Sozo Japanese Restaurant | Sunway Giza Kota Damansara - Japanese Ala Carte Buffet Review

 

If you are are real fan for Japanese Food and tight on your budget, you can try out Sozo Japanese Restaurant located at 13-G, Block A, Sunway Giza, Jalan PJU 5/14, Kota Damansara, 47810 Petaling Jaya, Selangor, Malaysia.

BestRestaurantToEat was invited to preview the range of Japanese dishes ranging from appetizer all the way to dessert in this special Japanese Ala carte buffet.

Personally, I prefer ala carte buffet, as you are served what you really like to eat compared with normal buffet where everything are laid out and usually not at the right consumption temperature.

The ala carte buffet offering is tremendous and we did not really have the stomach to try out all the dishes. Nevertheless here are some of the snapshots starting with the appetizer Jelly Fish 

followed by the Chuka Idako

Fresh Oyster

Followed by the Salad - Soft Shell Salad with Mango

and the crispy Fried Salmon skin

Then the sashimi offering with the Moriawase to start off with.

followed by Salmon Belly

and the lovely Rainbow Carpaccio - An assorted sashimi with Japanese Style sauce

 

This is then followed by the sushi offering, the first of which is the Soft Shell Crab Maki

Salmon Mayo Sushi

Unagi Roll

next, we had some side dishes like the Ebi Tempura

Koebi  Karrage - we really loved this as it was fried until a nice crisp. Perfectly goes with the sake.

Chilli Clam

Kakuni - Stewed Pork Chop With Chef Secret recipe

and the Sanma Shioyaki

and the last one is the Ika Butter Yaki. 

Sozo Japanese Restaurant is having a special Lunch buffet which costs only RM48++ and dinner at RM55++. Although there was a 2 hour time limit; we couldn't even stomach any more food after that.

Sasagawa Authentic Japanese Restaurant - Sheraton Imperial Kuala Lumpur - Omakase Set Course Review

Japanese cuisine has always been a number one favorite food for yours truly. +BestRestaurant ToEat was invited to Sasagawa Authentic Japanese Restaurant located at Level 2 Sheraton Imperial Kuala Lumpur Hotel Jalan Sultan Ismail 50250 Kuala Lumpur.

Sasagawa Authentic Japanese Restaurant offers a modernist Japanese setting restaurant which is elegantly decorated to welcome us for an authentic Japanese dining experience.

Sasagawa Japanese Restaurant offers the highest-quality of traditional and gourmet ingredient for the customer to savour the original taste, colours and texture of each of the dishes.

Our review is on the HANA Course Menu which is a "Kaiseki" meal priced at RM 350.00.  The course set which is a typically Kaiseki meal consists of Appetiser, Sashimi, Simmered Dish, Main Dish, Deep Fried Dish, Rice with soup and Dessert. A Kaiseki menus typically consist of between 7 to 14 courses.

Our Hana Course set started with a simple and light appetizer; which consist of Fruit Tomato which is a seasonal fruit tomato from Kochi Prefecture served on a bed of ice, a Nanbanzuke Fish Cutlet served with Kikka flower & loofah marinated with vinegar and egg tofu which is topped with salmon egg, golden powder, radish and a tinge of wasabi.

Next on is the Ocean Fresh Platter Omakase Sashimi (Otsukuri) Set of Chef Sasagawa's daily special of 4 selection of freshly air-flown fish for the day. Our Omakase Sashimi set was a combination of Maguro (Tuna), Chutoro (Tuna belly), Shimaaji (Striped Jack) and Salmon Aburi. It was indeed a special premium selection as freshness of the fish really shone on its own.

Next is the Grilled Dish (Yakimono) which was the Kuroge Waygu Steak - the tender and soft steak was char grilled to perfection while the meat was medium done, extracting out the full flavour of the of these premium wagyu beef steak.  The beef steak is served with grilled vegetables like zucchini, red & yellow peppers, mushroom and lotus root to complement the succulent and juicy beef.

After that is the Pot Stew (Nimono) - A Nimono is a dish made by boiling, simmering or stewing vegetable and meat or seafood, often in a mixture of soya sauce, sweet cooking sake and sugar; here the Chef uses the Kujo green onion based stewed for our Nimono; which has an extra sweet taste with a strong aroma and flavour of these premium onion. The fresh ingredient on our Nimono were the flamed Pike Conger, Sea Bass, Octopus together with Mizuna, rolled Chinese cabbage, Maitake mushroom and lime.

After that we had the special Steamed Dish (Mushimono). Our steamed dish is the Chawanmushi which was specially crafted to use, Goma (Sesame) Tofu together with the silky smooth egg custard and topped with thinly sliced winter melon and wolfberries, leaving you with a blend of different texture and taste to a plain Chawanmushi.

As for the tempura dish, we were in for a real surprised which is the Deep Fried Dish (Agemono) Tempura; the tempura is a wrap of soba sushi with seaweed, unagi, potatoes which is dipped in a special tempura batter and then fried. It is then served with the stock sauce mixed with Glazed Daikon Raddish; thereby giving you a texture of soft on the bottom and crisp on the top. According to the Chef; in the older days of Japan, tempura was served in this style and as time progresses and the popularity of tempura (as we see in most Japanese restaurant now) as just fried with tempura batter and the sauce are separately served.

For the rice dish, we were served Shokuji (Rice); the rice are cooked in small pot and topped with Salmon, Salmon Egg, Burdock and Shiso Leaf. A filling dish to end the night which was accompanied by Miso Soup and Arima-Ni pickles.

