Tag / miso
I must have walked by Yashi-no-mi at least a dozen times without thinking that it was available for lunch.
The outside says Japanese Cafe, but with the darkened glass panels and dodgy looking main entrance, this place looks more like an old school arcade or pubs where married men prefer not to let their wives know if they went there the previous night.
Yashi-no-mi Japanese Cafe at Wisma Cosway
Feeling a little adventurous yesterday, I walked by Yashi-no-mi again yesterday, and just by chance I spotted a piece of laminated A-4 paper that says (among other things), lunch at 12 pm – 2:30 pm. The door wasn’t fully closed, I peeked in and saw a handful of diners in there eating something. I decided to head in too.
buta shougayaki don – pork belly in ginger sauce with rice
The cafe looks like it was lifted from a neighborhood pub in suburban Japan and got transported to this country by mistake. Maroon faux leather bench chair, wooden tables, a brick wall, heavily tinted glasses, and a TV older than most college kids.
The place is quite hideous, but at the same time it was also quite charming, a little old lady prepares your food right behind the bar, the server was friendly, and time slows down by at least a factor of two when you are there.
the set comes with salad, miso soup, and drinks
There were less items on the menu than you have fingers, which makes it easy to order. I chose the buta shougayaki don that comes with a bowl of fried pork belly with onion in light onion sauce on rice, a serving of salad with the lovely wafu dressing, a drink (choice of ice lemon tea or green tea), and a bowl of miso soup too.
All for RM 17, if you order the “S” size. Add 2 bucks for M, 4 for L, and so forth.
The pork belly and rice I had was excellent too (same can’t be said about their miso soup), and I think I’ll be heading there whenever I need to get away a little. There’s still a few dishes to try out, like maybe that pork cutlet with mayo.. ermm.
Address:
Yashi-no-me
Lot G.01, Ground Floor
Wisma Cosway
Jalan Sultan Ismail
50540 Kuala Lumpur
GPS: 3.150875, 101.711812
Tel: 03-2148 4254
Tonkatsu by Wa Kitchen is one of the latest entries on the 6th floor of Pavilion KL that has lately been on a bit of a revamp. This restaurant is situated right next to Ben’s, another very good lunch option.
Like the name suggest, Tonkatsu serves.. tonkatsu – breaded, deep fried pork cutlets with shredded cabbage and miso soup + rice. To know more there is the wiki entry.
Tonkatsu at Pavilion KL
Yesterday Suanie happened to drop by KL over lunch time, so I took the opportunity to head there with her since she was in a mood for Japanese food, and I know she isn’t too keen on raw dishes.
The menu is brief enough, there were less than 10 different sets/dishes to choose from. To me this is good, takes away all the extra time spent just to figure out what to eat. (see the paradox of choice)
make your own condiment, very rich miso soup
I chose the first set, Hire Katsu Zen (RM 29), and suanie opted for set number 3, Hire Katsu + Rosu Katsu zen (RM 28).
First, a server made the fresh condiments for us (later we made more ourselves). Put some sesame in the super mini mortar & pestle, grind it till you can smell the aroma. Then add tonkatsu sauce (or Japanese Worcestershire sauce). Slightly gimmicky, but it actually works. 😀
suanie says hello, baja hitam style, appropriate at a jap restaurant
My set came with 4 pieces of breaded pork tenderloin cutlet (hire katsu), while suanie’s was a mixed of tenderloin and pork loin (hire katsu + rose katsu).
The pork were pretty good, not as good as beef tenderloin of course, but plenty good for a piece of pork that does not involve any big chunk of fat. It was almost healthy too, since they also give free refill of those shredded cabbage.
Besides several types of deep fried pork cutlets, they also serve pork belly soup, deep fried shrimps and oysters. Shall try more next time!
Address:
Tonkatsu
Lot 6.12.00
Level 6,
Pavilion KL,
Jalan Bukit Bintang, KL.
