Nanbantei Japanese Restaurant @ Far East Plaza

Located at Level 5 of Far East Plaza and can be seen immediately if you're coming up via the escalator. Made reservations a day before.

start-up kit, salt and miso on the right

table seats

We got the counter seats, and has a clear view of the grill and the two chefs.

grilling away~

Ordered up a feast, and while waiting for the food to arrive, we sipped on our tea served in a nondescript black cup.

to clean our fingers before the meal

otoshi of yasai sticks (@$2++ per pax)

My friend loves garlic fried rice, and so we had to order one here. Plus she said she was starving!

garlic fried rice (@$5++)

Hmm, the garlic fried rice here tasted heavily of pepper, so it wasn't the version that we're hoping for. Perhaps we should stick to yakitori instead.

First up, salmon belly or sake harasu (@$7++ per stick).

salmon belly with huge mound of radish

Very nice smokey flavour but surprisingly, it was pretty lean for a salmon belly.

nanbanyaki (@$8.50++ for 2 sticks)

Next up, we had the nanbanyaki or beef with bean paste sauce. Chewy and done medium well. Wonder if we can have it medium rare? Forgot to ask as we were too busy chatting.

Had a bit of trouble identifying the next stick as the chef would just place the plates at the space infront of us quietly.

hatsu (@$4.60++)

It took a few seconds more before we realised that we were about to eat the chicken hearts. Hahaha! Flavourful and has a good texture. More please!

Think we made an effort to get one item out of each yakitori meat section! Tried beef, lamb, pork, chicken and seafood.

butabara yuzukosho (@$7++ for 2 sticks)

The butabara was strongly flavoured and goes well with beer. The meat was a little tough though.

gyu yaki (@$14++ for 2 sticks)

The gyu yaki or wagyu beef steak was less chewy than the nanbanyaki but still not as tender as hoped for. Go for this if you like beef with alot of bite.

The lamb yaki or lamb chop, was recommended by my friend. It is a must-eat item for her, everytime she visits this place.

lamb yaki (@$13++ per stick)

The lamb was nicely tender, and has a good lamb flavour. Not overly gamey. Liked the charred oily bits in them. Has a tad more salt on it as compared to the rest of the sticks that we had.

By right, that was the end of our meal, but no... A small whole fish was being grilled so nicely infront of us, and hence, we had to enquire about it. Turned out to be aji shioyaki or grilled horse mackerel with salt. So we busted our budget and ordered that to try.

aji shioyaki (@$25++)

yummy sweet flesh

The sight of the skewered fish being grilled somehow reminded me of Japan hour where fish gets grilled over the hearth.

The fish was nicely salted and its flesh fresh and sweet. Cooked over the fire at just about the right amount of time and achieved a nice texture. However, this mackerel has a lot of small sharp bones so had to eat this slowly and carefully.

For 'desserts', we ordered the sweet corn. How can we not? The whole stack of bright yellowish golden corn on cobs (and it looked as if, they'd be sweeeet) were staring right at us, in our face.

grilled sweet corn (@$7++), buttered and salted

golden bits

Food here is definitely pricey. But it was fun watching our food getting cooked right infront of our eyes, as well as taking a peek at what others were eating. Though we sat indoors with the open grill, the food scent was pleasant and it doesn't stick to our clothes that much by the end of our meal.

Service was alright although it took some effort to get the staff's attention to have our tea refilled.

This meal costs about $114 for two pax.

