Piggin' Out: Xenri

Restaurant: Xenri
Address: No.9, Wisma Elken, Jln 4/137C, Jln Kelang Lama, KL
Tel: 603-7783 8118

Rommel has been mentioning Xenri for a couple months now and so we finally made a trip to this Japanese restaurant in Wisma Elken, just off Old Klang Road, opposite Pearl Point shopping centre and about 5 mins from Tmn Desa.

It was rather odd to find this really simple, clean and nicely decorated restaurant "in the middle of nowhere". I love the simple zen-like furnishing. (I'd taken some pictures but they didnt turn out nice so I'm not posting them).

We'd enjoyed our Friday night meal so decided to bring the parents there on Sunday night again for my dad to try it out.

The following pictures were taken from both nights:

I ordered the 3 taste mini chawan mushi, which came as a real surprise (although if I'd actually paid attention to the pictures in the menu, there was a picture of this so it shouldn't have come as a surprise). Cost: RM18.

Egg and dashi mixture steamed in egg shells instead of the usual ceramic cups. Each egg is topped off with (1) caviar, (2) uni or sea urchin, (3) crab meat.

Ooh delectable.... Shen, you'll love this since you love anything with steamed eggs. We ordered the same thing again for my dad and he approved.

On the first night, Rommel ordered the sashimi moriawase, cost: RM68. I only took a slice of butter fish, scallop and hamachi while Rommel polished off the rest. Verdict: pretty good and fresh according to him. (I'm not a big fan of sashimi and so I'll abstain from voting.)

I felt like eating grilled fish that day and so we ordered the hamachi kama shio or grilled yellow tail fish head. Yum... grilled to perfection and not as jelak as salmon head.

When we went with the parents, we also ordered the tori karaage. I believe I have mentioned before that at every new Japanese restaurant I go to, I must try this fried chicken dish. It's like my benchmark on whether the restaurant is good. Why? Because despite the fact that it's a pretty simple recipe, not many places can do it well. And how did Xenri fare? Alright I'll say, just alright.

On Sunday night, Rommel had the sashimi dinner set. Sorry I can't remember how much this cost since I dont have the receipt for it.

My dad had the sushi moriawase. Sadly, my dad, the sushi snob, didn't quite enjoy it. He said the sushi rice was alright, the fish were fresh but he just didn't seem to have enjoyed his meal.... "It's all about the experience".... which usually means, he probably wont eat there again unless I drag him there.

I tried their kinoko kama meshi (cooked rice with assorted mushrooms in a pot). Rather bland in my books but maybe that's how it's meant to be. Looks good though, doesn't it?

What I really enjoyed was the hot somen.. I dont usually see hot somen on the menu in most Japanese restaurants in KL so I was really happy to have it. Simple soft noodles in a clear broth. Yum...

And so.... will I go back? Yes because the food is decent, pricing is decent, I like the ambience and location (so near my home) and parking's not an issue. What do you think? Shen, would you want to try it when you come back?

Piggin' Out: Yuzu, The Gardens

Restaurant: Yuzu, The Gardens
Address: T236, Third floor, The Gardens @ Midvalley City
Tel: 03 2284 7663
Other reviews: Masak-masak, Two Moo's & A Foo, Lim Mei Yen

We had our New Year's Day dinner at Yuzu - brought our godbrothers Sunny and David to try it out. Since all of us pretty much eat everything and anything (excluding my mom), we left most of the decision up to Raymond, the restaurant manager to decide.

We started of with the sashimi platter. Key highlight was the uni.

Sorry I've forgotten what fish this was but it tasted good with some spring onions and ponzu dressing.


Semi-cooked octopus tentacles.


Crispy deep fried salmon skin salad.

Kobe beef tataki.

A simple soba with egg to end the meal.

We paired the dinner with these wines:


And we brought our own kuih (bought from Bangsawan in The Pavilion) which the chef dressed up and served with matcha icecream.

