Ozeki Tokyo Cuisine Japanese Restaurant @ Menara TA Kuala Lumpur - A Hidden Gems Of Contemporary Japanese Cuisine

There are many Japanese Restaurant in Kuala Lumpur, mostly serving authentic Japanese dishes. +BestRestaurant ToEat was invited to taste a Japanese Fusion for a change at Ozeki Tokyo Cuisine located 22, Ground Floor Menara TA, Jalan P.Ramlee Kuala Lumpur just adjacent to the iconic KLCC.

I was taken a back when I found out that the restaurant was opened for the past 15 years. Frankly speaking, I have not heard about this restaurant probably due to its low profile and minimal advertising. The restaurant is very nicely decorated with a Japanese theme and is adorned with Sake bottles around the entire dining area. 

The minute you enter this restaurant; fresh seafood are laid out for patrons to choose from. There is also live oysters that are in the aquarium. One of the main mission of the restaurant is to serve their dishes as fresh as possible. The fish are imported from the fame Tsukiji market which is fame for the freshness of the fish.

Executive Chef, Hitoshi Kimijiwa combine his vast experience in Japanese, French, Italian and German culinary style to create a brand new contemporary Japanese dishes to satisfy your craving for his delicious dishes.

Our review started with a special appetizers (RM80.00) which has 10 different delicacies in it. Depending on the number of person, customers have the option to specify the number of the appetizers that they would like to eat. 

Our order of the appetizer are as follows:

1. Pan Fried Burdock Root

2. Blue Fin Tuna Simmered in Soya Sauce

3. Deep Fried Small Shrimp

4. Flower Mushroom Seasoned in Mustard Sauce

5. Japanese Style Mashed Potato & Cucumber Slice

6. Edamame

7. Simmered Spicy Japanese Yam Pudding

8. Charcoal Grilled Eggplant With Bonito Flakes

9. Pan Fried Baby Octopus with Garlic Onion Soya Sauce

10. Deep Fried Spicy Chicken Soft Bone.

Next is the Salad dishes which we had; the first is the Kaki Shungiku Salad (RM35.00) - served with seasoned vegetables from Japan, chrysanthemum leaves, sliced white turnip, cut persimmon and sliced smoked duck with a Yuzu Japanese Citron and Coriander paste dressing.

The second salad is the Ankimo Tai Roll Mizuna Salad (seasonal price) - which is thinly slice Red Snapper sashimi wrapped with Monkfish liver with Kyoto's Mizuna Salad Leaf and dressed in Yuzu (Japanese Citron) dressing.

Followed by the mains; which is the first is the Smoke Oysters (RM48.00) - Fresh Raw Oyster with a special sauce; served on a bed of ice are smoked in this special apparatus from Spain for about 2 minutes to allow the smoky taste to penetrate into the raw oyster giving it that special aroma.

The next dish on the table is the Sashimi Moriawase (RM220.00 for a 3 pax set). This is a set which allows the chef to serve you with his personal best selection of the catch of the day.

Next on is the Mini Tomatoes Garlic Miso Sauteed (RM18.00). The Cherry tomatoes are stirred fried with the special miso sauce that takes a very patient chef more than 1.5 hours to prepare. We like the taste of this sauce which blended well with the cherry tomatoes. A simple dish which is very aromatic and flavourful.

The next dish is an exemplary of the skills of the Chef which marries a French dish fusion with Japanese ingredients. This dish is the Escargot Garlic Butter Yaki (RM28.00). The oven baked French Escargot are intertwined with the special garlic and seaweed flakes. Eaten with the fresh baguette, it was wonderfully done and tasted very delicious.

Followed by the Foie Gras Teriyaki (RM48.00). Another masterpiece of fusion dish, which the Foie Gras are first pan fried with a special Ozeki Teriyaki Beef sauce. According to the chef, it took him many trials and years to perfect the sauce to this level of taste.

After that, we tasted the Lobster Gratin (RM150.00). The Lobster was oven baked with the special in house made creamy sauce gratin. We loved the fresh texture and juiciness of the lobster meat which combines well with the right portion of creamy sauce. Unlike other gratin sauce, no cheese is used to cook this dish. 

We then moved on to taste a meat dish; which is the Wagyu Saikoro Steak (RM58.00) - The diced cut Wagyu (Japanese Beef) are fried with the vegetables and onions using the Chef's special steak sauce and served on a sizzling plate with aluminium foils to retains the juice and flavours.

After that, we tried another fusion dish; this time it is a Korean infused dish which is the Kimuchi Chige Nabe (RM120.00). This is a seafood with chicken meat cooked with Korean Spicy Bean Paste and served on a Hot Pot. 

