Tenza Izakaya (已結業)

武吉知馬

$31 - $50

日本菜壽司/刺身

等級4

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http://thechosenglutton.wordpress.com/2011/10/29/tenza-izakaya/I must say, Tenza Izakaya: Sumibiyaki and Sake Bar is quite a mouthful! Try saying that out loud once and fast. Hah. I’ve decided to give this a try because I’ve never heard of this place in the West, and I was just browsing through for somewhere new to eat in, and saw this.The trip there is going to be anal if you’re taking public transport to and fro. It’s a hidden find, meaning it’s going to take you some time to walk / find the r

http://thechosenglutton.wordpress.com/2011/10/29/tenza-izakaya/

I must say, Tenza Izakaya: Sumibiyaki and Sake Bar is quite a mouthful! Try saying that out loud once and fast. Hah. I’ve decided to give this a try because I’ve never heard of this place in the West, and I was just browsing through for somewhere new to eat in, and saw this.

The trip there is going to be anal if you’re taking public transport to and fro. It’s a hidden find, meaning it’s going to take you some time to walk / find the restaurant somewhere in Sunset Way. Or well, it all depends on your navigation skills. I must say though, upon reaching, I was quite pleased with the whole set up. The indoor seatings were all bar-seats. So of course we had the outdoors’. It wasn’t too bad (unless you’re there in the afternoon, then it might be a different story), the lights, the dusk, the sky, the greens, coupled with its sleek black theme for the restaurant. It’s quite a comfortable feeling.

If I’m not mistaken, it’s sweet cabbage that they served as complimentary appetizer upon settling down. It doesn’t taste as bad as it looks (being a natural anti-most-veggie person) when matched with the sauce. You can most probably give it a try or two, it’s relatively safe for a veggie-hater too.

Green Apple Cooler ($5.80++) :: If it’s any possible, it actually tastes more cooling than its name. Love the shaved ice. Love the flavorful overall taste of it. Worth getting one to quench your thirst, especially if you just walked in from the train station / bus stop.

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Kaisen Yakimeshi ($6++) :: As always, fried rice served in Japanese Restaurants are presented so appetizingly. But, it’s nothing to rave about, nothing memorable. Give this a miss – order some other side dishes instead.

Enoki Maki ($2.40++) :: It’s that price for a stick of 4. I’d order this (golden mushroom + bacon) whenever and wherever possible. It’s like a combination of my favorite veggie and favorite meat. It’s pretty alright, although Ippudo Tao‘s rendition of it is definitely better. Despite so, it’s still passable.

Tako Aspara ($6.80++) :: As is very apparent, the portion isn’t very favorable. The Tako is amazing, not sure about the Asparagus – I can’t bring myself to have it. Not too bad a dish in a nutshell.

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Agedashi Tofu ($7.80++) :: One of the can’t-miss-out-ons whenever dining in a Japanese Restaurant. I thought the tofu didn’t manage to bring out a wholesome taste in it. Sakae Sushi’s version surpasses this in taste, in my opinion.

Aji ($24++) :: A very refreshing dish I thought! Not only of its taste, but also because it was brought back to the kitchen to receive a second treatment – deep fry (its bones). It’s like a 2-for-1 treat of the fish. The bones are crunchy, salty and light. Pretty awesome and worth trying!

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Ama Ebi Hotate Kakiage ($12.80++) :: One of the dishes with familiar names in it that you see in fastfood restaurants like Mos Burger, and also any Japanese eateries with deep-fried items. We thought to go for some classics, and well, it didn’t disappoint, neither did it impress.

Lamb Yaki ($7.80++) :: Not very generous in terms of the portion, is it Nevertheless, it was well-cooked, well marinated. Just that, lamb lovers like me wouldn’t be satisfied with just one small plate like this.

Service is definitely acceptable, or even better.
Very interestingly, they only recently brought in iPads as part of their menu supplement (they show the more popular dishes in the iPad menu). So while thinking of what to eat, you can play around with the scrolling and blown-up pictures of the food. Speaking of which, the menu is crazy, crazy, extensive. Over a hundred items in all, big, small, main, side, drinks. So yes, don’t go there when you’re already starving, because it’ll take you long to look through the packed menu.
Two things that didn’t make Tenza Izakaya excellent are mainly, firstly, its insufficient quantity of each dish, and secondly, that some, I guess it’s around 50/50, of its food are just about average and nothing special / spectacular. Maybe one of the problem is because they have too large a menu, too much to cope, who knows. Anyhows, it’s still a place worth trying, worth going.

