When it comes to Japanese food, you can’t really find a higher concentration of restaurants than Hartamas and Subang SS15. With the former, there’s at least quite a big community of Japanese expats living around Mont Kiara area, but with Subang, well, there isn’t an easy explanation.

It just seems like there are more and more new Japanese restaurants opening at the area every year, Jyu Raku being one of the newest kids on the block that already packed no less than some half a dozen outlets.

Jyu Raku, with classy deco and a rather extensive menu

Incidentally, the first Japanese restaurant I blogged about all the way back in 2005 was Rakuzen, situated right next door to Jyu Raku. In fact, it was the former Japanese head chef from Rakuzen that opened this restaurant.

an extensive sushi bar with grilling area at Jyu Raku

You can really see the resemblance in the menu as well as the restaurant layout between Ryu Raku and Rakuzen. An extensive sushi bar with grilling area connected to the kitchen, about half a dozen tables on the ground floor, and bigger dining area on first floor as well as a couple private rooms.

Photos you see from this blog post were taken from two separate visits, but I have been to Jyu Raku probably at least half a dozen time since. Quality of food has been pretty excellent, and there is a wide selection of dishes to choose from.

sashimi, jyu raku roll, Sheryl

The sashimi (kame, RM 48) has always been very fresh and served with grated wasabi. Wasabi makes a heck of a difference when it comes to enjoying sashimi, and once you had freshly grated wasabi to go with the raw fish, there’s no turning back.

Their signature Jyu Raku roll (RM 28) is something not to be missed too, unagi, prawn, and sashimi and lettuce wrapped with a very thin piece of cucumber and topped with salmon roe. Really luxurious and positively delicious.

ebi maki, cha soba, gyu tan, and that grated wasabi

The cha soba (cold green tea noodle) here is as good as anywhere, smooth silky, and absolutely delightful especially on a hot day.

One of my favorite parts of cow – the tongue, is served at Jyu Raku too. The tongue has a slightly firmer but smoother texture compared to meat, and carries a slightly different taste to it that to me, equals some of the best cuts of meat. A place for cheap gyu tan is at Daidomon (buffet style), but quality aren’t as good as Jyu Raku.

Cheesie with her mentaiko (marinated pollock roe)

Mentaiko, or marinated pollock roe, is available on the menu but somehow aren’t available most of the time. The Ebi Mentai goes for RM 15, but when Cheesie asked for a bowl of mentai without the prawn, the restaurant obliged too. Mentaiko is quite a lot smoother than the more common ebiko (shrimp roe), and usually has a bit of a spicy kick to it. I love it.

cold inaniwa udon, beef with shimeji mushroom, green tea ice cream

Other dishes I’ve tried here include the inaniwa udon that is consumed much like cha soba, but a lot more subtle in taste (doesn’t come with wasabi). Beef with shimeji mushroom was pretty delicious too, but I’d imagine if we had ordered wagyu instead, it’d be even better, but alas, I don’t have a limitless wallet.

Jyu Raku is located right across from SJMC

Since the menu is rather extensive, there’s quite a lot more that I haven’t tried from Jyu Raku, yakimono, kushiyaki (skewed grill) wagyu, salad, and so forth. Those that I tried hasn’t been disappointing, but according to masak-masak, the tempura should be avoided though.

Address:
Jyu Raku
13, Jln SS15/5A
47500 Subang Jaya
Selangor
GPS: 3.074770, 101.586370
Tel: 03-5633 3819

Tags:  beef,  cheesie,  Japanese,  mentaiko,  sashimi,  sheryl,  soba,  subang,  udon

Posted by KY | 30 Comments »

Back in 2008, Shiang and I had a little year long bet. The exact details aren’t important, but due to some luck and a lot of cheating, I emerged the victor. We then decided that the appropriate winning prize would be a nice dinner, and Diadomon Japanese BBQ restaurant was chosen.

Horng and Jeff were the two lucky dudes who happened to leech this meal off Shiang for absolutely zero effort, risk, and monetary contribution.

