Besides Japanese food, Tenji also serves Chinese food. That means you can eat rice, vegetables and meat all cooked Chinese style. I did not eat them as I was more interested in the Japanese food! If want to eat Chinese food, might as well go to a Chinese restaurant, right?
You can even find dim sum and herbal ginseng chicken soup here!
I did try the herbal chicken soup - it was not bad, but could not match the ones I had in Jogoya. Too bad if you want to taste this particular soup in Jogoya, you would have to be a VIP member first! More on this VIP member stuff (which irritated the hell out of me) later.
Still on Chinese food, if you are a fan of steamed fish, then you don't want to miss Tenji's absolutely fantastic codfish! One of my friends who did not like sashimi and raw food actually ate 5 plates of the codfish!
That's right! She was so fond of the codfish and I could see why. I tasted the codfish and could not resist ordering 2 more plates!
That's my steamed codfish. It was really yummy! I think eating 5 plates of this codfish is enough to make what you paid for this buffet worth the money!
To order this codfish, all you need to do is to drop the metal clips provided into the bowl at the cooking area.
See the metal clip on the side of the plate? Every table is provided with 2 metal clips. Since we took up 3 tables, we were provided with total of 6 metal clips. The metal clip has numbers printed on it, so that when you drop them into the bowl at the cooking area, the staff would know which table to deliver the cooked food to.
When they deliver the cooked food, they would return the clip so that you can use the clip again and again. I was supposed to remove the clip from the plate but I was too busy eating the fish! Haha!
The above photo shows the place where you can drop the metal clips. See the bowls? Each bowl is for different type of fish or seafood so you pick which one you want and just drop your clip into the selected bowl. Once cooked, the dish would be delivered to your table.
Notice from the photo above that everyone had dropped the clips inside only one bowl? That bowl is for the codfish! So you can see that the codfish was a very popular dish!
I also dropped my clip into the bowl for the steamed red fish. Here's my red fish.
It was delicious, but the flesh was not as smooth as the codfish. That's why I saved my stomach for more codfish instead of ordering this red fish a second time! haha!
I would say that the codfish here beats all the fish I have eaten at Jogoya! No doubt, Jogoya has more varieties of fish and seafood but the last time I ate there, I did not enjoy eating them! The quality of the food in Jogoya had definitely dropped.
Walking around, I came across this station which served vegetables in soup. I decided to give it a try.
Just pick the metal bowl with the combination of vegetables that you like and hand over the bowl to the cook who will add the boiling soup into your bowl.
This is my bowl of vegetables in soup! I placed it on top of the burner though I did not start the burner. There was no need as the soup was hot. I just placed it there for fun! haha!
My bowl of vegetables contained mushrooms and bamboo clams. It was pretty tasty! Not bad at all.
The burner I mentioned above was not for that soup but was for the paper steamboats. See that same cook stuffing something that looks like paper onto the burner below?
Yes, you would need to get him to help you start the burner. I did not try this paper steamboats. Maybe I will try it next time I return to this restaurant.
My friend ordered this lamb shoulder using the metal clip dropping system.
I took a bite. It was quite nice, although I got a bit frustrated when I could not swallow the last bit as it was hard to chew! Almost wanted to spit it out but luckily I managed to swallow it. Haha!
There's also a salad station for fans of salad. Look! I found my scallops! (right side of picture)
You can also find Korean kimchi. Next to it was a food called "horeanso". I have absolutely no idea what that was! Anyone knows?
There were Western dishes if you like Western food. My friend took this plate of butter fish and lamb, if I am not mistaken. I tasted the butter fish and it was OK. I was not that interested in the Western dishes as I was really there for the Japanese food!
Besides the not-to-be-missed coconuts as mentioned in Part 1, you can also drink tea! Tenji had quite a variety of teas for you to choose from. Oops! I think the green tea was missing! Maybe the staff had taken the pot to be refilled.
I chose blueberry tea, which tasted slightly sourish. I liked it! My friend chose rose tea. That was nice too!
To drink the tea, you need to take an empty teapot and pour the tea from the main teapot (photo above) into your empty teapot. You can then bring your teapot to the table and pour into cups to be shared with everyone.
