Almost 4 years ago, I went to Tokyo as a stranger in strange land. The city was so packed with people it felt like rush hour at LRT station at all times. The language was incomprehensible, fashion was weird, everyone was so courteous and everything was uber orderly.

I arrived there at late March partly to coincide with the Hanami season (viewing of cherry blossom, or sakura). A friend had to reserved a spot at Ueno park from a night before just so that we get to picnic under the trees at the most famous hanami spot in Tokyo. We had loads of fun (despite my inability to communicate with most of them), it was an experience.

iketeru Japanese restaurant at KL Hilton

With that experience, I knew exactly what Hanami meant when Jean of KL Hilton contacted me for a food review at Iketeru for their Hanami Bento promotion. As to what would be in the bento, I had absolutely no idea.

I’ve heard good things about Iketeru, but this was the first time I went to this Japanese restaurant located on the 8th floor at Hilton. As you would expect from a 5-star hotel, the restaurant is beautifully decorated and has a very nice ambiance.

shrimp, octopus, and tempura, sea bream & tuna sashimi

Anyway, lets get on with the Bento.

There were nine dishes in all on the rather big bento box. As a rule of thumb, you should always start with dishes that are more subtle before moving to the stronger tasting ones. This applies to all sorts of cuisine and not just Japanese food.

The Tai (sea bream) and Toro (tuna belly) sashimi were of the finest quality and served with grated wasabi. That opened up my appetite pretty good.

The shrimp, green bean, egg custard, and octopus were very delicious too, but that little bowl of marinated something next to the shrimp (I couldn’t quite remember, a type of seafood it must be) was a bit too strong tasting for me, I’ll place that in the “too authentic” category. The small portion of tempura were just nice, and includes one of my favorite items, the Japanese pepper.

spring chirashi sushi, chilled sesame bean curd, teriyaki trout

The chilled sesame bean curd with bonito soya sauce tastes as exquisite as the way it was presented, and I love the little bowl of simmered bamboo shoot, eggplant, and especially the Japanese yam too.

The only grilled item on the bento was the teriyaki trout, and while trout isn’t exactly my favorite fish for grilling (I love salmon belly), this was rather good too.

Spring Chirashi Sushi serves as the main dish. I could taste plenty of tuna, ikura (salmon roe), amaebi (sweet shrimp), and even mushroom and a bit of vegetable in it. Very good combination.

nanohana blossom (vege), soup with bamboo shoot, mochi & fruits

The unsuspecting plate of vegetable is actually boiled nanohana blossom with mustard sauce. Nanohana has the unfortunate name in English as “Rape”, it tasted similar to “kai lan flower” but smoother and more refined.

Instead miso, we had clear soup with bamboo shoot and seaweed, subtle tasting, but a very good way to cleanse the palate before moving on to the final item, dessert, which consists of  mochi with red beans that tasted as good as it was presented, and some fruits.

KY & chef Ricky Kamishi, Li Zhi & Jean from Hilton

Chef Ricky Kamishi joined us for a while and told us about the idea behind this Hanami Bento. I shouldn’t bore you with the whole experiencing “four season” through food and philosophies like that, but the guy is cool, and with a sense of humor too.

The bento is available all throughout March this year as some of the ingredients are seasonal. Priced at RM 220++ per box, it might come across as a bit steep for the common salary earner, but that is pretty much average for something of this quality and setting.

KL Hilton is located right next to KL Sentral

These shots were taken with my aging and pretty bulky SLR, Olympus just launched their latest micro four third camera – the Olympus PEN E-PL1 which combined the portability of a compact and prowess of an SLR. I’m gonna be getting one for review, but in the mean time, check out their microsite at evolvewitholympus.com.my

Address:
Iketeru Japanese Restaurant
8th floor, 3 Jalan Stesen Sentral,
50470 Kuala Lumpur
GPS: 3.135631, 101.656476
Tel: 03-2264 2264

Tags:  bento,  hilton,  hotel,  Japanese-Food,  li zhi,  sashimi,  tempura

Posted by KY | 19 Comments »

I was invited for the third Friday Wine Lunch at the Japanese restaurant Tykoh Inagiku last Friday. The Friday Wine Lunch series is hosted by Pernod Ricard Malaysia, and I was invited by the good people at Millennium Associates. As I tend to look like a lobster after half a glass of any alcohol, I took half a day off from work to attend this event, and it was well worth the effort.

Cabernet Sauvignon, Reserved Riesling, and Reserved Chardonnay from Jacob’s Creek

I didn’t know the existence of Tykoh Inagiku prior to this event. Located at Menara Keck Seng right next to Westin Hotel at Bukit Bintang, the restaurant has a pretty classy set up with comfortable chairs and tasteful furnishing while not being exuberant.

We were served Cabernet Sauvignon, Reserved Riesling, and Reserved Chardonnay from Jacob’s Creek, accompanied by some pretty fine Japanese dishes.

We started out with Sea Urchin and Fresh Tofu with Ponzu Jelly to go with Reserved Riesling. The appetizer consists of a generous portion of sea urchin on tofu with a little piece of kiwi, and a dash of smelt and salmon roe, you can feel at least 4 different textures play in your mouth. Pretty creative.

