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

Hanare @ The Intermark, Kuala Lumpur

Happy New Year!!! I wanted to start the new year with a yummy review but unfortunately, the ones I currently have drafted are all disappointing. Since all posts are disappointing, I might as well start the new year with a review of my favourite cuisine which is Japanese ^_^ <yoshi!>

This review is on Hanare, one of the fine dining restaurants at Intermark. Having heard good reviews about this place, especially the weekend buffet (not always available), my friends and I decided to come here after work.

Elegant grey decor

Love the chopstick cover

L-R: Grilled salmon and ikura sushi (RM 35), California maki (RM 30)

Price is no doubt steep considering it is a fine dining restaurant but the makis were just average. The ingredients were fresh but the seaweed was a tad soggy.

Tendon (RM 30)

Being on a tight budget, I had the Tendon which was the cheapest don on the menu if you exclude the Ochazuke and plain udon. The assorted seafood were extremely crispy but being the scrooge that I am, I did not find it exceptionally out of this world compared to Tendons in other Japanese restaurants.

Anyway the point is come to Hanare only if you have extra cash to spare. Perhaps the sashimi and other higher end items will taste super duper amazing for the price you're paying.


PawPoints: 3 Paws
Pawket: Cheese


Hanare

Ground Floor, The Intermark
Kuala Lumpur
Tel: 03 2164 2133
Daily: 12pm - 2.30pm, 6pm - 10.30pm

Black Forest @ Changkat Bukit Bintang, KL

Sorry for the unexpected hiatus...things were really busy for us both and I unexpectedly fell sick and we didn't have any ready posts although we have tons of material so here's a review of a great restaurant to kick start December, my favourite month of the year! =D

Black Forest is one of the many restaurants lining Changkat Bukit Bintang and food must certainly be good to ensure a steady stream of customers.

Menu

I really like the different categories in their menu =)

Who got the better deal?

Complimentary bread basket

As usual, there is a complimentary bread basket and here at Black Forest, some wholesome raisin bread is served with spicy chilli tuna paste. The bread was warmed through but I prefer mine to be toasted so no brownie points from me there. I also prefer the usual oil-vinegar dip or even the common butter to spicy chilli tuna that tasted like it came from a can.

Kartoffelpuffer Mit Lachs (RM 26)

This dish of potato pancakes served with marinated salmon and dill mustard is my favourite of the lot. I love the crispy potato pancakes and the very savoury salmon goes extremely well with it. I also love the simple dill mustard which packs in so much flavour.

Black Forest's 1/2 Metre Wurst (RM 36)

We had the black pepper sausage and I must say that this is quite a disappointment =( There was nothing special about the sausage at all and it didn't taste very homemade. I have definitely eaten better sausages from supermarkets. I really like the pickles though =P

Schweinekotlett "Natur" (RM 45)

This juicy pork loin which has been slow roasted to perfection is very well complemented by sauteed pork belly and pepper as well as the special zigeuner sauce. The juicy meat comes with a side salad as well as fluffy and crispy french fries which I love dipping into the appetising zigeuner sauce.

Schnitzel Hawaii Mit Ananas Und Kase Uberbacken (RM 45)

The boneless pork loin cutlets are baked with air dried ham, pineapple and cheese and served with a side salad as well as mashed potatoes. The cutlets were really juicy even after being pan fried and baked and retained its crispiness even when topped with ham and pineapple. I really enjoyed this dish as I love schnizels d^_^b

Bayerische Schweinehaxe (RM 45)

The crispy pork knuckle comes with beer sauce, potato gratin and red cabbage. The knuckle was extremely crispy and tender and juicy, just like siu yuk, but some of our friends found it a tad too fatty. I, of course, found it just nice but it was a shame that this dish arrived last as I was already stuffed from all the food before to truly enjoy this. The beer sauce did not have a strong beer taste but it complemented the knuckle very well anyway.

The potato gratin tasted like creamy potato sandwiched between lasagna sheets which was a nice change from the usual mashed potatoes and fries. The red cabbage was sour and tangy in a good way as I am not a fan of sauerkraut (probably I have not tasted good sauerkraut yet).

Churros 

The Churros was really good and there were lots of thick chocolate sauce to dip the crunchy sticks in.

