Edo Ichi Sushi @ First Subang

Had this pictures taken few weeks back but a bit lazy to transfer it back to my 'lappy' until now. This is actually one of the expensive or above average in terms of pricing Japanese restaurant I had. Since I have my benefactor with me that day, we are all set to fill with our tummy with wonderful delicious yet expensive sushi. The name of the place, Edo Ichi which is located in the new First Subang tower.

The place was half full during lunch hour when we arrived. I think it's due to the new lunch set which they introduce. This is our second visit and we had decided that we won't be returning unless someone is buying the other. LOLX!! We were seated inside and flipping through the menu looking for expensive non-filling items. Decided to go all out on sushi and sashimi and no bento set lunches. 

First on the table would be their fresh sashimi or salmon. OK, I am very particular in my fish and I had to say that this is one fresh salmon we had. Five slices of this baby cost us around RM25. I guess money can buy happiness in this case. It was fresh and nicely cut. Juicy~!  

Decided to go for salmon and since we love mayo, we had this. Not the best we had but still worthy of the price we're paying I guess. Actually we thought of ordering another grilled unagi but decided to call it off at the end worried that we can't finish it. Since we have 2 soft-shell crab roll after the salmon. 

We wanted to try something new so we had this una cheese roll. The cheese on top was a nice touch but the whole sushi didn't really tickle my fancy that much. I think I can say the same for my lunch buddy too. The roll does look inviting and all but it's doesn't really reach that 'WOW' level yet. Maybe a 'Oh, OK' level only. 

Lastly we had this salmon, crabstick and cheese roll which we had during our first visit. This is better than the una roll at least. Both agreed that this is reaching that 'WOW' level too. After this dish, we had tons of green tea clearing our throat. Thought of ordering some small sushi on the kentai belt but we really can't stuff anymore. 

When the bill came, it amounted to RM95 which upsets my benefactor since she thought it would be more than RM100. It was a good fulfilling lunch for both of us and we again agreed that we won't be back anytime soon unless someone is buying lunch. They have a few branches in Malaysia if I remembered correctly from the menu. There's one over at Solaris Dutamas and another over at Island Plaza. So do drop by the place and let me know if you think it's worth your money. 

Rating: 

Food: 3.8 out of 5.0 (quality is good but a bit pricey)

Ambiance: 3.8 out of 5.0 (quiet and not too crowded) 

Service: 3.8 out of 5.0 (staffs are friendly and served fast) 

Nihon Kai Japanese Restaurant @ Sunway Mentari

I was on a mission that day looking for Sunway branch of Nihon Kai. I first introduction to their restaurant would be the one over at Kuchai Lama. A friend introduced the place to me and we decided to give it a try. You can read from the post here. Needless to say, the visit was nice and the food was good. So I decided to give their other branch a try to see if it's the same standard. This particular restaurant is located along those new shop lot over at Dataran Mentari. It's behind Belly Good. Parking is still manageable since there's plenty of it outside the restaurant.

The place was packed when we arrived. Luckily there were still a table left for us to dine in. Browsed through their menu and it's the same as the one over at Kuchai Lama. Since I had tried their lunch set, we had decided to go with ala-carte instead. Since my lunch buddy was contemplating between katsu and udon, we decided to ordered these two to try it out.

 

We were served with hot green tea and the waitress was really patients waiting for us to take our order. The restaurant was really pack and they are a bit short handed but still they didn't show any sign of inpatient or chasing us from their body language. I think I saw one of the lady from the Kuchai branch before. 

Decided to give their Gyouza (fried dumpling) a try. Since I love these a lot, I really do hope they can surprised me. And they didn't disappoint me a bit. It's one of the best I had lately. It's not too over fried but the inner stuffing are still well warmly preserved and the outer skin is still soft and thin. I like mine thin and not too oily. And this give me what I wanted. Thumbs up~!

Browsed through their menu and finally found my katsu don set. The set consists of the main dish and also misou soup and kimchi like vegetable on the side.

The portion isn't that large but just enough to cover my lunch craving. The egg on top is freshly layer on top of the fried chicken underneath it. My complaint would be the lack of the katsu sauce underneath it. But overall it's was good.

My friend ordered their cold udon set which come with fried tempura on the side.That is not misou soup underneath that mini egg but the soup to go with the udon.

The buckwheat noodle doesn't seemed to attract my friend. As she'd been to Japan and had some share of cold udon over there, this is some what different. What's the different? Texture? She can't answered me but just not as good. Sorry but my friend is not good in expressing her opinion. I had a try and I think it's the texture of it. It's a bit rough. But the portion was really generous.

3 pieces of fried tempura on the side. Nothing fancy but for the price we're paying, it's alright.

Last but not least, they have this miniture egg which we do not know what to do with it? Do we throw it into the soup to go with the udon? Or just consume it like that? Another thing to highlight would be the soup/broth that goes with the udon is a bit too plain. My friend complain that it's too flat on the taste but and had to throw all the wasabi into it.