Diadomon Japanese BBQ restaurant, buffet style

Diadomon is located at Great Eastern Mall, which is in turn situated on Jalan Ampang, roughly half way between Ampang Point and KLCC. Getting there during rush hour can be a bit daunting, but with the liberal usage of the newly opened DUKE highway or our super advanced SMART tunnel (depending on where you’re from), it shouldn’t be too tough.

Parking isn’t a problem either if you are willing to part with RM2 to go into the basement. If you’re willing to spend a good chunk of money on food anyway, why not a couple bucks to park your car?

sashimi, grilled fish, prawns, and chicken.

Daidomon is one of those buffet places where you get to order the dishes, or in this case, raw and marinated ingredients so they are served fresh. However, an extensive line up of ready-to-eat dishes are available too, and of course, you don’t have to wait for those. There’s sushi roles, fried chicken, snail meat (very delicious!), edamame, kimchi, sashimi, and more.

From the ocean, we had sashimi (salmon, tuna, butterfish, mackeral), oyster and scallop (limited to one serving only), prawns, and marinated seafood. The sashimi were pretty decent, but honestly speaking not something to shout about. The grilled seafood though, were quite good, but it takes a bit of practise to get it just right.

Prawns were quite large and fresh, and I particularly love the big scallops, but too bad it was only 2 pieces per person.

ox tongue, beef sashimi, marinated beef

From the farm, we had plenty of beef with some chicken and lamb too (Jeff doesn’t eat beef). The marinated beef belly was really awesome and are ready to eat after minimal grilling time. I suggest asking for a serving of raw garlic and fry them on the grill first before starting to grill actual food, that’ll add an extra hint of aroma to the grilled food.

Ox tongue is one of my favorite part of cow to eat, and it’s great that Diadomon allows unlimited order, somewhere in an Australian farm, a deft cow hates me.

yukke sashi, KY, Shiang, Jeff, Horng

For the braver souls, Daidomon also serves several types of raw beef. The gyu sashimi (thinly sliced raw beef) is probably the easiest to swallow, while the yukke sashi (marinated beef with egg) can be a bit too much especially for a first timer. I love the gyu sashimi but to be frank, I think the yukke sashi was a bit too raw and maybe slightly too rich for my liking. It’s no wagyu tartar at Cilantro that’s for sure, but Shiang loves it.

Over all it was a very satisfying dinner that left all of us barely able to walk back to the carpark. With their ever long lasting promotion, the price came to over RM60  per person after service charge and tax. Pretty good deal if you ask me, I have no doubt this won’t be my last visit.

Check out their promotion on the website.

Address:
Diadomon
Lot 4, Level 3, Great Eastern Mall
No. 303, Jalan Ampang
50450 Kuala Lumpur
GPS: 3.16027,101.736746
Tel: 03-4252 8155

Tags:  BBQ,  beef,  Buffet,  grill,  horng,  Japanese,  jeff,  sashimi,  seafood,  shiang

Posted by KY | 32 Comments »

A few weeks ago, I had to good fortune of receiving RM 150 after helping fixed a laptop. I had tried to reject the payment since I had done it voluntarily, but the guy insisted that I take the money and “buy your girlfriend a good meal”. So I did accordingly.

Angus House at Pavilion

So while walking at Pavilion during lunch hour, I took Mellissa to the sixth floor instead of the basement food court area despite the fact that it was actually just a weekday.

The first restaurant we saw was Angus House, a rather quite place for lunch but since the place looks inviting, price and menu looks good, and I was in the mood for beef, we decided to have a go with it.

soft bun, carrot soup, salad, and dessert

Surprisingly, the set lunch for such a posh place goes for as low as RM 26 (sauteed chicken with mozzarella).

They come with quite a lot of accompanying dishes, a hot bun with butter to start, then a bowl of carrot soup that was actually quite rich and tasty (soup might change from day to day). A plate of salad follows before the main dish is served. Since Angus House is a Japanese Western establishment, the salad takes a bit of a Japanese twist, it was almost no dressing sans some light vinaigrette, I liked it.

