Old-school tempura at Ensei
Tempura Ensei #B1-06/07 Palais Renaissance 390 Orchard Road Singapore 238871 Tel: 9178-0664 Open daily for lunch and dinner: 12 pm to 2.30 pm; 6 pm to 10 pm
[SINGAPORE] Just when we thought Japanese restaurants were going out of favour, they've started popping up again. Maybe they figure that for every Singaporean that heads to Japan, there's another who has just come back and now has withdrawal symptoms.
So what's the best way to get their attention? Recent openings suggest that being the Singapore outpost of a famous Japanese eatery does the trick. Never mind if you've never heard of them. They just have to say 'famous', and we say 'Fomo' (fear of missing out).
Tempura Ensei can't claim to be the Singapore branch of Tenkane, an old-school tempura shop in Shinjuku that's been around since 1903. But it can say it has a head chef who used to work there at some stage – close enough to declare that it's 'bringing the art of 120-year-old, Edo-style tempura to Singapore'. If that's true, then what have we been eating all this while? Teenage fish fritters?
Grand statements are the undoing of Tempura Ensei, which promises more than it delivers. Its public relations pitch and omakase-only pricing give you the impression that you're getting fine-dining quality and a hinoki-counter experience. But our meal is akin to being on the restaurant floor of a Tokyo shopping mall, dining at an overpriced eatery because it's the only one that doesn't have a queue.
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Tucked in the basement level of Palais Renaissance, Ensei looks more dated than classic, with veneer being the wood of choice. It's the Japanese chef tending to us – looking every inch the veteran, white-jacketed tempura shop owner – that lends an authentic vibe. Except that he's not the head chef. That role belongs to Naruki Takeshima – all of 28 years old and Tenkane's former employee and most recently of Ginza Tenharu at the Marriott hotel. But he's either off on the day we're there or working in the private dining room.
Lunch and dinner menus are the same, apart from an extra lunch option priced at S$128. Otherwise, it's either a basic set for S$188 or the omakase for S$288. That puts it in a similar price range as at Tenharu and Tentsuru, although Tenshima offers only lunch at those prices.
Decor and ingredients-wise, Ensei lags its direct competitors, although it does make a show of the pure sesame oil it uses for frying. There's a basket of ingredients that's shown to every diner but, apart from an impressive box of uni, everything looks pretty mundane.
A cold appetiser at Tempura Ensei. PHOTO: JAIME EE, BT
There are some promising moments with the starters: fresh tai sashimi and simmered wasabi shoots for the S$288 menu; an attractive presentation of cooked whelk and red snapper roe for the S$188 set.
Clear dashi broth with hamaguri, a Japanese clam. PHOTO: JAIME EE, BT
A clear dashi broth with hamaguri is a decent effort apart from a rubbery clam. Snow crab with dashi vinegar jelly – meant to justify the higher price of the omakase menu – is a battle of confetti-dry strips of crabmeat against overly harsh jelly.
The real test is, of course, the tempura, and the batter is mostly light and floppy, with an occasional satisfying crunch, and an underlying greasiness. The trick is to chomp on it at the right moment when the batter tries its darnedest to crisp up, before it decides it's not worth the effort.
Sweet Japanese shrimp in a light tempura batter. PHOTO: TEMPURA ENSEI
The first shrimp starts out limp, but the texture improves with the second one. But we do like the mushroom stuffed with fish paste, so you enjoy the mix of textures at least. And Ensei is one tempura restaurant that actually fries its uni, unlike other places that cheat by placing the fresh sea urchin on a piece of fried seaweed. It's decent-quality uni, wrapped in seaweed and fried; even if it's not crisp, there's a nice chewiness from the seaweed that matches the soft uni.
Uni wrapped in seaweed is creamy and chewy. PHOTO: TEMPURA ENSEI
Sharks' fin tempura, on the other hand, is wasted by being doused in a sticky sauce that negates the whole point of frying it. The best is a whole piece of anago that lands crisp on your dish, and split into two with chopsticks to let the steam escape. The worst is the grated daikon that accompanies the tempura – if it's possible to be offended by a vegetable, this feels like it. It's so tasteless that it's almost as if it's thumbing its tendrils at us.
Kisu tempura is part of the set menu. PHOTO: TEMPURA ENSEI
Tempura is an incredibly simple dish, yet so difficult to execute well. If Ensei's prices were more accessible, it would have an edge. But for the money we're paying, it's hard not to compare it with the likes of Tentsuru or Tenshima. Having credentials – real or implied – from a famous brand is one thing. The proof is always in the tasting, and you can't weave a story around it.
Rating: 6
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