Piggin' Out: U Restaurant, Bangsar

Restaurant: U Restaurant
Address: 69-1, Jalan Bangkung, Bukit Bandaraya, Bangsar
Tel: 03 2093 1268
Opening times: 12-2.30pm and 6-11pm
Cuisine: Japanese
Other reviews: TheEdge article, Jules Eating Guide

Last weekend, Rommel and I visited our chiropractor after a 4-month disappearance (we've been busy and been procrastinating since our last appointment in August). She's moved to Jalan Bangkung from Jalan Telawi so that means new restaurants to check out!

Now, Jalan Bangkung isn't exactly a new place to me as my aunt and family have been living there for the past 15 years (maybe more?). I love the quiet and discreet surroundings of this part of Bangsar, it's full of memories since I spent most of my childhood weekends at my aunt's house.

We tried U Restaurant - a sister restaurant to Uzen in Concorde Hotel, KL.

Rommel had the sashimi set - RM35 for 8 pcs of sashimi, a bowl of rice, soup and chawan mushi. Portions here are pretty small and and really, it looked rather depressing. The butterfish tataki was overdone and tasted funny. The rest were just mediocre. A far cry from what we usually get at Uzen (it's on my dad's list of decent Japanese restaurants in KL).

I had the pomfret zosui - also RM35. Pricey but at least the pomfret was fresh. A clean, simple meal.

For dessert, we shared the banana fritters with ice cream. (RM12).

The bananas were deep fried in tempura batter. Didn't taste as good as your usual roadside pisang goreng but that's because the bananas were not ripe enough. Solved by dunking it in the ice cream.

Overall: Nothing special. And there was no one else in the restaurant that Saturday which is rather unsettling but then again, we got there at 2pm.

Will we go back? Probably not in the near future.

Piggin' Out: Hanazen, Jaya One, PJ

Restaurant: Hanazen Japanese Restaurant
Address: 43-G, Block C, Jaya One, 72A, Jln Universiti, 46200 PJ
Tel: 03-79548000
Other reviews: Angie Yong, Foodbin

On Monday, I read this post about Kissaten in Jaya One and wanted to bring the rest there to try it out. Anywhere that sells mentaiko spaghetti is worth a try in our books. But, I didn't read the fine print saying that it was closed on Mondays and so we were standing in front of a closed restaurant at 8pm that night.

Since we were already in the mood for some Japanese food, we headed to the other Japanese restaurant in Jaya One - Hanazen.

Ambience and decor: Classic, simple and clean feel. We were surprised by the decent crowd inside, which is always a good sign for any eatery.


The food: We had a medley of our favourite Japanese items.

First off was the kushiyaki moriawase costing RM32 for an assortment of grilled skewered meats, prawns and veg. Not too bad although we have had better kushiyaki at Shun (next to SJMC in Subang - I've just realised I have yet to blog about this place!!).

Fatteh had the onigiri - one each of okaka, salmon and mentaiko. RM8 each. This is his favourite thing to eat, I think. When we were last in Japan, he practically tried all the different types they have in 7-Eleven.

Rommel had the sakura chi-don - assorted sashimi on vinegared rice in a bowl. Surprisingly fresh and at RM35, it was pretty good value for money given the quality of the fish.
I had my usual ochazuke - this time it was ikura ochazuke, salmon roe on rice with some seaweed and spring onions. You then pour green tea soup on it, softening the rice and making a sort of porridge. One thing I loved about the soup here was that it was tasty enough but not too salty. In many other places where I have this, the soup is always too bland. RM16 for a bowl.

Shen was happy to see the cream cheese korroke on the menu. Of course, she ordered one portion for us to share. RM18 for this soft and creamy croquette.

From the teppanyaki counter, we also ordered the surimeika teppan, grilled squid with butter at RM18.
And finally, Shen's saba shioyaki dinner set. The fish was grilled to perfection - really crisp skin on the outside and soft and juicy meat inside.

Total bill: RM203.50 for 4 of us.
Will we go back? Probably. And we're still contemplating if we should bring Pa there, since he's so particular about his sushi.