An Australian Dream (RM 22.80)

The Australian Dream has a nice tart taste from the cherries and lots of cream and chocolate chips to make this concoction truly yummy.

Service was good although the waiters are super busy and may not be able to notice you. There is also some tradition of throwing plates on the ground before starting some pork knuckle dish which can be a tad distracting but the waiters give you ample warning before the patrons attempt such a feat.

All in all, a really good meal and all who went for the meal were really satisfied. Prices are on the high side but would definitely return for the awesome potato pancakes, schnitzel and knuckle =D


PawPoints: 4 Paws
Pawket: Cheese


Black Forest

47 Changkat Bukit Bintang
Kuala Lumpur
Tel: 03 2110 3678
Sun - Thu: 4pm - 1am
Fri - Sat: 4pm - 3am

Moon Palace Revisit @ Bandar Puteri Puchong

Moon Palace Restaurant in Puchong is consistently the top weekly post on our blog...are there really so many unique visitors searching for Moon Palace or is their management so free to continuously click on the link? =P Either case, we both found the food at Moon Palace really good at a cheaper price than other restaurants so we returned for another meal. A few of our friends did tell us though that they did not enjoy the food there so perhaps it depends on your luck.
   
One of our visits was during Chinese New Year where we had the set meal for RM 368++.

      

Yee Sang

   
The Yee Sang is really fresh and they were very generous with the amount of raw salmon. There was no greasiness to the ingredients or slightly stale smell that is sometimes present in the Yee Sang served at other places. All in all, a yummy and refreshing dish with just the right amount of oil and honey.

     

Seafood and Crabmeat Soup

   
The thick soup had tons of seafood which made the price of the set menu more than worth it. The portion was quite big too for us to have seconds.

      

Butter Prawns

   
Even though it was a Chinese New Year set menu, the dishes were not prepared in advance. This Butter Prawns dish was deep fried moments before it was served and the prawns were extremely hot. The prawns were really fresh and tasted sweet and the deep-fried shreds of batter were extremely crunchy and flavourful due to the addition of curry leaves. Too bad the quantity of prawns was quite little =(

       

Tong Po Meat

   
I was never a big fan of these sort of braised meat but this was quite good - super tender fatty meat well flavoured by the dark caramelised gravy. Steamed buns were also included for us to mop up the sauce.

     

Blanched Bok Choy in Herbal Soup

   
The vegetable dish was very light on the tastebuds and I like the addition of wolfberries in the gravy / soup as it lent its sweetness to the dish.

     

Steamed Fish in Soy Sauce with Ginger and Wood Ear Fungus

   
Very fresh, firm fish. The inclusion of wood ear fungus was unique but I much prefer parsley instead =P The soy sauce based sauce was a little oily though.

     

Glutinous Rice with Chinese Preserved Sausage

   
Perfectly steamed glutinous rice with lots of preserved Chinese sausages and liver. Yummy but I wonder why they served it in such a big dish.

     

Mini Longevity Buns

   
Soft mini buns with warm lotus paste filling - what more can I say about buns?

    

Iced Sea Coconut and Longan 

   
Sweet syrupy dessert with lots of bouncy longans and sea coconut. I like that there are bits of ice in the dessert which makes it so satisfyingly chilled.
 
No matter what others say, I still think Moon Palace is really good and will definitely return for special occasions.
 
 
PawPoints: 4 Paws
Pawket: Cheese
         
       
Moon Palace Restaurant
1st Floor, Tower 2 @PFCC
Bandar Puteri Puchong
Tel: 03 8063 8122
Daily: 11am - 11pm

Fukuya Authentic Japanese Cuisine @ Jalan Delima, KL

I have been longing to dine at Fukuya ever since I found out it was fine dining and saw night shots of its front lawn. Unfortunately we went there for lunch as lunch sets tend to be cheaper and the glamorous-looking front lawn looked...mehhh...in the glaring light of the sun.
          

Signboard

           

Entrance

       

Menu

     
I love their unique menu which has a piece of bamboo stick as a page binder. The front cover is also made of Japanese washi paper and looked very authentic.
         

