One of the most memorable meals for my last trip to Tokyo in October was surprisingly at a chain tempura restaurant - Tendon Tenya. It could've been because the meal consisted of 2 of the most favorite components in Japanese cuisine - tempura and soba - but travel partner Jaslyn seemed really pleased with the meal as well.
Our meal at Tenya was a matter of convenience after shopping for tea at Tokyo Skytree's Lupicia branch (whose peach oolong you should really try). We were also obviously tempted by the signage of possibly cheap food!
Tenya has a nice selection of tempura with noodles or rice and combinations of whatever tempura you may possibly want. If it's not included in the meal you want, you could always add on one piece of tempura fish, prawns or vegetables.
My Tempura and (hot) Soba was much larger than expected with a soba portion that got me rather worried.
There's a piece each of prawn, squid, white meat fish, pumpkin and okra here. It's quite impossible to find such a large portion of tempura and soba for the RM equivalent of 720 yen and at this level of freshness too!
The tempura was fried to perfection, airy and crisp, the seafood was not overcooked - the squid was not at all rubbery - I was amazed.
Though the soba portion was frightening, it turned out to be the lightest-textured soba I've ever had. You'll keep eating and eating and before you know it, you'd have finished it. That's exactly what happened to us.
Look at that soba mountain! Jaslyn managed to finish it too in the end without feeling too bloated.
It was also at this restaurant that we discovered a togarashi that packed a spicier punch compared to other brands we had. I put quite a bit in my soup and boy did it spice up things! Jaslyn ended up stealing some of my warm soup that day as it was rather chilly that night. We found it at a supermarket that night and ended up bringing home a bottle each!
Tendon Tenya has many other branches in Tokyo and for such a decent meal, I wouldn't mind seeking out other branches to have my tensoba fix. English menus are available and they do takeaways as well.
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Tendon Tenya
1F, East Yard,
Solamachi Shotengai Shopping Street,
Tokyo Skytree