Hokkaido Ichiba at One Utama and Mid Valley Gardens are two of the latest restaurants to be opened up by one of the largest Japanese restaurant chains in the country – Super Dining.
The group started out with their Raku Zen restaurants at SS 15 and other locations, then ventured into lower end conveyor belt style restaurants in Sushi Zanmai, a Japanese pasta chain in Pasta Zanmai, a higher end hotel-restaurant in Kura, and now, sitting between Zanmai and Raku Zen – Hokkiado Ichiba.
Hokkaido Ichiba, One Utama branch
The menu at Hokkaido Ichiba is rather extensive, there are sushi, sashimi, various bento, maki, ramen, udon, and even small side dishes that you normally wouldn’t find in ordinary Japanese outlets.
California temaki, anglerfish liver, spicy oyster ramen
For the two of us, we ordered an oyster ramen, a chirashi sushi, California temaki, and something that I haven’t eaten since 5 years ago in Vietnam – anglerfish liver.
The service was pretty brisk on a weekday night at One Utama, and we got our dishes within 15 minutes or so upon ordering.
The California temaki was Haze’s appetizer and reportedly quite tasty. The anglerfish liver though, was a tad too dry for me, though still retaining that distinctive taste that I can only describe as a blend of liver with a fishy (in a good way) undertone and has a texture between that of foie gras and pork liver. If you haven’t tried it before, this is a place to do so in an affordable way.
The spicy oyster ramen was a pretty decent dish as well, spicy and rather flavorful, though slightly lacking when compared to dedicated ramen shops such as Santouka or Marutama. This is perhaps due to the home made ramen used in other outlets, or the amount of effort poured into the making of ramen broth.
chirashi sushi, with scallops, amaebi, salmon, ikura
My chirashi sushi though, was a steal at RM 30. It has two amaebi (sweet shrimps), hotate (scallops), ikura (salmon roe), salmon, and a couple crab sticks. The ingredients were pretty fresh and I thought it was a very good bowl of chirashi sushi especially considering the price point.
Haze and KY at Hokkaido Ichiba Japanese restuarant
Overall, Hokkiado Ichiba really does find a niche in this pretty saturated Japanese restaurant market. The food is pretty good, prices reasonable (RM 77.70 for everything, including green tea). If you are at One Utama or Mid Valley Gardens looking for reasonably affordable Japanese food and not wanting to fight with the crowd at Sushi Zanmai, this is a place worth checking out.
Address:
Hokkaido Ichiba
Lot T-201, 3rd Floor, The Gardens,
Mid Valley City, Lingkaran Syed Putra, 59200 KL.
Tel: 03-2283 1060
Hokkaido Ichiba
Lot LG 101, Lower Ground Floor Promenade,
1 Utama Shopping Centre, No 1, Lebuh Bandar Utama,
Bandar Utama Damansara, 47800 PJ.
Tel: 03-7727 0020
I find this place pretty decent. 🙂
Michelle: same here! 😀
The branch at The Gardens is my daughter’s fav Jap spot. Everytime go MV also need to go this restaurant LOL.. no negotiation.
Baby Sumo: hahaha, ultimatum!
once there, pretty good saba!
Nikel: good to know 😀
i spot scallops! for rm30, the chirashi sushi is a good buy! wit quite a few good reviews, we should be there to check this place out quite soon:D
missyblurkit: do it! 😀
oooh, i’m a fan of anglerfish liver! count me in for that 😀
Sean: I gotta try it again at the other branch
I was here on my birthday last week. Heh.
I nearly had the chirashi sushi too but opted for wagyu isiyaki instead.
I tried their ramen too but am not a huge fan of it – being a halal (or at least no pork) outlet, I didn’t think the broth measures up.
OTOH, I eat at Pasta Zanmai quite often. 🙂
The desserts at this restaurant is pretty good too.
Huai Bin: ah ya, broth with pork is always best!
wah the chirashi sushi looks good leh! Ok, i wait for you to belanja me ah!
eiling: haha maybe this place isn’t high class enough for datin!
good choice! I really like the good here. Pasta Zanmai is not bad either.. for a quickie;)
ciki: unless the place is packed!
Japanese and Korean food is always fantastic to me. Must go give this place a try.
Thristhan: do it! 😀
yeah this place is pretty good. I remember being very pleasantly surprised at the portion and price of the place.
good service and great food. don’t forget the ice cream hokkaido melon is my fav.
Always like Kita No Zen’s food. Affordable and delicious!