Tenka Japanese Restaurant

It is a little late to add this to the now closed Tenka Sushi restaurant but I miss you so…
I don’t know the reason for closing but the family that ran the place was so nice and the food was excellent. We in our family miss this little spot of good food, good service and good friendly people.
I hope you can open again somewhere. Best wishes to you.

Since Im no longer located in San Mateo I haven’t been to my favorite place in a while, last weekend I was around thr area and decided to go there unfortunately they are no longer open :-(very disappointing. You will be missed

Tenka is now the site for Los Dos Amigos. I guess the no dearth of Japanese places is finally taking effect…

Went here a couple of times with friends. The service was great, with the waitress really helpful and friendly. She always smiled and refilled our water glasses. The Happy Hour for the sushi is a great deal! It’s a Chinese-​run restaurant, but still tastes good.
Definitely filled my sushi craving for a decent price. It wasn’t busy when we went, but that’s fine. The place is huge! Good for large groups and families with young kids.
The sushi chef was really friendly and funny and loud, but not in a bad way! Definitely made our hand rolls fancily.
I’d like to come back and try other things on their menu.

Starving, I saw their huge sign outside for their «cheap» Happy Hour menu so I strode in to give Tenka a try.
[ A M B I E N C E ]
Very very plain with no one inside. It’s not very bright; I felt like I’m going to a cafeteria or something.
[ S E R V I C E]
I think the waitress is new because after she got my order the manager/​sushi chef (?) was telling her how to write the orders correctly. She has an accent thus can be a little hard to understand. She never came by to check how I was doing or to refill or much of anything. She literally came to take my order, delivered it and that’s it. Even when she delivered it there was no smile or «Enjoy». Just set it in front of you and walk away.
[ HAPPY HOUR FOOD ]
I took and uploaded a picture of the happy hour menu though they had additional happy hour items that aren’t on the menu such as Small Sake ($ 2.95), Small Beer ($ 2.95) and Crab Puffs ($ 2.95).
One tip is the READ the menu and the fine print. The sushi is per PIECE and the makimono are 3 or 2 pieces per order. Also, there’s a minimum of $ 6 per person. Now on to the actual food.
VEGETABLE TEMPURA: I think there were around 6 pieces (kobocha, onion, carrot, broccoli, zucchini). Although it was crunchy, the batter was unbelievably thick. When I pulled the vegetable out from the dipping sauce, some of the batter literally fell off and into the sauce bowl. It was also pretty oily. I tasted way more of the oil than I should with tempura.
CALIFORNIA ROLL: Very standard California Roll although two of the rolls barely had any filling and a bit too much rice was rolled onto it.
NAMA SAKE (FRESH SALMON): It is NOT fresh. The salmon was gummy and stringy and one of the pieces I couldn’t even chew some parts of it and had to spit it back out.
TAMAGO & INARI: Nothing spectacular.
[ C O N C L U S I O N ]
My bill came out to be around $ 13. Was it worth every dollar? No. The appetizer and sushi didn’t impress me at all and failed to inspire me to come back. Not to mention about 30 minutes later, I started getting stomach pains so I would definitely NOT recommend this place to anyone.
If you want cheap sushi go elsewhere. I suggest you try KOBEYA on 25^th Ave. Cheap sushi and Japanese food that’s worth your money and stomach.

Typical Chinese run sushi restaurant. Came here on Sat nite, about 6pm. All the other sushi places were full so we settled for Tenka as there were seats.
I like how the seats are not put right next to each other. The food is decent and nothing special here. Great place if you just want to sit down and eat when there is a 45 minute wait at the other Japanese restaurants. Definitely not my first choice for fish in San Mateo.
We had their $ 20 sashmi deluxe + $ 10 Donburi rice bowl + $ 2 Diet coke + $ 5 Gyoza. Decent prices for decent food.

