Tokyo Kitchen @ Sunway Giza Mall, Kota Damansara

Tokyo Kitchen is a quaint little place, with lots of zakka stuff on display. It is located outside Sunway Giza Mall near Full House.

       

                

Exterior

              

Cute plate

                 

Sashimi

                 
The sashimi was, we felt, their redeeming grace. They were very generous with the sashimi as evidenced by the thick slabs of salmon and butterfish. The sashimi was cold and juicy too. Definitely fine dining standard.
                         

Ebidon

             
The Ebidon came with 4 big pieces of ebi tempura. It was sufficiently good but nothing particularly outstanding. Also there was way too much rice that even a rice lover like me couldn't finish it. Perhaps they should cut down on rice and prevent a bit of wastage there.

               

Katsudon

             
The Katsudon was a disappointment. The chicken katsu were hard and the smell of reused frying oil was evident. Didn't enjoy this at all.
             
Both the Ebidon and Katsudon came with a bowl of miso soup which was salty to me. Other people would probably find it very salty since I have relatively higher salt tolerance.
               

Please come visit us!

           
Hmmm I guess it's quite a unique place to come for a meal but I will probably head to Sushi Zanmai instead...
           
           
PawPoints: 2 Paws (5 Paws for Sashimi)
Pawket: Cheese
                      
                      
Tokyo Kitchen

Lot C-01, Sunway Giza Mall
Tel: 03 6151 1268
Sun - Thur: 12pm - 11pm
Fri - Sat: 12pm - 12am

Tonkatsu by Ma Maison @ Isetan Foodmarket, One Utama

Tonkatsu by Ma Maison has finally landed on our shores! <does a tonkatsu dance> Although it's been in business since early of this year, we only managed to sample it recently. It's conveniently located in 1 Utama near the cluster of restaurants within Isetan Foodmarket.

     

Logo

      

Condiments

   
As usual, they've got all the condiments to make your meal taste much better - sweet as well as spicy tonkatsu sauce, salt for purists, toasted sesame seeds, and tamari and sesame sauce to flavour the shredded cabbage. Both the spicy tonkatsu sauce and sesame sauce are a much welcomed addition from the usual condiments which are also found in Tonkatsu by Wa Kitchen.
      

Homemade Katsu Curry (RM 25.90)

   
The Homemade Katsu Curry set comes with the usual sides of shredded cabbage, pickles and tonjiru. I like how they serve the katsu and curry sauce separately so that the katsu remains crisp instead of soggy. The fragrant curry had plenty of bite sized chicken meat, onions, potatoes and carrots, and its consistency was just right. The katsu served is rosu katsu aka pork loin and the pork loin at Ma Maison is much better than the one at Tonkatsu by Wa Kitchen in my opinion. The ones at Ma Maison have a higher fats to lean meat ratio, rendering the katsu extremely moist and juicy <drool>
   
The red pepper pickles were new to me and they were quite sweet and went surprisingly well with the curry. The refillable shredded cabbage is supposed to be bland and healthy to counteract the cholesterol laden meal but we splashed liberal amounts of sesame sauce to make it much tastier (the tamari sauce had little effect as the taste was quite light).
 
The tonjiru had lots of ingredients like konnyaku, carrots, shiitake mushrooms and even bits of pork loin fats(!) 

     

Tonjiru

       

Rosu Katsu 

      

Wafu Negioroshi Rosu Katsu Set (RM 24.90)

     
The Wafu Negioroshi Rosu Katsu Set looked quite unique plus I thought the grated radish would help alleviate the heatiness of the dish. The set came with a special sauce plate, tonjiru, pickled radish, temari sauce, shredded cabbage and a huge mountain of grated radish and leeks on the katsu.
   
The negioroshi is meant to be added to the temari sauce which is a dipping sauce for the katsu. This unique addition lends a heavy and sharp zing to the katsu which is refreshing in a way but I think I prefer the spicy tonkatsu sauce sprinkled with ground sesame seeds. The white pickled radish was crunchy but tasteless and went better with the curry.
   

