Tokyo-based tempura chain will open in Seattle next week

Tendon Kohaku - one of the splashiest Asian restaurant chains to debut on the Eastside in recent years - will open a second local branch in Seattle's Chinatown International District on May 6, management confirmed Monday. News of a Seattle outlet first broke in January.

The 90-seat restaurant has taken over the former Momosan restaurant space at Fifth Avenue South and South Weller Street in the CID; it will be bigger than Tendon Kohaku's Bellevue location, with more private booths, said Terrence Chan, who owns the franchise rights to the brand in Washington state.

Chan said making an Emerald City debut in the Chinatown International District was important to the Tokyo-based chain because "this neighborhood has a deep history and an important place in Seattle's Asian community."

Chan plans to open more Tendon Kohaku branches in "Greater Seattle down the road" but was mum on the details with his Seattle launch still underway.

Expect long lines during opening week, based on the chain's Eastside opening.

The tempura chain made its U.S. debut in downtown Bellevue in June 2024, drawing waits that lasted as long as five hours that summer. Fried-food fans drove from as far as Bellingham and Tacoma. Lines wrapped around the block in downtown Bellevue, causing traffic and parking congestion.

Customers lined up to try the restaurant's signature deep-fried seafood and veggies served with rice. The kitchen even deep-fries a runny egg yolk encased in a craggy cocoon of tempura. Beyond the tempura sets, the kitchen also has uni flown in from Hokkaido, Japan, twice weekly for its mentaiko udon dish.

Chan said Japanese chef Hideki Tsukao has been in Seattle in recent weeks to train the kitchen staff. The chef will compose a few dishes exclusively for the Seattle menu, management said, including fresh grilled eel in the Kohaku kabayaki unagi set.

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