Review: Menya Musashi @ Eat Paradise, Isetan 1Utama

**Non-Halal**


Early May, whilst I was waiting for my gift to be wrapped at Isetan 1Utama, a flyer announcing the opening of Isetan Eat Paradise on 11 May caught my eyes. I took one and oh myyy... I'm very excited over the possibilities of so many delicious food places right inside Isetan 2nd floor. Looking at the floor plan, the eating places seems to be spacious but in actual fact, they're just postage stamp size. I can imagine the crowd during peak hours.

The non-halal outlets consisted of Menya Musashi (Tokyo Ramen) debuting in Malaysia; Gantetsu (Hokkaido Ramen) also making its debut in Malaysia and Won Korean (not visible up front, just walk right to the end).

Meanwhile the pork-free outlets are Senya (Udon & Soba); Ichiro Sushi (sushi bar debuting in Malaysia); Puran B (cafe) which is actually Plan B where The BIG Group laid its first baby foot step in 1Utama; Gyu-Kaku (Japanese BBQ) also debuting in Malaysia. Then there's Caffe Gino over on the Ground Floor serving gourmet Japanese coffee.

With Capt'n Hook being a big fan of porky ramen, I guess we don't have to look any further than checking out Menya Musashi which has already gained wide publicity by the bloggers.



Apparently Menya Musashi with its flagship store in Shinjuku is one of the legendary ramen in Japan. It's owner, Yamada Takeshi is amongst the 3 ramen industry icons apart from Kawahara Shigemi (Ippudo) and Furuya Ichiro (Nanttsutei). Unlike Goku Raku Ramen's porky broths, Menya Musashi has a subtle broth based due to it's usage of dried saury (a type of fish that is usually in season during autumn) other than pork and chicken bones. Ramen used is thicker than Goku Raku Ramen, about medium thick I would say.

One of the characteristics of Menya Musashi is the interior decor which is samurai based with quite a number of art pieces of some kinda of samurai heros, samurai and sword themed lampshades, black pillars, tables and chairs. I'm no expert in this but while waiting for our ramen to arrive, Capt'n Hook peppered me with info about Miyamoto Musashi. Gee, I've no idea Musashi is actually a legendary swordsman!

There's no table service here. One has to place order and pay at the cashier upfront at the entrance. Then take a seat and soak in the art pieces. I've asked for a glass of cold green tea (RM2) and it really came ice cold, very very refreshing. It's also great to note that they serve drinking water FOC without even asking!



Menu is small and there are 3 steps in ordering a bowl of ramen, very simple as stated in the part pictorial menu. Just take a pick of your choices.

Step 1 - Oil

• Shiro (white) - Onion Flavored Oil/Original
• Kuro (black) - Special Oil of Fried Shallot & Garlic
• Aka (red) - Homemade Musashi Chili Oil

Step 2 - Ramen and Ingredients

• Musashi Ramen - 2 pieces of Chashu, Menma (fermented bamboo shoots), Ajitama (flavoured egg) and Negi (spring onion)
• Ramen - 1 piece Chashu, Menma and Negi
• Ajitama Ramen - 1 piece Chashu, Ajitama, Menma and Negi
• Chashu Men - 3 pieces Chashu, Menma and Negi

Step 3 - Served in Broth or Tsukemen (Broth on separate bowl)

Options to "kar liu" (Cantonese to add on extra) Chasu, Ajitama, Menima or Negi at extra charge. There are also a few of side orders such as gyoza.

I've opted for the signature (according to the cashier) Musashi Ramen (RM26) with a Shiro base of original flavour. I liked the texture of the thicker bouncy ramen. The broth is simpler in flavour. Chashu piece is humongous in size so far as compared with the rest of the ramen places I've been to. However, the texture of the pork slices is kinda coarse. The yolk is not runny at all for my Ajitama :(



Capt'n Hook as usual went for a full body broth of Kuro Chashu Men (RM30). He seems to enjoy his broth till the last drop. I did have some of the broth and find the fried shallot and garlic oil way too overpowering as I prefer to enjoy and taste the natural flavours.



Other than the ramen as the draw, at the moment Master Chef Yamaguchi is around. You can't miss him as his photo appeared on the menu and his imposing fiercesome aura (kekeke) is hanging around the restaurant klik klaking on his wooden clogs. He was looking at us at the corner of his eyes while I snapped pics using my tiny mobile phone. So fiercesome that I did not dare to approach him :p

Not sure how long he's going to be here but there were a couple of Japanese chefs in the kitchen. I guess if one really would like to have a genuine taste of Menya Musashi ramen, it's really a good time to taste it now. Once the chefs left... let's just hope things will maintain but as far as my own experience thing's won't be the same. So do go now.

