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Tempura is always tempting at this Pasadena restaurant

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Back in the day, when dinosaurs roamed the Earth, I had an English teacher who, when a student would offer a half-witted response to a question, would throw his arms up in the air, and thunder “O tempora, o mores.” For the longest time, I was puzzled by his reference to a dish served at our single local Japanese restaurant, along with teriyaki, pickled vegetables and rice.

It wasn’t until years later that I realized it was an ancient Latin lament famously spoken by Cicero in one of his orations. It translates as, “Oh, the times! Oh, the customs!” A comment on the mental decay of the young scholars in my English teacher’s charge.

Tempura, the dish, was given its name by Spanish and Portuguese missionaries who were happy to find something new to eat during the meatless fasts of Lent and Fridays. Fish became the dish of choice during those times — those “tempora” — which evolved into tempura. The missionaries also introduced the concept of coating ingredients in batter and cooking in hot oil, giving the tempura we eat today roots that stretch back to the 16th century.

It’s a dish that owes its origins to a number of cultures. And at Tendon Tempura Carlos Junior in Pasadena, it’s much-loved on these shores, and long has been. This isn’t tempura served as a prequel to another dish. This is tempura triumphant. Carlos Junior — Carlos Pinto — makes tempura as good as anyone. And maybe even better.

  • Mixed tempura at Tendon Tempura Carlos Junior in Pasadena (Photo by Merrill Shindler)

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Mixed tempura at Tendon Tempura Carlos Junior in Pasadena (Photo by Merrill Shindler)

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The tempura we know so well dates back to the Edo period in Japanese history, when cooking in oil was limited to outdoor food stands to avoid setting paper and wood structures ablaze. It became a casual street food. And though what’s served by Carlos Junior is cooked indoors — and eaten both indoors and on the outdoor patio — it’s still at heart casual street food.

Carlos was born in Peru, and moved to Japan where he discovered the joy of an abundance of local foods, and tempura in particular. He began cooking at a famous Japanese tempura house in Nihonbashi. It was an experience he carried with him when he moved to Torrance, where he opened his first Tendon Tempura. Which last year spawned a second branch east of Old Pasadena on Colorado Boulevard. And to a following that guarantees a wait for a table, or a seat at the counter.

While you wait, there’s much reading to be done. Along with a biography of Carlos, there are his three commitments: To use only “our original sauce based on a secret recipe” … to use “original plant-based oil combined with Japanese sesame oil” … and to use koromo batter “of water and flour, with a generous amount of eggs.”

Cartoon panels teach us how to eat the tendon (tempura bowl) versus the tempura plate. There’s a ritual order to the two styles. But in the end, in either case, the meal is remarkably satisfying. With the option of sushi either before or after.

The sushi menu is familiar: 11 sushi rolls, six hand rolls, four small pates of sashimi. Less familiar is the uni (sea urchin) menu of uni with seaweed tempura, uni sushi, uni hand rolls, uni with ikura (red caviar). A fine treat, very tasty. But for me, the point of the place is the tempura. Which I prefer on a plate, rather than over rice. I don’t want to have anything standing between me and my crunch.

The Special Tempura Plate is a fine place to start. It begins with a richly flavored bowl of miso soup, far more complex and subtle than the usual bowl of salty water. While you wait, there are pickles on the table — the pickled celery was especially good. And then, with impressive haste, out comes the plate of tempuraed things: white fish, a pair of shrimp, a mixed seafood bundle, pumpkin, seaweed, shishito peppers, half a boiled egg … and in a separate bowl, rice.

The Premium Tempura Plate substitutes eel for white fish. There’s a plate where chicken breast is the protein of choice. Another with four shrimp. And a vegetable option with meaty maitake mushrooms, eggplant, zucchini, avocado and pumpkin.

Should you need more tempura, everything is available à la carte. And should you be seized with a need for noodles — thinner soba, thicker udon — the choices abound, topped with tempura or with beef.

The only dish that might draw me away from the tempura, though, is the sashimi bowl with three kinds of tuna — spicy tuna, bluefin tuna and toro fatty tuna. I’m kinda nuts for tuna.

There’s a sign in front of Tendon Tempura (3 stars; 694 E. Colorado Blvd., Pasadena; 626-298-6200; www.instagram.com/tempuracarlosjr) that proclaims this the “Best tempura in SoCal.” It’s tempting to poke holes in braggadocio like that. But I can’t. For Carlos Junior, tempura isn’t just a side dish — it’s his guiding cuisine.

The menu tells us that his object is “To bring smiles and happiness to our customers.” That … and a lingering memory of how a tempura crust makes everything taste better. Though of course, tempura ice cream for a closer wouldn’t hurt at all.

Merrill Shindler is a Los Angeles-based freelance dining critic. Email mreats@aol.com.

Tendon Tempura Carlos Junior

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