having given up her career to become a full-time mom. Her husband John then suggested making a business out of her culinary specialty: the goto.

Goto is a type of gruel dish popular in the country made with glutinous rice and beef tripe, simmered in a ginger-based broth.

The recipe was taught to Jenny by John’s grandmother, Lola Nena Penaloza. Since then, she has been tweaking the recipe until she decided to launch the goto restaurant her husband suggested.

Having heard good things from my officemates about this gotohan nearby, I decided to join my friends at Goto Tendon for lunch.

Our meal consisted of:

Goto Tendon (Php158 for small | Php198 for large). Based on this dish, among the tweaks that Jenny applied to traditional goto recipe is the addition of imported US tendon and quail eggs, making the porridge even heartier.

Beef Tendon Pares (Php158) and Sizzling Beef Tendon Pares (Php178). The traditional pares (beef stew paired with soup and garlic rice) is further enhanced with imported US tendon. It can be served as is or on a sizzling plate.

Tokwa’t Baboy (Php118). Fried tofu with pork bits served in a mixture of soy sauce, vinegar, chopped onions and chili peppers. This went so well with the goto tendon.

Considering that this was my first taste of beef pares (I had taste of lamb pares later in the week at ALTA by Relik), I’d say the experience was not bad at all. I wouldn’t mind returning for another taste of beef pares, especially with those chewy and flavorful bits of tendon!

This Goto Tendon branch is located at 49 Scout Tobias Street, Laging Handa, Quezon City, open Sundays to Thursdays from 11am to 3am and Fridays to Saturdays from 11am to 5am. For inquiries or reservations, call +63 2 518 5527.

Other branches are located at:

Maysilo Circle, Plainview, Mandaluyong City
Food Court, Ground Floor, Promenade, Greenhills Shopping Center, Greenhills, San Juan City
Bayani Road corner T. Arguelles Street, Galas, Quezon City

Tempura Overload at Tenya Tempura Tendon, BGC

Considered of the most successful tendon restaurant chains in Japan, Tenya Tempura Tendon opened its doors in the BGC Stopover Pavilion. Its goal, driven by the vision of its founder Mr. Yoshio Iwashita, is to provide diners with high quality yet affordable tendon and tempura.

Tenya prides itself on the quality of its ingredients – such as the sweet succulent tiger prawns, the heart-healthy canola oil, Japanese rice and secret dontare sauce for its tendon – and its methods to produce consistent and tasty tempura such as the specially designed infrared heat technology-powered fryer.

Tempura is one of Japan’s most popular dishes, characterized by seafood, meat and vegetables covered in a light batter then quickly deep-fried to produce tempura’s signature golden-brown hue.

During our family’s recent foray in BGC, we chanced upon this Tenya branch around lunchtime and decided to try it out.

We ordered a Yume Ooedo Set (Php1,295) which consist of 6 black tiger prawn tempura, 6 kani sticks, 3 squid, 3 fish tempura, 2 small kakiage (chopped vegetables and seafood), 3 battered green beans, 3 battered sweet potato, 4 rice and 4 miso soup. Aside from that, we also ordered a 5-piece Salmon Tempura (Php310).

The servings were hearty and the textures and flavors were varied enough that we did not experience umay (roughly translates to flavor-fatigue). The batter was light and adhered well to the fried seafood and veggies. Given that all four of us ate our fill, our orders were affordably priced indeed.

The service staff were friendly and accommodating, quick to assist us with our requests.

My only complaint about the experience was that the store’s airconditioning system was not able to counteract the summer midday heat.

This Tenya Tempura Tendon branch is located at the 2nd floor, BGC Stopover Pavilion, Rizal Drive cor 31st Street, Bonifacio Global City, Taguig (Tel No: 02 – 512-4776). Other branches are located at:

Ground Floor, Market! Market!, Bonifacio Global City, Taguig City (Tel No: 02 – 833-9682)
4F SM Megamall Bldg. A, Doña Julia Vargas Ave, Ortigas Center, Mandaluyong City (Tel No: 02 – 696-5996)
Food Street, Ground Floor, SM Southmall, Almanza, Las Piñas City (Tel No: 02 – 984-3872)
ASEANA Avenue cor. Diosdado Macapagal Blvd. Paranaque City (Tel No: 02 -370-5924)
GF Water Garden, Extension Site, Civic Drive, Festival Supermall Alabang, Muntinlupa (Tel No: 02 – 512-4862)
GF North Wing Entertainment Mall, Sunset Ave. cor. Seaside Blvd. SM Mall of Asia Pasay (Tel No: 02 – 810-2784)
GF Southpark Bldg. Paseo de Magallanes, Makati City (Tel No: 02 – 821-5797)

For more details on Tenya Tendon and Tempura food offerings, visit Tenya’s website.