On a note, we went for a show after our dinner here and we both felt thirsty in the midst of the show... the only day I left my water bottle at home duh! We scrambled to the supermarket to grab some cold drinks before heading home.

Oh ya, there's 10% service charge and 6% Government tax because it's opened under Isetan Malaysia.

Menya Musashi
2nd Floor Isetan 1Utama
Bandar Utama
Tel: +603 7713 7777
Dining Hours:
Sun - Thu 11.00am - 10.00pm (last order 9.30pm)
Fri, Sat & Public Holiday 11.00am - 10.30pm (last order 10.00pm)

Review: Ninja Joe (Pork Burger)

**Non-Halal**




Let's start the year with something porky. It's just some fast food in the form of burgers, nothing fancy but these pork burgers by Ninja Joe really rocked our bellies. They have been around for a while, just that we never get to blog about it earlier since almost every non-Muslims in the blogsphere have written about this joint.

Their set ups are pretty simple and seriously this is a home grown brand even though banging on a ermm Japanese theme and they're not a foreign franchise. Even their menu is quite basic with just 3 types of pork burgers to choose from which is great so that people who are indecisive can quickly make up their mind :p, a few side orders and a small selection of drinks and ice cream.

The basic burger is named Ninja that is just pork burger patty on a split bun with tomato slice and lettuce. The specialty is the choices of sauces available ranging from original, oriental, teriyaki, spicy, black pepper and sweet & sour. The Ninja is rather small in size, for myself, one Ninja would be sufficient but for Capt'n Hook... he can go between 2 to 3 Ninjas. I supposed it must be due to it's sheer size, the pricing comes in either solo, 2, 3 or 6 with the price of RM5.50, RM9.90, RM12.90 and RM29.90 respectively. So far I've sticked with either original or teriyaki sauce which both were great with the pork burger. Not very sloppy but good enough.



Even our BoiBoi likes one and he does not go for the normal ones aka Ninjas. He has such a good taste bud that he tends to order The Big Boss or Brucely. Now, I'm beginning to wonder aloud as in what would "The Big Boss" or "Brucely" have got to do with ninjas or joes? (Note that "The Big Boss" and "Brucely" sounded like a reference to Bruce Lee, perhaps the owner is a big fan of Bruce Lee Xiao Long!)

The Big Boss (RM8.50) has pork patty, a fried egg, onion slices, lettuce and tomato slice in between buns. You can opt to add bacon for RM1 and cheese for RM1. For BoiBoi, he usually would ask for both! I think he's on a grow spurt these days. I'm cringing that he may get taller than me by the end of the year for now his head had reached the top of my ear!!! That means I've to get new sets of trousers for him *sobs*



Then there's the Brucely (RM9.90) which I quite like too, the difference is instead of pork patty, this burger has a slice of pork chop, tomato slice and lettuce. Again one can opt for the extra bacon and cheese with the addition of RM1 each. Even though it's a piece of pork chop, rest assure that it's very tender and juicy. Sorry no pic on this one cos I can't find it :p

For all pork burger orders, just pay an extra of RM3.90 for the set that would include a cold drink and fries or RM4.90 for Zing Soda and fries. We didn't quite like the thick fries so we usually do not take the sets. I've asked for Zing Soda once which you can see in the first pic, I think that was an orange flavour. Just the usual soda with added orange syrup for flavour. The thing I like is I could actually get green tea to go with these lovely pork burgers.

I've ordered one of the sides, a Shuriken (5 pieces for RM4.90). I was given a number plate as they need to fry them up upon order. Even arrived piping hot, these potato and pork croquettes are really disappointing. The texture is mushy and very oily. After that one experience, we just couldn't be bothered with the fries and sides and straight hit the pork burgers.



I'm so glad that there are more Ninja Joe branches these days with the latest being opened in 1 Utama. Other than that it can be found at Tropicana City Mall, Sunway Pyramid and The Gardens. Our only gripe is The Gardens outlet does not have a wash basin to wash our hands before and after a burger or two. Not very convenient as we need to wait for everyone to finish up before heading towards the washroom to wash our hands. Thank goodness there's one at Tropicana City Mall and I think Sunway has it too but I can't really recall. We haven't been to the one at 1 Utama and I really do hope they have one install in this outlet due to convenience and hygiene reason.


