Awesome food and great staff. The fried chicken was delicious! Very authentic resturant.

I only got the original Karaage and my review is only for that. It was so moist and tender. I would love to come back and try their other sauces. read more

One of my favorites for fried chicken / karaage. It's a super small restaurant more for takeout orders. I always get the 5 piece original karaage and the gizzards. Gizzards is a different texture and it's so good with the eel sauce! They also have box combos which are a good deal and it comes with salad/veggies, fried tempura/croquettes, and half sized California roll. This place does take a while so call in and order ahead! My only con here is that they charge you for every sauce besides soy sauce. They used to give one out with your order but started to cheap out. read more

Hands down Best Karage in OC. My family eats here weekly when possible! Amazing little takeout/dine in

I was picking up bread at the Camp and saw this place nearby. I adore fried chicken in all its forms so was happy to find this place within walking distance. What sold me was the fried chicken cartilage, which isn't really everyone's cup of tea. But I love chewy and crisp food so had to try it. It's larger pieces than I'm used to, but it's definitely a great dish here. The batter is crisp but not dry. You can mix and choose what cuts of chicken you want, with different sauces as well. They even have curry, which is a plus! Price is on point as well. read more

I've only had the Karaage chicken here. The 2.2 pound bucket of boneless thighs. And that's all I need in my life. I usually take it home and we eat it with fried rice or garlic noodles, but really the whole point of this place is their DELICIOUS Karaage chicken. The crunch, the flavor, the texture. It'll ruin other fried chicken places for you. The sauces are good too. read more

Cheap, 10 min wait, but totally worth. The chicken wings was surprisingly good for a Japanese place, overall a great place to drop by and pick some food up if ur broke like me. read more

the first time I tried Tenkatori was at OC japan fair. It was the best karaage I've ever had in the US (I'm native Japanese if that means anything) besides my mom's of course. They told me they had a store in the Gardena Tokyo Central, which was a bit far, so I was sad that I'd never be able to eat it again. I was so glad to find a branch near me in Costa Mesa!! I'm assuming this is their little branch, but I really hope they're here to stay! Their karaage is the perfect balance of juicy and crispy. There's plenty of chicken to bite into, not like those cheap, mostly-batter fried chickens. I personally really like nankotsu (cartilage). Their nankotsu has a little bit more meat to it than I like, but it's still really good. I also really like the sweet & spicy sauce to go with it I just recently tried the shrimp tempura roll too, and it's not too bad. It's not an amazing "sushi" roll from a sushi joint, but it's not bad at all. A tip for if you're getting it to go - leave the to-go box open so the steam can escape. This will prevent your karaage from going soggy. If it gets a bit too soggy by the time you get home, bake it a little bit in your toaster oven/ air fryer/ oven and you're good to go. read more

Love this place, it's pretty small so take-out might be a good choice, but it's got a lot of great options, can be a bit busy but still get food out quick. read more

Food was great, but they forgot my curry in my curry chicken order (takeout) so I had to eat it dry. Would go again, and politely ask workers to double check something as simple as making sure curry is indeed added to the menu item called curry. read more

FOOD: The food was ok but I really felt like it was over priced. We had the karaage, and some of the spicy mayo sauce, and a roll. The karaage was really good but I felt like they were too large per piece and were sometimes difficult to eat. SERVICE: Although the place itself gives off alot of authentic vibes, I'm not sure it actually is. The lady taking our orders at the front was very nice, but I don't think she was the best at understanding what we were saying so it took a while to order our food. The food took a good amount of time to come out, and you put away your own tray and plates. AMBIANCE: Casual. Order and sit down kind of place. PARKING: Good size parking lot. read more

One of my favorite places to eat. I love their Karaage and I always ordered Kaarage bowl (with rice and veggies)everytime. Their chicken is consistent, delicious, served fresh hot and crispy. I never had a serving that is underwhelming and I'm a regular at this place. The quality and service is top notch. I always like how the managers are friendly and always helpful. The restaurant is pretty small and I wish they have more space but it's clean. Try their spicy mayo with the chicken, it's so good! read more

WOW!! This chicken karaage tastes so good! Little crunch and a little chewy and gooey. Perfect with sriracha sauce. I'll be coming back again for more read more