Here's my teapot containing blueberry tea and the cup which I poured the tea into.
They also have coffee which I did not wish to drink as I am not a fan of coffee whether they are cappuccino, latte, espresso or mocha!
Oh, and I think Tenji serves beer too! I saw this Carlsberg bottles outside at the outdoor garden.
I actually prefer red wine. Like what I drank at Jogoya although I understand it's cheap wines. It's OK since I am not a good wine drinker anyway, so cheap red wine is better than no wine! Haha!
We had quite a fun outing or should I say, gathering at Tenji. Barely half an hour into our buffet, we were already tasting the desserts!
But you know what? I think this post is getting a little too long already. So very sorry to say, I will have to continue in the next post. Looks like Tenji vs Jogoya is going to be a trilogy in the making. Haha!
In Part 3, I shall touch on the desserts and sum up the comparison between Tenji and Jogoya. Stay tuned!
FIRST COMMENTER
wowowowwowowowo! You never cease to amaze me with all the delicious places you visit!!
From what you've posted, it did seem better than Jogoya. At least the steamed fish did! Hahaha~
Cannot chop, got no 3 oso OK lah... LOL
Want to eat buffet also hv VIP system kah? So troublesome. Why? VIP got pay more?
The steamed codfish looks nice.
i remember da vip thingy in jogoya...
however when i dropped my clip there (i aint a vip), they just accepted it wo...like da muachi section...how come ar?
Wow, what an elaborate comparison! Enjoying your comments and I found them to be similar to mine. ;) Anyway, my only gripe was they took a long time to serve those dishes with clips. Ended up only manage to try a few times due to time limitation. Not sure about yours though. :) Looking forward to the next post!
You make me soooo hungry now. The food looks so delicious!!!
I wanted to go to Tenji last night with a girlfriend but I forgot where is it located. I make sure write it down in my diary.
Morning foong! Looks like they serve different things at different days. I couldn't find scallop either then.. no codfish when I was there.. and as for the teapot where you refill into your own teapot bring it back to table thing was not available when I was there... wonder if they change that system lol. Looks like the time you're there is more appetizing than when I was there. pfft..
War...that friend of yours is really hungry huh! 5 plates. My...did she fast the whole week for this Tenji's trip? Hehe :D
I thought there are only Japanese food there! But they do have Chinese food too. :D So the price is really cheap I would say.
I'd choose Tenji over Jogoya these days. :D
heidi, congrats for being FC here! Thanks for dropping by! : )
day-dreamer, not so fast! I will sum up the comparison between Tenji and Jogoya in my next post. But you are right - the codfish is better than any fish I tasted in Jogoya! : )
lina, haha! Congrats for being No 3!
Yes, about the VIP thing in Jogoya - I really hate it! Of course you can collect points as a VIP and also get to eat VIP selected foods, but wait, I will tell you why it irritates me in my next post!
The codfish is really nice and I definitely recommend to anyone who like steamed fish! : )
annant, really? Wow! You are so lucky! Either that, or you made a mistake and it's not a VIP selected food?
iamthewitch, thanks! Yes, they did take quite long to serve those dishes with clips on my first visit there, but on my second visit, I dropped my clips the first thing I stepped into the restaurant! Haha!
Actually, on my second visit, they cooked quite fast so I have no complaints there : )
molly, haha! Oh you almost went there! Make sure you know where is the place exactly before you go. Oh, and you must book beforehand or you will be disappointed! : )
ladyviral, no scallops, no codfish and no teapot? Alamak! When did you go? I guess it's my luck then! : )
Well, I think they will keep changing the food and the variety there. Maybe to suit the kind of prices they will be charging. As long as they don't introduce the VIP member system like Jogoya, I think I don't mind going there again : )
Wow man, you can really eat! Makes me wanna go to Jogoya again but then again, better not! If not, I'll be fatter than Rosmah!
tekkaus, haha! No need to fast for one week. I also can eat 5 plates of the codfish if I don't eat so much of other stuffs! hehe.
Oh yes, they have chinese, korean and western food, but no indian food lah. So no roti canai and chapati!