Japanese burger patty, beef tenderloin

After the three entrees, it was time for our main dish. Mell’s hamburg course (RM 35) was a beef burger patty with an egg on top, carrot, potato, and long bean on the side, served in sizzling hot plate with brown sauce. I took a bite of the patty and found it rather delicious, quite a firm and rich texture with the taste to match.

Since I was in the mood for beef, I went for 200g tenderloin set instead (RM 81). They also have sirloin, rib eye, tournedos steak and more at 150g to 300g variant. If you have a thicker wallet, there’s also waygu and kobe beef from RM 200 to RM 400.

KY and Mell at Angus House, Pavilion

Though not of Kobe or Wagyu caliber, the tenderloin held up very well, it was tender and very juicy. I had it prepared medium rare, the sides are similar to the other dish, but the sauce a bit more minimalistic. I think often times steaks come with too much sauce that sometimes the original taste of the beef is lost.

Since they were really proper set lunches, we still had a dessert to go before the end of the day. The cake (can’t remember the type, but I think it was cheese) was not something out of this world but still rather pleasant.

Lunch at Angus House is really value for money if you stick with the 4 cheapest lunch sets. The fish & chips goes for RM 30 and spaghetti set for RM 32, in addition to the chicken and hamburg sets I mentioned. There isn’t a lot of “almost” fine dining places that offers such value.

As a side note: Angus cattle refers to two types of naturally hornless cattle.

Address:
Angus Steak House
Lot 6.44 & 6.45,
Level 6,
Pavilion KL,
Jalan Bukit Bintang, KL.
GPS: 3.148872, 101.713368
Tel: 03-2145 6015

Tags:  beef,  mellissa,  pavilion,  steak

Posted by KY | 22 Comments »

Those who have been reading this blog for some time might realise that pho is one of my favorite foods of all time. My love for this simple Vietnamese noodle dish started from my year long stint in Northern Virginia, and later re-enforced from the 9 trips to Vietnam that I made in my previous job.

pho Dzung is located in Richmond, VIC

During my previous visit to Melbourne, I visited the very popular Mekong Vietnamese Restaurant right on Swanston Street. While it was pretty good, at least a couple readers commented that the best pho is found in Richmond, the Vietnamese community that is located just a few kilometers away from Melbourne CBD.

So on this second trip to Melbourne, I looked up online and found this Pho Dzung place at Richmond that is said to be one of the bests in this part of the world.

coagulated cow’s blood and Vietnamese spring roll

Mellissa and I took a train from Melbourne Central to North Richmond and walked a few hundred meter to the east on Victoria Street, passing quite a number of other Vietnamese and Asian restaurants, fresh seafood shops, and Asian grocers before reaching no. 208.

At 3pm, Pho Dzung was still packed with people to the point where we had to be seated upstairs. It was definitely the correct place to be.

special beef combination pho with plenty of basil leaves and bean sprouts

The menu is rather simple, rice noodle soup with the usual suspects: rare beef, tripe, brisket, tendon, cartilage, meat ball, chicken, and even beef pizzle (yes, beef penis!).

Mell ordered a bowl of beef pho ($7 for small) and I went for the beef combination, we also asked for a plate of deep fried Vietnamese spring roll to share.

Right after I made my order, I spotted coagulated ox blood ($1) on the menu, so of course, I asked for that. The waiter asked if I actually wanted a bowl of ox blood in liquid form, but that would have been a bit too intense for my liking.

we had a very satisfying lunch

The spring rolls were quite small in size but certainly not lacking in taste, crunchy on the outside and flavorful on the inside, a perfect way to open up the appetite. The coagulated blood though, was not as tasty as the pork or duck version I enjoy in Penang curry mee and kueh teow soup, but not bad nonetheless.

