Tendon Kohaku serves Japanese tendon (tempura donburi), a bowl topped with crispy beautiful tempura on a bed of rice, drizzled with their special kohaku sauce. This brand of restaurant was created by two Japanese food giant corporations Nadai Fujisoba (the largest soba chain in Japan) and Kings Know Group who owns a variety of restaurant brand in Japan including tendon, pizzeria, pasta café, Japanese Izakaya. There are two Tendon Kohaku branches in the lower mainland, Howe street in downtown Vancouver and the latest edition at Rosser avenue in Burnaby.

Unfortunately Tendon Kohaku does not take reservations, it is a first come first serve system, the line ups can be long so I suggest you come very early to get your spot.

If you don’t have time to wait in line, Tendon Kohaku now offers food delivery service through third party apps!

Tendon Kohaku price range from $15-$21 for their set menu items.

WHAT I ATE

Anago Tendon – Original Sauce $20.95

This bowl is the main star of the restaurant, the one special ingredient that comes with this is the anago (salt-water eel). It’s not the same type of eel that they serve in sushi restaurants. It comes with 1 Anago, 2 Prawns, chicken, 2 beans, shiitake mushroom, lotus root, soft fried egg. The most outstanding ingredients of this bowl are the delicious anago and soft fried egg, they use a soft boiled egg and then lightly fry it in a light batter with the runny yolk. The Anago Tendon bowl is a must try!

Hokkaido Milk Tea $6.25

Freshly brewed with organic black tea, I was surprised how good this milk tea tasted for a tempura shop. It can be sweet for some people’s taste nut not unbearable.

Miso Soup

Sashimi Aimori Tendon – Spicy Sauce $18.95

I wanted to try something different other than a full plate of tempura, this sort of reminded me of poke bowl. I enjoy eating fried foods with sashimi, it was quite refreshing after a few bites of tempura, it can rinse your palate from the oil. It comes with 2 prawns, chicken, kabocha pumpkin, 2 beans, tuna, salmon, scallop, ikura (salmon roe). The spicy sauce wasn’t that spicy, at least for my taste buds, it gives a subtle hint of spice. This is another popular dish that they serve.

Japanese Strawberry Cheesecake

Japanese soft cheesecake served with house made strawberry coulis. This is unlike the type of cheesecake that we know of, it’s very soft and creamy, almost like a mousse. Mix it with the strawberry puree it becomes a delicious treat.

Final Thoughts

This was a unique dining experience, I’m a big fan of this restaurant, the restaurant environment is good, the food tastes great, awesome crunchy tempura and they offer many variations in the menu. Their secret Kohaku sauce taste amazing with so much umami flavor. Definitely recommend you to taste their food, it’s a must try.

Address: 1901 Rosser Ave #106b, Burnaby, BC V5C 6R6