Tenkaippin Hawaii (天下一品)

Tenkaippin Hawaii is the local outlet of a Japanese ramen chain.  It has actually been on my short list of places to revisit, but because it's usually so crowded, I haven't really had a chance to eat here again.  Last night, I just happened to be in Waikiki on a shopping trip with a friend when we decided to stop by.

It was about 9:30 pm and I was so happy that the shop was actually empty.  We proceeded to the table in the far corner and just as we sat down, a couple entered the shop.  A few minutes later, more than half the tables in the small shop were occupied.

As I looked over the menu, I decided to snap a picture of the various condiments that were on a small tray on each table.  Some of the more common items were black pepper, shoyu, hot chilli oil and vinegar.  I didn't see any shichimi togarashi, but there was a container, in the middle of the picture, that was filled with chopped garlic and chillies!

I ended up selecting the "C" set (US$10.25) from the combination menu. The price quoted is the price with assari ramen.  Also available in the "C" set were the kotteri ramen (US$10.45) or miso ramen (US$10.65).

The assari ramen consists of a bowl of ramen noodles, topped with one piece of homemade char siu, some menma (bamboo shoots), and lots of chopped green onions.  Over all of this is the piping hot chicken stock and shoyu based broth.  The broth, which also seemed quite peppery, was very delicious.  It was light and full of rich chicken flavor.  The homemade char siu, on the other hand, was a disapointment.  It was dry, tough and fatty.  It lacked that melt-in-your-mouth quality which makes Japanese-style char siu so different from Chinese-style char siu.  The noodles, while cooked in the traditional Japanese style, firm and with quite a bit of bite, just didn't do it for me.  Maybe it was the texture of the noodles.  Disappointing.

Included in set "C" were 3 pieces fried chicken.

(Sorry this one is so dark.)

The chicken took more than 10 minutes to be delivered to my table!  In fact, by the time it arrived, I was almost finished with my bowl of ramen.  Alongside the chicken was a mound of chopped cabbage that was topped with some vinegar-based dressing.  Although well-fried, crispy and still juicy, the fried chicken lacked any real flavor.  There was just the slightly hint of garlic flavor.

Meanwhile, my friend ordered the "B" set (US$9.65) from the combination menu.  This time, it was with miso ramen.  Also available in the "B" set were the kotteri ramen (US$9.45) and assari ramen (US$9.25).

Previously, I had tried the miso ramen, but I took a few sips of the broth here so that I could comment on it.  Using chicken stock as a base, this one had a nice amount of miso added to the broth.  In fact, I would have to say that the amount of miso was just right -- not too overpowering.  The miso ramen came topped with lots of mung bean sprouts and green onions. 

Included in this set meal were 3 pieces gyoza.

Gyoza are Japanese dumplings that are normally filled with pork, garlic, cabbage, ginger and green onions.  These were nicely sized and seemed to have been cooked using the traditional steam-frying method.  I tried these on an earlier visit, and felt that something was missing.  These weren't as flavorful as they could have been.

After I finished my meal, I asked myself if I really made a wise choice by coming here.  Although the ramen broth was delicious and well-flavored, it couldn't hide the fact that the noodles weren't as good as I was expecting.  The gyoza was just so-so and the fried chicken was almost flavorless.  For the same price, I can think of many ramen shops within a mile of this place that would have left me feeling more satisfied.

Tenkaippin Hawaii
2132 Kalakaua Avenue
Telephone:  (808)926-1100

Comments

[milgwimper]

That look scrumptous, what is that beside the chicken, shredded green onions, cabbage salad with a ginger soy dressing? I got a hankering for butter mochi, and ramen....*sigh*

[MrsT]

Yums..! were they as good as they looked..??

[Reid]

Hi Milgwimper,

That mound of green stuff next to the chicken is chopped cabbage topped with a vinegar-based dressing...actually, it tasted like it was plain vinegar to me.

Hi MrsT,

Nope, not as good as it looked. =(

The ramen broth was excellent, but I didn't enjoy the noodles. The chicken and gyoza were so-so.

[obachan]

Ahhhhhhhh!!! Tenkaippin! I visited the one in Kyoto several times when I was living in Kansai. Their kotteri miso ramen was my favorite. In Japan, their ramen is said to taste slightly different at each branch, and my favorite was their Kyoto Imadegawa branch. Their miso soup was so thick, but not too salty or greasy. Natsukashii....

[Allen Wong]

Reid,

The reason I don't go to chains very often is because the food is usually disappointing. I'm not sure why, but it almost always seems to be the case. I'm glad the ramen was good.

Oh, neat! I can read 3/4 of the kanji! They're the easist to read, too. :P

[babe_kl]

it's only 10.30am here and i'm craving a bowl of ramen now urrghhh

[Reid]

Hi Obachan,

I liked the broth very much, but for some reason I didn't really care for the noodles. They just weren't as good as they could have been. =(

Hi Allen,

Well, you know, most of the really good ramen shops here in Hawaii are Japanese imports. That said, I'm not sure if they are all parts of Japanese chains or not, but some of them are quite good.

The ramen here was OK, but I've had much better.

Hi babe_kl,

I like ramen in the morning, it's quite nice for breakfast! =)

[Min]

Yah abit too pricey i feel.You can make them at home for like 5USD with better taste..

