Restaurant Love: Asakusa Home of Tempura

Jumping around is tiring. R and I could not even last five straight minutes jumping on trampolines. Oh how I miss being a kid. After an hour (well, more of 30 to 35 minutes) of playing with trampolines and questionably clean foam cubes, R and I built a huge appetite for heavy dinner. Since R fell in love with Asakusa and that we are just across The Grove, we decided to head there after Jump Yard.

Hello, Asakusa Home of Tempura!

The place was packed on a Saturday night. We had no choice but to eat outside. At least we were beside the fan and mosquito repellant machine.

R wanted us to stick with our usual Salmon Salad (PHP208) and Emperor Tempura Set (PHP578) but since I want to try something new, we also ordered Salmon Maki (PHP318) and Cold Soba (PHP98).

First served was salmon maki. We opted to make it mildly spiced as I have low tolerance for spicy food.

It was... not spicy at all. And the salmon bits were too few for us to get a taste of it. All we got a taste of were the Japanese rice and tempura crumbs. R gave me an I-told-you-so face after he saw my disappointed face. 

The salmon salad was served next. To make things a bit interesting, we got it with spicy sauce. But we played it safe by asking for the spicy sauce or dressing to be put on the side.

One thing I discovered was that you cannot enjoy the salmon salad without the dressing. It was really bland without it. Thankfully, the sauce was not too spicy for me and I managed to dip the salmon cubes in it. It was still my favorite dish from Asakusa but I prefer the non spicy dressing.

The Emperor Tempura set was still delightfully crunchy and the seafood used were fresh. But for some reason, the batter tasted different. And not in a good way. It had a bit of weird aftertaste. The one from our first visit was a lot better.

My cold soba was great. It was a nice dish to help me cool down and it had a light taste to somehow cleanse the palate. And for PHP98, this one is a steal!

Still a great meal! See you again soon, Asakusa.

Asakusa Home of Tempura is located at The Grove Retail Row, The Grove by Rockwell, 117 E. Rodriguez Jr. Avenue, Ugong, Pasig City.