The price is cheap if it's the promotional price, otherwise quite expensive at RM77.00++ unless you are a big eater : )
KY, oh really? So I'm not the only one who thinks Jogoya's standard has dropped. But I guess it's Tenji's attractive pricing that makes me go Tenji instead : )
eiling, haha! I still remember at the beginning of this year, you have a made a resolution to lose weight right? Good thing you still remember that! LOL!
Japanese restaurant serves Chinese food? So may be next round they will serve sate and roti canai too, LOL...
I think will need two stomach for all those nice foods out there. The codfish look so nice and yummy.
khengsiong, so far not yet haha! I think Tenji and Jogoya are not authentic Japanese restaurants. They are more like buffet restaurants with more concentration on Japanese food, but also include a variety of Chinese, Korean and Western.
superman, two stomachs? Haha! Indeed you need that if your present stomach is not big enough! LOL! The codfish is indeed very nice! : )
Steamed codfish is always nice, if not over-steamed. Foong, you would have got your money's worth with so many rounds of it.
Codfish is also nice pan-fried with the right sweet sauce. Spring Garden in KLCC prepares this dish extremely well.
That sure is a lot of food variety for that promotional price! Thanks for the excellent review, pictures and all. Looking forward to the final episode. Yeah, trilogy, alright. LOL!
Btw, VIP system in a restaurant is not customer-friendly. I'm not for it.
LOL! What a miracle for me to be first commenter on such a popular and fantastic blog. yippeeee!
happysurfer, have not tried Spring Garden in KLCC! Thanks for the information!
Yes, the steamed codfish is excellent and they are not over-steamed.
I really dislike the VIP system in Jogoya. Oh well, more on that in my next post : )
heidi, haha! You dropped by just at the right time! Hope to see more of you being my FC here in future! : )
How I miss out on codfish last time? Foong, you still haven't figure out how to make that burner work?
I don't like the fact that they serve Chinese food in a Japanese restaurant. Still..having heard so much, I must give this place a try to see for myself.
Desserts are my fav part of a meal :)
jam, I think we did not try the codfish last time or maybe they did not have codfish that time. I don't remember seeing the codfish.
Haha! I knew I had to bring the burner to the cook to have it started, but I did not as I was too full to try out that particular paper steamboat dish. None of my friends tried too cos they were more interested in the sashimi, codfish and the desserts! : )
mei teng, well it's not an authentic Japanese restaurant, but more like a buffet restaurant that concentrates on Japanese food while offering a variety of Chinese, Korean and Western food : )
hahaha, i gotta agree with you about the chinese cookings.. but this is how they can make the patrons feel more welcome with wider selection of food, and also to cater for people with different needs - especially for those ah pek who must eat chinese while agreed to be dragged over by his family.. :p
SK, I guess you are right! They need to have some Chinese food to cater for those who simply must eat some Chinese food for every meal! : )
I went during April for the supper promotion. Possible also that they change their varieties base don the price they get. But that would be a cheat.. meaning you're not giving the same quality on a promo, then why claim it to be a promotion bleh~ But I think they do have the VIP thing already. Comes with free flow of alcohol if i remember correctly. :P
wah lau. u paid so little for so much food?! worth eating!!!
cod fish!! have not eaten that for years but too bad.. i'm now all green .. so no no to this kind of fish. poor me.
ladyviral, well i guess these businesses are always finding ways to make profits. Since they keep changing the food, we would have a hard time trying to keep up and pin point if they are cheating us.
Just like those retail shops that advertise they are having sales, then when you go there you realise they have actually marked up the normal price and the discounts of 30% is actually more like just 10%.
Or some retail shops advertising sales up to 70% then you go there and discover most items are going for just 10% and the ones with 70% discount are all sold out as "claimed" by them.
Yesterday I went to a restaurant to eat and I wanted to pay by credit card, but the cashier said the credit card scanner was spoilt. I really didn't know if I want to believe her or not!
