KY eats – Kansai Menu at Sasagawa Japanese Restaurant, Sheraton Imperial KL

Back in September I was fortunate enough to get invited to a tasting event at Sheraton Imperial’s Sasagawa Japanese Restaurant to sample their Kansai Menu. While this write up is a little late, the Kansai Fair running through 20th December 2015, so we’re actually only about half way through.

The following 8-course meal is the brainchild of Chef Hitoshi Sasagawa, with premium ingredients from Kyoto, Osaka, Mie, Kouchi, Nara and Shiga. It is priced at RM 300.

mixed autumn vegetable with sesame cream, fresh sashimi

The 8 course Kansai Menu started with fresh appetizer in the form of Mixed Autumn Vegetable with Sesame Cream. The daikoku shimeji mushroom in this dish was harvested from Kyoto, I also enjoyed the little bulb of yam in this dish, very refreshing.

It’s certainly an expectation that Japanese course dinner should have some form of sashimi, and in this case, we had a selection of fresh raw seafood handpicked by the chef. Instead of the usual soya sauce, the sashimi was served with Tanimachi ponzu from Osaka, the citrus based sauce gave it a hint of acidity which I find quite enjoyable.

Ise lobster from Mie

Third course came in the form of Ise lobster, from Mie prefecture by the Pacific coast. The fresh lobster is lightly boiled with vegetable broth, preserving it’s natural seafood sweetness without over seasoning. Simple yet elegant.

pot stew with yuzu stock

Next up was a pot stew dish with Yuzu flavored stock to go with red snapper from Kouchi and Saikyo miso from Kyoto. Another rather simple dish that exudes a feeling of traditional home-cooked goodness. No complain from this happy camper, certainly.

Echizen soba salad, grilled sea eel with steamed Yoshino-kuzu ankake

The fifth item on the menu was Echizen soba salad, from Fukui, the cold soba provided a change from the previous two warm dishes.

Next up was the Grilled Sea Eel with Harvest Steamed Yoshino-kuzu Ankake. The eel was certainly delectable, and I thought the starchy broth complemented the seafood well. This dish has ingredients from Osaka, Kyoto, and Nara.

miso soup, seaweed pickle, salted bean rice cake dessert

The penultimate dish was a combination of Aosa miso Soup with Japanese pickles served with rice. I find the pickle very very strong tasting, but a small bite with a healthy scoop of rice can work in a way not entirely unlike banana leaf with chutney. The seaweed laden miso soup though, was lovely.

The 8-course dinner was concluded with salted red bean rice cake from Shiga, a rather simple end to this enjoyable Kansai Course.

chef Sasagawa, Ringo, Haze, KY at Sasagawa Sheraton Imperial KL

Overall it was quite an impressive course that showcases the various offerings from Kansai. The Premium Kansai menu is available through 20th December, 2015, it’s not too late yet, and I think I’ll be back to Sasagawa to sample some of their other dishes for sure.

Address:
Sasagawa Japanese Restaurant
Jalan Sultan Ismail,
50250 Kuala Lumpur
GPS: 3.158659, 101.700124
Tel: 03-2602 3288
Web: www.sasagawakl.asia