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First and foremost, Tentatsu is again much of the same sushi type fare you get in Vancouver so cross this off your list if you're expecting serious quality.
Its frenetic pace is a little overwhelming as you wait for a table and does get a little too cozy for my liking but once you're seated you go at your own pace.
Rolls are the popular choices here so obviously we load up on the usual schtick: Cali, scallop, spicy tuna, specialty rolls, etc. We topped it off with some chicken karaage and crab motoyaki. Rolls are of decent quality, not too big and the rice was good. I found the imitation crab on the bland side, lacking mayo (and I don't like a lot of mayo). Karaage was boneless and mouth burning but also too salty while the motoyaki was incredibly rich, though the little scallops they put in there were cold, contrary to the rest of the ingredients in there.
Service does require a quick hand gesture if you aren't able to order right away but by and large everything is speedy from floor staff to kitchen.
Prices are really good and the food isn't too bad. Good value for the non-sushi snobs.
We were trying to go for some laksa at Bo Laksa King just down the street but unfortunately it was closed. We ended up here instead.
The restaurant was clean and has several Japanese style booths. There was quite a bit of seating for such a small place.
We ordered a bunch of dishes including a spicy tuna cone, dynamite roll, spicy agedashi tofu, gomae, a few pieces of salmon and tuna nigiri, avocado roll, chicken yakitori and gyoza. All the dishes were good especially the gyoza which are made in-house. The salmon was farmed but my fault for not asking beforehand. The nigiri pieces were much larger than average.
The bill came to just over $30 which considering all the dishes we ordered, I thought was pretty reasonable. I will return if I am in the area and craving sushi.
This place was fantastic. I went with 3 girlfriends afterwork for an early dinner. It is busy, but my friend said there always seems to be one table and there was! The decor was fine for a normal Japanese restaurant.
The service was quick and the food excellent. Tempura was a little greasy but crispy and there were ALOT of pieces in an order. The rolls were done well especially the dynamite roll that had at least 2 fried shrimps. Also loved the inari and sunumono. If I lived closer I'd go every week. Try it, but save me at table. The value was incredible. The people who said it was expensive must normally eat at the AYCE or $1.99 sushi places.
I am pretty disappointed with this restaurant because of their food and their pricing.
Service: Fair
I can’t really comment on their service since I only ordered takeout from them. But from my experience of paying them and waiting for my order, they were friendly enough. My order also arrived at the time they said it would so this is another plus.
Food: Disappointing
I have never been to a Japanese restaurant where the rolls fall apart before I even touch them until now. Their rolls are not properly made and fall apart inside the takeout box. I have ordered takeout from other Japanese restaurants and they have never once fallen apart. Aside from their improperly made rolls, I find that the size of their rolls is also quite small. For the small size, the rolls do not taste noticeably better compared to other Japanese restaurants.
Value: Pricey
The price they charge for their food is a bit pricey given the small portion size of their food.
Ambiance: Neat
I have nothing to complain about the ambiance of this place. It’s clean, spacious, and has nice decorations, just like many other Japanese restaurants.
Overall: Bad
This place is not horrible but I would not recommend this place due to their food and value. After all, there are better Japanese restaurants elsewhere.
I have read the reviews and thought I would try out this place.
I had a lunch special and was a little bit shocked. It seems like it was chinese people that opened up this japanese restaurant for white people.
I had a chicken udon. The chicken had been in the soup of days, with onions in the soup to drown out the chicken taste. The tempura was all fried up like sweet & sour pork you get from the chinese food stand.
The sashimi was good, but it wasn't the best quality. For the price, I think it's an okay place.
Will go back to try out other stuff.