Fish Stock Soup with Takenoko (Bamboo Shoots) and Mushroom also includes seaweed and a very small slice lime to freshen up the taste. It was a fresh departure from the standard miso soup, I like it quite a bit and actually had two bowls (since there was an absentee). The soup reminds me of the set we had at Ninja Jones.

The Reserved Riesling goes particularly well with our third dish, Sashimi Salad. The fish were either raw or slightly seared and served with different accompanying ingredients in a very fine-dining style. Something closer to fusion than pure Japanese, but I think it worked out pretty alright.

Grill Lobster with Miso Sauce & Char Grilled Wagyu Beef with Wasabi Sauce

I chose the Grilled Lobster with Miso Sauce as my main. Half a lobster grilled with miso, cheese, mushroom, asparagus, and a few other condiments. I find the lobster meat fresh and very delicious, but the miso sauce slightly too salty at times. Luckily the Reserved Chardonnay does well to cut through the grease a bit.

As my luck goes, there was an extra portion of Char Grilled Wagyu Beef with Wasabi Sauce unclaimed, and of course we did not let it go to waste. The beef was done medium well and very, very succulent. Wasabi sauce provided a tad of spiciness while leaving the original taste intact. If you go to Tykoh Inagiku, this is the dish to order, and it would be a good idea to have the beef with Cabernet Sauvignon.

Yours Truly, the dessert, and Lionel of Millennium Associates

Lunch was capped off with Lemon and Yuzu Sorbet and Macha Dumpling. The sorbet was so sour it practically cleaned my tongue anew, an experience not dissimilar from the lunch I had at Lafite. The taste of strawberry with powdered green tea and macha dumpling with the renewed taste buds was much better than having them straight after the hearty main dish.

Menara Keck Seng is located right next to Westin Hotel

As always, this Friday Wine Lunch session was marvelous. For RM75 per pax, I think it’s a steal. Do contact Millennium Associates if you are interested in the next session (usually held on the last Friday of the month).

Address:
Tykoh Inagiku Japanese Restaurant
2nd Floor, Podium Block, Menara Keck Seng
No. 203, Jalan Bukit Bintang,
55100 Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia
GPS: 3.147919,101.714913
Tel: 03-2148 2133

More photos can be found on my flickr set

Tags:  beef,  friday wine lunch,  Japanese-Food,  lobster,  sashimi,  wine

Posted by KY | 16 Comments »

Remember at the post on Guinness Gastronomy Workshop with Chef in Black Emmanual Stroobant, I suggested that Western food places should look into adopting some Guinness inspired dishes? Well, about a month back I had some Guinness dishes, but instead of Western, it was something of an opposite: Japanese food at SOMO Mont Kiara.

SOMO mont kiara, dinner for two

I went to SOMO with the infamous Cindy, who happened to stay around the area.

The restaurant is basically fully alfresco with a smallish set up, a dozen or so tables under a retractable canvas. The ambiance is pretty comfortable and actually a bit unique as far as Japanese outlets go: outdoor, a bar, LCD tv player sports, and music.

two Guinness inspired dishes

The Guinness inspired dishes were not actually on the menu, so I spoke with the friendly manager and requested for them. The grilled beef set and seafood set was suggested, and I also ordered sashimi for two, shisamo (grilled pregnant fish), and a pint of Guinness as good measures.

SOMO was not among the restaurants that ran the Guinness-infused Christmas main course promotion like these below. However, like many restaurants, you can sometimes get the chef to cook up something different, if only you ask nicely.

• The Magnificent Fish and Chips at Changkat Bukit Bintang, KL
• SevenAteNine at Ascott, KL
• Gypsy Wine & Bar at Changkat Bukit Bintang, KL
• Ronnie Q at Bangsar
• Cafe Chulo at Jaya One, PJ

the girl, the sashimi, the seafood, and the soup & chawanmushi

The chef did probably take slightly longer than usual to prepare the dishes. While it was tough to find the hint of Guinness from the grilled seafood Cindy ordered, the beef I had was excellent. The slight bitterness contributed by the black beer was clearly present in the meat and actually adds character to the otherwise sweetish dish. It was really good, I think SOMO should consider making this dish a permanent fixture on their menu.

Cindy, Shisamo, and yours truly

The sashimi for two consists of squid, sweet shrimps, octopus, tuna, salmon, and a generous portion of salmon roe. They were fresh, served on ice, and made for very good appetizer. The grilled shisamo too was done properly even as first time eater of the fish, the girl said it was good. And of course, the Guinness drought was excellent.

SOMO is a stone’s throw away from Plaza Mont Kiara

The sets also come with miso soup and chawanmushi, they are priced at RM 35 and RM 45,  sashimi was RM 60. Together with drinks and shisamo, the dinner came to just a little over RM 200. It was very satisfying though, good food, great atmosphere, and of course, a very good company.