Have u tried our japanese restaurants on your trip to S'pore?As I remember, Ajisen Ramen and Hoshigaoka(sp?) are pretty ok.I hear there's a good one at Starhub Building regularly patronise by the japanese themselves..

[Reid]

Hi Min,

Long time no hear! I hope everything is OK with you. =)

Yes, the prices for ramen in Hawaii are quite high, but these prices are fairly consistent at all of the Japanese places. I wouldn't mind making this at home, however, it would be too time consuming to make ramen like this from scratch.

When I visited Singapore, I did not end up going to any Japanese restaurants. I felt like I had to have the "true" Singaporean dining experience. I loved all of the hawker centres that I visited. It was so much fun.

[anthony]

Ooh yeah the kotteri ramen and chahan set was just the thing on my way back from/to the station. Made me amazingly thirsty though.

[Reid]

Hi Anthony,

Did you eat the kotteri ramen at Tenkaippin in Japan? I'm wondering how different it is that what's served in Hawaii.

You were really thirsty because ramen usually calls for an Asahi on the side....either that or there was lots of MSG in your broth. I vote for the latter. The Japanese are notorious for using tons of it.

[anthony]

Yeah there was one in Meguro half way to the train station that I liked to go to. Pre session it made me want to have couple of beers and on the way back it made me want to drink those lifesaving two glasses of water.

MSG - erk. Maybe lot's of salt too.

I'll have to do the Tokyo-Honolulu thing.

[Reid]

Hi Anthony,

Yeah...salt too! =(

You definitely need to do the Hawaii-Tokyo thing. We're starting to have a lot more Japan based outlets opening here for some reason.

Taishoken, Tenkaippin, Yotteko-ya, Ginza Kimuraya, Shokudo and others. I'll have to think of the rest...

[Mike]

Beware, all! Tenkaippin appears to be under new management and is being run by a bunch of ... non-Japanese! I only mention that because the waitresses are constantly wandering around the shop babbling loudly to each other in some crazy language and it makes my ears cry.

From the moment we came in, the waitress was constantly in our faces to make us order. Even after I asked her several times to "give us a minute", she stood over my shoulder and asked every 10 seconds if we were ready to order. I chose something quickly to make her go away.

We got the new Local Set (5x karaage chicken and fried rice) and one Special Set (kotteri ramen, gyoza and fried rice). Service was fast, but the food was TERRIBLE! After weeks of abstinence we were both starving for some kotteri goodness, but both the broth and noodles were lukewarm and disappointing. The broth, our favorite in the islands, had distinct grain particles in it and was not its normally silky smooth self. I usually like the chicken there but this time the oil used was obviously too hot as the outside was dark and too hard while the inside was unevenly cooked. The only good part about all this was that the normally overlooked cabbage side and gyoza got to shine, though that's like saying McDonald's is great because someone went to the bathroom on your Hy's steak!

Even though I drank my water as soon as we came in, the refill only came ONCE and the lady only filled my gf's cup and not mine. (?!?!) The spoke no Japanese and treated us brusquely even though the restaurant was not very busy. Perhaps 'no Japanese' is incorrect, as they DID use incorrect/rude words with terrible accents. My gf (who is Japanese) and I (who speak it fluently) were upset about it.

After this terrible service, they had the gall to automatically add a 15% gratuity to our bill!!! I'm no friggin tourist sista', you betta take 'em off! After I got them to remove the offensive charge, I walked out and left two pennies on the table for their efforts. I would rather not have paid anything for the terrible meal but didn't think it was worth it.

Just take it as a lesson and don't go back there until the REAL folks who know how to make Japanese food are running the place again!

[ernie]

Mike
Planning a stay in Waikiki this weekend and I really looked forward to eating at this place. After reading your comments, I'm not so sure.

[Judah]

Okay I saw this place on Tiny TV and when I saw the broth I literally got off the couch and went down to try this.
This is the new big secret of Honolulu in my book.
The service is in haste yet efficient and friendly for the pace. Besides that the food is ready before you can pour your beer. And I thought Pho was fast!
ONO!ONO!ONO!

[sue]

Well I saw Tiny Tv and told my boyfriend we have to go there So we did Twice in a week ...I've been craving for the Kotteri Ramen ever since...But the last visit that we were there the waitress over charged us .I'm not sure if she added the tips or what but she did't even give us the tab to look at ..But I don't think for 1 set with kotteri/friedrice and kotteri ramen is $29.90something cents.I don't know but I'm very dissapointed...

[Molly]

I just passed by this place yesterday (Jan. 6, 2008) and it's closed. The signage has been taken down and the inside is empty. I work in this area, but I don't know when it closed. My co-workers still go to Ezogiku and Ramen Nakamura for their ramen fixes, though.

[Go Fish]

This page doesn't make Tenkaippin look very good, but actually it is really delicious! The new location in Kapahulu gives a lot of food and it is always delicious, fresh and quickly prepared. I have been there over 15 times and have not had one complaint. They have switched owners and it is owned by a Japanese lady who is really friendly and she's always helping out at the restaurant. What's really cool is that they have a book shelf full of manga in english and japanese! I always go for the Ranma 1/2, and my boyfriend always reads the Japanese ones. This is a great place to go to eat, so I am guessing the bad comments before mine are all about the old one, because there is no reason to complain about the new one.