Tenkatori - Gluten-Free Near Me - Costa Mesa, California

Gluten free fried chicken? YES PLEASE! Absolutely incredible chicken. Fresh & light. I also had the spicy tuna roll- good size & fresh! Unfortunately none of their sauces are gluten free, they're all homemade but made with soy sauce. Hopefully in the future they can make a few with tamari! This would have definitely elevated my experience! read more

I really, really wish I could give this place more stars because this is exactly the type of business I like to support, but the meal I had--specfically the kaarage--was super subpar. Let's break this down: Price: 5/5. Great! Really affordable, and so far, can't be beat by other places that serve karaage in the area (Mitsuwa, Bento Box, etc). I got the karaage box with the croquette, california roll, and green salad. My total was $9.48, and I had a bit of leftovers. Service: 5/5. Girl helping me was really friendly and patient, and there was a sense that everyone there was family (they all spoke Japanese together). They handled the dinner rush well. Croquette, CA roll, green salad: 4.5/5. I loved the croquette here. It was awesome, and better than the karaage, actually. CA roll and green salads are obvious... Kind of just normal sides that aren't anything to write home about. Now onto the karaage itself: 2/5. Mine came out lukewarm, which really, really knocked off some points for me. I need my karaage steaming hot!! The flavor was okay? Just kind of salty when I expected something a bit more savory. Considering how I got their signature, normal karaage, I expected this to be the thing they're best at? But maybe I just went during an off period. Cons: parking friggen' sucks, this place is really tiny so if you're going during a rush you probably won't have a place to sit. I will visit here again just so I can update my review, because I'd like to believe that this place can do better. I'm rooting for you Tenkatori!! Updated review will come eventually. read more

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Sadly I won't be going here ever again. I have been coming to this place since I was in high school so over 15 years. I always get the California rolls and I don't like soy sauce so I get eel sauce. Never once had an issue in 15 years. A month ago I placed a huge order $50 worth of food. We go to pick it up and my husband asked for a few side of eel sauce and the new owner told him no. Flat out no, not we charge now or anything just they didn't give that anymore. I only eat the Cali rolls with the eel sauce any sushi place I go to I order it that way, again I have been here for over 15 years. So I go in and I said cancel my order and just give me my money back because I won't even be able to enjoy my dinner. She said umm well we don't give eel sauce unless you order crunchy roll and we did have one order of crunchy rolls. So she said she would only give us one. So again I said cancel my order, I'm spending $50 at your establishment and your not will to give me a few condiments that I'm asking for. Then she goes in the back and talks to someone and comes out and says it's gonna be .50 cents per sauce, they are tiny little dip by the way and I'm hungry and upset at this point I was like fine so she changed me and then when u go to pay she said she can't take my debit card so I needed to go find cash. She still was so rude she wouldn't give me sauce for my rolls. I regret even paying for the sauce I should have gotten a refund and gone elsewhere. As I said I WIll NEVER COME HERE AGAIN. I'm so disappointed in the rude way I was treated as paying customer who didn't even take soy sauce always tips and has been a loyal customers for years. The new management is bad and I don't see this business being here for long if this is how they treat people. You lost a good costumer and all of my family and friends as well. read more

Just one word: Delicious!!! Ok... I can't post a one word review it seems... so got the karaage and cartilage and both were cooked to perfection. The karaage was crispy on the outside and juicy on the inside and you can the oil isn't repeatedly used too many times~ read more

Shop specializing in karaage (fried chicken). They have various options from wings, thigh, breast, gizzard and more. A few of them have flavor options. Very delicious when hot & fresh, but not so much when it cools down. They also carry menu items from the previous shop that was at the location (Sushi Box). Like Bento Boxes and simple sushi rolls. Over the weekend, they have chicken rice balls, that I recommend getting. Will definitely be back! read more

Tenkatori - order & pick up counter - Gluten-Free Near Me - Costa Mesa, California

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This place is amazing! Their fried chicken is my go with the yuzo sauce and teriyaki sauce! 10/10 recommend this place especially if you want fried chicken! Love this spot! read more

AHHHH!!! 100/10. Ordered 8 pc karaage & lemon pepper wings. When i say my soul left my body at first bite!!! YOU NEED THE YUZU AIOLI!!!!! If you want a ratatouille experience you need to try this place! read more

