Kingyo Japanese Restaurant @ Life Centre, KL

Kingyo is the new Japanese restaurant in Menara Life Centre, taking over from Munakata. It is a relatively quiet restaurant, even more so on a week night. Here's our review of their Teppanyaki Course Menu.

       

          

Menu

           
The choices were quite good and we had a tough time deciding which to go for. In the end, we had Course B and Course E.

                  

Nice ceramics but not the best I've seen

                

Salad

           
The salad came in a chilled bowl which meant that the vegetables were extra crunchy and refreshing. The salad sauce was very creamy too.

              

Zensai

               
The appetizer consisted of a maki which was coated in very crunchy salmon roe but its taste was average, marinated jellyfish and blanched prawns that were sweet and crunchy. Seems like a lot of items at Kingyo are crunchy huh? On a side note, wonder if they reuse the decorative chrysanthemum flower? =P

               

Teppanyaki condiments

             

Butterfish and Oyster Teppanyaki

             
The butterfish was naturally sweet and its flesh firm whereas the oysters were just cooked and retained a hint of rawness. 

                   

Salmon sashimi

           
The sashimi were fresh and juicy and each slice was thick and chilled.

               

Clockwise from top: Salmon, Vegetables, Oyster and Squid Teppanyaki

           
The grilled salmon flesh was moist but the skin was very crispy. The oysters here were juicy and fortunately, the squid was not tough. I love the vegetables which had a crisp texture.
                 

Beef and Vegetables Teppanyaki

               
The grilled beef was very good - nicely done and not tough at all.

              

Tempura

             
Tempura here is good with a light and crispy batter.

               

Miso soup, rice and pickles

             
Love this combination - I should try just eating these 3 items for breakfast like normal Japanese =P There were 3 types of pickles which I enjoyed thoroughly. Unfortunately, the same can't be said of the miso soup which was salty by my standards (which means it may be very salty for some) and had no seaweed!! Only a few blobs of scallion and tofu were floating about in the soup.

                 

Fruits

              

Overall, I quite enjoyed the food at Kingyo. I liked that their teppanyaki items were all generously sauteed in butter and had the delicious fragrant melted butter aroma. The waitresses however don't seem to be very experienced.
           
         
PawPoints: 4 Paws
Pawket: Cheese
                    
Kingyo Japanese Restaurant

G-05 Ground Floor
Life Centre
Kuala Lumpur
Tel: 03 2163 7888
Daily: 12pm - 2.30pm. 6pm - 10pm

Tedboy Bakery @ Bangsar, KL

A short review on my birthday cake from Tedboy, one of the many bakeries in Bangsar. Aside from cakes, they also have a variety of mini pastries and the usual breads.

Tiramisu

The Tiramisu had many light and airy cheesy layers, topped with liberal dusting of cocoa powder and blobs of gooey dark chocolate.  I'm definitely not an expert on Tiramisu as I usually find them average tasting considering I'm not one of those who have an extra stomach for desserts but I really liked this version from Tedboy a lot!

You can even order their cakes online. Check out their menu at their website below.

http://www.tedboy.com/home

PawPoints: 5 Paws

Tedboy Bakery

10 Jalan Telawi 4

Bangsar Baru

Tel: 03 2202 1312

Crazy Potato @ The Gardens, KL

Crazy Potato is a snack outlet at Midvalley selling...you guessed it...potatoes. They've got lots of varieties of chips to choose from to satisfy your carb cravings as well as signature London bites such as fish and chips, wedges and cheese and hash browns. 

      

Sour Cremio Crazy Potato Fries (RM 6.90)

         
The fries are served straight from the fryer and are smoking hot. The sour cream topping comes with a sprinkling of parsley flakes. It was good but nothing too special about it. I'm looking forward to trying other flavours such as pickle mayo, crazy meaty or crazy spicy.

             

Tempura Chicken Nuggets (RM 7.90)

         
I'm a huge fan of chicken nuggets and these do not disappoint. No doubt it'll probably taste like frozen nuggets but I like them all the same =D

                

Crazy Curl (RM 5.90)

         
Yet another favourite of mine - curly fries! These were good but not as curly as McD's or A&W's.
         
Crazy Potato is probably nothing special and rather gimmicky but if you're in the mood for grease and carbs, head here immediately. Writing this post makes me want to eat it again =P
         
           
PawPoints: 3 Paws
Pawket: Dough
             
              
Crazy Potato

LG-211 Lower Ground Floor
The Gardens
Tel: 03 2282 2241
Daily: 11am - 10pm

Maruhi Sakaba @ Taman Desa, KL

Maruhi Sakaba is a popular yakitori joint at Taman Desa. If you follow Google map, most likely you will not be able to find the restaurant as it is located a block away from the indicated location. The signboard is so small I wonder why they even bother putting it up, with Chinese characters only O.O Somehow by chance, I spotted the restaurant and managed to skip several rounds of circling the square. The tip is to look for Public Bank and Maruhi Sakaba is located a few doors down the street.

See the extremely small signboard? 

Yakitori bar with non-existent decor

Menu

The menu is relatively limited compared to Sumi-Ka at SS15 but there are more choices written on a board at the far end of the yakitori station. The board includes daily specials as well as recommendations of their main staples.

L-R: Spicy chilli sauce, salty bean paste sauce

The green chilli sauce on the left was extremely spicy, sort of like pan mee sauce but also very addictive. The one on the right was slightly too salty for me and tasted like Chinese bean paste.