Wafu Negioroshi Rosu Katsu

      

Salty, Spicy, Bitter

   
All sets comes with refillable cabbage, rice and soup. For our review on other sets, check out this earlier post which was for the Singapore outlet. I think at this price, dining at Ma Maison is very worth it and we are already planning our next visit =)

     

    

PawPoints: 5 Paws
Pawket: Tomato
        

Tonkatsu by Ma Maison

Eat Paradise, Isetan
2nd Floor, 1 Utama Shopping Centre
Tel: 03 7727 3337
Daily: 11am - 9.30pm

Grumps Cafe @ SS2 Mall, PJ

A cafe specialising in pork dishes Western style? Naturally, we couldn't resist the temptation and off we went, our stubby noses sniffing the air. Grumps Cafe is located at the newly-opened SStwo Mall which I find quite hard to locate due to the design of the mall itself.

Grumpy not allowed

Garlic bread

The garlic bread was excellent according to JS. It was soft and warm with a crispy exterior. The smell of garlic butter was also heavenly and you can see bits of garlic and parsley dotting the bread. Perfect for garlic lovers.

Mushroom Soup

The mushroom soup here is garnished with toasted almonds - a nice touch. The soup was thick and creamy - no fault there.

Pork Cordon Bleu (RM 24)

The Pork Cordon Bleu is easily my favourite dish out of the lot. The hidden ham is revealed once you cut the crumbed cutlet in half. I love deep-fried breaded cutlets but this was quite dry. The salad was refreshing and the thick-cut fries were pretty good too.

Cheesy Crumbed Pork Loin (RM 24)

The deep-fried pork loin was quite good on its own albeit a bit dry; however I didn't quite like the mushroom sauce as the more pungent-tasting shiitake mushrooms were used instead of the usual button mushrooms. I felt like the Oriental taste of the gravy did not go well with the Western pork cutlet at all.

Roast Pork Roll and Jumbo Sausage (RM 36)

The jumbo sausage was really juicy and the roast pork roll quite succulent. The roast pork roll was also quite fatty and it took me much longer to finish my portion towards the end. I have never been a fan of sauerkraut and this is no different but if you like it, do go ahead and try it as I have no idea what constitutes good sauerkraut. The mashed potatoes were quite good in my opinion.

Grilled Butterfly Steak (RM 24)

The Grilled Butterfly Steak was the driest of the lot. The creamy sauce did little to help ease the meat down my throat > . < The portion of steamed vegetables was definitely not sufficient to counter the fries and meat.

Ice-Cream Delight (RM 10)

Chocolate, vanilla and strawberry ice-cream sundae - what's not to like? Pretty average stuff though.

Chocolate Brownie (RM 10)

Surprisingly, the Chocolate Brownie with vanilla ice-cream was good. Hot, chocolatey and gooey, I wouldn't mind coming back just for this.

Grumps Cafe is a great place to meet up and catch up over porky dishes but it definitely needs to improve on its dishes taste-wise. Unless I'm really, really, really craving deep-fried breaded pork that absolutely can't be found anywhere else, I doubt I'll return to Grumps Cafe.

PawPoints: 2 Paws
Pawket: Tomato

Grumps Cafe

LG-57, Lower Ground Floor
SStwo Mall
Tel: 03 7931 8898

Daily: 10am - 10pm

Gonbei San @ Starhill Gallery, KL

Ah...Gonbei San - the top guy of the fine dining buffet pyramid. Curious about its offerings and how much more fine dining it can get buffet-style, we headed over to Starhill Gallery one day. The whole mall exudes elegance and a sort of untouchable / unreachable sense to it (much like the elite Tan Sris and Puan Sris) and the same applies to Gonbei San.

   

The view from across

 

Main entrance

   
The main entrance itself feels surreal like you're entering an entirely different world. The drum is beaten once to signal your arrival and you have to walk through a series of criss-crossing bamboo poles shaped somewhat like a teepee to reach the inner chambers of the restaurant...
   

Interior

   
Once inside though, we found the seating arrangements here a little odd...most of the tables are 2-seaters and the seats are placed at a right angle. When we attempted to shift the chair so that we can be seated facing each other, the slightly snobbish manager hurried forward and told us sternly that we were not allowed to change the seating arrangements. Thankfully, a more experienced waitress came over and offered us another table.
   

Ceramics!

     

Mango Juice

   
An assortment of juices is available for the little kids (in you)...
   