(以上食評乃用戶個人意見 , 並不代表OpenRice之觀點。)

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用餐日期

2011-10-29

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$20 (晚餐)

EdEats

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Venturing into the heartland of Sunset Way's new-feel neighbourhood of five-foot ways lined with eateries and bars, we maneuvered our way through the old HDB estate to arrive at Tenza Izakaya, which just passed its 6-month birthday.

We changed our minds about sitting al fresco, and landed ourselves in front of Chef Donny's work area, perched on 2 high chairs, and overlooking a very open kitchen. It wasn't a very cool kitchen to peer into, but we still like to see our food prepped in front of us, and the 6 chefs in their different stations at work. Unfortunately, it was a fairly quiet night so some were just observing. With that, we just instructed Donny to "hit us" with his best shot. Even then, he was quite polite to tell us what he planned ahead of each course.

Some cold appetisers to get us started while we each ordered a Yuzu cooler and a cold Junmai Ginjyo to begin the ride.

Norwegian Salmon roe with cameos by threads of omelet.
Ankimo liver slice with a sharp Ponzu sauce.
Pregnant Kelp garnished wtih Bonito flakes.
Steamed Rape Blossoms with clams.

The appetisers were of good quality, although since not all of us were having sake, I might have gone with a more balanced selection that was not so heavy on salt. The 2 types of roes while enjoyable, can be overwhelming without alcohol, and detract from the liver and the sweetness of my favourite of the rape blossoms.

Assorted Sashimi Platter of Hirame, Shima Aji, Smoked Mackeral, Ark Shell Clam and Toro.
The Sashimi Platter was the winner of the evening. A good balance of lean to fatty, textures of crunch to creamy and of course, each very fresh having arrived the day before. Apparently they don't ship everyday, or they ship different items daily. Even then, good storage ensured that the cuts were delightful and each retaining their individual goodness.

Shirako (Cod milt or sperm) in clear soup.
The quality of the Cod Milt was fresh and creamy, but given that, I may not have selected soup as a platform to showcase this. In other places, my favourite is to tempura (just like enjoying fried milk), or lightly sear this to lend it a smoky flavour. Even sashimi with a Ponzu sauce would work. The soup unfortunately did not do it justice and for those not used to eating it, may cause a little squirminess.

Grilled Fish.
I forget the name of the fish that was grilled for us. It was an "ok" at best, since there wasn't much flavour to it, and the flesh was just a tad to firm.

Sakura Shrimplets
Chef Donny was also kind to offer us some Sakura shrimplets which can only be enjoyed for a short window before they are typically sun-dried and used for flavouring dishes. They were fresh-water sweet but because there is very little flesh, I thought the shells, etc. interfered with total enjoyment of the miniature crustaceans.

11-hour braised Kuro Buta Pork
My suspicion with this dish was unfortunately played out. Failing to seal the meat before braising or just over braising caused this to be shoestring tough. While the sauce was very hearty and tasty, the cooking process did not do the good pig justice, and only the bamboo and spinach garnishes were enjoyable.

Ume Onigiri
To end, we shared a rice ball stuffed with preserved plums and this is always a nice finish especially for Asians who love their rice. And the rice here is pretty decent, still fluffy and there was just enough plum to favour but not overwhelm.

Home-made Mochi dusted with icing malt sugar
The mochis were well done, very soft and chewy and came apart easily with a bite. I would have preferred a drizzle of Kuromitsu (brown sugar syrup) over this to give it a little more kick but otherwise the icing did little to enhance the quality of the mochi.

Home-made Goma ice cream
Just to add to our bursting waistlines, Donny wanted us to try his home-made Sesame ice cream. I'm generally not a fan of this flavour since it tends to leave an oily aftertaste, but I have to admit this was very good. Perhaps having bits of sesame (rather than grinding it too finely) lends bite while not allowing too much oil from the toasted seeds to mar the texture of the ice cream. Well executed.

Overall, a decent experience, and a casual place to enjoy fresh catches from the waters of Japan, in Singapore's favourite garb of casuals. Just don't come in your pajamas.

For the original post with photos, visit edeats.blogspot.com