Tampopo 2

This place is no longer there!
They closed for renovations a few months ago and now it opened up again under an new name and I guess new management?
What happened???

Perfectly seasoned teriyaki sauce and wonderful brown rice. I miss escaping my job at the Curtis Center and treating myself to a special lunch here. Really delicious. Lots of veggie bowls and tofu, rice and delicious salads.

In the middle of jewlers row, Tampopo seems a little out of place. Still, I’m glad we found it (thanks to Unilocal!).
The California rolls were great. The Spicy tuna rolls were ok.
I had the pork bowl with brown rice. Steve had the spicy beef bento box. We were both very pleased with the meals and the service.

Basic but good and cheap. Service is usually very efficient and I can’t think of anywhere else (outside Chinatown) that you can get a solid hot meal for less 7 bucks.

I am so sad that I just found out about this place just a month before I leave Philly, esp. since I’ve lived around the corner for the last couple years.
My friend and I went here for dinner on Friday night. We were the only ones in there, but by the time we left a few more people had come in, plus there was clearly a lot of take-​out going on.
Service was friendly and decent.
Prices were good.
Ambiance is more pleasant than expected. a little more contemporary than I thought.
The food is definitely the star. I got the chicken bento box with brown rice and broccoli. Chicken and teriyaki sauce were very good. brown rice was on point. I wish they steamed the broccoli a bit though.
Can’t wait to get some take-​out!

Thank god for good delivery food or else I’d be 200 pounds after finals week. I’m glad to now not only have a good Thai delivery but now also Japanese/​Korean.
The roommate and I decided to order bento boxes ($ 9) here for delivery (free!) and were pleasantly surprised. We got a bit of everything and it definitely tasted healthier than eating pizza all week. The bento box comes with rice, meat, edemame and your choice of seaweed salad, gyoza, or egg cake. Everything tasted decent though the meat was a bit oily. I’d definitely buy again next time I’m not in the mood to cook. :)

try the tuna bimbambob — its fantastic. tasty and healthy. i eat here often and i love all the food i have tried. great quality. i have gotten used to the seat yourself thing, haha. the countergirls are always nice. tip — for take out call ahead. lunch is busy.

I can only rate this for take out because I’ve never eaten inside. I order from Tampopo about 2 times a week. I usually get a bento box which for around $ 8 is a great deal. It has a variety of good Japanese food none of which is sushi the bento box, so it’s a lot of fun to eat. The sushi here is not great, but it’s good enough if your in the mood. The best part for me is that my order is always ready within 5 – 10 minutes, which is perfect for lunch.

I went today with my boyfriend and I had the Chicken Katsu Bento and my boyfriend had the ruby sampler thing. My bento box came with lots of chicken katsu, which is a major+ for us carnivores. And we both really liked the spicy peach-​colored sauce that came with the sushi. i’m guessing spicy mayo? Anyways, they have a lot of varieties in their menu but i think it’s rather pricey compared to other places around. It was our first time there but it won’t be the last time. because i like korean food a whole lot and my boyfriend dislikes it, so he’d rather go to this joint than a solely dedicated korean food joint.

I am in love with this place. I mean, if a person could actually marry a restaurant, I’d be applying for my marriage license already.
Before I get into it, I’ll say this: I’m a fairly new sushi fan. I haven’t had sushi from every place in the city so I don’t have a lot to compare. But what I’ve had from Tampopo (especially the spicy tuna roll, a safe roll, I know, but my favorite) has been quite good and fresh and totally satisfies my cravings. Plus, the ‘popo has planted the curiosity seed that will lead me to try more exciting sushi options. That said, my love for this place is not solely based on the food. It’s also the chill atmosphere and the reasonable prices. And it’s a BYOB! Gotta love that.
Oh yeah, have I mentioned the adorable and sweet Novelia, the cashier/​waitress on duty most week nights? Well she is just a doll, I promise. I go there so often, we became Facebook friends! Nerd alert on my end!
Anyway, my typical meal here (yes, I’m totally that person who has a regular meal from which I rarely stray) includes: the green salad with a zingy ginger dressing (I swear I taste hints of mustard in there too) which is always crisp and fresh, the kind of salad-​y goodness I expect from a green salad; the miso soup (during the cooler months, of course); the spicy tuna roll, which has been extremely spicy lately, making my taste buds very happy albeit singed little campers; and the hot spicy chicken breast don. I’m obviously a fan of hot and spicy things.
To extinguish the flames, I always, ALWAYS get the green tea ice cream, the true gem of this Tampopo. Holy hot shit, IT IS THE FRIGGIN’ BOMBDIGGITY. I’ve tried to find comparable green tea ice cream elsewhere but it’s just not possible. This place takes the cake (and my heart!) when it comes to my beloved green tea ice cream.
So yes, there you have it. My true love confession for all things Tampopo. I haven’t tried the Rittenhouse location because I’m way too loyal to this one. Maybe one day. But for now, I’m going to continue visiting here on a weekly (make that thrice-​weekly) basis for my spicy tuna fix and my green tea ice cream.
My stomach and my wallet thank me for it.

