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) 

Capricciosa Pizza & Pasta Restaurant @ Sunway Pyramid

I thought I had blogged bout this few weeks back but I can't seemed to locate the post. Darn~! Am I getting old? Nevertheless, here I am again writing the same post one more time. But since this place does give me a good time while I visited it last time, so it's a pleasure writing bout it again now. The place is called Capricciosa which is located over at Sunway Pyramid new wing. It's next to Old Town inside Jusco. I was actually looking for some pasta lunch with babe when I came across this place Browsed through their menu and found that the pricing are really reasonable. And the rest is history as they say. 

Google up the place and found out that it's actually the No. 1 Italian food craze made famous over at Japan since 1978. Wow, that is even older than me. Hence, I saw a lot of Japanese chef pictures inside the restaurant. Seemed like Japanese people really go crazy for their pasta and pizzas it seemed. Was browsing through their menu which fill with a lot of choices to choose from. Decided what we gonna had and straight with the ordering. 

As always, babe ordered her hot cappuccino which isn't that bad. 

For starter, I had decided that we should warm up our tummy with some nice warm soup. The Italian vegetable & meat soup seemed to be a recommended one. And truly it is. Firstly we were taken aback with the size of the bowl. My gosh, for the price that we're paying this was humongous. You can even share the bowl of soup with your friend. 

As you can see, the soup is filled with ingredients inside. It's savory blend of mixed vegetables with fresh cream and their own specially made sauce. Trust me, this taste better than it looks. I don't often praise any other soup this much but this is hell of a good soup. And dirt cheap too. 

This goes the same as my Clam Chowder. And I had to say this is one of the best Clam Chowder I had to date. And I found out that not much restaurant serve this kind of soup too.

Again, the soup is filled with surprises. OK, not bad surprises but good ones. Plenty of seafood in it like clams and mussels and vegetables too. Thick and creamy just the way I like it. $7.90 for this bowl is definitely a steal. Totally worth every dime. 

OK, now for the main course. I had ordered their Carbonara since it's available in their menu. Can't really change the pasta if I remembered correctly. But I am alright with Spaghetti. Again, the main attraction here is their portion again. When the pasta was served in front of me, I was thinking, this is too small for me. But when I spread it open using my fork, I was really surprised with the generosity from them. Damn, it's so large that I barely managed to finished it. Yes, you heard me right. And more over it's good. Well not the best I had but definitely worth your money. Not too creamy but alright. A bit on the salty side maybe due to the extremely high amount of cheese I added. 

Babe, finally decided with this tomato based pasta with garlic and peppers. And when they said peppers they do give you the truck load. And again, the portion is so damn much. I don't normally said this but this place really are so darn generous on their pasta. For the price that they are charging this is definitely worth every penny of it. For those who like black pepper, this is your plate of pasta. But again a bit salty for me. 

Overall, I had no complain on their food except that they could be a bit gentle on the salt. Definitely need to order their soup if you are there. Worth your money and you can even share the soup with your friend. Trust me when I said the bowl is BIG. Even the spoon is not those ordinary ones. They are served with some big ones too. Service is superb and the staffs are definitely friendly. I had ordered their bottomless soft drinks. Yes, they have that too which is really good. I accidentally knocked off my glass and they were so nice and quickly replaced my drink and clean the table up. Even their foreign workers are friendlier and always there's a smile on their face. Good Good Place for lunch : )

Rating: 

Food: 4.0 out of 5.0

Ambiance: 3.8 out of 5.0

Service: 4.0 out of 5.0 

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

Xenri Japanese Restaurant @ Off Jalan Klang Lama

It's been so long since I last said that I wanted to try this place out. But I didn't have the chance or time till an invitation from a friend who work nearby. The place is located at the end of the building right at the back. So you will need to drive all the way in after passing Elken's offices. Right at the end, you will arrive at this beautiful decorated Japanese restaurant called Xenri.

Browsed through the menu and the selections are quite varied. They have all kind of Japanese cuisine but with a price tag of course. Since we're here for lunch, we had opted for their set lunch which doesn't come cheap too. There are also a varieties of set lunch which you can choose from the menu.The set starts from RM29++ up to 45++ if I remembered correctly.

This is the garlic rice which comes with the set which I had ordered. Portion might be small but considering all the side dishes that come with it, it's quite filling. But I still ordered additional rice since I have lots of side dishes left.