Came on September 7... the A/C was down, there was no cartilage available to order, no gizzards available to order, and I got raw chicken as part of my karaage so had to throw it away. read more

Best karaage I've ever had hands down, 10/10. I went on a Sunday around 5:30pm and they had a bunch of delivery and takeout orders. I recommend putting in a takeout order before coming here. I walked in and placed an order of 20 pieces of karaage and yuzu aioli sauce and waited about 15-20 minutes for my food. They handed me a take out box of the karaage with the lid open in a bag, which was really smart. I drove home which took about 15 minutes and another 5 minutes to set up the other food we had gotten as takeout. Since the box lid was open during that whole time, the karaage pieces were able to stay really crispy, even at the bottom of the box! This was mostly as an appetizer for 6 people and we were all amazed by how large the pieces are and how juicy and delicious the karaage was. The pieces were quite filling. Having 4-5 pieces is almost a meal by itself. The yuzu aioli was also amazing and I wish I could buy a tub of that as a dressing for everything. read more

Honestly this place has the BEST chicken karaage I have ever tasted in California! This is not the generic chicken karaage that other places typically serve as an app/side and give you sriracha mayo for dipping... the chicken here will blow your mind and it doesn't even need a dipping sauce!! I got the combination plate, which includes 3 pieces of wings and 3 pieces of thigh and rice and salad. All comes together at under $10 before tax and tip. And I'm not talking about pieces of chicken so small that you can pick up with those long tooth pick things; these chicken pieces are HUGE. I swear I had a thigh piece as big as a tennis ball. Aside from the size, these are some of the juiciest, tenderest chicken I ever put in my mouth. They also mixed in some sort of chili powder (I think the shichimi powder) into the breading, which adds a little spice, but not super spicy. So not only are these a great deal, they seriously taste delicious. If you have never been impressed by chicken karaage, you definitely need to visit Tankatori. I'll be coming here again to try other things on their menu. read more

Tenkatori - Combination plate to go - Gluten-Free Near Me - Costa Mesa, California

Ordered the karaage bowl and was not disappointed. Chicken is crispy, and juicy. Good sized pieces. Very flavorful. Does not need any additional seasoning or sauces. Great customer service as well. read more

This place is located in a tiny plaza with a 7-eleven near the freeway. Seemingly hard to miss place. Got the bento box with karaage, croquette, sushi and steamed veggies. This also came with miso soup. Karaage- chicken was flavorful, juicy and well seasoned, but I wish they made the pieces smaller. Meat is mostly thigh meat. Croquette- this is potato, with what I think is some corn, or something yellow that made it sweet. Overall, this is on the sweeter side. Sushi- I liked this the most. This is what I'd probably want the most from here. Steamed veggies- this came with carrots, broccoli, and baby corn. The baby corn was really interesting and I liked it. The carrots were cooked just right, unlike other places where it may still be semi-raw. Miso soup - watered down and bland, but I guess it worked out in the end when pairing it with the karaage chicken. read more

Wow, the box menu portion is huge! What you get: (1) Tempura or Croquette or 2 Karaage (2) California roll or Veggie roll (3) green salad or steamed veggie (4) Main entree (5) Rice (6) Miso soup. Dang, that's a lot for under $10!! I ended up getting the Karaage entree with croquette, salad, and california roll. I couldn't even finish half of it so there will definitely be leftovers. I wouldn't say its the best kaarage that I've ever had, the outer batter was a little soft and not as crunchy as I would like but hey, if you can get all that food for under $10, that's a heck of a deal. This restaurant is better for take out more than for a sit down meal. There are some tables inside but its small. I called in ahead of time for a to-go order and they got it ready in 10 mins. Seems like they have some other good options on their menu too, I'll need to come back! read more

Tenkatori - Box menu option....get it! - Gluten-Free Near Me - Costa Mesa, California

The karaage is amazing here with the sauce, and the staff is very friendly. small place, but it's not too crowded read more

Tenkatori - Gluten-Free Near Me - Costa Mesa, California

It's been a while since the last time I was there, and the food is still great! Nankotsu is the must-try. Also, 5 stars for the service! read more

