Chinese New Year @ Kampachi

It is common for superstitious Chinese people to believe that the Chinese New Year would often usher in "new luck". Many people would resort to all kinds of rituals and stay away from all kinds of taboos to ensure prosperity in the coming year. 

I am not one to dabble extensively into fengshui or superstition. But if there was a good time to celebrate our past achievements as well as pray for better tomorrows, you can't go very wrong with Chinese New Year. 

Having walked by Kampachi many times in Pavilion, I have always had the urge to try it, but never really got around to it. People who know me would know that Japanese food is pretty much one of the top few things I would die for (on some occasions), so it would be a huge shame if I missed out on an opportunity to try out one of the better touted Japanese restaurants in town. 

The menu suggests that Kampachi originated from the Equatorial Hotel and I imagine that would be where its headquarters was located.

I am a creature of habit. You would probably witness a blue moon before you catch me at a Japanese restaurant without having the salmon sashimi. The price of the sashimi here really burns the pocket. The salmon sashimi costs RM60 per plate of six pieces. The reason is that it is flown in from Japan. Whenever I have to cough up the kind of money for the little raw orange delicacies, I imagine the big salmon flying all the way from Japan to Malaysia. Sometimes, it helps me sleep better at night.

In my mind, the freshness and juiciness of the salmon is well worth every penny. Even though I knew that Kampachi was going to be pricey, I must say that I was a little surprised at how pricey it was. It was definitely on the high side of my expectations. That said, my guess is that I would not be able to visit this place too frequently. So, the logical choice would be to get something that gives the largest variety to enable satisfactory testing. Something like the sushi bento.

The bento really does have a little bit of everything. The first compartment contains two slices futomaki, two slices of nigiri, and a piece of inari. While they may look ordinary, the ingredients really do make the sushi.

The second compartment contains a large slab of grilled unagi. The unagi is pretty amazing. The texture is very soft and it is very flavorful. On the side, there is a piece of tamagoyaki, which was probably just the right amount because I can't take too much of it. Coupled with those is a scoop of awesome potato salad.

The third and last compartment is probably the most anticipated, at least for me. It contains two slices each of salmon, maguro (tuna), and kanpachi (greater amberjack) sashimi.

The bento also comes with two sides, a tiny fruit bowl and miso soup. Apart from the dragon fruit and watermelon, the others are canned fruits. But that is not a dealbreaker.

The final dish that we ordered was some uber funky maki. It's so funky that I don't remember what it is called now.

This is probably the ultimate combination for a sushi. On top is a huge slice of unagi, grilled to perfection. You may not see it here, but in the photo below, you can see that underneath the slice of unagi is a slice of grilled salmon. The maki is completed with crabstick, avocado, cucumber and fish roe all rolled inside. Definitely recommended as one of the best sushi I have ever had.

All in all, a very scrumptious meal. Partly due to the price and partly due to Chinese New Year, the restaurant seems pretty empty. Chinese New Year season in KL is always empty. I have this unproven theory that no one who lives in KL is from KL.

In any case, the ambience was pretty nice. Some restaurants are too dark, some are too noisy. I think Kampachi pretty much nailed it. It is bright enough for decent pictures with a lowly camera like mine, but it is also not too bright that it burns your retinas through the reflection of the light on the shiny tables.

However, I have one minor hair to pick with this particular Kampachi. I don't know if she was the manager of the restaurant or something, but one of the servers at the restaurant was particularly arrogant and provided what I would consider generally poor service. She was very impatient with taking our orders and was rude when she sat us at our table. Other than that, all the other staff in the restaurant seemed passable, albeit being supposedly "low-skilled" foreign workers. This is in no way meant to offend foreign workers, but rather, to praise their level of courteousness compared with a Malaysian-born manager.

Just to complete the experience, I think this year, Pavilion wins hands down in terms of its Chinese New Year decoration. Typically, the Christmas decorations in Pavilion would be the highlight of the festive seasons, but I guess most of their funding have been channelled towards the Chinese New Year decors.

