When you see “tendon” on a menu in a Japanese restaurant, it doesn’t refer to connective tissue. Tendon is short for tempura donburi or tempura rice bowl. Tendon Tempura Carlos Jr. recently opened in Old Town Torrance. My wife and I recently paid them a visit.
The restaurant’s name is from the chef, Carlos Pinto. His last job was at Hannousuke, a restaurant in the Mitsuwa Marketplace food court in Torrance. Pinto’s tempura recipe is modeled on the secret tempura batter he loved while living in Japan.
Unlike most Japanese restaurants that serve a small dish of pickled cabbage, we received two medium-size jars. One contained sliced celery that was pickled and infused with sesame oil. The other contained pickled sushi ginger, the type that you would receive when you order sushi.
The menu is focused exclusively on tempura which is usually included in a dinner set. There are no appetizers or desserts available. If you are vegetarian, you have to individually select each piece of vegetarian tempura on the “extras” page. I hope they consider offering vegetarian tempura with soba.
Their tempura is quite good. Unlike many other Japanese restaurants, the batter is crisp and not soggy or greasy. Pinto uses sesame oil made from Japanese sesame seeds. In his opinion, it gives the tempura superior flavor. Wakame (seaweed) elevates the miso soup and egg tempura is included in the regular tempura tendon dish. The soft boiled egg is broken over the rice and mixed in.
Because I sought variety, I selected the tempura and soba set. Soba is available hot or cold; I happen to like dipping chilled soba noodles into the sauce and enjoying the flavors. The soba sauce had a nice flavor and wasn’t too salty. Soba has an added health benefit in that it is gluten-free.
Tendon Tempura Carlos Jr. has a wine and beer license. Sapporo, sake, and shochu are available. My wife had a glass of Sapporo and I selected sake. The style of the sake was junmai ginjo (a premium pure rice sake with no additives) and was quite smooth.
The restaurant is open from 11 a.m. – 9 p.m. If you plan to visit soon, I suggest you go before the crowds arrive. The staff is still attempting to find a comfortable stride.
Tendon Tempura Carlos Jr., 1510 Cabrillo Ave, Torrance, CA 90501; 424.488.2313
IG: @tempuracarlosjr