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

Maya Brasserie @ Maya Hotel, KL

I think many companies always hold corporate events at Maya Hotel so here's a quick overview of the dishes available for dinner buffet at the hotel's all-day cafe Maya Brasserie.

Love the look!

I love the dark colours employed in the decor of Maya Brasserie and the orchid arrangement in a gigantic cement-coloured vase looked absolutely elegant. Very zen-like and peaceful with several ponds in the restaurant. However the pools do not have any barriers around it so watch your step or you might just hear a splash =P

Oysters and Crabs

Raw oysters and crabs which I did not try as I didn't want to risk a diarrhea and I was too lazy to wrestle with the crabs =(

Salad Bar

The salad bar here is quite interesting with a variety of combinations and flavours. By the time I got to the salads, they were half gone and I only took two varieties which interested me =(

Satay and Otak-Otak

It's quite rare to find otak-otak in hotel buffets, no?

BBQ Station

There were tons of ingredients ready to be barbecued such as sausages, marinated chicken and lamb, and assorted vegetables. A variety of sauces and condiments were also available to go with the barbecued items. Not pictured here was a station for deep-fried items too.

Minuscule Japanese Section

Imagine tons of people queuing up for this plate of sashimi =.= Do they not realise Japanese food is popular with the masses? Anyway when you finally get your turn, you can forget all about the others and just zoom in on the rectangular, shiny orange blobs on the plate. I'll tell you why after you scroll down...

Sarawak Kolok Mee Station

I've always wanted to try Kolok Mee but I definitely wasn't about to waste my tummy space with this so I still don't know how it tastes like =(

Haagen Dazs Ice-Cream

There were 3 flavours of Haagen Dazs ice-cream, namely chocolate, strawberry and chocolate chip cookie dough. There were also ais potongs which I doubt anyone would take when there is Haagen Dazs?

Cakes and Local Dessert

Plenty of local kuihs and cakes to choose from =)

Chocolate Fountain

Chocolate Fountain is always a favourite with the patrons and they have the obligatory marshmallows and strawberries as well as preserved fruits.

Main Course

As always, I need some main course items to fill my tummy so clockwise from the rice are chicken and beef satay and the usual accompanying onions and cucumbers, kam heong bamboo clam, stir-fried squid, crab with spices, assam stingray and lamb provencal. I racked my brains for descriptive adjectives for each dish but they were all average and tasted exactly as you assume they would taste (hope that helps =.=). I quite like the satay as both the beef and chicken were well marinated and were adequately charred yet juicy.

Sides

My favourites =D Clockwise from the soy sauce saucer are sashimi, futomaki, california maki, potato souffle, kerabu and strawberry chicken salad. The kerabu packed quite a punch in the sour department while the strawberry chicken salad tasted a little odd as the strawberry was sweet and my brain keeps telling me that chicken doesn't go well with sugary sweet stuff =.=

The potato souffle was very comforting and fluffy - I'd have taken more if I wanted to risk looking like a glutton but I was quite full from all the waiting for VIPs so we could start the meal. Both the futomaki and california maki were bite-sized and good...too bad there wasn't enough space in my tummy.

The sashimi were not too bad but the clear winner is that little blob of criss-crossed orange next to the saucer =D It was salmon belly sashimi and it was soooo juicy and fatty and slippery and melt-in-your mouth-y!! It was such a small piece but it certainly beat every single dish on the menu. Be warned though that it is quite tough to get more than one piece as they only display a few pieces of sashimi at any one time and I thought it'd be rude if I scooped up every piece of salmon belly from the display plate (scroll up for picture) =P

Dessert

Last but not least, I had chocolate-covered strawberries, marshmallow and rock melon, a small square of chocolate cake and strawberry and chocolate chip cookie dough ice-cream.

I hope you found the pictures (at least) informative. The buffet items were not too bad but I definitely wouldn't pay to eat these at a hotel.