Verdict

Details:

Kampachi

Pavilion Shopping Centre, Level 6, Jalan Bukit Bintang,
55100 Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia

Contact: 03-2148 9608

For other reviews of Kampachi, read here:

A Whiff Of Lemongrass

TimeOut KL

Dens|ee

Syen

Christmas Eve Carbonara @ Italiannese

During the busy Christmas season, Italiannese trimmed down its menu to but a few items. Given the fact that pretty much everywhere else was packed to the brim, visiting Italiannese was a good decision. Even if you had not made any reservations, you would still have made the cut. Of course, the sacrifice is the relatively poor selection.

I was not able to order the usual stuff that I ordered, which is the Salmon Fettuccine or the Sicilian Chicken Salad. Both come highly recommended. The Fried Calamari Salad is also pretty decent if you can take squid.

Nonetheless, here is the only dish we ordered this time. 

The carbonara comes with beef bacon bits and a piece of garlic bread. Despite the fact that the menu says fettuccine and even though I am not an expert on pasta, I am pretty sure the pasta was not fettuccine. This is what fettuccine looks like:

It is slightly narrower. Don't know what I was served. Nonetheless, it is one of the better carbonaras that I have had.

Verdict

Details:

Italiannese
Lot S209, Second Floor, The Gardens,
Mid Valley City, Lingkaran Syed Putra
59200 Kuala Lumpur.
Contact: 03-2283 3675

Omakase @ Hanare

The first time I visited Tykoh Inagiku was in 2009. The experience was amazing, especially since I was not the one paying at that time. The bill came out to be about RM1,200 for six people. But the food was exceptionally awesome and I vowed to return some day. 

However, to my dismay and utter disappointment, I found out recently that Tykoh Inagiku was closed, never to open again. But common sense dictated that such a restaurant cannot just close down and disappear without rhyme or reason. So I dug further and lo and behold, I found out that Chef Sudo, formerly of Tykoh Inagiku, is now serving it up at Hanare. 

Given the special occasion that it was, as destiny had it, my visit to Hanare was to be delayed no more. 

In case you were not aware, Hanare is located on the ground floor of The Intermark. But more details later.

As I mentioned, given the special occasion, and also the rarity of the opportunity to experience the masterfulness of Chef Sudo, it was difficult to stay away from the Omakase. As you can see, it is somewhat pricey at RM250.

For the uninitiated, "Omakase" means "I leave it to you". In other words, you are at the chef's mercy with regard to whatever food that is put in front of you. It is quite an exceptional experience because the chef will generally serve up the best ingredients at his disposal in his own unique style. Legend has it that no two Omakase experiences are the same.

But since there were two of us and the both of us ordering the same thing would feel like a bit of a waste, we decided to order one Omakase course and one Kaiseki course. Think of the Kaiseki as just the pared down version of the Omakase, and it costs RM180.

And the adventure begins. Here is the appetizer for the Omakase. I can't quite make out what everything on the plate is and anyone who knows me will know that I would be too shy to ask. Normally, I am not a big fan of tomatoes, but the tomato you see on the plate is easily the crunchiest tomato I have ever eaten and arguably one of the sweetest. Hidden by the tiny cup and the tomato is actually a piece of escargot. Not everyone can stomach raw snail, and even though it is the first time I have eaten snail, the taste and texture was a delightful surprise.

As I said, the Kaiseki is a pared down version of the Omakase. You can see that one of the dishes is missing. Only goodness knows what it is now.

The second course for the Omakase is typicaly an assortment of sashimi. Since I am not a Japanese, I don't usually eat like a Japanese. I am the kind of person who likes to save the best for last. And because sashimi is easily one of my favorite things in the world, it is rather unusual for me to have my sashimi at the beginning of the meal. But as they say, when in Rome...

These are hands down the best sashimi I have ever had (because I cannot remember how good the sashimi was at Tykoh Inagiku). The fish is extremely fresh as it is flown in from the Tsukiji Market three times a week for Hanare. Rumour has it that Hanare has a designated person at the market to hand-pick each and every one of the fish/seafood for the restaurant.