Address:
Lot 2B, The Shoplex@Mont Kiara, Jln Kiara
Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia
GPS: 3.166571, 101.652696
Tel: 019-312 6528

Tags:  cindy,  guinness,  Japanese-Food,  mont-kiara,  sashimi,  shisamo

Posted by KY | 27 Comments »

Having to make a decision for dinner last weekend before a movie, I was trying to be smart and told Lorna (my petrol heroine) that I am bringing her to a pretty interesting place without first giving her the restaurant’s name. We then walked past Sushi Zanmai, and she told me “my sister and I went to another Zanmai place last week, the one downstairs”

“Pasta Zanmai?” I asked. She said yah. That was exactly the place I thought I’d surprise her with, so you can imagine what an ass it made me feel. Well the important thing is that we still ended up there and I was able to finally give Pasta Zanmai a try.

pretty nice interior with an integrated shop

Pasta Zanmai is actually from the same group that runs RakuZen at Subang Jaya, Chulan Square, as well as the Sushi Zanmai branches. I have always had positive impressions at their establishments, so my expectation was rather high stepping into this place.

It was a rather busy Saturday dinner time, we decided to sit at the bar right in front of the glass shielded kitchen rather than wait for a table. The interior decoration was pretty nice, with ample lighting, comfortable chairs, and a busy pace.

crab meat avocado spaghetti, Japanese curry rice

The menu came accompanied with pictures of most dishes, which makes ordering that much easier. I couldn’t resist the combination of kani (crab) and avocado with pasta, and Lorna ordered the Japanese curry chicken rice. We also asked for ikura (salmon roe) and teriyaki hotate (scallop) as appetizers. A big pitcher of ice fruit tea was shared.

Despite the crowd, food didn’t take long to arrive, and they were good! Ikura was a bit smallish in serving size, but I guess there isn’t much to complain as the quality was good and the price reasonable. My spaghetti was really delicious, good portion of avocado and kani (real crab and not crab sticks) with the slightly salty pasta sauce that wasn’t over powering. The ebiko (flying fish roe) sprinkled on the pasta gave it an added sophistication as well. I really liked it.

ikura, hotate, and the giant ice fruit tea

The curry chicken rice was true to the taste as well, slightly sweet and not exactly spicy. I like the fact that they use real Japanese rice in this dish. As for the teriyaki hotate (scallop), they were so sweet and succulent I was so glad we ordered them.

Total bill came to Rm 100.05 including tax and service charge. Highest priced item was my RM 25 pasta while the other dishes and drinks ranges from RM 12 to RM 22. Give it a try!

Address:
Pasta Zanmai
G210B, Ground Floor Promenade
1 Utama Shopping Centre
Bandar Utama, Petaling Jaya
GPS: 3.150050, 101.615939
Tel: 03-7728 1210

Others:
Masak-masak
Brought up 2 share
blueepinkk

Tags:  1-utama,  dining,  Japanese-Food,  pasta,  spaghetti

Posted by KY | 32 Comments »

Last week Kerol came over and suggested that we should try the Sango Japanese Restaurant at Crystal Crown hotel as her colleague insisted that it is one of the bests around the area. Coincidentally, Jack appeared at the gate right at dinner time, so three of us went to this little known restaurant to validate the claims of Kerol’s colleague.

38++ for all the teriyaki you can eat. Look at Kerol & Jack so happy!

I am a raw fish lover, my order at Japanese restaurants includes sashimi or sushi every 9 out of 10 times. However, as we were browsing the menu, we couldn’t help but be intrigued by the current offer – “Yakitori Tabe Hodai” (eat as much as you can) at RM 38++ that even includes a beer or juice. The offer includes all sorts of food on skewer, so we made the choice to skip raw fish for this round and took the offer (only valid till 15th April 2008). It was a wise choice.

we had more than 18 types of food on skewer

From the 24 items on the menu, we tried probably around 20 of them (the pictures already show 18.) Most of the items were very delicious, I love the ginkgo nuts, lightly salted and skewered. Then there’s chicken with leek, with wasabi, chicken wing, and even chicken skin! So many choices you wish you have a bigger stomach.

special meat ball – top left

If the chicken dishes were good, items involving beef were even better. the asparagus wrapped with beef was very delightful, but the absolute must-order item would be the “special meat ball”. The description could be better, it looked like an ice cream stick with beef instead of ice cream, and a raw quail’s egg accompanying the meat, very rich and yet very addictive. I need to have that again!

Crystal Crown is just a couple minutes off Federal Highway

Other than meat items, there are also skewed non-animal products. Mushroom, okra (lady fingers), ginkgo nuts, garlic, egg plants, and so forth. If you’re the more adventurous type, you can go for chicken liver, heart, or gizzards too.

Remember, the offer ends at 15th April, I think I need to go back there again soon.

Address:
12, Lorong Utara A, Off Jalan Utara,
46200 Petaling Jaya, Selangor
GPS: 3.109352, 101.643131
Tel: 03-7958 4422

Tags:  Buffet,  crystal crown,  hotel,  jack,  Japanese,  Japanese-Food,  kerol

Posted by KY | 23 Comments »