Table setting

     
It is not very visible from the above picture but their tables are covered in leather which gives a slightly luxurious feel. The lighting, however, was too dim for us as we were seated at a dark corner which looks out to a dark, slightly rundown garden > . < The quality of the wooden chopsticks was quite bad, in my opinion, for a fine dining restaurant...even Senya has much better chopsticks than this.

      

Salad

   
The above salad came with both lunch sets and was served extremely chilled. It was very refreshing with slivers of raw ebi and its son, ebikko. The dressing drizzled over a mountain of lettuce, alfalfa sprouts and tomato wedges had hints of wasabi.

      

Chawanmushi

     
The piping hot chawanmushi had a piece of chicken, mushroom, gingko nut and even prawn (which is a first for me). It was extremely smooth but a lot firmer than the average chawanmushi...I prefer mine to be slightly bouncy.

      

Appetiser

   
The appetiser consisted of boiled horenso aka spinach mixed with bits of either tuna sashimi or bonito flakes. The dish was unique and tasty but it was a tad too cold as my teeth felt rather sensitive.

     

Seiro Set (RM 43)

   
The Seiro set consists of a choice of steamed rice with grilled eel (you can opt for grilled salmon or scallops as well), sashimi, tempura, miso soup, homemade radish and cucumber pickles (that were extremely sour) and dessert. Although not stated in the menu, the set comes with chawahmushi, salad and appetiser too.

      

Sashimi

   
This is the sashimi that came with the Seiro Set. Although no doubt it is top grade sashimi, I felt extremely letdown as they were served at room temperature and not even the slightest bit chilled. It was warm and Fukuya was not as generous with the sashimi as other restaurants. This could probably be because they've already given lots of unagi at extremely cheap pricing.

      

Grilled Unagi on Steamed Rice

     
I highly recommend you try this! The eel was basted with a lovely sweet sauce and its skin was slightly crisp from the grilling whilst the meat was succulent and tender. The fine bones embedded in the eel were also meticulously plucked out. Its aromatic and yummy gravy penetrates the rice and bed of egg roll strips as it is being steamed which results in an awesome meal on its own. This itself is definitely worth the entire price tag of RM 43.

       

Tempura

   
The soft shell crab tempura looked really good but probably because I squeezed lots of lemon onto it and took my time eating it, it was a little soggy. I didn't mind though as the lemon juice gave it a whole new dimension and made it very yummy. A unique addition was a shiso leaf tempura that remained extremely crispy.

       

Fuku-Fuku Lunch (RM 40)

   
The Fuku-Fuku Lunch Set came with appetizer, chawanmushi, salad, steamed rice, homemade radish and cucumber pickles, miso soup and dessert. There is a choice of two main dishes and we had the tuna and salmon sashimi and grilled saba mackerel.

     

Sashimi

   
Similarly with the sashimi served in the Seiro set, this did not give us the wow factor as it was served at room temperature =( What a huge disappointment =(

        

Grilled Saba

     
The grilled saba mackerel was really good and juicy with crispy skin. It came with a lotus root pickle which was surprisingly very crunchy and yummy.

       

Miso Soup

     
The miso soup was just nice with lots (and I mean lots) of wakame and tofu. Nothing spectacular but just wanted to show this unique lacquered bowl with red lacquered insides. Very outstanding indeed.

       

Dessert

     
Dessert was two honeydew and watermelon cubes. Quite disappointing as I had expected at least green tea ice-cream like other fine dining restaurants. Oh well, I guess they've got to make some profit with their relatively affordable fine dining lunch sets.

      

Service was not very good as it seems that Fukuya only has a few staff who know good English and have impeccable manners. It was difficult to get them to take our order as they were quite busy and the other wait staff kept pretending not to see us waving. When one finally did come over, she had a heavy accent, probably Thai or Filipino, and I couldn't understand what she was saying at all > . <
   
One thing is for sure though, although the food at Fukuya is no doubt good and of high quality, next time I opt to go for fine dining, I'd definitely go to Cocotei instead.
 
 
PawPoints: 4 Paws
Pawket: Cheese
         

Fukuya Authentic Japanese Cuisine
9, Jalan Delima
Kuala Lumpur
Tel: 03 2144 1022
Mon - Sat: 12pm - 2.30pm, 6.30pm - 10.30pm
Sun: 6pm - 10pm