Covid-19 be damned — competition for affordable Japanese food in Singapore is getting stiffer. The latest entrant is casual Japanese tendon (tempura on rice) chain Tempura Tendon Tenya, which boasts 226 stores across the world. The Tokyo-born eatery opened today (15 Oct) at Orchard Central.

It gives other tendon chains such as Tendon Kohaku and Tendon Ginza Itsuki in Singapore a run for its money — in contrast, the seafood tempura bowls at most tendon places in Singapore cost between $15-$20.

The franchise was brought here by Japanese restaurant operator Royal Holdings Co and local restaurant operator Yotei Pte. Ltd. They plan to open more Tenya stores next year.

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Tenya is tucked at the corner of Orchard Central’s basement 1 (where Jack’s Place used to be). The interior is clean and inviting, with panelled walls designed to mimic Japanese fabrics, a shelf filled with ceramic bowls, and warm wood tones. The piece de resistance is the LED ceiling display above the long communal table in front of the kitchen, which features calming shots of nature to set the scene.

Typically, a paper chit with a QR code leading to Tenya’s online digital platform will be passed to you once you’re seated, where you can place your orders (this system will likely be up and running by month end). The restaurant typically seats 68 diners, and can now seat around 50 with current social distancing measures.

A big plus is the good ventilation here, that keeps the smell of grease and smoke out of the dining area completely. So no clothes that reek of oil after a meal here.

All the ingredients used — from seafood to soba — are either imported from Japan, or sourced from Japanese-owned farms in the region that also supply the Tenya outlets in Japan.

What stands out is how precise and controlled the cooking processes are, from their special automatic fryer to the rice dispensing machine that portions bowls down to the gram.

Most tempura places have two separate fryers for meat and vegetables, but Tenya uses only one — we’re told both the raw vegetables and meat are sliced in a way such that they all require the same cooking time and oil temperature inside the automatic fryer. This special $40,000 fryer is made in Japan, and patented solely for Tenya restaurants. The automatic fryer is made such that the canola oil is able to evaporate from it, allowing for the oil to be topped up rather than replaced, without it going rancid.

A chef is still required to dip each ingredient into the temperature-controlled batter, but the conveyor belt within the fryer takes care of the rest, delivering crisp tempura out the other side in about two minutes. Cool.

Tenya’s dining floor is supported by two adorable robots — both called Peanut — that help to deliver meals from kitchen to table. Sensor-navigated and pre-programmed with a map of the space, Peanut hums a chipper tune as it rolls up to the table. After the trays are removed from its “belly” by the waiter on standby, a wave of the hand sends it back to the kitchen.

Peanut’s job is to support the floor staff by cutting short trips from the kitchen and back — plus, it’s pretty cute. Peanut is bilingual too — it speaks both English and Mandarin.

Tenya’s menu features rice bowls with Aomori rice, tempura sets that come with soba or udon, as well as sides and desserts. All items except for the sides and desserts are served with complimentary miso soup.

The tendons are priced under $13 — with the priciest being the Seafood Tendon at $12.90 and the cheapest being the $7.90 Mushroom Vegetables Tendon. In terms of noodle options, Tenya swaps the rice out for either hot or cold soba and udon.

For the most bang for your buck, we recommend getting their Set Meals — which comes with both rice and noodles. Starting at $9.90, the set meals allow you to select your tendon, rice portion, choice of hot or cold noodles, and noodle portion - the lowest priced set is the mushroom vegetables tendon set with noodles, which is $7.90 + $2.

If you opt for less rice (130g instead of 180g), you get $0.50 off your meal. The reverse applies for an extra 70g portion of rice.

The umami tare (sweet thickened soy sauce spiked with sake, mirin and dark brown sugar) that’s drizzled over the rice and tempura ties it all together. It also includes grilled eel essence - this is the key ingredient that differentiates their tare from others. Developed with Tenya’s partner soy sauce-maker Kinoene Shoyu from Japan, the tare strikes a balance between sweet and savory, and drapes the rice and tempura well without being too overwhelming. For the tare to maintain just the right viscosity and flavour, it’s kept between 29 to 31°C in the kitchen. Talk about precision.

The Premium Tendon comprises two pieces of tiger prawn, squid, kani kama (Japanese crab stick), pumpkin, lotus root and French beans.

The squid stands out — tender and melty, contrasting well with the light, crispy batter made of filtered water and a special wheat blend from Japan’s Nisshin Seifun Group (the country’s top flour producer). The plump, sweet tiger prawns are good too, and we enjoyed the lotus root for its sturdy crunch. All the tempura, from the veggies to the seafood, is well-fried — light and crisp without being greasy — and is consistent across the bowls of firm, pearly rice.

The tendon is served with just a light drizzle of tare, but extra dispensers of tare and their special togarashi (Japanese spice mixture) blend are provided as well for diners to decide on how much sauce and seasoning they want with their rice.

We recommend adding a sprinkle of togarashi spice powder. Made with a special blend of roasted red pepper, fresh red pepper, sansho pepper, black sesame seeds and mandarin orange peel, Tenya’s togarashi adds a fragrant kick that pairs well with the sweet tare.

Tenya serves Inaniwa Udon, which is thinner and flatter compared to the chubbier sanuki udon found in most Japanese restaurants. Their noodles are super slippery with a good bounce — get the cold option for maximum bite. A refreshing complement to all that fried food.

The signature Tenya Tendon has five tempura pieces: black tiger prawn, red fish, squid, pumpkin, and French beans. The red fish is pleasantly firm and mildly sweet — though at $2.40 for an extra two pieces of tempura, we’d pick the Premium Tendon instead.

Tenya’s vegetarian tendon has seven types of tempura: shiitake mushrooms, shimeji mushrooms, enoki mushrooms, sweet potato, lotus root, pumpkin, and French beans. We got ours with hot udon, which comes in a light savoury dashi-based broth and still maintains a lovely chew (though not as QQ as the cold udon).

Also from the same supplier that makes Tenya’s Inaniwa udon noodles, the soba noodles are contain a mix of buckwheat and wheat flour, and come in both hot and cold options. The cold soba is cooled twice after cooking — first in a 9°C water bath and then in a 3.5°C ice bath. This allows the noodles to retain a pleasant springiness, which is usually absent in your typical Japanese family restaurant in Singapore.

Surprisingly, we like the hot soba better, which is served in a tsuyu-based (concentrated stock made from katsuobushi bonito flakes) broth. Reminds us of the slurp-worthy bowls of soba we’ve had during winter in Japan.

Using dairy products from Tokachi, Tenya’s Hokkaido soft serve is a great epilogue to the meal. Light and creamy, the soft serve has a very familiar aftertaste that we couldn’t quite pinpoint at first — finally, we decided that the sweet, lingering milky notes reminded us of White Rabbit Candy. Quite worth it for $2. If you’re just passing through the area, you can pop by to get the ice cream to go.

Light, crispy tempura that’s cheaper compared to the more popular tendon joints in town. We like how you have a choice of opting for chewy udon or soba instead of rice here, too.

Tempura Tendon Tenya is at #B1-01 Orchard Central, 181 Orchard Rd. Open daily 11am to 10pm (last orders at 9.30pm). Walk-ins only. https://tenya.com.sg/.

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Photos by Kelvin Chia