After weeks of hard work, our team has finally reached a critical milestone. To celebrate this special moment and reward myself for the countless hours of overtime I’ve put in recently, I have booked a seat at Tempura Tenon for a little self-celebration tonight.
Tempura Tenon (天婦羅天御) is a restaurant that has been on my radar screen forever. Located on the 11th floor of L’Hart in Causeway bay just behind Sogo, the tempura specialist is helmed by head Chef Kai Wing, formerly of Japanese restaurant Iwanami.
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After arriving right on time at the counter-only Tempura Tenon, I was escorted to my seat. I quickly settled in quickly, but before I could even fully relax, my stomach was called upon for some early work.
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The first dish tonight was chawanmushi with sakura shrimps. I thought the top layer of green was a touch of wasabi but no.
The condiments tonight included some seaweed salt, curry salt, lemon and the usual tentsuyu.
Tiger prawn from Kagoshima (鹿兒島花竹蝦) — My dinner officially kicked off the best way with a nice and springy shrimp tempura. 👍🏻
Shrimp head — Crispy, flaky, and just perfect.
Splendid Alfonsino (金目鯛) — The splendid alfonsino from Shizuoka Prefecture (靜岡縣) came with some nice, crispy scales. Not bad.
Yellow and white corn 🌽 — The yellow and white corn from Hokkaido were tied together neatly. I almost couldn’t taste the batter here; it's that thin.
Sea urchin with shiso leaf — Lovely combination of sea urchin and shiso leaf where the uni and shiso leaf were wrapped in a thin, perfectly crispy batter like a bouquet. The shiso leaf flavor was pretty strong but not surprisingly, it worked incredibly well with the briny richness of the runny uni.
Horse mackerel (池魚) — I was curious how buttery, rich horse mackerel would fare with the thin batter, but this was actually more tasty than the splendid alfonsino tonight. (As a fan of kinmadai, I couldn’t believe I said that!)
There was a short break in the action when my server came over to present me with a small bowl of chilled corn soup.
Clam (大蜆) — The size of the clam caught me a little off guard.
I love the slightly chewy texture around the edges, and the burst of freshness was a welcome moment. Just a bit of lemon juice already made it incredibly delicious. This, along with the sea urchin and tiger prawn, are the top three items so far — in no particular order.
Hairy crab yuba roll — The hairy crab meat (sadly, no roes) worked well with the crispy tube made with yuba but the hint of black truffle never stood out. Instead, it was the acidity from the black vinegar taking center stage.
New potato (新薯) — I finally got the chance to use my curry salt and it was quite an interesting match. If I heard it right, the new potatoes from Nagasaki Prefecture (長崎縣) have been slow-fried for an hour!
The eight-course omakase menu has quietly reached its end, but I was invited to order more add-on items. Why not?
As Chef Kai Wing pointed out, Tempura Tenon is far from an old-school Japanese tempura restaurant. In fact, there are localized ingredients (mantis shrimp, cured fish roe, octopus just to name a few) that simply aren't available in more conventional tempura joints.
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Mantis shrimp ($75) — Springy with a nice crunch. A very different experience than the tiger prawn. Love it~
Maitake ($35) — Maitake is one of my favorites in any tempura meal thanks to its incredible texture. But this one was just OK, as I thought they trimmed it way too much.
As usual, the meal was finished with a small tendon (天丼) and pickles.
And then a red miso soup with a strong hint of ginger.
Dessert was melon to wrap it up. That was the most food I had in more than a month.
It was an incredible experience just sitting at the counter table watching Chef Kai Wing work. He’s animated and interactive with his customers, adding a level of cozy and intimate touch to the meal. I will definitely bring my tempura-loving son for my next visit.
Food Rating: 7.3/10
Price: $$$
Address: 11/F, L ‘Hart, 487-489 Lockhart Road, Causeway Bay, Hong Kong
Closest Metro Station: Causeway Bay
Tel: +852 6085-0243
Opening Hours: 12:00pm - 3:00pm, 7:00pm - 10:30pm (Thu - Tue)
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