I’m not familiar with the San Mateo area so me and my boyfriend ended up eating here after finding out Ramen Dojo was closed. There are a ton of Japanese places around but we just ended up picking this one. I regret coming here because the food was mediocre at best.
My boyfriend got the bento w/​sashimi (only tuna) and chicken teriyaki. The sashimi was clearly not fresh and it had this stringy texture within each piece. It’s hard to describe but it was just WEIRD. The chicken teriyaki was filling and tasted alright. The bento came with a salad, soup, rice, and two orange slices. The salad was not very good — the whole plate must’ve been refrigerated because it was ice cold when it got to our table. Who knows how long that salad was refrigerated for? Hm…
I got the Taiyo maki roll which is fried with 3 types of fish (tuna, salmon, forgot the other), and avocado. There were only about 4 – 5 pieces but they were HUGE. It was like a roll within a roll. The inside roll contained the 3 types of fish and avocado wrapped in seaweed. The outside roll was just rice wrapped in seaweed with a fried exterior. It was very tasteless. There was way too much rice (which didn’t have any flavor to it) and it was overly battered. They should’ve drizzled sauce over it or something because it just tasted very dry and bland. It was just too big — it would fall apart after I took a bite into it after rolls are usually not this difficult to eat… I would not recommend ordering this roll. It also took a while to make, which is somewhat understandable since it was fried…
I also got a side of unagi (cheap, for 1.25) which was alright. It was a big piece of eel but it didn’t taste fresh. However it tasted better than the other food we ordered so I kind of wish we just ordered a bunch of unagi and other sushi (which they have an extensive selection of).
On the plus side, the service was good. The waitress was very attentive and refilled our water glasses often. However my experience with the food wasn’t so great and there are many other options for Japanese in the area so I will probably not come back here.

Happy hour sushi! So worth it. I stopped by here for lunch and was pleasantly surprised. Good selection of rolls and nigiri on the happy hour menu. I haven’t been here for dinner’s happy hour, but may have to add that to my list of places to stop for dinner. As much as I like one of the other popular sushi places around the corner, I like the less hectic pace of the staff here. They were very nice and weren’t running around like their heads were cut off.
Yummy!

Honestly, I’d give this place 2 stars if I could but because this place has been a family favorite, I can’t help but throw an extra star for loyalty.
This review is for the experience I had on Friday night happy hour. It was packed and had to wait 10 minutes for a table. I ordered 6 pieces of California rolls (3 pcs– $ 1.25), 2 handrolls (~$ 3 each), and chicken katsu (~$ 3). I came here with 2 other friends and we ordered 2 Sapporos and 1 sake for our sake bombs ($ 9 total). If you come here with 4 people, I’d say the amount we got would also be enough.
At the end, I was full. The only thing that annoyed me was the service. After we were done eating, it took a total of 20 – 30 minutes to just get our bill and we opted to pay in cash just because we knew if we paid with card, it would take an extra 10 or more minutes. I even stood next to the cash register and asked multiple times for our check. Maybe they need one more waitress for the busy weekend nights especially during happy hour. I know a lot of other people around us fought tooth and nail to get some service. There were 2 sushi chefs (one’s the owner) and 2 waitresses.
I’d recommend this place for happy hour to anyone, I even pulled in someone outside who was looking at the menu saying this place was awesome and their happy hour is great. I felt bad when they had to wait 15 minutes for a seat (waitresses too busy to clean up an empty table) and deal with the not so great service that night. I hope the food made up for it…

Fish are pretty fresh, typical no –thrill variety such as salmon, tuna, and mackeral. So if you are looking for more seasonal and expensive variety of fish, you might not be able to find it here.
But for a small group looking for decently priced rolls and fresh fish, this is a great choice in the neighborhood. I say for small group (2 – 4 people) because there’s only one chef making sushi, so it does take awhile, especially for early evenings, when people go for the happy hour and those that come for early dinner.
Look for «Near-​By» deal on Groupon for $ 29.

For a sushi happy hour I’m definitely coming back. $ 2.95 small sake or asahi. They have $ 2.95 appetizer selection. $ 1.25 nigiri sized sushi. $ 1.00 basic sushi. $ 2.95 handrolls. Seriously can’t beat that. I did order the uni, but it was not on the happy hour menu. I definitely can say it was fresh tasting. The oysters are a must to order on the happy hour. 3 people with 31 individual pieces for $ 55. And its at regular size not the skimpy cheap sizes.
Definitely coming back!

We came here on a Wednesday night to take advantage of their Groupon offer. $ 29 for a prix-​fixe meal for two.
The food was alright, all things considered. My favorite of the evening was the Agedashi tofu. The others were either a) overfried, b) dry, or c) too tough to chew.
On the food, I would have happy to give them a 3. Am taking off 2 stars because of what happened as we paid the bill.
I knew prior to coming here they will charge us tax on the groupon. Which is fine. I fully intended to pay a tip equivalent to the actual cash value of the meal (pre-​discount). On their menus, they said their minimum charge on their credit card was $ 10.00. I intended on paying a total of $ 12.50 (4.10 tax, and 8.90 in tip on the full amount of the meal).
First, they asked me if I can pay in cash. I told them I didn’t have it, but I have a credit card and I would do the $ 12.50 (which is above the minimum amount). She said she’s not able to do that, and that I must run $ 15.00. At this point all the goodwill from the meal was all gone. I pointed out that the menu said the minimum charge is $ 10. She insisted $ 15. My husband offered to go to the ATM, and she directed him to one that would’ve charged us $ 3 to use.
At the end of the day, we paid the $ 15 and got out of there. But just due to that experience, we are not going back again. We let the chef (owner) know about this before we left the restaurant, he said he thought the charge was $ 10 too, but we didn’t stick around to find out. What a disappointing end to our evening.

