Tentatsu (2nd visit)

FIRST POST ON TENTATSU [HERE]

Rice on sale?

I admit, other than being picky having a sensitive palette, I am big on service and when it comes to revisiting an average restaurant based on convenience, I do not mind. However, if the service was not so great then I am fussy when it comes to revisiting because, well, the food was just average. This was the case for Tentatsu.

The restaurant serves average eats as well as good portions and for the price, is more than reasonable. As for the service, I was not too pleased with the last visit because our waitress kept pushing us to combine almost every dish which did not make any sense since all plates were practically full. Also to reminisce a high school memory of mine, the "Awesome Roll" which I believe is Sushi Town's creation, was written correctly on the menu but made wrong. In a way it is like… for a restaurant to copy someone else's roll (which is fine), at least make it correctly right?

Asides from my personal reasons for not wanting to revisit, my friend has wanted to for a while and since none of the Japanese restaurants seemed appealing to us on Hastings Street, we revisited.

Tentatsu has a few booth seats along the wall, tables in the centre and room seating is available as well.

MANGO AND AVOCADO ROLL ($3.55).

Mango and avocado, what can go wrong for those who love both Asides from the use of canned mango… Kishimoto. The roll consists of fresh, ripe mango and avocado with sesame as well as roasted seeds. The mango and avocado roll tastes slightly sweet as well as creamy and is one of the healthier options. If anything, the slices of avocado are a bit mushy but at a restaurant like this, there is no need to complain. Plus, the mushiness does not ruin the roll whatsoever.

CLAM MISO SOUP, LARGE ($3.95).

The asari miso soup comes with a good amount of clams which are unfortunately way overcooked. The clams stuck to the shell and were impossible to get off. Although for the couple of pieces (not clams) that I managed to pry out (with my fingers LOL), it was not worth the trouble since the parts taste rubbery and not good. Asides from the clams, the asari miso has a bit of seaweed as well as diced tofu and a light hint of miso soup.

SOFT SHELL CRAB ($6.95). The soft shell crab is served on an extra large plate with a ton of fried wonton crisps. Fortunately for us, the soft shell crab is barely battered and tastes juicy, moist and meaty. Pretty damn good.

AMAEBI ($1.55), TORO ($1.55), SALMON ($1.25), UNAGI ($1.75), TAMAGO ($0.99) AND HAMACHI ($2.25). UNI ($2.50).
Was there a sale on rice? To think that Sushi & serves so much rice for nigiri… well, this is double! If my first visit had this much rice, I would not have ordered any nigiri. However to be fair, when we cut off a bit more than half the amount of rice for each piece, it was not that big of an issue (despite complaining about having to do that). Asides from noticing the ultra generous amount of rice, we also noticed that we were given uni instead of unagi. After confirming with our waitress, she took the plate and brought it back with uni. Fortunately there was not too much unagi sauce on the plate and it did not ruin the uni (fussy eater).

Everything is pretty generic and the sushi tastes fresh. Also, I appreciate the proper lower body portion of the tuna that is served and the whole slices of uni rather than broken pieces. If anything, the proper hamachi cut is served as well which is more than I can say for Sushi Bella that charged $3.00/piece! For those who do not prefer a heavy amount of rice, I recommend asking for less rice when ordering. I would probably do that if I choose to revisit again.

DELUXE SASHIMI, HOKKIGAI, TORO, HAMACHI, AMAEBI, SABA, TUNA AND SALMON ($14.95). 

The order of sashimi is definitely better than the first visit. Everything tastes extremely fresh, especially the toro and hamachi. The only complaint? The slices are huge! Despite appreciating Tentatsu's generosity especially for the price, I would have preferred smaller slices.

TAMAGO NIGIRI.

A tamago nigiri served with an actual egg shaped nigiri, topped with tamago.

TOTAL: $52.85 + TIP: $7.15 = $60.00.

Overall we tipped a bit less than 15% because although the staff was not rude, there was not much service.

POSITIVES

- Fresh sashimi

- Restaurant uses correct Japanese rice

NEGATIVES

- Portions are past a generous amount and are too big

- Rice could have used a bit more sushi vinegar

LITTLE THINGS

- First post on Tentatsu [here]

- Sushi chef is a lazy cutter (comedic rather than a complaint)

- Food could easily be more than 3/5 with some minor tweaks. However, that would defeat the purpose of being a restaurant like Sushi California, Sushi Garden and Sushi Town

Food: 2.5/5
Service: 2.5/5