Ryoshi Sushi Ikeikemaru @ Liang Court

Located at basement, inside of Meidi-Ya Liang Court. Visited on a weekday evening around 7+pm. It was raining heavily outside, hence probably that explains the lack of queue.

menu

counter seats, and sushi chef in action

table seats

We chose counter seats, as one of the staff puts it, "This is where the action is!"

green tea

First up, nama hotate (Hokkaido scallops). Plump and fresh. Tinge of sweetness.

nama hotate (@$4.80++)

scallops, closer view

Next up, aburi salmon. The fish portion was not as large as first thought.

aburi salmon (@5.80++)

aburi salmon, closer view

Oooh, had ohtoro too. This was yums. None of those irritating tendon/ligament. Quite a feat trying to stuff the entire goodness into the mouth at one go. Hahaa! Oily, and yummy.

ohtoro (@$6.80++)

ohtoro, up close and personal

Friend ordered the avocado ebi. Liked the fresh translucent prawn.

avocado ebi

Had the daimyo anago as well. This piece of eel takes centerstage as the largest piece for a sushi.

daimyo anago

No yellowtail? Of course, must have! But made the mistake of having it, after the ohtoro. Not the best sequencing. Keke, perhaps next time, I'd do all the rest and then, leave ohtoro to be the finale.

yellowtail

Ordered the cheese tamago too. Served piping hot, so do exercise caution when eating.

cheese tamago (@$5.80++)

not much cheese detected

All meat and no vege? Fret not, here comes the salmon salad. It's quite a big portion.

salmon salad

Had the kakigoori ichigo milk aka the strawberry milk ice-kachang without any 'liao' (料). This dessert was purely shaved ice drizzled with strawberry syrup and milk. Quite nice, and it's like bandung (local rose syrup drink).

kakigoori ichigo milk

Spent slightly less than $45, for two pax.

Jones The Grocer @ Dempsey Hill

Located at Block 9 of Dempsey Hill, we were seated at its alfresco seating area (smoking area). Service was pretty good, with menu and water brought out promptly without having to request for it.

Decided on a piccolo latte, a smoothie and a tapas to try.

piccolo latte

iberico chorizo with diced potatoes, and onions served with baguette

closer view of chorizo dish

The piccolo latte was quite strong, and has a tinge of bitterness to it. Still alright to have it without sugar. The baguette was nicely toasted and with an enjoyable chewy texture. The chorizo dish was rather flat tasting. Reminds me of lap cheong (preserved sausage) but not as fragrant and abit saltier than expected.

Spent $25 for food and drinks.

Plan b. @ Mid Valley Megamall, Kuala Lumpur

Located at the ground floor of Mid Valley Megamall, this is one cosy looking cafe. Visited on a Friday noon around 1pm and it was crowded. It prides itself as having a modern Aussie-meets-New York deli menu.

Plan b.

One can have wholeday breakfast here. Think toast with egg, Eggs Benny, Breakfast Platter etc with prices ranging from RM8++ till RM26++. Gourmet sandwiches such as ox tongue sandwich? No problem, available here. Salads? Sure. Mains include beef steak, chicken and fish. Had a quick glimpse at the prices of mains. Expect to pay RM40++ for braised chicken and RM55++ for steak. Saw some patrons having Prime Beef Pie (@RM23++).

plain water is available here

Wasn't feeling very hungry so ordered a red velvet cake and a latte.

red velvet cake (@RM10++)

latte (@RM8++) without latte art

The cake was quite bouncy, but would've preferred if it has some cream cheese in between the layers. Liked that it wasn't too sweet. The coffee was smooth and mild.

Chong Tian Seafood Restaurant @ Taman Bukit Mewah, Kajang

Visited during the fourth day of Chinese New Year. Had early dinner. This time round, we had stir fried nai bai, steamed assam fish, egg furong, claypot tofu and braised meat with yam.

egg furong, nai bai and claypot tofu

must haves with white rice

hot water to clean the utensils

Being the first few tables for dinner, the dishes arrived pretty quickly.

egg furong (@RM10)

fried eggs with onions, small shrimps and abit of char siew

stir fried nai bai (@RM12)

simple stir-fried with garlic

braised pork with yam (@RM15)

fatty pork!

steamed assam fish - tilapia (@RM25.50)

huge fish!

The food was alright, and the fish was very reasonably priced. Plenty of meat to go around. The braised pork with yam, well, there were more yam pieces as compared to pork slices. Just four slices of pork.

Total bill came up to RM82.50 for a family of five pax.