Followed by a another special dish which is the Buri Kama Ikura Meshi (RM80.00) - This is a special steamed rice dish with the Yellow Tail Soft Bone Fish Head cooked in a Hot Pot. You can literally eat all the bones from this fish head. According to the chef, this Yellow Tail fish head has gone thru a de-soften process in Japan which takes around 3 to 4 hours of low heat steaming and vacuum packed to seal the natural taste of this fish head.

The next dish is the Spicy Premium Roll (RM36.00). Sliced salmon are wrap in sushi rice together with Kimushi, chilli padi and mayonnaise sauce. It is then topped with an aburi (flambe) Japanese Fresh Scallop.

Next on is the Volcano Roll (RM42.00). According to the Chef, Ozeki is the first to served this dish in Malaysia dating back to the days when this restaurant was opened. The oven baked California Roll is topped with the Creamy Seafood sauce gratin.

Which brings us to the second last dish which is the Hotate Steak (seasonal prices). This hotate is pan fried and served with Shimeji mushroom with a wakame sauce. 

The last dish is the Salmon Shikama Yaki (seasonal price). The salmon fillet is first wrapped in lotus leaf and covered with a layer of salt and wrapped in a pastry like dough and sent to be oven baked. The flavour of the salt will penetrate slowly into the fish and the effect is the fish has a natural salty taste. This way, the fish will retains its' juiciness and nice flaky texture.

There were so many special dishes in the new menu, we did not even have the pleasure to try out the dessert offering. Probably on our next visit or review session. Let us have your feedback after trying some of these dishes, we loved to hear from you.

Pho Vietz Vietnamese Restaurant @ Sri Petaling Kuala Lumpur - Authentic Vietnamese Food

We, Malaysian especially those staying in the Klang Valley in particularly Kuala Lumpur are very lucky when it comes to food. We get restaurants serving a lot of different cuisines from all over the world.

+BestRestaurant ToEat was invited to taste out the new Vietnamese restaurant that serves everyday and popular dishes from Vietnam at Pho Vietz Vietnamese Restaurant located at No.2 Jalan Radin Bagus 7 Bandar Baru Sri Petaling 57000 Kuala Lumpur.

The design and decor is a rustic Vietnamese style which provides an easy dining environment without much fuss. Customers can choose either to dine indoor air-condition dining area or the al-fresco style at the side of the restaurant.

Our review started with a simple Vietnamese Prawn Salad (RM15.80). This salad comes with a special Vietnamese prawn cracker, gelatin like noodle strip, sesame seed with a lime infused dressings.

Next is a everyday food of the Vietnamese; which can be found almost everywhere in Vietnam is the Famous Vietnamese Baguette (RM10.50). The filling consist of an assortment of fresh vegetables that gives you a fresh crunch when you bite into it.

Followed by the Vietnamese Baguette With Pork Ball (RM9.90). The filling of minced pork meat together with vegetable gives you a meaty feel much like a burger but this baguette has lots of vegetable which is a healthy option as compared with the normal burgers.

We like this crispy Vietnamese Spring Roll (RM8.50). At first, we thought it was beancurd skin that was used to wrap the filling but it turn out to be the vietnamese rice roll that is used. Topped with crunchy peanut and a special sauce, we really like the taste of this spring roll.



Next on is another traditional Vietnamese dish which is the Fresh Prawn Roll (RM8.50). The fresh prawn which is wrapped in the rice paper roll with an enclosed chives gives you a fresh vegetable taste. Dipped with the accompanied sauce, the firm texture of the prawn has a delicious taste that give a nice bite.

One of the Vietnamese signature dish is the popular Vietnamese Beef Noodle Soup (RM17.90). According to Chef Kenny, the broth are made with 14 different herbs and are brewed for more than 10 hours to give it that special beefy taste. We like the fine texture of the noodle which was custom made specially for the restaurant.

After that we had the next Pho(Noodle) which is the Vietnamese Pork Ribs Noodle Soup (RM17.90). We love the pork ribs soft texture. Apparently the pork ribs are from the softer side of the ribs which is more tender. The soup base was a clear chicken broth.

This next dish has a lot of Chinese influence. It resembles the Cantonese Fried Hor Fun. It is called the Stir Fried Tiger Prawn Hor Fun (RM21.90). The prawn are fried and served as a topping to the Hor Fun while the silky Hor Fun are cooked with broccoli, mushroom and lots of onion which makes the sauce very tasty. Unlike the Cantonese version, no eggs are added to the noodle.

After that comes the Braised Pork Belly in Coconut Juice With Rice (RM26.90). This is another one of the special dish which Vietnamese eat it during the New Year. Almost every household will make a big pot of these pork belly and eaten throughout the festival. According to the Chef, the sweetness of the broth is from the coconut juice as there are no other flavouring required to cook this dish.