Sashimi

   
Sashimi! The whole point of going to a fine-dining Japanese restaurant is for their super fresh and juicy and bouncy sashimi! Here they have salmon, tuna and butterfish. Needless to say, the sashimi at Gonbei San totally lives up to expectations - chilled, juicy and bouncy - and we took many many servings...
   

Maki and more Sashimi!

   
I couldn't resist sneaking a few makis - here I've taken futomaki, soft shell crab maki and ebi maki =) The futomaki wasn't too well-prepared - I much prefer Sushi Zanmai's one. The ebi maki was average but the soft shell crab maki was really good. One point to note was the uneven and "un-clean" cut of the makis...you can see jagged bits of rice sticking out.
   

Pickled cold salad

   
The pickled seaweed on the left was typical but the one on the right which I couldn't figure out its contents, was kind of odd. It was crunchy and tasteless >.<
   

Seafood salad and carbs

   

• I also couldn't resist sneaking a bowl of cold soba which was quite average. 
• The seafood salad in Thousand Island sauce was fresh and yummy. 
• The black blob on the plate is stewed hijiki, a type of sea vegetable, which was not too bad but Tenjin's version tastes much better and is more flavourful.
• I love potato salads and this was no exception =D

   

Chawanmushi

 
The Chawanmushi has mushrooms, seaweed, bits of chicken bits and a squid ball and was slightly firm with a nice smooth texture.
   

Teppanyaki

   
Clockwise from top left are the prawns, beef, mussels, chicken, squid and fish teppanyaki. No prizes for guessing but I enjoyed the prawn teppanyaki the most as they were shelled (except for the tail bit) and you can just pop them into your mouth consecutively. The mussels were really good and juicy too. Actually, all of them were equally good and not the least dry.
   

Agemono

   
From the left in a clockwise order, we've got tori karaage aka fried chicken, sakana katsu aka fish cutlets, tori katsu aka chicken cutlet, lamb teriyaki and butter fish fillet. They were deep-fried to perfection and very yummy.
   

Fried Rice

   
As usual, I had to satisfy my carby self so had this bowl of fried rice which was really good, perfectly separated rice grains and adequate wok hei.
   

Onsen Tamago

   
The onsen tamago was slurpilicious.
   

Tempura

   
The tempura came with the usual dipping sauce.
 

Close-up of Tempura

 
We tried the prawn, sweet potato and ladies finger tempura and they were all good - light and not oily.
   

Traditional Japanese Dessert

   
These were my choice of desserts - mochi rolled in sugary peanut crumbs, chrysanthemum jelly with wolfberry and mini dorayakis filled with a choice of sweet red bean paste or smooth peanut butter.
 
I felt the mochi was slightly too sweet for me and after the heavy meal, I was really too lazy to chew on the gooey mochi. The mini dorayakis were addictive but there was no way of distinguishing which had peanut butter sandwiched in between and which had red bean paste.
 
My favourite was the chrysanthemum jelly...it was totally refreshing with sweet wolfberries embedded in each slice. A real palate cleanser, I easily had 4 or 5 of those irresistible squares O.O
 

Western Dessert

   
There were many types of Western desserts available which included an assortment of cakes but as were totally stuffed, we only had a fruit tart and some chocolate dipped marshmallow and strawberry. These were typical Western desserts and not very outstanding.
   

Black Sesame Ice-Cream

   
There were many ice-cream flavours available but we only took the black sesame and green tea ice-cream.

   

Green Tea Ice-Cream

   
Both the black sesame and green tea ice-cream were velvety smooth and creamy with a strong black sesame and green tea taste respectively.
   
Overall, the sashimi here is really good and fresh and most of the food tasted quite good but at this price, I'd rather go for quality over quantity. Plus there are other buffet restaurants serving the same or even better quality food at a much cheaper price.
   
By the way, if you are a fan of novelty washrooms, do visit Gonbei San's as they've got a modified shishiodoshi for a tap!
    

    

PawPoints: 4 Paws
Pawket: Salami
      
Gonbei San

T2 Relish Floor
Starhill Gallery
Tel: 03 2782 3801
Daily: 12pm - 3pm, 6pm - 11pm

Haikara Style Cafe & Bakery @ SS16, Subang Jaya

Haikara Style Cafe & Bakery is a homey, cosy cafe operated by a Japanese couple in Subang Jaya. It has quite a following for its baked goods as well as home-cooked Japanese dishes. It is also a good place to chill and have a cuppa.

