Temaki (photo by RUDY LIWANAG)

When a typical Pinoy enters a Japanese restaurant, one of the first things that he looks for in the menu is the tempura. And this dish is faultlessly represented in a restaurant chain called, er, Tempura Japanese Grill. There are several varieties of this batter-fried dish, including the regular Ebi Tempura, Mixed Seafood Tempura (a combo of prawn, squid, fish, and crabsticks), Kani Tempura (crabsticks), Kakiage Tempura (veggies with shrimp and squid), and the tantalizing, diet-blowout of a kiddie pleaser called the Ebi Chizu (prawn with cheese). 

But for those who want their seafood to come packed with a punch, then the Ebi Wasabi is the perfect choice. This dish is made up of really meaty and crunchy prawns that are seasoned with just a light touch of wasabi to tickle the palate and keep your chopsticks reaching for more.       

There are other dishes on the menu that are also classified as crowd pleasers. These include their hot soup starters such as the Seafood Ramen which comes with shrimp, squid and shells; and their slurp-tastic Sukiyaki. 

The teppanyaki choices are exciting, with the Gyu Wafu Steak (beef tenderloin with veggies and mushrooms in a special teppanyaki sauce); and the interesting Hotatu Teppanyaki, which is actually sizzling scallops and asparagus! For filling rice dishes, their donburi options are also good choices. Aside from the usual pork, beef, and chicken, in the form of Katsudon, Gyudon, and Tori Teriyakidon, they have eels (Unagidon), prawn patties (Ebi Hamburg Katsudon), and a tender Yakitoridon.

Those who want lunch strong and spicy can choose from the items on the curry page, which include a Curry Gomoku Yakisoba (curry noodles with pork, ika, and shrimp); Beef Curry Rice (beef tenderloin strips with veggies covered in curry sauce); and the Gyu Hamburg Curry Rice (a burger patty with their special curry sauce with a fried egg and veggies on the side).

Of course, Tempura has a lineup of sushi and sashimi as well, with their sushi conveniently rolled into balls for easy dip-and-pop action. Customers who cannot make up their minds would do well to order the Temari sushi, which is sort of like a sampler of ika, maguro, ebi, sake, and kani balls stuffed with crunchy salmon bits. The Temaki is not for the faint of heart, as they are large cones of seaweed stuffed to the brim with choices of raw seafood or the ever-popular California seafood-and-mango blend.

For something different, there are Japanese “pizzas” at selected Tempura branches, the Tonkatsu Megumi Tortilla (tonkatsu pops, kani cubes, and veggies sprinkled liberally with cheese), and the Umi Takara Tortilla, which is made of seafood bits on a 9-inch Tortilla bed, covered with a mouth-tingling wasabi mayo sauce and smothered with double cheese.