The place had two rooms for large crowds which you can book beforehand. It's always recommended to call in and book if you are having a large crowd for lunch over here. There is also a bar table where the chef will prepare fresh sushi as any other sushi restaurant. Overall, we had a good lunch. Nothing too over the top but just an average one. I saw there have another separate menu for set lunches which we wasn't shown to before. Had to check that menu through on my next visit over. 

Ambiance: 3.8 out of 5.0 (a bit crowded and noisy)

Service: 4.0 out of 5.0 (service was good although it's crowded)

Food: 3.8 out of 5.0 (decent and not too expensive for a lunch)

Address: 2, Jalan PJS 8/18
Dataran Mentari
46150 Petaling Jaya
Selangor Darul Ehsan

Contact: (03) 5630 1368
Business Hour:  12:00p.m. – 3:00p.m. & 6:00p.m. – 10:00p.m. daily

Nihon Kai @ Off Jalan Kuchai Lama

I was looking for a lunch partner last week when she recommended this little secluded restaurant off the busy road of Old Klang Road. You can actually see the restaurant from the main road if you pay attention to it. It's the same row as the Micheline tyre shop. The restaurant is located at the furthest end of the shop row. You can't really miss it actually, there's just one Japanese restaurant at that place. The name of the place is Nihon Kai. For those who had been eating around would had already know or at least ate here before. I heard it's really good and prices are reasonable. So we were there around lunch hour and we were lucky to get a table as it's a full house that day.

 Sliced Beef Special Set Lunch - RM19

Browsed through the menu and the Little Princess decided to have their grilled beef lunch set. As you can see, other than the main dish, it also come with a bowl of misou soup, appetizer of sweet and sour vegetables and lastly the dessert. We ordered cold green tea to go with the set. 

The usual way of preparing a grilled beef is with onions and lots of it too. Totally love the taste and importantly the portion are really generous.  The beef are marinated and cooked to perfection. Just nice.

Tori Katsunabe + Sashimi Set Lunch - RM20

As for me, I had ordered their xxx. As you can see the set is really large. We have the main dish plus the sashimi (raw fish). Similar to my friend's set, mine too comes with the appetizer and also dessert with the misou soup. I am really full at the end of the meal. For the price that I am paying, this is worth every penny.

This is the main dish which is actually cooked chicken with egg and sliced onions on top. Portion again are generous. Taste is alright nothing that blows me away. I ordered this as they do not have any Chicken Katsu in their menu. And I needed something filling that afternoon too.

Look at those sashimi. OMG, it's so thick and fresh. If you eat a lot of Japanese food, you would have know or have some idea how much a place of the above sashimi cost. I am really excited with the generosity of the place. There are 3 slices of salmon and 2 smoked salmons. Yummy~!

For the whole meal above we paid around RM42 inclusive of drinks and taxes. I need to say that the place might not serve the best sushi in town but for the price you're paying this is definitely one of the best I had. Definitely going back with babe to gave her a try since she's go crazy with Japanese dishes. They have another branch over at Sunway Mentari which I might try out next week. Do let me know what you think of the place if you manage to go over. (Rating: 4.2 out of 5.0)

Address: Nihon Kai Japanese Restaurant 

No.4-2, Jalan Telok Gadong, 

Off Jalan Klang Lama, 

58100 Kuala Lumpur 

Tel: (03) 7982 3668

Business Hour: :Lunch 12pm - 3pm

Dinner 6pm - 10pm

Sabi Wasabi @ Bukit Tinggi

It was Friday and I'd decided to give babe a surprised and picked her up for lunch at Klang. She decided to have Japanese cuisine and recommended this place to me. She had tried it out with a friend few weeks back and highly recommended to me. Her wish is my command and we arrived within minutes from her house. It's located directly opposite Aeon Bukit Tinggi. It's called Sabi-Wasabi. It's the same row with Pappa Rich and all green outside, so you can't miss it.

Salmon Hana Maki - RM8.88

It's basically salmon with fish eggs. And plenty of it (fish eggs) too. I just wanna clarify that all of their sushi are prepared when ordered right in front of you. So the sushi are really fresh and the fish eggs are so attractive if you like eating it. 

Maguro - RM4.99 / 3 pcs

For those who doesn't know, Maguro is Japanese term for bluefin tuna. Other than salmon, tuna is the other commonly used dish for any sushi roll. The maguro is thick and fresh over here. You can see it from the color.

Inari Soft Shell - RM8.88/4pcs 

I had specifically ordered this when I saw it in their menu. Soft shell crab, who doesn't like them? It's so crunchy when I sink my teeth into the roll. The mayo added some taste to the soft shell too. Highly recommended from me.

Yaki Gyoza - RM10/ 5pcs

I am such a fool for pan fried dumplings. You can choose pan fried, deep fried or soup for the Gyoza. The outer skin is so soft and not thick at all. Since it's freshly prepared, the dumplings are still warm which is really important. Size are small but it's alright with me. No point having a large dumpling but don't taste that good.