GPS: 3.148872, 101.713368
Tel: 03-2144 2992
I must be one of the luckiest guy around. In conjunction with my unceremonious birthday, I had a total of 6 free meals from my closest friends. Steamboat from Suan, late night porridge from ST & Kim, Wendy’s thanks to Douglas, Zanmai from Ringo, lunch at Ah Yip soup place from Lorna, and last but not least, Ninja Jones courtesy of my ex-housemate Kerol. What more could a man ask?
Wait, it’s actually 7 meals altogether with Eiling’s pre-birthday dinner at Il Divo Italian restaurant, which I have yet to blog.
beware of the automatic sliding door!
Anyway, we went to Ninja Jones on a weekday evening. The restaurant is located at NorthPoint, just across Mid Valley Mega Mall, you have keep to the right and go into NorthPoint’s parking lot lest having to walk all the way from the main mall via the not-so-well constructed pedestrian bridge.
The restaurant is located on the ground floor, with a pair of automatic sliding door leading to the dark but very well decorated interior. We were seated on the first floor. There were really some waiters dressed up as Ninjas, though none of them looked remotely Japanese.
chawanmushi, salad, soup, tofu
The menu is rather extensive, you can find kobe beef, sashimi, sushi, noodles, sake, and many set meals as well. I also like the fact that most entries in the menu is accompanied by a photo.
We ordered two set dinners for the night. Kerol had the Ninja set while I chose something that is priced just below RM 50 with a name that escaped me.
grilled chicken on hot stone, beef cubes, sashimi
Kerol’s set came with a lemon soup served in a teapot, soft shell crab salad, grilled chicken on hot stone, tofu, tempura, smoked salmon, and some sushi roll (my camera ran out of battery when they were served).
The soup carries a slight lemon taste to it and were pretty unique and refreshing, and I really love the grilled chicken. It was done in a minimalistic way and yet very very delicious. Of course, smoked salmon with vinaigrette never disappoints.
kerol enjoying her favorite cuisine
The set that I had came with salad, chawanmushi, miso soup, sashimi, rice, and grilled beef cube. The sashimi was fresh and really good, especially fatty cuttings they gave for the salmon.
However, the best item on my set had to be the beef. They were really succulent and carried none of the foul smell. I can only imagine how the Kobe beef version would taste like if this version is already so good.
Ninja Jones is located at North Point
The total bill came to slightly above RM 100. It was good ambiance, good food, and good company. A place worth revisiting
Address:
A-G-5, Ground Floor, Northpoint,
Mid valley City,
No.1 Medan Syed Putra Utara,
59200 Kuala Lumpur.
GPS: 3.120346,101.677834
Tel: 03-2288 1646
It’s been the second year in the running that I get myself busy and cook the Chinese New Year reunion dinner for my family. It is quite a bit of work compared to pigging ourselves out at some fancy restaurant, but I don’t get many chances of cooking for the family, so why not?
gone with the old, in with the new!
Since my cheap old twin stove has rusted till the point of no return, I decided to get something more hardcore for the kitchen. After scouring around the few electrical appliances stores, I finally get my hands on this hardcore industrial strength Rinnai stove, made in Japan. This baby has a flame thrower ignition sequence, and come complete with thick metal stand that will last me decades. It was RM 185 well spent.
My first dish is the miso soup with Lala (clam).
Ingredients:
- a packet of Lala
- some garlic
- miso paste (or instant miso soup, since I couldn’t find miso paste at Cold Storage)
- a tube of Japanese tofu
- spring onion
Steps:
- clean the Lalas throughly
- mince some garlic and boil them with the Lala
- add miso paste
- add the sliced tofu
- add some chopped spring onion just before serving
Simple isn’t it? Of course, this is only the first of four dishes that I prepared for the night. A little bit of Japanese taste to the traditional Chinese occasion. I’ll blog about the other 3 dishes: Hong Kong Kailan with roasted pork, steamed pomphret, and beef with broccoli in the next few posts.
Gong Xi Fa Chai to you too!