Followed by the Vietnamese Sour Soup and Caramel Fish Combo With Rice (RM30.90). This soup is a case of either you like it or you don't; as it has a very unique sourish taste not like the Tom Yam sour taste or the assam taste. The presentation was very nice as it comes with the fire still burning from the pot and look very interesting. One of the best sellers at the restaurant.

Our last dish for this review is the Vietnamese Rice Steamed Rice Crepe Roll With Minced Pork (RM10.50). This is much like the "Chee Cheong Fun" which is wrapped with minced pork.

So, for fans of Vietnamese Cuisine, we find most of the food very tasty and gives us an experience  once again to savour the special dishes without having to travel all the way to Vietnam.

Good Hakka Restaurant @ Bandar Bukit Raja Meru Klang - A delectable home style Hakka dishes

Setting up a Hakka restaurant in Klang does not seem like a good proposition as Klang is predominantly a Hokkien enclave. Choosing not to follow the crowd, the owner of the restaurant would like to offer a variety of food option by introducing some of her grandmother recipe of the popular Hakka dishes for the Klang folks.

+BestRestaurant ToEat was invited to taste these Hakka dishes at Good Hakka Restaurant located at 20 Jalan Rodat 4, 11 Avenue, Bandar Bukit Raja, Meru, Klang.  Although opened for business for more than 7 months, the spanking clean environment and brightly lit shop does has a plus point. With a simple and no frill set up in a new business area along the way to the Meru town, it is not that difficult to discover this place.

According to the owner, the dishes that are served here is a little tone down compared to the authentic version which tends to be more flavourful and has a strong taste for the Hakka folks and foodie like us. This is because of the feedback from customer which frequent this restaurant which they enjoy the tone down version.

For this review, we will list down by the favourite dishes instead of chronologically basis as what we normally does. My personal best has to be the Fried Tau Foo Pok with Salted Eggs; although this dish is not really a Hakka dish. We loves the crusty and crunchy feel as the Tau Foo Pok is cooked with salted eggs, it was heavenly and we had to order a second dish to fully satisfy our craving.

Next on is the Sizzling Sambal Petai Sotong (RM20.00). The sambal paste are in-house made to the right spicy flavour. Paired with the bouncy white squid it was a delight to be eaten with white rice. Cooked with Petai and onion this dish was very tasty.

Moving on the next dish is the Assam Prawns (RM25.00). This dish is cooked with Assam paste that has a slight sourish taste. The prawns which are sourced from Rompin; has a nice texture and the sauce was fully embedded to the prawn.

This is then followed by the Rendang Pork (RM24.00). The paste that used to cooked the ribs was very aromatic and the meat was cook to the right texture without being too soft or too hard. We have to order another white rie to slurp up the rendang.

Next is the Red Wine Chicken (RM30.00). The Red Wine is in-house made and usually takes about 40 days to brew to this level. I like the wine chicken as the aroma of the wine was very strong. Cooked with the black fungus, black bean (to give it a sweeter taste) and plenty of julienne ginger, we really like this dish as all the ingredient combined to extracted out a superbly strong wine and gingerly flavour.

Followed by the Pork Vinegar Trotter (RM30.00) - compared to the Cantonese version, the Hakka version is usually more on a sweeter note and lack the stronger vinaigrette taste that I like for this dish. If you are used to the Hakka version, you should be right for you.

One of the main dishes as far as Hakka cuisine is the Hakka Braised Pork (RM24.00); it is a must for most Hakka family. I personally would have like the pork pieces to be a bigger piece and should braised to a softer texture with a more pungent taste from the fermented bean curd. According to the chef, the taste was tone down a little to cater to the taste of the locals.

Another one of the favourite Hakka dish is the Yam Abacus (RM22.00). The yam abacus is in-house made and have a dough have a bigger portion of yam as to the flour, this makes the abacus chewy and have a strong yam flavours as compared to some which have the flour taste. It is then stir fried with minced pork, chilli padi, black fungus, dry shrimp and topped with spring onions.

For the fish dishes, we had the Braised Fish Hakka Style (RM30.00-40.00 depends on type of fish). You can order your choice of fish to cook with this style. In fact, they are quite flexible in terms of flavours that you can also choose to cook your choice of fish. This style is very village type as the fish is first fried and it is then braised with slice ginger and Chinese cabbage.

Another very popular Hakka dish is the Yong Tau Foo (RM 9.00 for 6 pcs and RM18.00 for 12pcs). The chef uses the mackerel fish paste with minced pork flavoured with salted fish and onions. Here you can choose from a choice of different vegetable like Bitter Gourd, Tau Foo, Ladies Finger, Chillies and so forth. This dry version comes with a bean paste sauce.

You can also order the soup version for your Yong Tau Foo.

To conclude we would say that the spicy food served here are really good and match to our taste buds. Being a foodie at heart we will always be on the look out to taste the authentic version of Chinese cuisine, although the taste at Good Hakka Restaurant has been tailored specially to customer from this area.