Last week I went to Japan… or a restaurant in Subang that felt like it belongs somewhere in a Tokyo suburb.
Together with Haze, Cheesie, and Taka, we went to Sumi Ka at SS 15, a yakitori place swore by Taka, who is actually a Japanese and not some Malaysia with a foreign name (such as Gareth, for example).
Sumi Ka Yakitori, with more Japanese than Malaysian customers
It was a Wednesday evening, so we did not bother to call up for a reservation. After all, how many people could possibly go to a restaurant that’s located on 1st floor in the middle of SS 15 on a weekday?
Big mistake, the place was packed, and all but a couple tables were occupied by Japanese. The place is filled with smokes not only from the grill but from the tobacco loving people, it had the smell of a proper Japanese restaurant, the cacophony of chatters in Japanese completes the foreign ambiance. I loved it.
We waited at the stairs for a good 20 minutes before getting a table by the corner. It was the correct decision despite the look of protest in cheesie’s eyes.
uzura tamago (quail eggs), sunazuri (gizzard),
nankotu (cartilage), bonhiri (chicken butt)
Since the language on the menu wasn’t very agreeable with me, I left the task of ordering to the pro. Taka got us 7 different types of yakitori, 3 rice bowls, potato salad, and the customary cabbage salad too.
The yakitori were insanely good. We started out with uzura tamago (quail eggs, RM 3 each) and some sunazuri (chicken gizzard, RM 6). They were really good, but not exactly the type of ingredients that are difficult to grill well.
Then came nankotu (chicken cartilage, RM 4), which is actually the piece of “soft bone” from the center of chicken breast. The texture was superb, slightly crunchy and mixed perfectly with the little bit of meat on it.
Then there’s the bonhiri (chicken butt/bisho’s nose RM 3) that was just out of this world. There wasn’t any gross splashing of liquid fat in your mouth, it was just a mixture of fat, salt, skin, and meat that came together like an awesome symphony. You gotta try this one even if you aren’t particularly a big bishop nose’s fan.
kawa (chicken skin), lamb yakitori, gyutan (ox tongue)
Kawa (chicken skin, RM 3) was up next, again I failed to understand how massive amount of salt on grilled chicken skin could taste so good, but it was exactly the case. Baffling. I need more!
We also had beef and mutton yakitori (RM 4) that Haze described as the most awesome yakitori she has ever tasted. The gyutan (ox tongue, RM 6) was also one of my favorites. Just the right texture and that ox tongue flavor that carries the taste not particularly related with french kissing a cow.
potato salad, oyakodon (chicken & egg), yakitori don, tea rice thingy
Other than the yakitori, we had some yummy potato salad (RM 12) and a few rice bowls to help fill up the stomach. These tasted rather good too, authentic and true to the taste.
I learned that the chicken and egg rice bowl is called oyakodon (RM 14), which directly translate to “parents and children”. Chicken and egg, whole family murdered, just for our consumption, ahh, I love being a human.
Yakitori don (RM 14) proved slightly redundant, it was good but I think on hindsight we should have tried something else. The tea rice bowl thingy that Cheesie ordered was perfect to sorta wash off the greasy taste after all those grilled food though.
Cheesie, Taka, KY, Haze at Sumi Ka Yakitori
The meal was excellent, and I am going to get the list of restaurants to go to from Taka. This dudes really has good taste. By the way, don’t go to this restaurant, it is already packed as is, and Cheesie won’t be happy if she has to wait again, she’ll blame me. FML
You can instead go to Yakiniku at Cheras which is quite a lot cheaper to get your fix, they serve pork there. Go there instead, the food tastes decent, don’t go to Sumi Ka, leave the empty seats for me instead 
Address:
Sumi-Ka Restaurant
No. 19, Jalan SS 15/4
47500 Subang Jaya, Selangor
GPS: 3.075327, 101.588677
Tel: 03-5632 9312/016-224 9312
While our Muslim friends were celebrating the Prophet’s birthday last Thursday, I was invited to sample some dishes at Lisa Spaghetti at SS15, Subang Jaya. As I have a limited stomach myself, Sammy and Dree were called upon to lend a stomach in this expedition. A friend in need is a friend indeed.
update (april 2010): This restaurant is now closed.
comfortable ambiance in simplicity
Situated just across Taylor’s University College’s main campus at Subang Jaya, the restaurant caters mostly to students and young adults. The menu and especially pricing reflects just that, everything is priced at less than RM 10 (most dishes from RM 4.99 to RM7.99), with the only exception being the hotplate lamb chop at RM 12.80. Very good value, but what about quality of the food?