Tenkatori - Gluten-Free Near Me - Costa Mesa, California

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Came on a Monday around 2:00 for a late lunch. We both got the box lunches and it was not worth it. The tempura was so bad that neither me or my husband could eat it and he LOVES tempura. It was cold, and tasted like it was fried on old oil hours ago. The only thing hot and crispy was the karaage chicken. The steamed veggies were just a few broccoli pieces and carrots. Also cold. The yuzu cole slaw was wilted and tasted slightly bitter. Wasn't impressed. read more

I highly recommend getting the box menu since you essentially get 1) rice AND miso soup plus selections between either of the following 2) Tempura OR 2 croquettes OR 2 karage pieces 3) 4 pieces of california roll OR veggie roll 4) green salad OR steamed vegetable 5) And then your selection of the meat. I got the spicy karage, tempura, california roll, salad, rice, and miso soup for less than $10. I was stuffed. Parking lot is small since it's on the corner of Baker and Bristol and shares with 7-11 and a hawaiian bbq restaurant. read more

Tenkatori - Gluten-Free Near Me - Costa Mesa, California

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The best Gluten Free fried chicken! Sooo crunchy and easily reheated in an air fryer. I love getting this on days I don't want to cook. It's also Dairy and Egg Free. read more

This place rocks! One of my favorite places for Japanese karaage. It is a mom and pop joint, the place is small, but I come here specifically for the food. I typically order the bento box menu and it's such a great deal! You get the main entree (5pieces of karaage), miso soup, choice of tempura, green salad, California roll etc. the point is you get bunch of food for less than $10. Just a heads up The parking can get a little hectic and the place can quickly get packed during lunch hours. read more

chicken pieces are smaller than before. The bento box doesn't fill me up anymore.

Excellent fried chicken and their bento box are great. I suggest you call them to order ahead do not order it online because I done that twice and they never got my order online. read more

Best Chicken karaage is here! Juicy, flavorful , cooked upon order so it's always fresh. We stop by every time we're in the area. Great value too. read more

Quite surprised (in a good way) with how delicious and big the fried chicken karaage from this place. I saw the pictures before I ordered by phone and thought that 8 pieces would be perfect portion for my lunch, but when I got the chicken, I was shocked. Each piece of the chicken was so big! Almost 5-6 times regular popcorn chicken! So worth the money I paid! The place has counter ordering system and a few chairs to eat. Me and my coworkers couldn't fit in that place so we took our food to go. All of us got the chicken karaage and all of us enjoyed the crispiness, softness, fluffiness of the chicken karaage. Both the outside and inside were perfectly seasoned (probably need more spicy taste) and the inside was so soft that I wanted to caress the chicken meat slowly. I believe this place might sell the best chicken karaage in the area so far. I would definitely come back soon! read more

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Yup, delicious! Had the box menu here, with a potato croquette and sushi, as well as the curry karaage. The box menu is probably what I'd recommend since you have other things to kind of pick at. The karaage itself is cooked beautifully. Super juicy and crispy, a bit on the sweet side. They come in big chunks compared to other places serving karaage. The potato croquette was cooked well too, but if you're getting it out to go, be warned that it might go mushy in the box since the steam's getting to it. I didn't get to enjoy a crispy croquette unfortunately, but that's on me for driving so far. Can't say much on the sushi roll (California), except that it's not frozen like from a lot of take-out places. Now I did personally not like the curry served here. It felt rather too thick and dense for me, almost a curdle-like texture which didn't take too well with the karaage. Everything else though was lovely. I'll be back! read more

Terrific Karaage! Not many great lunches under $15 anymore but this place hits the spot. Excellent quality, great side dishes, and friendly staff! read more

Such a good deal! I ordered the 5 piece Karaage bento box which comes with miso soup + rice + California roll + salad + tempura. All for $8.80! Karaage had a great crunch and each piece was very generous. I also ordered a couple more for my roommates who have endless pits in their stomachs and even they were filled up. I would highly recommend coming here for a quick lunch or dinner. Not a lot of parking but there is some parking towards the back. 5 meals were ordered and quickly even when it was a busier Friday night. Worth it for how cheap it was, quality of food, and for how many options you get. read more

Tenkatori - Karaage Bento Box | $8.80 | 5 pieces of Karaage, tempura, salad, rice, miso soup, and California roll - Gluten-Free Near Me - Costa Mesa, California

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Delicious pieces of high quality chicken, and it's gluten free! Sauces aren't, but they are so chill they'd probably let you bring your own sauce. read more