Tenkatori

Tenkatori serves some of the best Japanese fried chicken ever! I got a combo A to split with a friend, and we had so much leftovers. This could easily feed 3-4 people. The karaage pieces were big and juicy while the drumsticks were also perfectly crispy. The accompanying spicy mayo sauce was great as well! There was very limited indoor seating, with maybe only four tables. The owner of the shop is a friendly older gentleman who is all smiles and clearly takes pride in his food. We loved the Japanese city pop playing in the background as well as the vintage decor. It was such a cute vibe! Would definitely come back again whenever I'm in the mood for fried chicken :)

Oh man do I absolutely love Tenkatori!!I *think* I heard the owner or main cashier say his name was Katsu? Either way, he was super friendly, attentive, and informative when explaining the different dishes, sauces, and history of Tenkatori saying they import the sauce directly from Japan! I ordered the combo bento adding wings to the plate, along with a side of the sweet and sour sauce, which totaled about $14-15.He said it would take about 15 minutes but my food was ready in less than 10.It's a good size bento and very reminiscent of what you'll find in Japan - balanced and not too big, not too small, with still plenty of flavors.The potato salad is simple, creamy, and tasty. The noodles are an interesting twist and slightly sweet. The pickles are crunchy and fresh. The rice is simple.The chicken is outstanding. The chicken thighs are so juicy and crunchy with delicious umami flavors. The wings are crispy, meaty, and share the same flavor profile. A sauce isn't needed but the sweet and sour is amazing - rich, gooey, slightly sweet and with a kick.

I've had tons of chicken karaage in my life because I love fried chicken in general, but this stands out as one of the best chicken karaage ever!I like the karaage and popcorn chicken the best, but they also have other options like teba (wings), tebanaka (middle wing), sunagimo (gizzard), nankotsu (cartilage), and more. The karaage and popcorn chicken are juicy and tender on the inside with a light and crisp breading on the outside. Everything is made-to-order, but the wait is worth it for hot and fresh chicken!This is a small and casual shop, but there's still some tables and seating to dine-in. Service is always so nice and friendly here!The shop is a bit hidden since it's on the 2nd floor in the plaza with Nijiya Market. Find Daiso, take the staircase next to it, and you'll find Tenkatori basically right above Daiso.This is the perfect spot to satisfy your fried chicken craving!

First time here after years of going to the Gardena food court Tenkatori location. It's a full service restaurant with many items not available at the fast-casual food court location. Best of all, you can see the making of their legendary karaage via a glass opening in the kitchen wall. . Suffice it to say, after discovering Tenkatori, I no longer ordered karaage at other restaurants; none has the same crunch or taste as Tenkatori. Your food may take longer to come out because they only make the karaage to order. A good thing is worth waiting for.

They really have the best karaage in town!! Chicken pieces are huge, juicy, and crunchy. Made to order. Sauces are extra, but definitely get at least one. I tried all of them and my favorite is the yuzu aioli (which is also the most popular sauce). My husband likes the spicy mayo. This is a small restaurant in the 2nd floor above Daiso. There are a few tables for dine-in, but takeout is more popular. Plus it gives the karaage time to cool off if you take it to-go. If you're eating in, be warned - the chicken is super hot, straight from the fryer, so let it cool for a few minutes before you start munching.

What a crunch!!!I was craving some juicy and crispy fried chicken and had bookmarked Tenkatori for some time so finally I had a chance to check it out. It's a bit hard to figure out where it is. I've been here dozen of times when I frequent Nijiya Market at the street level but I had no idea that it was actually in the same Sawtelle Place mini. It's on the second floor, right above Daiso. It's more of a takeout place than a sit down, although they have about 5 barstools available for dine in. Note: All chicken is GLUTEN FREE as they use potato starch. It also helps make the chicken extra crunchy! I came around 4pm on a weekday so it was pretty quiet. Fuku, the owner and Tatsu greeted me and Tatsu took my order. He helped me decide what to order as there are so many choices. I picked the Karaage Bento Box with popcorn chicken and a 4 piece Butsu Giri. Tatsu told me that Tenkatori first opened in Oita, Japan by a man who opened Japan's first Karaage takeout restaurant after he had perfected his recipe over 70 years ago. Warning that the Karaage, which comes in two big portions in the bento box is their #1 seller and quite hot so take your time eating it so you don't burn your tongue! It was very tender and tasty! Way better than the ones you get at other restaurants. There was a lot of chicken in the 4 piece Butsu Giri which was delicious and juicy! Definitely try their different sauces. The Spicy Mayo is extremely spicy for me so I preferred the Yuzu Aioli which is the only gluten-free sauce, and the Sweet-and-Sour sauce. Tenkatori really know how to perfect their fried chicken and my craving for it was fully satisfied!

Definitely a pick up place. Gluten Free! Pretty coolPopcorn chicken is great, karage is pretty good. Lots of food. Kim likes the bento box.Yuzu aioli was good. Spicy mayo is ok. Spicy and sweet sauce is meh.

You can't go wrong with some good crispy on the outside, moist on the inside karaage! What makes Tenkatori unique is that they make karaage out of many different parts of the chicken. Unique for sure! They're located in this extremely busy shopping plaza with multiple businesses and eateries, but we got street parking within walking distance, so we were good. Service is very welcoming and polite, making sure to answer all of our questions and getting us all of our utensils and sauces. Apparently, they have been using the same sauce recipe for the same 70 years and their oil is changed daily. Makes sense since everything that we ordered was nicely juicy without being too heavy and oily and crispy as well. The meat inside was moist and cooked nicely as well. We got the Karaage Boneless Thigh, Sunagimo Gizzard, and the Nankotus Chicken Gizzard. Obviously, the latter two were more chewier, tougher bits of chicken, but something nominal to try since it's not something I generally see fried in karaage form. Of course, we also had to get the classical boneless karaage which went great with their Yuzu Aioli Sauce which had a nice citrus taste that was also creamy too. I wouldn't mind trying their other locations for some more finger lickin' fried chickenGood stuff and the little chicks they have in samurai gear for a mascot, fingers crossed they have stickers or merch for them one day!

I was on the west side, trying to head back home in terrible traffic when I decided to stop off at Tenkatori upstairs in a commercial center north of Olympic on Sawtelle. I called ahead and waited about five minutes. I ordered the spectacular Gluten Free chicken thighs and gf chicken wings. I got the one gluten free sauce and did all I could to resist eating the Kaarage (thighs) on the way home. Once home I enjoyed dipping the chicken thighs, alternating with a wing in the slightly tangy sauce until I had eaten half of my order. I ate the other half the next day. Just the best. Mata atode (see you soon).

The service here is okay. He's kinda pushy when you're trying to order and you have never been there before. Also there's no cups of water you have to buy the bottle for $2.50...Food was just okay. The karaage was just thick pieces of chicken so the skin wasn't crispy enough it was just chunks. The karaage bowl came with teriyaki but it was salty. Ambiance is very casual, small amount of seating. Plus the inside smelled like cleaner of some kind. If you want good karaage go to Josui in Torrance!