Lisa and Chan, our very friendly hosts
As we were busy tasting the 6 main dishes Lisa prepared, the very friendly host explained to us on how she arrived at opening this restaurant late last year. Even though a small establishment, the recipes are sourced internationally through Lisa’s mother in law who has traveled and lived in various parts of the world for more than 40 years. This includes Italy, America, and England. The restaurant aims to serve these dishes as close to their original form as possible.
hot plate princess, stew rice, curry spaghetti, fried butter rice
First dish to arrive was the hotplate princess, a generous portion of Lisa Spaghetti and black pepper boneless chicken with half a dozen small sausages. I find the sauce very flavorful and yet not over powering, the chicken was juicy and compliments the pasta rather well. Stew rice was arguably my favorite of the day, the gravy was thick and delicious and goes very well with the chicken and steamed rice.
hotplate lamb chop, white sauce spaghetti, fried ice cream, oyster mushroom
The curry spaghetti and fried butter rice were pretty good as well, providing a sort of fusion between the east and the west and came out pretty good. As our collective stomachs were filling up, Lisa brought out the hotplate lamb chop and white sauce spaghetti. I enjoyed the lamb chop with its juicy meat and black pepper sauce, but I must say that if you are not a big fan of cheesy food, the white sauce spaghetti might prove to be too rich and too cheesy.
Lisa Spaghetti is situated just opposite Taylor’s University College at Subang Jaya
After the 6 entrees for the 3 of us, Lisa still wasn’t prepared to let us go. She brought out fried ice cream and fried oyster mushroom. The dessert and the finger food were pretty good too, I just wish I had a bigger stomach.
While the selection (mostly chicken) of dishes might not be very big, the taste and especially the price at Lisa Spaghetti were very good. Where else can you have a plate of spaghetti starting at RM 5.00 and soft drinks only at RM 1.80 in an air conditioned restaurant? Give it a try, I’m sure I will be there again when I find myself at SS15.
Address:
No. 38, Jalan SS15/8
Subang Jaya, Selangor
GPS: 3.076045, 101.590490
Tel: 016-345 8886
Itchy for steamboat again, the gang and I decided to try the “original” pulau ketam steamboat at SS15, Subang Jaya. The name of the restaurant is Bee Ho (美好海鲜火锅之家). This is of course, the same style as offered at the Patrick Teoh’s Damansara Village steamboat.
the chili paste is awesome!
Unlike the grand set up at uncle Teoh’s outlet, Bee Ho is just a big old school kopitiam. Meaning the tables near the sidewalk are much preferred as those situated deeper in the restaurant can be a little hot and humid with all the steamboat boiling on every table.
the steamboat, the crab meehun, and the two noobs.
For the 8 of us, we ordered 5 portion of standard steamboat meal, a plate of fish fillet (actually wanted to have the fish cubes but they ran out), string mushroom, extra meat roll, dumplings, and a big plate of absolutely must-order crab meehun.
The joy of having steamboat with plenty of people is that you have more choices ordering the side orders and not have to only settle for the standard steamboat meal.
the sloppy diner!
We boiled the soup with plenty of ingredients at least 4-5 times over. The ingredients were fresh and pretty good, the soup with good herbal taste, and the chili paste was really awesome. I think I had at least 3 small plates of those spicy stuff. Above all, the crab meehun was really something special, the aroma of crab soaked into the meehun, making it tastes unique of the crustacean’s sweetness, this is something that everyone MUST TRY at Bee Ho.
Bee Ho steamboat is at SS15, near the college areas.
The dinner only came to RM 17.50 per person that night. We had Chinese tea as drinks.
Address:
Bee Ho Steamboat Restaurant
no. 52 Ground Floor,
Jalan SS15/4C
Subang Jaya 47500
Selangor
GPS: 3.076773, 101.587862
Tel: 012-250 7177
From the post about Isetan Sushi, some of you might have the idea that I love Japanese, which is, er… very true. Now, not all Japanese food are made or served the same, repeat after me. “Sushi King & Genki are for the noobs.” Thank you thank you, now let me tell you about this Rakuzen place.
Now this is what I called a real Jap restaurant
This place is located at Subang Jaya SS15, at the row of shops situated directly opposite Subang Jaya Medical Center. The sign board isn’t terribly big or visible, but squint your eyes like a Japanese and look hard, you’ll find it.
Can you imagine how these go down the throat? yummmm
The Hokkaido Seafood season happened to be this time of the year for this restaurant. Basically it means that you get to enjoy fabulous seafood that were caught offshore Hokkaido, the island at northern Japan. We ordered a generous plate of sashimi, 2 hand rolls (salmon roe & softshell crab), a dish of big fat scallops, and some absolutely amazing beef.
All these dishes have some funky Japanese names, but for the life of my koi fish, I can’t remember any of them, so beat it. The sashimi was served with perfect cuttings of salmon, tuna, yellow tail, octopus, raw sweet shrimps, and another type of white fish. The dish was served in perfect temprature, too. Those are the little touch that some other places ignore.
The beef is cooked medium rare soaked in some type of sourish soup. It was the first time I had this dish. The meat went down very smooth, and surprisingly tender and rich in taste. Scallop was served with some mushroom and chilli, you cook them with a heated scallop shell and some type of sauce. I like my scallop half cooked, so that suits me pretty well. It tastes very sweet and sumptuous.
All gone.. another satisfied customer
While this is definately not a budget restaurant, the price is rather reasonable. You can get a Chirashi Sushi set for around 30 ringgit. Don’t ask me how much this meal cost tho, but it was worth every penny.
map to Rakuzen at Subang
Address:
No. 13, Jalan ss 15/5A
47500 Subang Jaya
GPS: 3.074770, 101.586370
Tel: 03-5880 4717
