Tenkatori (Miramar)

The much anticipated Tenkatori's San Diego location opened while we were on our trip. I had the Gardena and Sawtelle location on my "LA list", so I was quite happy to know they were opening here. You know how much I enjoy my Karaage, right? Heck, I even went to see if the signage of the shop (replacing TJ Dumplings) was up back in the middle of April!

So, upon returning from our trip….well, I had to check out Tenkatori!

After checking the hours and knowing how much I hate the small parking stalls and turning ratios in that strip mall parking lot I got to Tenkatori at five minutes past eleven (opening time) and was kinda confused as the business sign blocking the door said closed; while the lighted sign said open?

I finally waved down the young man working; who then moved the sign over and told me they were open.

So, I went and placed my order; for the Mix Bento Box…..

Which I thought was nicely priced at $9.90…really, what can you get these days for less than ten bucks?

And then the young man broke the news to me. He asked me to come back in 20 minutes! Which is what I did and I still had to wait another 10 minutes.

I got back to the office and opened up my bento.

 This was a decent amount of food; there were two whole wings, both drumette and wing attached including the wing tips which I like. There were also two large pieces of karaage.

For some reason, I thought the "mashed potatoes" was really going to be Japanese potato salad….but, it was really mashed potatoes…..albeit creamy and topped with a teriyaki-ish sauce. Just in case that wasn't enough carbs, there was a generous portion of rather undercooked rice.

 Both the wings and the karaage were moist and tender. The karaage handled the short trip back to the office better than the wings as the light batter, probably using potato starch, doesn't hold up for very long. The wings seemed to have more seasoning than the karaage, as the marinade seemed very mild. What I really liked was that the chicken thighs used for the karaage still had the skin attached which added more crunch and additional flavor as well.

This was okay, perhaps a bit underwhelming, but the place hadn't been open for very long so I was definitely going to give it another try.

And since Calvin was actually coming into the office the following day, I decided to do takeout from Tenkatori again. This time, I called in my order. The woman working told me my order would be ready in 15 minutes and it was!

Calvin got the Mixed Bento and this time I went with the Karaage Don ($9) and since I had some "extra stomach space" available (aka Calvin), I also went for a small order of Gizzards ($7.70) to share.

This time my order was ready and waiting when I arrived.

And this time the karaage was even better! It was nicely fried, evenly seasoned, the marinade seemed to have permeated the thighs, and I liked that teriyaki-ish glaze that was lightly applied to the sliced dark meat chicken. The rice was much better this time as well. The boiled egg looked lovely, until I cut it open and discovered that it was overcooked and thus dry. The accompanying greens were starting to brown a bit; though I basically just considered it "garnish".

I shared the fried gizzards with Calvin and we both enjoyed the chewy-crunchy, poultry-ist flavor.

The gizzards were also nicely seasoned and even seemed to have a touch of shichimi togarashi, adding a light "kick" to it. I'll definitely have this again……plus, I'll need to try the nankotsu karaage as well.

And so, I'd usually stop and do a post with these two visits….but….I decided to do one more visit "for the road". I enjoy tori nanban and decided to order some for lunch. Once again, I called in my order and it was ready for pick-up fifteen minutes later when I arrived.

I liked the portion size of this bento and like the mix bento is priced nicely for these times at $9.90.

The chicken was still crisp when I got back to the office. Again, I really enjoy the fact that the dark meat chicken pieces still have the skin on them; it just makes the texture and flavor better. I appreciated the fact that there was that sweet-soy based sauce as well as the tartar sauce on this since the tartar sauce was really one dimensional and lacking in the light vinegar tones that help to balance out all that mayo. The rice was decent; the potato salad and shredded cabbage the same. Not sure I'd have this very often though.

I could definitely see the improvement of the product Tenkatori was putting out; from the shaky and rather mediocre first visit, to the following two visits where things seemed to be falling in place. I think the prices are quite reasonable for 2022 and since I love my karaage (and enjoyed those gizzards), I'll be back. It's great to have another option in the area. And like "FOY" Junichi said, this place "goes perfectly with Beeramar."

Tenkatori Miramar
6780 Miramar Rd Suite 104
San Diego, CA 92121
Phone – (858) 200-2016
Current Hours:
Daily 11am – 230pm, 4pm – 8pm