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
Located at the ground floor of Tropicana City Mall right opposite the escalator coming up from Carrefour, Sushi Tei is one of those places I have noticed for quite but somehow haven’t visited despite the frequency I find myself at this place since it’s opening.
Well I finally went there last week with Kerol since we decided to dine at TCM and Cheesie suggested she could join us and there’s “this pretty nice Japananese place” we could go. It turned out to be just the place I had wanted to try for quite a while.
Sushi Tei is rather nicely decorated, and with illustrated menu
The concept of Sushi Tei is pretty similar to one of my favorite belt sushi chains – Zanmai. A conveyor belt with the most common sushi dishes going around, but also spot a pretty extension menu for other dishes from sashimi, rice bowls, hand rolls, to udon and even curry rice and more.
Other than mid to lower end ingredients that are typically associated with conveyor belt sushi chains, Sushi Tei offers some of the stuff you find at classy Japanese restaurants, including umi (sea urchin) and toro (tuna belly).
Salmon Avocado Yukke, hand rolls, Hotate Wafu Carpaccio
We ordered quite a number of dishes, and they were all quite delicious, with the exception of the hand rolls (RM 4.80 and RM 3.80, which were just ordinary according to Kerol).
I particularly love the Hotate Wafu Carpaccio (RM 18.80), four good size scallops paired with seared tuna soaked in Japanese style soy based vinaigrette and topped with alfalfa sprouts and a hint of ebiko. The sweetness of scallops with the slight sourish, salty taste of the sauce and the different texture and freshness from the sprouts were just heavenly. I highly recommend it.
The Salmon Avocado Yukke (RM 12.80) too is another dish typically not associated with these type of restaurants. A generous serving of diced salmon with avocado and a raw quail egg on top that goes surprisingly well with the Japanese garlic peanut sauce that is sometimes served with salad.
Irodori Chirashi don, Sansai Udon, salmon sashimi, Inari sushi
While Kerol ordered the normal Chirashi Don (RM 11.80) to lace her stomach, I asked for the Irodiri Chirashi (RM 30.00), a higher end version of the same raw seafood on sushi rice dish. The difference is the latter came with two amaebi (sweet shrimp), octopus, and even toro (tuna belly) that was so delicious. This is in addition to salmon, squid, and other sashimi slices in there. In my opinion it was well worth the extra I had to pay.
Cheesie got the Sansai Udon (RM 13.80) which she enjoyed, and a plate of inari sushi (RM 1.60) for good measure too. We also tried the Salmon Sashimi (RM 9.80) that were pretty fresh and generous in serving despite the attractive pricing.
tuna belly, scallop, KY, Cheesie, and Kerol
Overall, we had a very good dinner at Sushi Tei. It was very decent Japanese food without all the bells and whistles of a full blown “proper” Japanese restaurant. Total bill came to about RM 40 per person with the 10% service charge added in, it was well worth it.
I think Sushi Tei will now be my favorite conveyor belt sushi places, replacing Zanmai as the former is just too crowded at almost any day during dinner time.
Address:
Sushi Tei
Lot G-16, Ground Floor
Tropicana City Mall
3, Jalan SS20/27
47400 Petaling Jaya
GPS: 3.130757,101.626421
Tel:03-7728 4299
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
After hearing so much about Tenji from friends and other food blogs, Suan, Horng, and I decided to give it a try almost 2 months ago. One of the reasons it took us so long to finally go there was to actually avoid the madness during their half price promotion (which still runs once in a while, check their website).
note: this place is closed and now replaced by Shogun, a Japanese Buffet
Tenji Japanese Buffet at Solaris
Tenji is often compared with Jogoya, the first premium Japanese buffet restaurant not in a hotel to hit KL in early 2006. Personally I think that the comparison is justified as both Tenji and Jogoya caters for slightly higher end market and offers dishes that are quite similar, and more importantly, they’re priced competitively with each other at full price.
At Tenji, lunch is priced at RM77++ while dinner and supper at RM88++. Jogoya’s buffet is RM78++ for lunch, RM68++ for late lunch, RM88++ for dinner, and RM78++ for late dinner. (Jogoya pricing, Tenji pricing)
ohh, the oysters!
Located at Soho Solaris, Tenji is a much friendlier place for those who drives. Parking is a breeze if you don’t mind paying a couple ringgit for the underground carpark, on the other hand, Jogoya is accessible via public transport since it is located at Bukit Bintang.
As for the restaurant itself, Tenji is huge, with both air conditioned indoor area as well as quite a bit of alfresco dining, especially for those who wish to punctuate an extended buffet session with some nicotine.
KY, Suan, and Horng
I started off the late lunch with some oysters, steamed prawns, and sashimi.
The oysters here were pretty big and certainly fresh and juicy, the good thing is that the oyster bar is always being refilled anytime it is less than half filled. I am very very annoyed at places that takes forever to refill their most sought after ingredients/dishes (like Yuen steamboat‘s chicken wings, or Talipon‘s prawns).
always start with raw or lightly cooked food
I like their surf clam, scallop (albeit a bit small) and their rather fatty salmon sashimi, the butter fish was pretty decent too but I would stay away from tuna and squid sashimi if you’re particular about quality. As with most buffet places, the tuna served are of pretty inferior quality. This is due to the insanely high price of tuna these days I suppose.
There are also plenty of pre-cooked items on the buffet spread, the Singapore chili crab was actually very delicious, and there’s always the added advantage of choosing only the pincers (who cares about other customers, right? hehe). Other dishes include grilled vegetable, squid with dark sauce, fish, lamb, beef, and dozens more I can’t recall.
buffet spread, including drinks and dessert area
Like Jogoya, Tenji also employs the clips system whereby you drop a clip with your table number at the bowl indicating certain dishes, wait for a few minutes, and they will be served freshly cooked. The downside is that you might end up waiting for quite a bit if the restaurant is particularly busy, but since it wasn’t when we were there, we didn’t need to wait for more than a few minutes before our orders were served.
The steamed cod with soya sauce was good, but the serving was rather miserable so it’s best advised that you order 2-3 at one go. Another more memorable freshly prepared dish was the soft shell crab and this vegetable (a type of beans?) with black beans. We also ordered steak, some teriyaki dishes, mushroom, fish filet, and so on. In general they tasted pretty good and very few of them were disappointing (for eg. the soup with razor clam).
Singapore chili crab, soup, steamed cod
In the drinks department, you have fresh brewed coffee, cappuccino, latte, quite a selection of fruit juice, soft drinks, and my favorite – chilled fresh coconut. I think I had about 4 of those.
Haagan Dazs ice cream was what I had for dessert while the huge selection of pastry and other desserts lay sitting in front of me. We were simply full to the brim after spending about 2 hours having the late lunch. If I remember correctly, we skipped dinner.
Tenji is located at SOHO, Solaris Mont Kiara
Compared to my last 2 visits to Jogoya, I would personally prefer Tenji. Although the buffet spread is smaller, the food quality reminds me of the earlier days of Jogoya. Fresh, tasty, and with good service, they just somehow managed to aged in the last 4 years to a point that I stopped going there, hopefully Tenji never follow the same path.
Address:
Tenji Japanese Buffet
Lot L-01-01, Soho KL,
Solaris Mont Kiara,
No.2, Jalan Solaris, KL
GPS: 3.174689, 101.659595
Tel: 1700-80-1818
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