     

Logo

   

Shop Front

   
The shop is located at the ground floor of the apartment complex adjacent to Carrefour which makes it quite easy to spot. However, if you're not familiar with Subang Jaya, do take care not to miss the turning and end up on the elevated highway to Federal Highway instead =P
     

Array of bread loaves

    
There are always freshly made bread, cookies and cakes available and the popular ones get sold out quickly.

     

Mushroom Cup Soup and Butter Roll (RM 4.50)

     
Quite affordable, don't you think? The butter roll came fresh from the oven and was too hot to handle with hands. Once it cooled down, it was soft and spongy and had a nice crust to it. The mushroom soup here is very watery, not the thick kind that is served in most restaurants. I think you can literally drink the soup from the cup itself. The soup had a milky taste flavoured lightly with herbs and there were also slices of button mushrooms for added texture.

      

Rokomoko Don (RM 18.90)

    
The Rokomoko Don is one of the more popular choices with a beef patty slathered in a sweet, tangy Rokomoko sauce and topped with a perfectly fried sunny side-up. As this is a donburi, rice is provided within a ring of fresh lettuce and shredded cabbage. The plate is decorated prettily with alternating cucumber slices and cherry tomato halves.
   
The beef patty is typical Japanese hanbaagu which is very moist and not as firm as Western style patties. The sauce is actually quite salty and tangy but it tastes better once you pair it with the unseasoned vegetables. This is comfort food at its best so do give it a try if you're feeling a little down =P

    

See the huge patty?

    

Croquette (RM 9.90)

      
I insisted we order a side of Croquette as I have not tried them before. The ones at Haikara are mixed with minced chicken and onions and drizzled with Haikara sauce which tasted somewhat like Brown sauce. The Croquettes were deep fried to a crisp texture and were quite good. I felt there was something a little off about its taste...probably the addition of minced chicken? Or it could be because I had conjured a taste of how fried mashed potatoes are supposed to taste like and this didn't taste like it =.= Anyway it's just odd me and I assure you the Croquettes are actually quite nice =) JS liked them so you can trust his unbiased and unfussy judgement.

     

Chicken Katsu Sandwich (RM 13.90)

     
The Chicken Katsu Sandwich didn't look like much from the picture in the menu but trust me, it's huge. The chicken katsu is sandwiched between two thick slabs of toasted homemade white bread and covered with a mixture of mayonnaise and mustard - you can opt for mayonnaise, mustard or a combination of the two. The sandwich is served with a side salad, a dollop of mayonnaise and a couple of wedges.
      
The chicken katsu here is lovely - moist and crispy. The mixture of mayo and mustard gives quite a kick and enhances the overall taste. I find it a little hard to stuff the sandwich into my mouth though due to the thick bread slices. I also noted that the bottom of the sandwich is rather oily but the sandwich is really good and comes highly recommended. JS agreed but he preferred Aoi Tei - I think both are equally good, just that Haikara's has a homemade feel to it whereas Aoi Tei has a more professional look to it.
    
The side salad was rather bland as it is not seasoned but I guess it is intended to balance the katsu sandwich. The wedges were surprisingly good due to the spiced seasoning - pity there were only 3.

      

See the katsu slab?

On an earlier visit, JS had the Chicken Vegetable Spicy Pasta (RM 18.90). It was quite light with a healthy vegetable broth-turned-gravy coating the pasta.
    
JS and I really like Haikara for its cosy ambience and we are already planning for the next visit back to sample the other dishes that caught our eyes. Oh another thing I noticed was that the proprietress - a slim, tall Japanese lady - looks very much like one Japanese actress called Natsuki Mari =P

     

PawPoints: 4 Paws

Pawket: Tomato

   
http://haikara.com.my/index.php

Haikara Style Cafe & Bakery

E-Tiara Ground Floor
Jalan Kemajuan SS 16/1
Subang Jaya
Tel: 03 5630 0743
Tue - Thur: 11am - 11pm
Fri - Sat: 10am - 11pm
Sun: 10am - 6.30pm