Finally a good tempura bowl in the Westside - Tendon Hannosuke

A new place opened at that cursed spot at the Santa Monica Mitsuwa food court! This time, it is tempura bowl specialist from Tokyo, Tendon Hannosuke. According to reviews on tabelog, there is always a line at the Nihonbashi location on weekends. We're pretty lucky here in Los Angeles! The storefront is quite attractive. They have a window for you to look at the tempura making process.

The menu can't be simpler, Original Tendon with the works, and Edomae Tendon (Tokyo Style) with an extra anago(sea eel). I got the Edomae Tendon, of course. It comes with anago, shrimp, seaweed, kakiage, shishito(kinda like jalapeno), sweet potato and soft broiled egg, miso soup and pickled ginger. Seafood overload for sure. I love tendons that have the anago sticking out of the bowl. The tempura batter is not my favorite kind but the deluxe volume makes up for it. There is so much good stuff, it's hard to decide what to eat at each step. The sauce is unique and on the salty side but the pickled ginger refreshes the mouth nicely. They recommend breaking the egg later in the process because it completely changes the bowl into a more traditional raw egg over rice with soy sauce experience. This makes it a satisfying finish that's not too heavy. 

This is what the takeout box looks like. I don't recommend this because the tempura gets soggy quickly within a closed box and it didn't come with the essential ginger and miso soup. Plus, the anago doesn't stick out of the bowl!

Hannosuke in Mitsuwa is no Ginza Tenkuni but it's a good start. The closest thing to a good tempura bowl is Ichimi Ann in Rolling Hills Plaza. I hope this place can last more than two years because I love tempura :)

Hannosuke
(inside Mitsuwa Marketplace foodcourt)
3760 S Centinela Ave,
Los Angeles, CA 90066