Tomi’s back this week reviewing some Park Slope pan-Asian:
The Order:
The idea of having good food on a Sunday afternoon is always appealing, but it sounded especially wonderful to me this weekend, so I decided to indulge in a large meal from Tenko Sushi & Thai in Park Slope. Since I’d never eaten from this restaurant, I played it safe and ordered salad and cooked sushi. My selections? A Thai Green Papaya Salad to start and the Any 3 Rolls Sushi Lunch Special (eel avocado, sweet potato, shrimp avocado with miso soup) for my main course. And since I love sweet potato rolls so much, I threw in an extra roll for good measure!
The Meal:
Since I have so much to say (mostly negative sadly), I’ll start with the good stuff. The deliverywoman (!) arrived in less than 45 minutes, especially impressive considering that I’m not super close to the restaurants. Then, to my surprise, I opened the bag to find two free spring rolls! Things were looking good and when I tried the miso soup, which was nice and hot, I was even happier. Unlike others that I have had in the past, this soup also had a good portion of seaweed and just the right amount of sodium.
Unfortunately, unlike the soup, the rest of the meal was not nearly as yummy. The green papaya salad was very bland and slightly warm. I found myself frequently mixing the limp strips of papaya together in hopes of finding some lime dressing that may have sunken to the bottom of the container. I never found the lime dressing. And oh yes, before I forget, the free spring rolls were greasy and I found a piece of uncooked rice noodle inside one. I debated on whether it was a piece of plastic, until I had a friend inspect it, and we concluded it was a hard raw noodle.
Not quite what I bargained for in terms of papaya salad
On to the rolls. The sweet potato rolls were tasty and the consistency of the potato was firm just the way I like it. That said, tempura does not travel well, leaving me with a feeling of frustration. It would probably be a good idea to only order tempura in house. The shrimp and avocado roll had some serious problems as well. The avocado was fresh, but the consistency of the shrimp was tough and probably overcooked. Hoping to salvage the meal and delight my taste buds, I popped a piece of the eel and avocado roll into my mouth. It wasn’t much better. The eel was tasty, but overcooked (again!) and mushy.
Not pictured: My lack of satisfaction
Tenko Sushi & Thai is one restaurant that I won’t be ordering from again. While they showed flashes of flavor, I was very disappointed in their cuisine as a whole. Perhaps if they prepare, cook, and season their dishes properly going forward they might be able to convince me otherwise in the future.
Check out Tenko Sushi & Thai’s menu and feel free to give us recommendations for future orders in the comments.