Oh, Tenji have VIP card already? Free flow of alcohol? Gosh! If they are going to implement more things with that card, I'm not going back there! : )
renaye, you mean you are a vegetarian now? Then Tenji is not the restaurant for you! : )
You know what? I've never been to both. :) So it's cool to read this Jogoya vs Tenji comparison. I wonder it has how many more parts to it...as you've only cover Tenji haha
Such dishes are impressive in variety, esp the steamed cod fish.:)
Wow! sucha comprehensive report. Tenji should give you a year's free entry for promoting their outlet and slamming Jogoya. ^_^
+Ant+
wow got chinese and western food section too? then they shouldn't have named the place wit ha japanese name.. lol..
anyway nice review!
now you make me feel like hunting for these places.. haha.. =D
Man, I wish I am in my early 20s so I can enjoy most of the food here
che-cheh, glad you enjoy reading it. I don't plan to blog about Jogoya cos I have already blogged about it last time. You can read that here although pls excuse the poor quality photos as I snapped the pictures using my handphone camera that time : )
life ramblings, actually for variety, Jogoya has better variety and more choices although I was unhappy with their VIP member thing. Will talk more on that in my next post : )
anton, haha! I really don't mind getting one year free dining in Tenji! But wait, I have not really concluded which one (Tenji or Jogoya) is better, so don't jump the gun. Will make the conclusion in my next post : )
kenwooi, well they use japanese name cos they are actually offering japanese food with chinese and western as the sidelines. Anyway, most people go there for the Japanese food.
Oh, you should go Tenji and try it while they are having the promotion now : )
borneo falcon, you don't have to be in your early 20's to enjoy all the food! I take it to mean that you can't eat as much as last time, right? Well, actually, if you can eat a few selected food that you enjoy it's already worth the money! For example, I like the codfish and the raw oysters. Just eating loads of these two food to my satisfaction will be worth more than what I paid for : )
OMG! I just put on 3 kg just looking at the food!! lol
How could anyone eat these drooling desserts after a spread of main courses? tsk tsk tsk....
I must go through a training course to increase my appetite before coming to such buffets. haha.....
RYC: thanks for the kind words. the only reason i'm still sticking to my job because i'm loving it and enjoying it. but as u said if it doesn't work, i just need to hop on to another job. i'm actually starting to look out for another job. my business is not doing well and whatever i do is just no progress. how drenched is my soul.
Looking at pics of food at this time of night is not really recommended cos now I'm really hungry and it's all your fault ... LOL!
Me love Tenji.
Me miss Tenji.
Me want to eat @ Tenji again...
can't wait to see how foong is when he is irritated bout the VIP thingy, but from the sound of it, i reckon he finally sign up to be a VIP.. betul tak tak tak tak tak? LOL.. it's midnite n i sikit tak betul ody.. sleepy quah..
i hate you.
i wanna go too!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!1
Hey foong, how did you manage to stuff it all in your tummy? Looks like you had a feast, oh my!
most of the dishes were fish? some salad n some lamb. but is fish the focus of this meal? :)
i never try sashimi. look scary :P
nyummie
I just linked ur blog to mine.
I update liao Foong! Hehehe Been very busy lah. So hard to add new post...
Anywayz, I love dimsum lah! But haven't had it since I turned vegetarian...Huhuhu...Here on vege dimsum places. :( SO sad.
And Faisal, you should try sashimi! It's the most wonderful thing ever!
Thank God for vegetarian sushi though becos I love Jap food!
eastcoastlife, haha! How is it possible to put on 3kg just by looking at the food?
Go for training course to increase appetite? haha! I don't think there is such a course!
I guess if you don't have big appetite, buffets are not for you. Better to order a-la-carte. It's good also cos a-la-carte normally has better quality food : )
renaye, just hang in there and I'm sure this difficult phase in your life will pass : )
nick phillips, yeah, sue me! LOL!
merryn, wrong! It's not sikit, but banyak tak betul! hahaha!