As for the beef noodle, the soup was simple excellent. The aromatic beef stock was sweet and to be frank, one of the bests I’ve had from anywhere. If you find yourself in Melbourne, you have to give this place a try, easily the best $20 lunch for two at this part of the world.

Address:
Pho Dzung Tan Dinh
208 Victoria St
Richmond 3121 VIC
GPS: -37.81042,144.998181
Tel: 03-9427 0292

Tags:  beef,  blood,  melbourne,  mellissa,  pho,  richmond,  vietnamese

Posted by KY | 20 Comments »

Despite staying so close to SS2 and having my dinner there at least once a week, Buonasera Italian Restuarant somehow escaped my radar for the past year or so that they have been in operation. But as luck was on my side, a couple of weeks ago I went  there on a food review session thanks to the invitation from the friendly owner Ms Zee Cheng.

Prociutto Melon, yum yum

The restaurant is located along a the row of shops at SS2 that is closest to LDP, which also means that parking is slightly easier compared to other spots around the area. Though “slightly” is a very relative word.

The interior is simple and clean though decoration could be slightly better as I personally find the faux vines around the edges ceiling a rather ill adviced concept. However, overall it is still an environment that is comfortable and conducive for a lunch/dinner date that is not too flashy.

Spaghetti Seafood

 Unlike most other Italian restaurants, Buonasera joins the likes of Bermuda & Onions and Bruno’s as the few that are not halal. Which means that you get real bacon, and even some pork dishes. That realisation pretty much made my day already.

I usually let the host decides the selection of dishes on invited reviews, but this time Eiling and I made a little special request and asked for at least a dish involving pork. *smirk*

The first dish that was the Prosciutto Melon (RM 28.90), Italian speciality ham that is cured and served with rock melon, not unlike my first experience of it at Bermuda & Onion. The deliciously salty ham and the sweetness of melon works well in this classic combination, though the melon used were just a tad too ripe.

Caesar Salad with bacon, Australian Chilled Angus Sirloin

Next up was the Seafood Spaghetti (RM 38.90) with quite a generous portion of very fresh prawns, mussles, and squid. While I’m normally not a big fan of cream sauce, I must say that I really enjoyed this dish. It wasn’t overly rich nor over powering. Just very sumptuous and flavorful.

The Caesar salad (RM 19.90) isn’t the typical salad for skinny girls who wants to get skinnier. The dish comes with plenty of pork bacon, cheese, hard boiled egg, crutons, and of course, fresh vegetable. On top of that, you get four slices of garlic bread too. The bacon was really yummy!

The final main dish was the Angus Sirloin (RM 49.90) that comes with a bowl of deep fried rosemary potato chunks that Eiling just can’t stop eating. I find that the steak itself was pretty commendable considering the price point.

Tiramisu, Chocolate Pot, and Enzo’s Famous Mixed Berry Zabaglione

The nicely decorated and pretty good tasting Tiramisu (RM 14.90) was supposed to be our only dessert, but due to the interesting chemistry that Chef Enzo brewed up with Eiling, we ended up with a bit more than we could handle.

The good chef, who started working in the kitchen since 16 (exactly how many years ago is a mystery), prepared another two desserts as our stomachs were already filled up to the brim. We had Enzo’s Chocolate Pot (RM 14.90), with vanilla ice cream and chocolate that isn’t too sweet; and finally his signature dessert, Mixed Berry Zabaglione (RM 16.90) which is a home made mixed berry sorbet with Italian egg custard. The sourness of the sorbet and the rich custard (egg yolk, sugar, Marsala wine) was an awesome combination, I finished it and losen my belt in the process.

Chef Enzo and I, Eiling who really likes her dessert

To be honest, I’m rather impressed by the quality and the selection of food at Buonasera, not to mention it’s midrange pricing. This would be a place I yearn to return for more.

Address:

42, Jalan SS 2/66

Selangor

GPS: 3.120033,101.620907

Tel: 03-7877 8586

Tags:  bacon,  beef,  eiling,  ham,  italian,  pork,  spaghetti,  steak

Posted by KY | 33 Comments »