A few weeks ago I was invited to Ten Japanese restaurant for a tasting session that I cannot resist, and the reason was not for the food. I didn’t know what was going to be served, or if they were going to be any good, but I knew I had to be there despite the inconvenience of it being held on a Friday afternoon.
That reason was the attendance of one of my favorite chefs of all time – Iron Chef Hiroyuki Sakai.
Ten Japanese Restaurant, Solaris Dutamas
Iron Chef was my most watched cooking show when I was in the States, back in 2001 or 2002 I had contemplated driving up to Philadelphia from Greater Washington DC to have a meal at Iron Chef Morimoto’s, but that plan somehow did not work out, so this chance of meeting the King of Iron Chef, Hiroyuki Sakai, was most treasured.
My life is now complete.
King of Iron Chef – Hiroyuki Sakai, and Yours Truly
Now back to the restaurant. Ten was first launched in Gold Cost, Australia, and had won two Gold Coast restaurant awards for best fine dining and supreme award in the first six month of its opening. So this is a place with some high expectations.
The restaurant was officially opened by Tun Dr. Mahathir himself on the 13th of Oct, 2011. This food tasting session was held just a day after that.
Ten serves a fusion of Japanese and French cuisine. As of late, fusion food has a bit of a tainted name to it, often regarded at something that is neither here nor there, so I was curious as to how Ten’s version would be like.
After all, Ten means “Heaven”.
deep fried prawn dumpling & shiitake mushroom stuffed with prawn
Our entree was deep fried prawn dumpling encased in burdock vegetable, with Japanese cherry tomato and egg yolk with balsamico, and Shiitake mushroom stuffed with prawn and a sprinkle of truffle salt.
It was definitely an exquisite dish, the deep friend prawn dumpling was made to resemble prawn’s head both in look and texture, while carrying a rich seafood taste to it. The shishito pepper and cherry tomato gives a refreshing counter taste to the prawns too.
chicken three ways
Entree was the very casually named Chicken Three Ways.
It was three dishes in one. Grilled chicken thigh marinated with miso served wrapped in iceberg lettuce and seaweed was almost like maki. A dish that exploits the freshness of iceberg lettuce to counter the savory chicken and saltiness of miso.
Dark miso chicken gratin with button mushroom and parmigiano cheese was a dish that is very rich and very flavorful without being pretentious, it was perhaps just slightly too rich for me, but shall go very well with a glass of wine I reckon.
Lastly, there was the foie gras and chicken terrine with Japanese leek and teriyaki sauce. A piece of mango hidden in the foie gras & chicken terrine worked wonder to bring out the full flavor in this dish. I loved it.
assortment of freshest sushi
We were served some of the freshest sushi after the main course. Both ends of the fish touches the plate, and this is how sushi is supposed to look like, the ratio between fish and rice at those supermarket sushi isn’t what sushi is supposed to be.
The chef explained that while some of the fish are sourced from Japan, there are several types of fish & prawns that was sourced locally to obtain maximum freshness too. I like the way they choose the seafood base on it’s own merit without being pretentious and blindly taking everything from Japan and call it the best.
This plate of sushi, while not particularly dashing in its presentation, was one of the best I’ve had for a long time. Definitely mouth watering.
Ten’s green tea cake
We ended the lunch session with Ten’s green tea cake and a couple cubes of watermelon & grapes. The cake creamy but not overly sweet, it was actually very good and the portion was small enough to have it all even when I was already 90+% full.
the owners, Chef Hiroshi Miura, Chef Atsushi Nishibuchi, and Iron Chef Sakai
Leading the restaurant are two Japanese chefs – Mr. Hiroshi Miura, with classical Cha-Kaiseki and Ryotei (traditional upmarket restaurant) training, and Mr. Atsushi Nishibuchi began his training in the “Edomae Sushi” (Tokyo-style sushi) and was a head chef at on eof Tokyo’s premier restaurants in Ginza district.
Prices for lunch starts at around RM 45 for Yakisaba Gozen, Inaniwa Udon Gozen, to RM 65 for Chirashi Gozen, Sashimi Gozen, and RM 80 for Wagyu Steak Gozen. Dinner would of course bit a little pricier, but I do believe that if you are willing to spend some money at Ten, you wouldn’t be disappointed.
Oh, many of the servers are Japanese too.
Address:
Ten Japanese Fine Dining
D5-G3-5,
Solaris Dutamas, Kuala Lumpur
GPS: 3.170961, 101.665721
Tel: 03-6211 9910
i seriously must come here!!
Michelle: do it! I wanna bring Haze for lunch there one of these days too. 😀
i agree that the sushi is correct in proportion. rather disappointing that our local supermarkets and also some restaurants serve it without the fishes “touching end to end of a plate surface”
missyblurkit: yea, everyone skims. very sien. -_-
I watched Iron Chef about 10 years ago. Loved it and still do. They made an American version a few years back but it could never matched it. The english dubbing can be funny. You always wonder what chairman Kaga will wear in each episode. Can you believe that the TV series about 20 years old?
Meng: yah, and Kaga was never dubbed! It was part unintentional comedy and full awesomeness all roll into one.
Why the name so sakai 1. :p
Myhorng: orang jepun memang got funny names. lol.
The food look really FINE!
Nikel: it was! 😀
NOOOO!! NOOOOOO!! Y U NO BRING ME1 NOOOO
IROOON CHEFFFF!! A
AHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH
Gin: didn’t get to bring anyone oso. hahahaha
wah you’ve got a picture with Chef Sakai! cool
eiling: yesss, my life is complete!
omgomgomgomgomgomg! I love iron chef! you lucky bastardos, I’m so jelly right now. If i were you i can die happy and full ^^
Glo-w: that was how I felt! 😀
😆 OMGosh!!!!! You are a very lucky man! Had sushi last night and it’s nothing compare to what I read today 🙁 *bummer* Agree with you on the sushi proportions.
Anonymousmich: hehehe *bow*
you’ve piqued my curiosity .. i gotta admit, i’ve never watched iron chef before. ok, scooting off now to try to find some clips on youtube 😀
Sean: do it! It was a pretty awesome series.
wow a eatdrinkkl blog owner never watch iron chef before??? shame on you. noob.
srsly: hahaha he concentrate on eat & drink only, not cooking maa 😛
Can’t believe Chef Sakai was in KL and I totally missed it! You lucky guy….and the food looks fabulous. Got to try it since the restaurant is right behind where I work.
amelia: yess, I couldn’t believe it when I read the email invitation. 😀
You are one lucky young chap!! Meeting the Iron Chef! We can only see him on TV but you met him in real and even took a photo with him!!
Yes, your life is REALLY complete now and you have won the race. 😉
Catheryn: hahah it’s not a race laa I was just very very lucky 😀
Can’t believe I missed this!! 🙁
BangsarBabe: ya why!!!??
Yup, the food looks mighty good. The sushi especially! Yeah, have noted the differences in authentic establishments and regular ones. 🙂
Huai Bin: yap you do get what you pay for. I guess.
Ten Ten Ten! Nice fine dining place. Reserved it for special occasions!
Thanks for visiting Ten Japanese Fine Dining.
We have created a website for Ten Restaurant KL
http://www.tenrestaurant.com.my
See you soon
Ten Staff: brilliant. 🙂