Our desserts is a light dessert that makes up the final course. Sasagawa serves 4 choices of ice cream which range from the tangy Yuzu Sorbet, Matcha Ice Cream, Black Sesame Ice cream and last but not least, the Yukimi Daifuku. We loved the Yukimi Daifuku which is a vanilla ice cream wrap in a thin layer of mochi skin; much like a snow skin with ice -cream. Simply delicious end to our hearty meal.

It was an indeed experience to savour this fine dining Hana Course Set from Sasagawa Japanese Authentic Restaurant which offers a procession of elegantly authentic Japanese dishes using the best seasonal ingredients. To enjoy this culinary delight; be prepared to expect the unexpected as the dishes in this Hana Course will be Omakase style.

De Hunan Hot Pot Fahrenheit 88 Bukit Bintang - A Hot and Spicy Affair With Hunan Homey Specialty Cuisine

There are a lot of food from China coming into the Malaysian market. You really do not need to spend so much to travel to these places to enjoy these authentic dishes. +BestRestaurant ToEat was invited to savour some of the specialty dishes from Hunan i.e. De Hunan Hot Pot located at Lot 2.05, Level 2 Fahrenheit 88, No 179, Jalan Bukit Bintang Kuala Lumpur

Hunan cuisine, also known as Xiang cuisine, It is one of the Eight Great Traditions of Chinese cuisine and is well known for its hot spicy flavour, fresh aroma and deep colour which accentuates all your senses.

De Hunan Hot Pot has been in Malaysia for the past eight years and this newly open outlet in Fahrenheit 88 is catered for customer from the Kuala Lumpur Central Business and Shopping District. 

The setting is one that is very modern and comfortable to have a spicy meal and we particularly love the dining area by the window which overlooks the bustling Bukit Bintang street below.

To start off our Hunan gastronomy journey, we were first served with 4 Hunan Specialty appetizer; the first of which is cool pickled cucumber, 

the pickled seaweed, 

Bean Curd Skin

and pickled pig ears.

For the main dishes, we had the Hunan Hot Pot, we were served with 2 flavour pot; the first was the Fish Head Soup - the fish head used for the soup is the Ling fish (Small Pot - RM 15 (per pax) , Big Pot - RM 40 for 4 pax). Although it looks milky it has added a special Hunan Cili (yellow chilli) to cook this broth; in which it makes it a very spicy soup based. 

For the hot pot you can order the ingredients that you i.e. ala-carte style which ranges from fresh seafood, fishball, meatball, corn, slice cut meat of beef,  slice cut of pork belly, vegetables  and so forth,

The second soup based was the Duck Soup (Small Pot - RM 15 (per pax) , Big Pot - RM 40 for 4 pax). This soup broth was cooked with the duck meat, chilli, herbs, star anise, mandarin peel and spices that made this hot pot filled with a strong aroma and flavour. 

and then we moved on to Specialty dishes which the first is the Hunan Farmer Style Fried Pork (RM 22). This dish is literally filled with a special green chilli - it looks extremely spicy but once you eat it, it is not really that spicy. the green chilli was very crunchy.

Next is the Spicy Skewered Prawns in Hunan Style (RM 33). The prawns are first pre-fried to a crisp texture and then topped with a special chef sauce made by blending fermented black bean paste, dried chilies, sesame seed, green chilies, ginger and garlic. Loves the texture and the taste.

Next is a very plain looking comfort food of the Fried Homemade Beancurd with Salted Egg (RM 18). This is a chef specialty where the salted eggs are first melted and then followed by the Tau Foo and pan fried until you get this texture. The plain taufoo are fully coated with the salted eggs to give you a smooth and sandy texture to this dish. Really yummy eaten with steam white rice.

This next dish is a very popular Hunan dish called the Uncle Mao Special Braised Pork (RM 30). This is one of the favourite dish of Chairman Mao ZeDong. This pork is a five layer Pork Belly. We usually does not eat much white rice during review but this dish is an exception.

Next is the Sizzling Skewered Lamb (RM 28).

This dish above is the Deep Fried Spicy Chicken with Dried Chili (RM 30); looks awesomely spicy from the amount of dried chillies served. Although it was spicy but we just can't stop eating the pieces of chicken one after another and another. With the topping of sesame seeds, it adds an additional flavour to the dish. A cold beer would be best to slowly munch on the chicken as a snack.

This is another signature dish of DeHunan Hot Pot which is Hunan Yuen & Yang Steamed Fish Head - Ling (RM 60). Although the fish was very nice but the spicy level was a notch too high for us to slurp in the noodles and the fish head. Advice for this dish if you really want to try it; is to ask the chef to tone down on the spicy level.

Another dish that spring surprise to us is this plain looking Stir Fried Beijing Cabbage (RM 20). This dish has to be eaten while it is still hot as you can taste the crunch of the cabbage. Once it becomes cold, it will lose the crunchiness. According to the chef, the cabbage are hand pluck and the stem are removed for each pieces of the cabbage.

For desserts, we had 2 of the Hunan Specialty dessert; which is Potato Pancake (RM 10 for 4 pcs). The potatoes are mashed to a fine texture and coated with a special batter to be fried and served with condense milk. 

The last dish is the Golden Sweet Potatoes with Honey (RM 22). This is a special dessert in which the coated sweet potatoes are cooked with caramelized sugar and when brought to the table; is then simmered in cold water and you practically get a frozen crystal of sugar coating the fried sweet potatoes. A unique dessert indeed,

One thing about Hunan food, although it is a little torturing to our mouth due to the intensity of the spiciness level, you nevertheless can't really stop yourself for going for another spoonful and still want to go for another. It is that addictive. We really did enjoy this special Hot review.