PawPoints: 2 Paws
Pawket: Salami

Maya Brasserie

Level 1, Maya Hotel
138 Jalan Ampang
Kuala Lumpur
Tel: 03 2711 8866

Daily: 6.30am - 12am

Mizu Japanese Fine Dining Restaurant @ TTDI Plaza, PJ

We have always wanted to try the buffet at Mizu since its sister restaurant in Bangsar is a fine dining restaurant. We had dinner there on Christmas Day and surprisingly, it was not packed with people. We counted only 5 tables that night O.O But maybe most of the patrons came for lunch since we were told some items had run out =.=

     

Mizu is on the 1st floor

    

Lovely interior

   

Table setting

   

Complete order list

     

Picture Menu Part 1

     
A menu with pictures is also available in case patrons are not familiar with the dishes...

    

Picture Menu Part 2

      

Potato Salad

        
The potato salad here is creamy but tastes more like egg mayonnaise rather than potato salad...still good.

        

L-R: Hamachi, Maguro, Salmon

       
Ooo look at the thick fleshy pieces of sashimi. We had a few orders of these super fresh chunks of fish but unfortunately JS's favourite Shiro Maguro aka White Tuna was sold out >.< It was hard to pick a favourite as they were all yummy but mine was the Tuna and JS's was the Yellowtail =)

     

L: Agedashi Tofu, R: Hiyayako Tofu

    
The cute tofu cubes came in tiny ramekin dishes. The Agedashi Tofu came piping hot in a tempura dipping sauce. A dab of mentaiko and sprinkling of finely sliced spring onions topped the deep-fried cube.
   
The Hiyayako Tofu was very refreshing with the diluted soy sauce dip, pickled ginger and finely sliced spring onions. We had seconds of the cold, silky smooth Hiyayako Tofu.

   

Futomaki

     
I just could not resist ordering my favourite maki with assorted pickles. The seaweed coating was very fresh; however the pickles were rather bland and with a higher rice ratio to pickles and egg, the futomaki was kind of plain. To try the best futomaki, head on over to Sushi Zanmai! =D

    

Ebi Tempura Temaki

   
The Ebi Tempura Temaki was very fresh and well done. Crispy, light, deep-fried prawn tempura on a bed of lettuce, rice, cucumber strips, slathered with mayonnaise and rolled in seaweed...very yummy!

   

Saba Shioyaki

   
The Saba Shioyaki was nicely done. The skin was crispy and the meat tender and not too salty. JS's only grouse was the small portion.. After having this piece, JS up ordering 4 more pieces! hence the following picture =P
     

L-R: Ebi Shioyaki, Saba Shioyaki

     
The Ebi Shioyaki was fresh and sweet despite being grilled; however I don't think this is the best way to eat the prawns as they are likely to shrink in the pan with most of the meat attached to the shell.

   

Top: Ebi Tempura, Bottom: Ebi Furai

    
Ebi Tempura was good - crispy, light batter and bouncy prawns. I prefer the Ebi Furai though which is coated in panko crumbs rather than tempura batter which gives it a bit more crunch <clicks teeth together>

  

Vegetable Tempura

    
Vegetable Tempura was also good. There was an eggplant, lady's finger, sweet potato and a mushroom. JS thought that the mushroom was a bit too "earthy".

  

Beef Stew

     
This tiny bowl of Beef Stew was awesome! Meltingly tender beef chunks simmered in a rich demiglaze sauce, it was so yummy on its own that we could not help eating it even though we were quite stuffed by then. The gravy is absolutely good with rice...too bad there wasn't any rice. This is a must-order as I doubt you can find it anywhere else.

    

Beef Teppanyaki

   
The pan-grilled beef cubes were wonderful - not too tough and managed to retain quite a lot of beef juices.

   

Scallop and Oyster Teppanyaki and Salmon Shioyaki

    
The taste of the scallops and oysters was somehow very cloying. I also found the scallops to be a bit too oily for my liking.. The salmon wasn't very good either as it was hard and dry.

