Kogane Yama has two outlets, one in Bugis Junction and one (new outlet) at JEM. It’s not my first time eating at Kogane Yama, and I’ve always bought their tempura donburi every time I visited. Other options like chirashi don and gyudon are also available. Instead of chicken tempura, they also have a vegetable, prawn, or mixed option. You can also have it with udon or soba instead of rice.
The chicken tempura comes with a plethora of other items including long bean, mushroom, lotus root, seaweed, sweet potato, and enoki mushroom. They also have different spiciness levels (from 0 to 3), which is mainly the sauce they drizzled over the fried tempura items.
The tempura is well fried, and as a vegetable hater, I find that the fried vegetables (mainly the long bean) is acceptable in this situation. The chicken tempura is not dry or tough, and the mixture of all the different fried items go very well together. The portion is decent for its price (the chicken bowl is $13.80 and is one of the cheapest main dishes on the menu) and definitely leaves you feeling full.
The set meal (+ $2.50) comes with miso soup and a chawanmushi. The miso soup isn’t really spectacular, but the chawanmushi is pretty decent. However, in the future, I might not get the set meal, since the tempura bowl itself is enough.
Side Note:
1) The amount of deep frying may leave your stomach feeling weird.
2) Kogane Yama is under the same company as Chir Chir, and their Bugis Junction outlets are connected on the inside!
Final Verdict:
Maybe not worth travelling a long way for, but if you’re in the area and don’t know what to eat, or if you’re craving some fried tempura, it’s a good option.
zerocaloriesonly 