Asakusa House of Tempura – A Tempura Lover’s Dream

At first I thought this is an international franchise from its namesake Asakusa in Tokyo Japan. Turned out it is a homegrown brand conceptualized by a Filipino couple who loved the tempura Asakusa was famous for. Asakusa House of Tempura was born in  The Grove Rockwell 3 years ago. Today it has two other branches – one  in Vertis North and the newest one in  Ayala Mall Feliz. Privileged to have been invited for a foodie meet up just after lunch today. Together with other select foodies, we enjoyed the following :
Tuna Salad P218 That salad dressing was divine. I loved how it complemented those cubes of fresh tuna! I tasted umami richness,  the flavor of the sea, the crunch from the lettuce-cabbage-cucumber-tomato combo and a little kick at the end. It was so good !

Salmon Salad P258
This is the salmon version of the salad above. Lovers of  this scrumptious pink flesh from the sea would go gaga over this healthy fare. That dressing tasted like roasted sesame aka kewpie which is  my favorite. I loved how there were different textures and elements that complemented each other. I loved that bit of a kick at the end. I can just eat this all day.

Salmon Maki 8 pcs P348

Anything with salmon is a winner in my book. Now coupled with a mouthwatering presentation plus generous servings equals an amazing steal of a dish.

Shogun Set  3 pcs P388/ 5 pcs P608

They have the crunch, the light batter and the succulence of the prawns inside down pat just like its original in Asakusa. This is making me want to fly to Asakusa asap huhu…

Prawn Cream Udon P288

Udon noodles, nameko mushrooms, prawn cream sauce, fish flakes , poached egg

Definitely a memorable dish I would highly recommend to our piggery. Think Carbonara , Japanese style. The use of  udon noodles were just perfect. They absorbed all the flavors from the dressing and still retained their al dente texture. Poached egg  added another notch to the overall texture of the dish

Gyudon P318

I loved the presentation of the Gyudon which was a feast for the eyes. The flavors were spot on as well. But would recommend more beef please.

Hokkaidon P598

Crabmeat cooked in crab fat, salmon sashimi, ebiko, sushi rice

As I mentioned earlier, anything with salmon is an instant favorite. So my eyes practically popped out of my socket when I saw this bowl of salmon. The crabmeat rice was a bit underwhelming though and were thoroughly overshadowed by the salmon. I just picked on the rice and concentrated on getting a piece of those succulent pink morsels…

Cold Soba P138

This is another dish I thoroughly enjoyed. It was quite simple and relied on the quality and texture of the soba and the flavor of the dip.

Chicken Karaage Teriyaki 4 pcs P178/  8 pcs P308

It was a different take on two family favorites — karaage and chicken teriyaki. It was interesting but the ball I got was a bit on the chewy side so  my enjoyment of the dish was  shall we say “interrupted” by its texture

Overall…

With a name like Asakusa House of Tempura , everybody would assume that their tempura would be as good as that  of its eponym in Tokyo Japan.

Fortunately they were. The batter was thin and crunchy just like they are in Asakusa . What is amazing is , Asakusa House of Tempura is not an international franchise from Japan. It is a homegrown brand.

Asakusa’s Tempura Set comes in  5 variants :

Geisha Set         P258    shitake mushroom,,  2 squash, 2 eggplant , French beans

Seafood Catch  P338    black tiger prawn, fish, squid, kani

Samurai            P388     black tiger prawn, fish, squid, eggplant, squash French beans

Shogun              P388     3 pcs black tiger prawns

                           P608     5 pcs black tiger prawns

Emperor            P638     2 black tiger prawns, scallop, shitake mushroom, kani, fish, zucchini

Do try them and let me know what you think.

New Items :

Check out new items in their menu as well. The PRAWN CREAMY  UDON P288 is a must try. Think Carbonara using thick al dente udon….yum! If you like salmon, HOKKAIDON  is a must try as well. Please taste the crabmeat rice that goes with it and let me know how you like it.

Those who love uni should try the  UNI TEMPURA too. A litte caveat though. Its quite addicting.

Verdict:

Good price point, generous serving, tempura as good as Asakusa, delicious salads and maki’s , etc What’s not to love? Definitely returning with the piggery in tow. Thank you for having us  Asakusa House of Tempura and for the invite Zomato.

ASAKUSA HOUSE OF TEMPURA is located at The Grove  Retail Row,  The Grove by Rockwell 117 E. Rodriguez Jr. Avenue Ugong Pasig City. They are open from 1130 am -3pm, 530-10pm