Tenori — Restaurant in Stanton

Food: 3/5 Service and Setting: 3/5 Value: 3/5

I really wanted to like this more than I did, but maybe my expectations were too high. I love rice balls and expect them to be super packed with flavor and fillings. While the food was not bad, for the price, I hoped for better to be very honest. If you are looking for something that is a little easier to digest, Tenori is your place when navigating the food jungle that is Rodeo 39.

Honey Walnut Prawn: 4/5 This definitely was my favorite of all of the rice balls that I tried. There was a good amount of filling and it was definitely honey walnut prawn. The most pronounced flavor to me was the walnut. The crispy shrimp and nuts were a good contrast to the soft rice and savory furikake coating.

Mentai: 4/5 This was also very good and they packed a good amount of mentaiko into the rice ball. Mentaiko, or myeong-ran in Korean, is spicy fermented pollack roe and is extremely delicious. It is spicy, savory, rich, has a strong-ocean essence, and slightly bitter/fermented. If you are not a fan of seafood this is not for you, but if you do want to try something different, I would say that Tenori offers a very good mentaiko rice ball.

Pork Belly: 2/5 I really did not like this one, to be frank. The meat was very sweet and tasted strongly of soy sauce. The bonito flakes on the outside helped a bit but yeah still not a fan. I felt that the flavors were very underwhelming and the intense sweetness was off putting.

Lychee Lemonade: 4/5 Their lychee lemonade is pretty good and a lot better than a lot of places that I have had similar drinks at. Lemonade is always pretty sweet so I won’t ding them there. The lychee flavor does not taste artificial and there is not that thick sort of syrup taste that you get when restaurants use a lychee syrup. I would not say that this drink matches their food, but it is refreshing nonetheless and I would pick one up even if I was not...

Located inside Rodeo 39. This place gets busy for lunch. They give you a buzzer and buzz you when it’s ready.

There are 8 kinds to choose from for $4 each or 3 for $11. We got two sets of 3. It’s filling because it’s made up of mainly rice.

-pork belly - I usually like anything pork belly but this was just one big piece of meat. It wasn’t tender and I couldn’t bite into it. So my first bite was just all meat and the rest was left with rice.

-spicy tuna - not as good as the spicy salmon

-tuna w mayo - I am normally not a tuna fan but this combo was one of my favorite. It was cooked tuna.

-spicy salmon - My favorite. The portions and flavors were right on.

-Kbbq - This was the most consistent because it was shredded meat and it had saucy flavor. Each bite had rice and meat.

-honey walnut shrimp - Came with 2 pieces of honey walnut shrimp. I was able to take each bite with a piece of shrimp and rice but the proportions were not even so I was left with more rice in the end.

We got all 6 to sample, realistically, two will get me full but half the 6 so technically I had 3 and the rice kept me full...

It's my second time here and the food was just as good as the first time I came. On the other hand the service was by far some of the worst customer service I've ever experienced. I didn't get her name but she was super rude the entire time. When I ordered on the kiosk and chose for a printed receipt but when I asked for it she rudely cut me off and told me to get it when I get my order and walked away. Then when my brother came to order with his kids there wasn't anyone in line and no one around waiting either so his kids just so happen to be standing in front of the 2nd kiosk and she rudely asked "which one are you using" and then turned around threw her hands up and walked away. The food was amazing but the customer service was horrible she had no intention on showing any customer service at all whatsoever. I didn't get her name like I said but for the owners she worked Sunday 06/02/24 at...