This place is always busy and for good reason. They serve up generous portions of solid Japanese food. Sure it may not be pure authentic Japanese food but it tastes good and the value is amazing. Especially for this day and age where other restaurants are furiously rising prices, Tentatsu's price went up a tiny bit but is still crazy good value, plus there is a 10% discount for take-out AND they deliver. I highly recommend the dynamite roll, it's like a giant roll, stuffed with 2 shrimp and a piece of yam tempura, with masago on the outside. They offer good combinations for lunch that are a bargain and let you sample a bit of their menu. The lunch munch combo at $6.95 came with iceburg salad, 4 pieces of california roll, 4 slices of Salmon terriyaki, appetizer sized tempura, couple of orange slices, rice, miso soup AND sunomono. The terriyaki salmon is delicious here. Not every food item was to my liking but that is normal for me I am picky, for some reason the tempura dripped oil, but I simply stripped away the batter, and just enjoyed the larger tempura pieces. I also wasn't fond of the california roll but I am just picky and not a fan of california roll in general, here the filling was too pasty. The oyako don with chicken and egg is priced at $4.99! It was delicious with again a generous portion and I loved the addition of glass noodles which soaked up the sauce and were tasty. Most of their appetizers hover around the $3 range. I love that they offer grilled mushrooms. Cheap with decent edible food and massive portions Tetatsu is a true gem. Eating here is also cheaper than AYCE with a calmer friendlier atmosphere. There are heaps of pseudo-Japanese places but Tentatsu is one of the best if not the best of the bunch.
Went with my son and his partner to lunch close by their apartment. They had been here, and said it was "pretty OK". All that education for THAT little vocabulary...
It was rockin' at noon on Saturday. We were seated immediately, and tea arrived shortly after. Son and partner split yam and prawn tempura, spinach goma-ae, tuna sashimi and two dynamite rolls. I ordered tempura katsu-don. Because I thought the serving might be smaller for the 6.95 price, I also ordered agedashi tofu. Son and I also had miso soup.
Food arrived promptly, in no particular order. Tuna sashimi was cut in rather large chunky pieces, but the fish was fresh. Spinach goma-ae arrived as cooked whole spinach leaves with a grey-ish sesame dressing dolloped on top. It tasted fine, but the whole pieces of spinach were awkward. Agedashi tofu was excellent, tempura was lovely - batter fresh and light, no "old oil" taste. Dynamite rolls were nicely balanced. The pork cutlet on top of rice with onion and egg was very tasty.
Three adults ate all they could and took home enough for another meal! Cost was extremely reasonable for the amount and quality of food.
Not a bad neighbourhood Japanese casual restaurant. I would go again.
Our usual sushi joint closes on Sunday so we decided to venture out to this neighbourhood resto based on positive reviews on dinehere. As the saying goes, to each his own, and this is one run-of-the-mill Chinese owned/operated pseudo-Japanese resto that I will not be frequenting in the future.
Food: Massive menu. Ginormous rolls especially the dynamite roll which consisted with- not two- but THREE battered prawns. The size was definitely impressive but the taste was all prawns and lack lustre. The tempura was heavily battered and possibly fried in semi-hot oil as the taste was greasy and pieces were hardened. The low grade sushi rice defined the sub-par meal. It was mushy, tasteless, and unfortunately used in over abundance. So much rice was used in the maki's that it overwhelmed the taste of the fish or any other ingredients. The toro sashimi on special was fairly good for its price point ($5.95 for 5 pcs) but lacked the creaminess found in higher grade cuts. Of all the dishes that we ordered, the most enjoyable was the agedashi tofu - perfectly fried yet retained its silky smooth interior.
Service: Solid, yet there wasn't anything extraordinary to note. The female servers were attentive, courteous and efficient. About 10 minutes between order time and the arrival of our first appetizer. Food came quickly and dishes were cleared. Hot genmaicha green tea was served. We were in and out in 45 minutes.
Value: great value if you're into rice filled, enormous maki's. The dynamite roll was a meal in itself and quite the steal at $3.25. We were over stuffed and doggy bagged the rest home. $35 including tax and tips for two people. Definitely cheaper than AYCE, with equally comparable quality. If presented with either choice, I would choose this place because you're less likely to overeat and the service is much better.
