104 S 21st St, Philadelphia, PA | Map it
19103 39.953601 -75.175101(215) 557-9593 | View Website
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Menial food may appetize some, but tampopo fails at even the most elementary menu items for Japanese. 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.…
I'll be going back again soon. 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.…
Fabulous Fast Food!. 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!…
Modern Japanese takeout with a twist..
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.…
High Quality Japanese/Korean Fast Food. I ate at the 21st Street location last night and had Bi Bim Bop, a popular Korean dish. It was exactly what I had hoped for: excellent steamed vegetables and perfectly cooked rice, an egg cracked into the center of the dish, and hot chili sauce on the side. I tried the tofu edition which was very good: firm and very tasty with the chili oil. I also ordered a side of shumai (small shrimp dumplings in a thin wrapper). The shumai were just OK. I noticed some Gyoza at another table and they looked good. At approximately $7 per person this is one of the best healthy fast food deals in town. If you, like me, lament the sale of the Korean food truck at 38th and Walnut to people who mean well but don't cook like David did, you'll really appreciate Tampopo.…
