One of the Japanese specialty restaurants at Eat At Seven at Suntec City, Tendon Kohaku has introduced its latest offering, Autumn Bowl (S$17.50++) – a hearty tendon bowl filled with six different types of mushrooms, salmon, prawns, and Japanese pepper tempura. As the name suggests, this tendon bowl is inspired by the autumn in Japan.
The marquee ingredients of this tendon are the different types of mushrooms – six to be exact. If you like mushrooms, this is definitely your dream bowl – there are shiitake, enoki, butter mushroom, oyster mushroom, maitake, and shimeji (the last two are flown in from Nagamo, Japan). Each mushroom adds a different texture and flavour.
As if the generous helpings of mushrooms are not enough, the bowl comes with a piece of Atlantic salmon marinated with a traditional yuan sauce (using a recipe created in 1648!) and two pieces of ebi tempura. The amount of meat can square off with the large portions of mushrooms. If there was anything to improve, it would be to go easier on the batter – I found it heavy and not at all reminiscent of the lightness that one expects of a tendon.
You can choose between a spicy and non-spicy sauce. Having tasted both, I would recommend opting for the non-spicy version if you want to taste the delicate flavours which have already been fried in a heavy batter. The spicy version, though tasty, masks the real flavours. I also would have preferred to have the sauce on the side instead of being drizzled all over the bowl before it was served. The heavy sauce gave a very heavy feeling to the dish.
For the rice, there is also a choice here between fluffy Hokkaido rice and the healthier 16-grain rice. I chose the latter (I honestly love the mix of flavours and the healthy tag it comes with) but given the portions and size of the bowl, the white rice may be a smarter move.
All in all, a really hearty meal-in-a-bowl- which is well-suited for big eaters. There definitely is satisfaction in having such a large bowl for the price it comes in. With only 100 bowls of this delicious tendon per day, drop by during lunch or early-dinner service.