Gyuniku Teppanyaki Teishoku - RM38++

This is the Beef Terrayaki which I had ordered. As usual, I had ordered medium well for the beef. Portion for me was alright. The beef was prepared to my satisfaction. I especially like the crispy garlic on top of the beef to add some taste to the beef. Some green on the side if it's too heavy for you.

This is the salad which come together with the set which consists of cucumber, tomato, green salad and some dressing on top.

Before finishing off, there's some fruit for you to cool your body down.

The set also comes with a bowl of miso soup which warm up the tummy before going into the meat.

Here is how the whole set looks like. Worth RM38?

Gindara Teriyaki To Agedashi Doufu Teishoku - RM35

This is the Grilled Cod fish with teriyaki sauce. The fish was really soft and tender as I tried a bit from my fried. The teriyaki sauce was especially appetizing.

Yes, this is the fried bean curd which come with the set. Looks really nice but the taste was just alright. It's all in the sauce for me. 

Overall, we all had a filling and satisfied lunch. Well at least I am full after re-filling with another bowl of garlic rice. Worth the money I paid for the lunch? Well, considering the ambiance and the quality and also the taste, I would say, it's quite worth it. But not my usual lunch spot of course. Don't think I can afford have a RM50 lunch everyday now. I heard they have this lunch buffet going on every Sunday. But better call in for reservation for that, I heard. (Rating: 4.0 out of 5.0)

Kissaten @ IOI Boulevard

There are so many new mix commercial buildings coming up in Puchong itself that I can't even follow with. I had passed by this new building called IOI Boulevard which is opposite IOI Mall for so many times but didn't have the chance to really go down and check it out. Well not until last weekend that is. You can see Umagi right in front of the place. There are other restaurants in the building but it's not fully occupied yet. I saw another German restaurant serving their local dishes but decided to give this restaurant a try which is opposite from each other. The name of the restaurant is called Kissaten, it means Cafe in Japanese.

If you saw the picture above, you noticed that the place is separated into two entrance being one for coffee and restaurant while the other for beer. Yes, the place served beer and German beer that is. They do have Sake but they are more focused on promoting Paulaner from the looks of it. They had plenty of Paulaner placed around the restaurant. They do served cakes and dessert too if you wanted something light. And they served Haagen Dazs ice cream in the house too. 

Their menu are big and very clear with plenty of beautiful pictures in them. They have this promo for 'buy 2 set free 1 set' for both dinner and lunch for weekdays. So if you are dining in for three, this is a good treat for you. I can say that the place served similar concept as Pasta Zanmai. They served fusion of Japanese and Western food together. But the variation of pasta in Zanmai are more varied whereas over here they have Steaks, Teppanyaki Burger, Pizzas and Udon. As mentioned earlier, they do served sets so do look at the end of the menu for them. Prices for lunch and dinner varies which I am not sure why. Maybe the size is different? 

Both of us had ordered Green Tea whereas mine comes with the set. Yes, it's refillable and they are very prompt with that too. Good point here. 

Katsu Curry Chicken - RM18.90

Babe decided to try their Katsu Curry Chicken Rice which was really large in portion. The chicken was plenty too. She couldn't even finished the chicken and rice at the end. Although the curry smells like any other Japanese restaurant but the texture over here are different. If you look carefully it's not that smooth. I think this is due to the pre-preparation of the gravy. I had better at Pasta Zanmai but this is not bad. 

Katsudon Set - RM24.80

As mentioned earlier the set comes with all the side dishes. The portion of the katsudon was really large. Even for me. There were really a lot of chicken on top of that bowl of rice. Egg was even distributed and it's still hot. It shows how fresh it is. As any other Katsudon, there's onions and egg being mixed together with the chicken and cooked before pouring it on top of the rice. Delicious, but anything more would be too much. 

Here's the side dishes which I mentioned earlier which comprises of Miso Soup, Cawanmushi, and Oshink. In the menu it shows a salad type of dessert sort of like coleslaw but they given me something else. Maybe they are out of salad. But anyhow, you will surely be full after finishing all of the above. 

The place is really new so all the seats and table are clean and brand new. There are plenty of seats even for large groups of people as both of the restaurants are linked to each another. The staffs are attentive and service is good. Will definitely return to try out their pizza and also the steak burgers. And before I forgot, they have another outlet which I think opened before this at Palm Square Jaya One. So for those who work in PJ, you can try it out over there too. (Rating: 4.0 out of 5.0)

Address: Kissaten @ IOI Boulevard

D-G-57 & 58, Block D,

Jalan Kenari 5, 

Bandar Puchong Jaya, 

47170 Puchong, Selangor D.E

Tel: +603-8070 6307