Tempura for my Japanese food fix

We all do have different food cravings at different times, don't we? For me,

it's like Korean this week and Japanese the next, with Mediterranean in between. Good thing there are now two Japanese restaurants near our office in Quezon City, one of them a branch of Tempura, to answer my Japanese food cravings. My friends/co-workers have been there a lot of times. Last week, my husband treated our family to lunch at another Tempura branch - at SM Mall of Asia (MOA) - to celebrate our third child's graduation. Like me and my friends, my hubby and kids enjoyed the food!
What we've tried so far at Tempura:

                            Mixed Sushi and Sashimi Boat, P650.  
    

Sashimi is my No. 1 favorite Japanese food and sushi is No. 2. Was I glad to have both in a boat! My bestie in the office ordered this as her treat for me on my birthday last year. Isn't she the best buddy one could ever have? Everything on 
this cute little boat was fresh and delicious!

Tempura Bento, P295.
One time, my bestie and I did some twinning, and we both ordered the tempura bento. Included in the set are miso soup, kani salad, shrimp and vegetable tempura, 
rice and two pieces California maki.

Miso soup; Kani salad

Executive Lunch, P399.
Another friend who was celebrating her birthday treated us one time and all three of us in our group ordered the Executive Lunch. The main entree here has several choices including ebi tempura, tori, and tonkatsu. The set comes with miso soup, kani salad, two pieces California maki, yakisoba and rice. It's a lot! All three of us weren't 
able to eat everything and had some for take out.

Seafood Ramen, P275.
One afternoon, I was at Tempura for merienda with another group of friends and we decided to order two kinds of ramen which the three of us shared. This seafood bowl looks very tempting, I know, but I wish someone told the chef to go easy on the shaker becoz the broth was too salty! This could have been the perfect, healthy merienda with all those veggies 
and seafood but too much salt ruined it.

Tonkatsu Ramen, P310.
This one did justice to our afternoon trip to Tempura because it was really good! The soup was hot, comforting and flavorful. It's less healthy than the seafood ramen because of the pork but all the right flavors that delighted our taste buds banished every tinge of guilt. 

California Maki, P145.
Whether for lunch or merienda, maki is one of my comfort foods. At Tempura, they make good maki. The rice is of the right texture - not dry nor too sticky. And freshly made. Yum, yum!

Gyoza, P129.

I'm not a fan of gyoza but my bestie ordered this together with the sushi boat so dig in, I did. Surprisingly, I liked this one as it tasted great! Gyoza is Japanese-style dumpling but it's originally from China where it is called jiaozi. It has meat (pork, usually) and veggies like cabbage, scallions and ginger. Though subtle in flavor, Tempura's version is delicious -- juicy 

on the inside, chewy on the outside. I loved it!

Matcha Cheesecake

I don't always order dessert because I cut back on sugar. But one time, my friend ordered this cheesecake. There were three of us who shared a slice and it bawled us over! It was sooo good though really sweet! Nothing of any bitter green tea taste, if that is your fear, but very rich, creamy and saccharine. My friends and I agreed it would have been best to have with coffee but sadly, caffeine isn't on the menu at Tempura. I can't remember exactly how much this cheesecake 

was but it's around P140/slice. Not bad if you want the 

perfect thing to satisfy your sweet tooth!

Meanwhile, there are special all-you-can-eat offers for lunch and afternoon snacks at Tempura. For lunch, it is priced at P499 per head. This was what our family had last week. One may choose one main entree or Signature Dish such as ebi tempura (five pieces), gyudon and ramen, then have unlimited sushi, yakisoba, rice (both plain and fried), yakitori, and others. Add P30 and you may also have bottomless drinks such as juices and fruit shakes.

Photo from Tempura's FB page.

What we had for the All-you-can-Eat Lunch:

Signature Dishes:

Ebi Tempura

Ramen

Gyudon

Our "unlimited"

Kani Salad

Yakitori

Crispy Crab Flakes

Sushi

More sushi

This pork with mushrooms and onions dish was really good! It was sweet and very tasty. 
Too bad I forgot what this was called.

From 2-5 p.m., there's the Snack All You Can priced at only P249. You may have one Signature Dish from the five choices then have "unlimited" rice, iced tea and side dishes such as kani salad, yakisoba and maki. I had this one time and it really filled me to the brim! Talk about bang for the buck and this was it! I chose to have ebi tempura (two pieces) and rice and was also given a hefty serving of yakisoba, a plateful of sushi that included eight pieces of California maki, kani salad, miso soup and a glass of iced tea. A whole lot of food indeed! I only ate about one-third of everything, and the server was kind enough to let me share the leftovers with my friends even if that's supposed to be not allowed under their promo rules.

My Snack All You Can meal:

Menu

Menu

Inside Tempura-Visayas Ave.

Tempura on Visayas Ave., Diliman, Quezon City


Tempura is definitely one of my go-to places when it comes to sushi, tempura and other Japanese food. Their offers are mostly good and affordable, the restaurant is clean, service is fast and the servers, friendly and attentive. There are many other branches in the metro so find one near you. Aside from those in Visayas Ave. and MOA, there are also stores on UN Ave. in Manila, Alabang Town Center, Trinoma and Banawe. There are even branches in SM Pampanga, 
SM Cabanauan and SM Cebu.Find one near you, folks!

Happy eating!