Saba Shioyaki - RM18/plate 

They have a few type of fish to choose from in their menu and we landed ourselves with mackerel. It's just plain mackerel being bathed in salt and then grilled. Squeeze a bit lemon and it's all ready to go. Not too charred and the fish are soft and tender. Not bad.

Yaki Tori & Ton-Bara Enoki Maki - RM3.50 & RM4.00/stick

The one on the left would be chicken skewer and the right is straw mushroom roll in sliced pork. I preferred the pork skewer as it's so tender and the sauce that comes with it really compliment the whole roll. Nothing much special on the chicken skewer, just a normal chicken with sauce.

Ton-Tama - RM4.00/stick

This is recommended by the waitress, which is their pork wrapped with omelet. I am not sure what is so special bout this stick, but it's just normal pork sausage being wrapped with omelet to me.

Karaage Toji Don - RM16/bowl

Last but not least, I had ordered one of their rice set as I wasn't full from the whole course. This is deep fried marinated chicken with scrambled egg. This is not too recommended from me as it's a bit flat on the taste. Chicken isn't that much too. But since I was hungry, I had finished it off and that is the end of it. 

Overall, the place do serve some real fresh sushi but for the price you're paying, it's still alright with me. I know, some will compare to Sake or Sushi Tei but this place do have some other dishes in their menu which I haven't tried out yet. Will I return? Maybe, if babe requested it again. Will I recommend it? Well, if you are willing to pay RM9 for a plate of Salmon Maki or Soft Shell. (Rating: 3.5 out of 5.0)

Sensju Sushi

It's Saturday night and we're deciding where to have our dinner before our show in Pyramid. At the end we decided to eat at this new place just below the cinema called Sensju Sushi. It's previously location was occupied by Genki Sushi apparently. Exterior deco looks nice so we take a look at the menu and heads on in. As usual the place have a kentai belt for the customers to order some sushi. But for this place, their kentai belt seemed a bit pathetic as there wasn't much choices around. Nevertheless we managed to grab some sushi before our main dish is out.

LP and BQ had ordered their soft shell crab roll which looks really nice. They have a lot of variety of rolls to choose from ranging from the normal California to mantis prawn. (RM6.00/roll)
As for me, I had ordered their Inaniwa Udon with Tori Ankake. It's typically cold udon and mushroom dipping. There's mushroom and chicken in the sauce. Not bad as the udon was really soft and tangy. But it was too little for my appetite. (RM19.90)The place do served some really exquisite dishes which ranges from spider cheese maki, charcoal udon, baby abalone salad and their wahyu beef directly flown in from Australia. The place are not selling are normal commercial type sushi like Genki or Sushi King. But rather more on premium dishes for those who really appreciate some fresh high quality food. So on the pricing of the food, it's definitely higher than the one that we normally eat.

I don't dare to say that it will not attract lots of patrons but maybe not so many people do appreciate the quality of the dish when they saw the price that they are paying. But they will be people who like it here because it's different and all. People will visit the place out of curiosity as us but a return visit? Well that depends. (Rating: 3.8 out of 5.0)

Sushi Zanmai - 1Utama

Wanted to try out this place for quite some time but seemed that the place was always packed and a long queue during the weekends. So I was determined to go over today during lunch with a friend to try out luck. Yes, there's no queue but the place is full. Lucky~! The place I am talking about is called Sushi Zanmai at 1Utama.

Don't ask me the name of the below sushi as there wasn't any name on it. We just grab whatever we wishes on the belt. Their price ranges from as low as RM1.80 to RM6. But most of them are RM6 (red) on the belt.

So before the main course we had tried out their sushi on the Kentai Belt. There are a lot of varieties to choose from and it's different from the one that we eat at Sake Sushi or Sushi King. But then again, sushi will always be sushi. Maybe the presentation of the sushi here is better?

The Soft Shell Crab Roll that my friend had ordered was quite nice and decent.(RM4.80)

For the main dish, I had ordered their ChickenKatsuDon which is their Cold Udon with Fried Chicken. For those who like Cold Udon, this is not bad at all. The chicken was really nice and crunchy too. I ordered the small portion but seemed quite alot too. (RM8)

My friend had ordered the Chicken Katsu with Rice. It's basically Chicken Katsu served with rice, onions, eggs and mushrooms. Quite nice a filling dish. It's also a small portion but seemed quite large. (RM8)

So what do I think of the place? Environment is nice and the table on the Kentai Belt was really spacious and sufficient to place all the plates and main dishes. So it's not that cramped like the other sushi outlet. Price is really reasonable and not that expensive. Presentation of food is above average and the taste is also above average. I am not sure of the service and the food quality on weekends though when the place is packed. Well worth my trip over and a return visit too. (Rating: 4.0 out of 5.0)