(215) 557-9593
104 S 21st St
Philadelphia,
PA
19103
39.9536
-75.1751
Neighborhoods: Center City, Center City West
What People Are Saying About Tampopo Japanese Restaurant
The Editor
Contributor
Citysearch
In Short – Situated just beyond ritzy Rittenhouse Square, Tampopo offers an inexpensive, healthy alternative to that neighborhood's creperies and giant muffin coffeehouses. With just a few tables in its spare, lotus-colored interior, Tampopo generally caters to locals slurping noodles, Miso soup, soba dishes an tasty green tea. Sushi, on the other hand, is generally vegetarian or comes with grilled chicken. Egg cake, rolled with sugar and soy sauce, is nearly sweet enough to be dessert.
09/13/08
Menial food may appetize some, but tampopo fails at even the most elementary menu items for Japanese
by discriminatetaster
If you enjoy sauteed beef over rice then tampopo will become your favorite place to eat. If you like Japanese specialties, be forewarned; they do not do it right. First, the unagi (fresh water eel) tasted like it was baked. It would be fine if they cut off the skin and fat, but they didn't, so I was left with a very fatty piece of low-grade eel that didn't have a very appetizing sauce. The skin should have been toasted! At least it wasn't chewy... They even served Gari with my eel-don which was hilarious. Its obvious you serve Daikon. Their gyoza was deep fried, not pan fried, and had a conventional filling although it was nice you had a choice between shrimp, pork, beef or chicken. The small roll plates were too expensive for the type of quality they were pushing. While tampopo may be good for some simple grill favorites, it fails at everything else that basically is the essence of any Japanese restaurant. I know I should have been weary of cheap Japanese, however places have done it very well and Tampopo's price point isn't too far away from a quality, value based Japanese restaurant. If your looking for sushi or Japanese delicacies, steer clear. You kind sushi of the same quality at much lower prices.
- Pros: Quick
- Cons: Anything remotely close to Japanese, pricey for sushi quality
05/20/07
I'll be going back again soon
by claytonjones
My brother recommended Tampopo to me so I tried them out the other day and I'm looking forward to going back again soon. The menu is short and simple but offers a nice range of selections at reasonable prices. I was most impressed with the quality and fresh taste of the ingredients. A word of warning though, if you don't like your spicy food to kick too hard then stay clear of the spicy dishes. Tampopo doesn't hold back on the kick! The atmosphere was cozy with good music playing at a good volume level (not too loud). They're also open pretty late (9:30 if I remember right) for dinner, so I'll definitely be stopping in again soon.
- Pros: Good food, good prices, relaxed atmosphere and friendly service
- Cons: A little tight for a large group
09/10/06
Fabulous Fast Food!
by tres_saucy
I just happened to stop in Tampopo one Thursday evening, and I was pleasantly surprised! I had the chicken breast bento box, and my fiance had the eel rolls. We were so happy! It was a very nice alternative to fast food. We were in and out in under 45 minutes. I could eat there every night!
- Pros: Inexpensive, healthy, delicious!
- Cons: A little small
The Details on Tampopo Japanese Restaurant
Category:
Payment Methods:
American Express, Discover, Visa, MasterCard
Cuisine:
Smoking Permitted:
No
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