It’s a bigger locale and they have sushi, but when am in this area (jeweler’s row) I’d much rather go to jones, coco’s or el fuego

I’ll rate this a 2.5. It’s right there around where I work, but unfortunately I won’t be going back. I gave it two fair shots. Here’s what it comes down to. If you get any of the –don dishes, what you’ll basically get is white or brown rice with whatever –don you got, over it. I got the spicy squid and the tofu before. The portions are okay but what really gave it only 2.5 stars is that this is not fine restaurant food nor does it require expensive ingredients. $ 10+ for tea and tofu in a generic soy-​mirin sauce with 1 broccoli on the side over brown rice is not worth the money, in my book.
I’m not a person to gripe about money over food. I’d gladly put down what I think something is worth, but come on. Sometimes sushi, or even salad can be a pain since you have to buy all the separate ingredients. Or, you don’t have the culinary chops to make that salmon in buerre-​blanc sauce. But this stuff? I can, and have since, made tofu-​don or una-​don with tea for less than $ 3 on my own. If this was fairly priced at say, $ 5, it would be game. But for what it is right now? No thanks.

This is my first review. I work across the street and get my lunch there about 3 times a week. The food is tasty, non-​greasy and proportioned properly. I usually call my order in and pick it up. The people that take my order are very nice and rarely, if ever, messed it up.
My usual is chicken breast don with brown rice. It’s a bowl of brown rice with teriyaki chicken and a couple of veggies. I find that the way it normally comes is a bit dry for my taste so I always ask for an extra portion of teriyaki sauce, which they give me for free. The bowl is always filled with just the right amount of rice and chicken.
I also enjoy the avocado roll. It’s the best around.
It’s not a cheap lunch, this usually costs $ 15.
The place is great for someone in need of a quick, good Korean style lunch.

Decent enough spot, but I thought it expensive, but maybe I’ve just gotten used to cheap lunches around Chinatown and Washington Ave. I had noodles, and they were tasty enough. I did like the original spot a lot, tonkatsu especially, IIRC.

I hate to be a downer for this restaurant, but i did not like it. I have now eaten here three times to give it a fair shot, and i will not be returning. Which is a real disappointment, because it is literally around the corner from where i work. Oh Well. Anyhow, the «miso soup» i ate here was watery, tasteless, and gross. I then had avocado rolls, which are literally impossible to mess up, but tampopo managed to give me a bad avocado every time i have been there, which leads me to believe that they do not buy the freshest of ingredients. And if the avocados were bad, then who knows what the fish is like. I also found the sushi rice to be either too crunchy or too mushy, depending on the visit.
I also take issue with their all disposable approach. In this age, there is an environmental responsibility to approach business with a sustainable mindset, and giving people who eat on location food in disposable containers is unacceptable in my mind.

I’ve never been to Tampopo 1 but have recently become a huge fan of Tampopo 2 located on jewelers row. Just check out their website for their menu and see this place is a lot more then just sushi and all at a great price. Every time I go I end up trying something new, their menu is that diverse. It’s really cute inside and the staff is great. If you’re craving great Japanese food without paying the extra $ 100 to sit in light up seats like some place the block above I highly suggest Tampopo 2. They also do take out!
edited: i’ve been slacking on using Unilocal and meant to update that they have gone to seat yourself and changed the menu like sally f. has said. it’s still a great place but not as highly ranked in my book anymore.