Maruhi Sour (RM 45)

Yep, you read right. It costs RM 45 for this big kettle of Maruhi Sour which apparently is some sort of alcoholic drink. It is very mild though and as its name suggests, a little sour =P

A shot of Maruhi Sour =P

Pickled Cucumber (RM 5)

Crunchy and slightly sourish, the pickled cucumber slices help to cool down the body after digesting meat that came straight off the grill.

Edamame (RM 3)

Not a bad portion for RM 3.

Pork Liver (RM 4)

When the pork liver was first delivered to our table, it was still kind of raw so we sent it back with instructions for it to be fully cooked. When it returned, it was extremely well done which meant it was quite hard and chewy. Despite that, it still tasted nice if you are a regular pork liver eater.

Pork Tongue (RM 4)

Many of our friends did not want to try the pork tongue but those who tried it agreed that it actually tasted really good! Chewy but with meaty flavour, I thought it was one of the best skewers we had that night. Will definitely order this when I return.

Pork Belly (RM 4)

The pork belly was awesome! Definitely the star of the show, it was crispy and flavourful with the salt marinade. RM 4 for a stick really is not too bad at all.

Chicken Thigh (RM 4)

The chicken thigh was moist but its flavour not too outstanding.

Chicken Skin (RM 4)

Chicken skin was quite crispy and well flavoured with salt.

Maruhi Don (RM 15)

A home style version of oyakodon, this minced meat rice bowl with egg is extremely comforting. The bowl is large enough to be shared by two if you're ordering yakitori as well and they are generous with the amount of minced pork given.

Tamagodon (RM 5)

Can't remember the name of this dish but it's just a simple bowl of rice topped with an awesome fried egg. So simple and so good. My friend had this with pork belly skewers d^_^b

Yakibuta Don (RM 15)

The Yakibuta Don came with 2 strips of grilled pork belly, grilled okra and grilled eggplant, topped with yakitori sauce, scallions and toasted sesame seeds. Every ingredient was really good, even the vegetables. It is a good choice to order if you are unsure of what to eat ^_^

All rice bowls come with a relatively large bowl of light miso soup. There is not much miso taste, hence not very salty, but it is very good in alleviating the oiliness and heatiness of yakitori. The soup contains lots of seaweed and scallions which I really like.

We also had grilled intestines which were super chewy and sort of like soft bone. Grilled with salt, there was not much taste of intestine. Another item was enoki mushrooms wrapped with bacon which were good too.

Overall, every item we had at Maruhi Sakaba was awesome and I can't wait to return. Do note that you will not be able to escape being blasted with the smell and fumes of grilled meat =)


PawPoints: 4 Paws
Pawket: Tomato


Maruhi Sakaba

6A, Faber Plaza
Jalan Desa Jaya
Taman Desa
Tue - Sun: 6pm - 10.30pm

Xiao Long Bao and Noodles @ Din Tai Fung

Well, I'm sure everyone is already well-acquainted with Din Tai Fung and its famous xiao long baos. Anyway here are my 2 paws on Din Tai Fung's scrumptious food =)

        

Their signature dish

     

Wantan Soup La Mian

     
Don't really know why JS ordered this since it looks soooo PLAIN but he should be comforted by the two bulbs of xiao bai chai ^_^
     

Shrimp Pork Wantan Soup 

     
Their wantans are really bouncy and chockful of shrimp and pork meat filling. Not a fan of Hong Kong style wantan soup though as it tastes too shrimpy to me.
       

Xiao Long Bao

       
This is their signature dish which is as good as they claim to be =)
       

Delicate stuff

               

Hot and Sour Soup La Mian

         
I love Sichuan food so this hot and sour soup suits me just fine. Very peppery and the thin somen like noodles absorb the flavours nicely. Also love the soft silky tofu bits and crunchy woodear fungus.

             

Grouper Fish Dumplings

           
Grouper fish dumplings are a welcome change to the usual wantans and xiao long baos. Quite delicious actually and not fishy at all.
         

Shrimp Fried Rice

         
I love having fried rice at Chinese restaurants as the chefs do it so well with lots of fluffy egg, crunchy shrimps and the nice aroma of wok hei.
           

Spicy Shrimp Pork Wantan La Mian

         
An interesting variation of the usual wantan noodles, the spicy la mian includes a dash of chilli oil and tasted really good.
       
         
PawPoints: 4 Paws
Pawket: Onion
                    
Din Tai Fung

Various malls

Sanbanto @ SS2, PJ

We first tried Sanbanto SS2 a few years ago when porky restaurants were scarce and thought it a very good concept with good food to boot. We recently made another visit to its Bangsar outlet which is located in the row of shophouses behind TMC.

       

*squeal*

   

Shop Front

        

Interior

      

Menu

       

Anatomy of the pig

         

Tonkatsu (RM 21)

     
I had the deep fried bread pork cutlet which came with tonkatsu sauce, side salad and potato salad. It was actually not too bad as the meat was quite flavourful. The only downside is the panko coating is not super crispy and a wee tiny bit dry. The potato salad was creamy and crunchy with lots of cucumber and carrot strips.

      

Tonkatsu cross section

        

Classic Carbonara (RM 23)

         
The Classic Carbonara was good too with al-dente spaghetti coated in thick creamy carbonara. The plus point is that this is a non-halal place with real bacon topping the noodles.
               
Quite a nice cosy place for an average priced meal. However since the Bangsar outlet has shut down (yes, we are quite backed up on posts =.=), I'll provide the address of the SS2 branch.
         
         
PawPoints: 3 Paws
Pawket: Tomato
                     
       
Sanbanto

32 Jalan SS2/63

Petaling Jaya
Tel: 03 7876 1728
Tue - Sun: 11.30am - 3pm, 6pm - 10pm