NYE 2022 — buta tama tendon + seafood tendon ($33.80++)!
Tanjong Pagar Japanese NYE dinner: buta tama tendon (pork and egg tempura rice bowl) and seafood tendon with prawn and vegetable tempura, chawanmushi and miso soup.
NYE 2022 date at the Tanjong Pagar Japanese place. Buta tama tendon + seafood tendon, $33.80++. 😋
What was on the table:
- Buta tama tendon: tempura-battered pork slices piled over rice with a tempura egg, asparagus spear standing in the stack
- Seafood tendon: prawn tempura (tail up), fish, vegetable and asparagus tempura over rice, the tare drizzled through
- Chawanmushi cups: the steamed egg custard side
- Miso soup bowls + a small pickled starter
Tendon (天丼) is tempura’s rice-bowl format: the battered pieces stacked over rice and dressed with the sweet-soy tare so the batter bottoms soak while the tops stay crisp. The architecture matters: pieces leaned upright against each other, never laid flat, so steam escapes instead of softening everything.
Buta tama tendon is the pork-lover’s variant: thin pork slices fried in tempura batter (lighter than tonkatsu’s panko), crowned with a tempura soft egg. Break the egg and the yolk runs down through the stack into the rice, turning the bottom third of the bowl into the best part.
The seafood bowl covered the classic roster: snappy prawn, clean white fish, sweet vegetables, the batter blonde and crisp rather than greasy.
Chawanmushi + miso rounding out the set is the mark of a proper tendon-ya set meal rather than a fast-food don.
NYE dinner logic: tempura on the last day of the year is accidentally traditional (toshikoshi customs aside, fried food and celebration travel together in any culture).
Overall: 4.5 / 5. New year tempura don date done right. 😋👍🏼 The tempura egg yolk flood was the standout moment. Would return for the buta tama alone.
