Although Tendon Ginza Itsuki at Tanjong Pagar (the first shophouse beside Orchid Hotel) is new, the queue is long, very long, partly because there are few seats. The Japanese restaurant is under the Keisuke group which houses my favorite ramens. Here, they serve only tempura on rice, also known as ten-don. (Nothing to do with the muscle tendons.) And there are only 2 choices, special ($13.90) or vegetarian.

Of course we went for the meat. The tempura don comes with a chawanmushi that has a sweet sauce on the surface–kinda cheating but still delectable.

The rice bowl itself is brimming with ingredients, almost obscenely so that you require a side plate to put them to exhume the tempura egg. They mix the batter with the egg so the batter protects the yolk from being cooked, giving a molten sunshine.

The tempura items are not bad. Not greasy. The chicken tempura stands out because it is extremely tender and surprisingly tasty.

Including iced green tea ($3.80/pax), we paid $42 for two persons. Tip: come 10-15 minutes before opening hours to avoid waiting 30 minutes like us. Everyone must be present before they will seat you. But if you’re not hungry, and willing to wait for 30 minutes, the queue is worth it.

Tendon Ginza Itsuki

101 Tanjong Pagar Road Singapore 088522
T: +65 6221 6678
11.30am-2.30pm, 5.30pm-10pm

Service: 7.5/10
Decor: 7.5/10
Value: 8/10
Food: 7/10
Rating: 3.75/5

Written by A. Nathanael Ho.