No, I didn't sign up for the VIP cos you need to spend at least RM1,200 to be eligible for the VIP thingy. I did not spend that much, so no VIP card for me : )
medie007, don't hate me! Just go Tenji! Just do it! : )
ayie, well, I eat then wait for it to digest while I chit chat with my friends, then I eat again, then wait again, then eat again, and wait again...*just press repeat* LOL! : )
levian, no, fish is not the focus of the meal, but it's the focus of this post. Haha! There are many different kinds of food, but I just love the codfish so much so I ate a bit more of it. My friend ate 5 plates, me only 3 : )
faisal admar, why scary? It's very healthy food you know, all raw and not processed. Good source of protein too. Haha! Hope you dare to try it. You might just fall in love with it! : )
willie, yes yummy indeed! Thanks for linking my blog! : )
rozella, finally!! You are a vegetarian now? I really salute you vegetarians! I don't think I can do it!
Lucky there's vegetarian sushi! Why did you become a vegetarian?
And yes to Faizal, do try the sashimi since you are not vegetarian! : )
Good morning Foong!
I see I am back on ur TC list woot!
Just got up la Foong and all the pics are making me hungry, oh what shall I have for dinner tonight???
Dropped EC and clicked Adgi here too, happy Tuesday!
teach me! i beg! hehe.
oh boy. I would love to try the cod fish n bamboo clams. Steamed fish i suppose would b the same in most places.
mariuca, it's good evening now. Welcome back on my Top Commenter List! Good, consider my post an appetiser for your dinner. Haha!
faisal admar, teach you how to enjoy sashimi? You come over to KL lah and I bring you to Tenji! : )
bengbeng, I suppose, but I think the fishes in Sabah are bigger in size. That's the difference. Haha!
ok i go to kl next week. promise?
How do they make money if everybody takes 5 plates of codfish? :P
And you said you and your friends were the earliest to arrive and the last to leave?
Next trip to the restaurant, you have to check if your photo is hung at the reception area. haha....
*joking*
faisal admar, sure. Just let me know the exact date so I can arrange my time and also to book for Tenji buffet : )
eastcoastlife, that's why I scared they will soon take out this codfish or they introduce the VIP card which only limit the codfish to VIP members!
Yes, that's right! We were AMONG the earliest and AMONG the latest to leave lah. Not THE earliest and THE last. LOL!
Haha! I will check to see if our photos are hung there next time! : )
I guess guys have bigger storage capacity! haha!
ayie, maybe but I have a female friend who can eat more than me! And she's slim!
That's why I was a little pissed off when Jogoya offered 50% discounts for ladies one time. They thought that ladies eat less than men, but how wrong they were! Haha! : )
Well decorated food !! I hope you really enjoyed your Meal !! Unseen Rajasthan
hahaha, sorry for you foong...some women are good eaters blessed with a slim bod =)
unseen rajasthan, thanks I enjoyed some of the food there, not all perhaps, but most important thing, I had a good time there! : )
ayie, yes I agree. So I even thought of disguising as a woman to get that 50% discount. Haha! My female friends said they would help me with the make up and the fake breasts! LOL!
Foong, just pay it full =)
ayie, haha! I'm just kidding. You think I will seriously go through with that? LOL!
Who know, some guys do crazy things =) haha, just kidding foong!
wow where is Tenji Foong?
I wanna go there toooooooo! :-D
For me cod fish is best eaten grilled or steamed. But if steamed it has to be so that the smell of raw fish is not there. And it has to be soft enough too without being too squishy. I think that's how the codfish at Jogoya was, wasn't it? XD
Or is it Tenji? *confused*
ayie, well maybe I should give it a try then blog about it! Haha!
monica, go before the promotion ends! : )
JL, I think the codfish I ate at Tenji is perfect just as you described! No fishy smell, and very smooth and not squishy : )
The same can't be said of fishes I ate at Jogoya!
try staying in a buffet that long and eat as much foong? hehe if that happens then I'll blog about it! haha
so lovely... you know what... for me what make japanese food unique and special was their way of preparation and way of granisjing their dishes which make it more attractive and looks delightful
Wow hehe so my predictions were correct. Too bad no prizes for guessing correctly :P
ayie, haha you should. As for me, disguising as a woman to enjoy the 50% discount is something that I think will be fun to try out but only problem is, what if the restaurant find out? Don't want to be on front page news the next day! LOL!
bluedreamer27, yes, yes, they do look very appetizing right? : )
JL, haha! Sorry no prizes! : )
I think it's part of the "fun" part foong. So make sure you won't get caught if you do so. lol