The next course was by far the funkiest thing I have ever eaten in my life. From this angle, they look like a bunch of koay teow, or jelly or something like that. The white stuff, after some quick research, is "shirako" or cod milt. In layman terms, it is basically the seminal fluid or semen of cod fish. How awesome is that?

Next is the yakimono course, or the grilled course. The combination of the salted grilled fish and the radish was exquisite. A bit salty, sweet and juicy at the same time.

One of my favorite vegetables is eggplant and it was a pleasant surprise to see it in the next dish, which was served with lightly sauteed scallops to preserve the texture and flavor.

The next course was one of the most anticipated. I have heard all the big hoo-hah about wagyu beef and was praying that one day I would have a taste of that holy cow. And you know what, the big hoo-hah is the real deal. The tenderness of the beef is unimaginable. It is pretty much as soft as fish (I wanted to say tofu, but then it would just feel like it was vegetarian beef). Beef that is as soft as fish! And the little green things that look like peppers are peppers. With no seeds. I don't know how they made the peppers impotent, but it did scare me at first because I was a little wary of how the spiciness would combine with the succulent beef. As it turned out, even the innocent little pepper was ordinarily extraordinary.

I have never been a big fan of tempura, so I have no big words for this course. I can only remember the batter being not overly oily like other tempura (tempurii?) that I have eaten. That was good enough for me.

Beside the three little fish is a slice of unagi tempura.

So far, there has been no rice dish up until now. The rice course was again a pleasant surprise as it was covered with fresh seafood, a la moriawase. To top it off, they had a small serving of uni (sea urchin), which was also one of the top things I was looking forward to. Granted the serving was puny, but seeing how it costs a bomb at other "normal" Japanese restaurants, I shan't complain.

For the Kaiseki course, the rice dish was an assortment of nigiri sushi with the biggest pieces of fish I have ever seen on any nigiri in my life. To top it off, it is thick and wide. Normally, I wouldn't praise rice as a dish as it would be extraordinarily ordinary, but in this case, the vinegared rice combined just perfectly with assortment of fresh fish. I must say that it was a relief to get more sashimi at the end of the Omakase due to my previously mentioned odd preference.

To wash all the delectable food down was miso soup. To the unsuspecting eye, it would appear to be normal miso soup at first glance, but as soon as I dug in, I found that the soup was filled with tiny clams which were used as stock to make the soup more flavorful than the typical ones. I wouldn't classify a clam-filled miso soup as world class, but then again, I am not a soup supporter.

Towards the end of the meal, it was getting very late. Most of the other customers at Hanare had left. I even saw some of the chefs leaving. So we quickly summoned the dessert and I must say that the presentation is most aesthetically pleasing. The grapes were semi-peeled and seedless (a necessity for me). This was paired with some pudding which was not as sweet as I would have liked. But some people prefer it that way.

There you have it, the end of an extremely gratifying experience of a meal which is not to be forgotten any time soon. The burn in my pocket has long been forgotten but the delightful feeling lingers as I look forward to my next Omakase experience. For now, it is time to save up once again.

The Intermark looks like a nice hotel. Here are some extra photos of our quick tour around the place.

The reason the whole place seems so empty was due to the late hour. We started the meal at around 8 and completed the full course at around 11.

All in all, I would definitely give this place five stars. For me, it is the benchmark for Japanese food in Malaysia. Fair warning to those who are raw-food averse: the Omakase is definitely not for you. But I went through the menu and there is most certainly a fair amount of selection to please your appetite as well. I highly recommend Hanare for those of you craving for some Japanese food indulgence.

Verdict

Here are the details:

Hanare Japanese Restaurant (Facebook here)
Ground Floor, The Intermark
182 Jalan Tun Razak, KL
Contact: 03-2164 2133 / 2633

For other reviews of Hanare, read below:

A Whiff of Lemongrass
Eat Your Heart Out
Eat Drink KL
Motormouth From Ipoh
Marcky.My
I Am The Witch