Ambiance: uncomfortable banquette seating on the main side with some private 'tatami-esque" private booths on the opposing wall. Three 4-seater tables with new looking chars situated in the middle of the dining area. Splashy walls lined with Japanese prints, yukata's and fans criss-crossed throughout. No sushi bar. Quite a few families in tonight and they seem to specialize in brisk take-out business. Restaurant seats about 60 patrons.
For the undiscerning.
I live just a few blocks away from Tentatsu and thus have been there many times... and while it is my local favorite, I will also often forgo sushi in other parts of the city to return home to my favorite.
Here are the highlights:
Rolls are all pretty solid and very reasonably priced... as are the gyoza, agedashi tofu, gomae and such.
Spicy tuna sashimi is comparatively dirt cheap and SOOO delicious. In fact, I usually ask for an extra order of their spicy sauce and end up dipping basically everything else I order in it.
Their beef yakisoba is VERY large... enough to split between 4 - 6 people as a side dish, and again, well priced. Under $10, I believe.
Staff is always very friendly... ambience is nice and they are open until 10pm, 7 days a week.
Worth going out of your way for!!!
I've lived in this neighbourhood for some time but never really thought twice about this restraunt, as I usually go to the drive or davie street for sushi. However, recently I have been noticing that Tentatsu is quite busy all the time, so I thought something good must be going on here ( and we could really use a decent resonablly healthy restraunt in the neighbourhood!)
Tentatsu is not as cheap as commercial drive sushi, HOWEVER, the portions of sushi and sashimi are HUGE. The sushi arrives on really long plates and it is colourful, fun and inviting to eat. This restraunt has a large menu with a few things on it that make it slightly more interesting than your run of the mill sushi restraunt.
I tried the gomae which was a good sized potion, it was slightly more "saucy" then the usual but still enjoyable. The Tuna Tataki was really good with what i think was bonito flakes on it and a nice tasting dipping sauce. The California roll was decent and was a huge portion;. I look forward to trying the blackened cod, baked oysters and what looked like buckweat soba noodles.
As for ambiance, I had a cute friendly waitress with sparky glasses who was attentive and efficient. The restraunt is not huge and its private booths are a bit awkard (but are fun when your with friends). I was seated at a tabe next to another lone diner, as there were not any other availble tables. However, she was just as excited as I was about the colouful oversized sushi and was taking a photo of the colourful display !
Large portioned sushi is not for everyone (as it tends not to be as refined as the more delicately prepared), but this restraunt is fun and it is a great addition to the neightbourhood.I look forward to trying some of the more diverse items on the menu!
This place is a real bargain. It can be quite busy so be prepared to wait but the service is really good, especially considering they could probably use a few more staff members during the rushes. By no means is this the best sushi in the city but the quality is good, the portions are large and the price is very fair. The sashimi is good and very big, would totally recommend this place if your in the area.
Since Tentatsu is about a block from my school, I tend to visit quite often, and am usually pretty satisfied. My favourite choices are the dynamite rolls, which are absolutely HUGE for the price (I think it's only 3.50 or something like that) and are filled with prawn tempura, yam, avacado, and cucumber. Very tasty. I also really enjoy their beef tatake, and like how they allow you to 'season' it yourself by adding things on the side.
My only issue is that the service tends to be a little slow sometimes, and they can forget if you order a lot, but other than that, everything is pretty good. I enjoy bringing friends here, so I recommend it.
This is where I get my sushi on a regular basis in the PNE area. Avoid coming in when the open (11am) because they always seem behind the ball or maybe the demand is too high, so the service really suffers if you're impatient.
Ambiance is lacking, but the interior is colourful.
They have good bento box deals and good rolls - average pricing, but $2.55 for 8 pieces of yam tempera can't be beat!
I wish they'd clean their tables more thoroughly.
I've been here a few times, it's a decent Japanese restaurant in the area. This place is Chinese operated, it's nice and quiet. =) The price is average/good for what you get, and depending on what you order, the bill can get expensive. Went as a party of 5 for dinner in March, bill came to around $250. Satisfied.
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