    

Chicken Teppanyaki

The chicken teppanyaki was tender and not too sweet. Just the way JS likes them. However, we found the portion a bit too big as we were already quite full when we finally got to this dish =P

   

Seafood Chahan

      
The tiny bowl of seafood fried rice was very fragrant. Each grain of rice was fluffy and not oily. If only there was more beef stew gravy to ladle over the rice hehe.

     

Miso Shiru

    
This miso soup was less than average - diluted, insufficient miso paste and salty. You can skip this.

    

L-R: Black Sesame, Strawberry, Chocolate Ice-Cream

     
We originally wanted green tea and black sesame ice-cream but they ran out of green tea ice-cream and only had one scoop of black sesame ice-cream left =.= So we had black sesame, strawberry and chocolate ice-cream which were all good =D
   
We were really stuffed so luckily some of the items we ordered did not arrive =P Despite some small shortcomings, the food at Mizu is really good and of good quality. We'll definitely be back to have our favourites again =)

     

PawPoints: 4 Paws
Pawket: Cheese

   
Mizu Japanese Fine Dining Restaurant

C-2-1, TTDI Plaza
Jalan Wan Kadir 3
Taman Tun Dr Ismail
Tel: 7728 6498
Daily: 11.30am - 3pm, 6pm - 11pm

HuTong @ Lot10, KL

HuTong @ Lot 10 is a very good idea by Tan Sri Francis Yeoh. . . finally, a non-halal food court in Malaysia! And all sorts of famous hawker food under one roof - very convenient for hungry pork lovers =)

The first time we were there, we tried Ho Weng Kee and Kim Lean Kee. The Char Siu Wantan Mee (RM 8.30) from Ho Weng Kee was good, like how they used to taste back when Ho Weng Kee was still operating from the SS2 shoplot. 

• Char siu is the lean and charred kind with little to none fats.
• Noodles was good, absorbing the flavours from the char siu and usual soya sauce mixture. 
• Wantans were a little small but soup was nice.

Overall, I would give Ho Weng Kee 3 Paws because I found the ultimate Char Siu Wantan Mee and it is where the old Ho Weng Kee used to be located <smug> Will review about that place another day. 

Forgot to take pictures on our first visit but the Hokkien Mee was so good we returned for a second visit. This time, we had the Kong Tai Oyster Noodles instead of Ho Weng Kee's famed Char Siu Wantan Mee.

Famous Hokkien Mee from Petaling Street (RM 8.90)

This Hokkien Mee is the bomb! Fried with lots of 'wok hei' - you can hear the non-stop clang of metal spatula against the wok - this dish comes laden with lots of deep fried pork lard (a must in any good hokkien mee) and adequate amount of prawns. The noodles are coated with sufficient pork-infused oil to ensure that it remains glossy and slippery as you slurp the noodles into your mouth. Some may find it a little too oily for their liking but I think the amount is just nice (otherwise the noodles will be dry and coarse). This dish deserves all 5 Paws =D

Kong Tai's Oyster Noodles (RM 8.30)

The Oyster Noodles tastes like gravy-doused char kuey teow topped with liberal amounts of fat juicy oysters. It comes with a sourish chilli sauce that goes well with the noodles. I didn't quite like it (maybe because I'm not a big fan of bean sprouts) but JS found the dish acceptable. Perhaps the fried oyster omelette otherwise known as Oh-Chien would fare better. I would give this only 2 Paws.

We have also tried Hon Kee Porridge at the Uptown and Taipan branches and I assume the outlet at HuTong would not be much different, taste-wise. The same goes for Kissaten which we tried at Jaya One. Will upload reviews for these places soon =)

PawPoints: 4 Paws 
Pawket: Dough

HuTong

Lower Ground Flr, Lot 10 Shopping Mall

Tel: 03 2141 0500

Daily: 12pm -  3pm, 6pm - 11pm