Stumbled in since the Shanghigh place next door was closed.
The sushi overall was okay.
The size portions were on the small size.
I hand a spicy tuna handroll — if it wasn’t for my picture I wouldn’t be able to tell you what I had.
My friend had the chicken katsu which tasted like regular katsu?
Nothing too memorable.

I love getting deals for our date nights. so when Groupon had a deal for Tenka’s 3 course prix fixe menu for 2, I gladly snatched one up to try out a new restuarant.
We were able to get seated before our 7 pm reservation time. It was super busy since they have a happy hour from 5 pm — 7 pm, Monday — Sunday (I guess that would be every day then. lol.) — dine in only.
We quickly ordered off their happy hour menu as it was approaching 7 pm. Sushi was between $ 1 — $ 2.95. This could end up being one of the cheapest dinners out we’ve had at a Japanese restaurant.
Now on to the prix fixe menu! You can choose hot sake, beer, house wine or soda per person. It is included with the dinner, which is awesome. I’ve never had drinks included with your entrée anywhere else. Then you choose 2 appetizers, a shared entrée and one handroll.
We were stuffed when we left, but the food was ok at best. I would definitely come here during happy hour for cheap eats.

GREAT PLACE FOR GOOD, AFFORDABLE NIGIRI– only at Happy Hour (4−6pm).
The maguro, salmon, shiro maguro, & hamachi were all very tasty with the prices ranging from $ 1.00-$ 1.25.
Fantastic find!!!

Fellow Unilocalers, if there’s two things you can probably figure out about me from my profile it’s 1) I’m a sushi «snob» and 2) I live in San Mateo. For years, I avoided this place despite it being 5 minutes from me because it was perpetually either empty or most of the guests were families with kids. Well, for all you other picky sushi people out there, let me tell you, this place is a gem for Happy Hour.
As others have stated, the Happy Hour has the lowest prices around for nigiri, rolls, appetizers, and beer. The value is unbeatable, and the sushi is fresh (not Tsukiji fresh, but hey, it’s $ 1/​piece — no whining allowed). Service is not the friendliest, but if I’m here for Happy Hour, I’m with friends and we’re not in a rush. Great way to satisfy your sushi craving without breaking the bank!

Sushi Happy Hour every single day of the week. During lunch and dinner, they have $ 1 sushi, and it’s definitely worth the price.
The selection of $ 1~ items is pretty extensive. We tried quite a few and the ones are I really liked were:
salmon
smoked salmon — unique to sushi restaurants as far as I know
unagi (eel) — delicious
yellowtail
salmon roll (3 pieces for $ 1.25)
$ 3 hand rolls were really good too:
ahi poke and spicy tuna
the philadelphia roll is standard (6 pieces for $ 4.50) and tasty
All in all, for $ 1 sushi without breaking the bank, come here during their day and night happy hours.

3.5 stars.
A friend highly recommended this place. Honestly, I took it with a grain of salt, because the sushi place looks like a very normal other one in San Mateo.
My friend ordered what he liked, including grilled hamachi kama, rolls, butterfish sushi, smoked salmon sushi… and I was impressed with what I got. It’s definitely a step above the average place in this area. The rice is not too big, the fish quite fresh, and the grilled hamachi kama was amazing. Definitely a must-​get.
The service was really slow though, even though there wasn’t many people during lunch hours. There were like 2 – 3 tables. If they could fix that, I’m sure this place will be much more popular.

Come for Happy Hour! Happy hour ends at 7PM and you get a discount off all the different sushis /​appetizers! The sushi is very fresh and always delicious and the appetizers are always good. I would recommend the chicken karage even though it comes with like 5 pieces (and it’s kind of expensive for the amount you get), its SO good! Even though it’s happy hour, the price does add up rather quickly!
One star off because the staff never filled our tea even when we asked them too… and for its semi-​pricey-​ness…

Came here for happy hour on a Thursday night. Not crowded at all.
What we ordered:
Chicken Karage appetizer — Tiny portion, crispy and juicy
2 orders oyster appetizer — Not that fresh. They added green onions, hot sauce and lemon juice.
$ 1-​$ 1.25 per piece:
Salmon, smoked salmon, albacore, tuna, tomago, masago, unagi — All the sushi was fresh and surprisingly tasty. The portions were big as well.
Plus 2 large bottles of Sapporo.
Service was a bit slow since only one person was working. Otherwise, it’s a great place to go for happy hour!