Opened in Vivocity in late 2022, Tempura Makino is a tempura speciality restaurant chain using the “Tsudoage” style, when the tempura is made to order, and served one by one. Established in 2006, Tempura Makino started in Harima-cho, Kako-gun, Hyogo Prefecture and expanded to more than 10 outlets across Japan
With 4 outlets in Singapore, Tempura Makino imports and uses the same flour, dashi and dipping sauce used in Japan to maintain the same standards in their dishes. The light batter which is made using Okinawan eggs, complements the quality of the ingredients used
I was at the Vivocity outlet and the restaurant was bright and resembled a typical Japanese sushi restaurant with half of the restaurant catering to counter seats facing the Chef preparation table. Instead of the usual chiller where the fresh fish is placed, they have deep frying pots within a dome cover to prevent any splatters to the customers sitting at the counter seats
I ordered the executive tempura set meal which had 3 kinds of fish sashimi, salad, an appetizer of the day, and mixed tempura consisting of prawn, fish, squid, chicken fillet, mushroom and asparagus. You can also change the rice to cold soba noodles like what I did. The sashimi, salad and appetizer were fresh and refreshing with good flavour. The soba was cooked well with the right bite and paired well with the dipping sauce. The main star of the set; which is the mixed tempura was fried to golden crispiness with a light and thin batter. The ingredients were fresh and very succulent within the batter
My nephew ordered the salmon Tsuke egg tempura don which has marinated salmon with egg tempura with crispy tempura bits on rice. The salmon had a light soy flavour which is perfect with the rice bowl. The egg tempura has a semi-runny yolk which was as orange in colour as the salmon. The egg yolk was more creamy and deep in flavour compared to the usual eggs we have in Singapore. With the soy-flavoured salmon and yolk covering the rice, each mouthful was full of umami flavour
I also ordered prawn and vegetable kakiage which came in this cute cylinder shape. The vegetables and prawn were sliced into thin shreds and shaped into a cylinder before being fried to perfection. The crispiness of the kakiage did not disappoint
Overall, the tempura dishes were all delicious and very crispy. There were some very interesting selections for tempura under the a la carte selections and it would be nice to order those and try them one by one next to the Chef’s counter. There was a slight smell of oil lingering on me when I was leaving the restaurant due to the open frying pots but it was not unbearable
Address: 1 HarbourFront Walk, #02-111 VivoCity, Singapore 098585
Operating hours: 11 am to 10 pm
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