Ninja Joe's Branches:

• LG-233, The Gardens Mall (Mid Valley)
• LG-113, 1 Utama Shopping Mall
• First floor, F1.93-95 Sunway Pyramid (Next to TGIF)
• LG-18, Tropicana City Mall

Opens Mon - Sun 10.00am - 10.00pm

Review: Nyonya Yue Sang at Peranakan Place

**Halal**


It was already 4 in the afternoon and Capt'n Hook nagged me for not making reservations at Canton-i but hey as far as I know, I don't think they accept reservation. Anyway I googled the number and called numerous times but no one pick up the call. So we left Kepong ahead of my family and head on to 1 Utama hoping to "chup" a place BUT BUT BUT the shutters were down!!! Ohhhh you just dunno how much the old man nagged!!! *roll eyes* and this was the Friday before eve of CNY urrghhh... on closer look at the piece of paper stuck on the shutter... ahhhh they've shut for their annual dinner.

After making a couple of calls later, I picked up a flyer at the reception and saw Nyonya style yue sang (raw fish salad) is served at Peranakan Place which is just a floor up. We decided on this place since we've been there for a couple of times and I think it'll be good to check out their dishes. Moreover, it will be a change from the usual Chinese dishes. Just a word of warning... lousy pics ahead as I need to hurry before the food got attacked.

When we sat down, my family arrived just in time to place our order. We started off with a platter of Nyonya style yue sang which is kinda totally different from the usual Chinese ones. It has portions of pomelo, pickled ginger strips, deep fried yam strips, fresh red onions, raw mango strips and the usual crisps, crushed peanuts and sesame seeds. The sauce is not the usual plum sauce and the oil is already mixed into it. It is served with generous slices of salmon, the thickest and freshest that I've ever eaten! There were white pepper powder and 5 spice powder which seems quite a lot but the staff assured us that we need to add in all into our yue sang. After the customary lou hei, time for a taste. There were mixed review round the table. Capt'n Hook didn't like it as he's a traditionalist. My brother who detest strong sesame seeds oil and raw onion said it's not nice but the general consensus was it was a refreshing change.



Next the dishes started to arrive. A must order in a Peranakan restaurant is Sambal Prawn with Petai! Hmm my favourite but not the best I've eaten.



Since we have tasted their Deep Fried Honey Squid and loved it, we ordered this again. The squid are coated with a sweetish honey sauce and the best part is - it's still crispy! *crunch crunch*



Stir-fried Paku (a type of ferns) in Sambal Belachan was just mediocre as it's lacking of wok hei (breath of a wok).



Chicken Pong Teh for boiboi... not as great as my version kekeke



This tofu dish is also for boiboi. The egg tofu is homemade and came with a thickish eggy mushroom gravy. After this dish I think we'll have to stick with their spicy dishes. Even though I liked sesame seeds oil but this one is overwhelming! All we could taste was sesame seeds oil.



I had always like Cencaru Stuffed with Sambal (RM10 for one fish) and will always have them whenever I spot them but this round my mom jumped on the chance and asked for this when I told her it's available. Since they are deep fried instead of shallow fried, the fish turned out very crispy. Excellent! By the way, do removed the skin before eating :D



My parents loved their Durian Cendol (forgot to take a pic) that came with large blop of durian puree on top of the shaved ice which looked so enticing that Capn't Hook asked for one too!

Can't provide the price as I did not pay for the meal. Overall, I felt this place is quite ok but definitely not the best but one of the better places in the building.


Peranakan Place
F221C First Floor
One Utama
Bandar Utama
Tel: (603) 77288 728

Review: Pasta Zanmai @ 1 Utama Shopping Centre

**Pork Free**

Enough of fish for the time being, let's move on to some other things...

Each time we asked boiboi what he would like to eat for lunch/dinner... his standard reply would be pizza or lasagna but recently he developed a taste for fried rice *roll eyes* and this lil fart knows which restaurant have nice fried rice! So there was this time he said he wanted to have fried rice so I took him over to this part of 1U to go to Canton-i. He saw Carl's Jr and said let's have burger. Next thing, I saw the banner next to Carl's Jr... hmmm... the food pics looked very tantalising. I showed him the one with fried rice and he was like OK and so the place was Pasta Zanmai.

Somehow the person ended up with fried rice was Capt'n Hook. He ordered Tori Garlic Rice (RM13) which is basically a serving of a very fragrant garlic fried rice with generous amount of deep fried chicken prices ala Japanese and a side salad. Very value for money I would say. The chicken pieces were tender and moist but crispy on the outside.



My boiboi ended up with a pizza!!! Hahaha... ok he asked for Teriyaki Chicken Pizza (RM22). I supposed the picture of the pizza with a poached egg on top made a very pretty picture indeed. Luckily this is no fast food joint where the pictorial menu is extremely way off from the items you received. Almost like WYSIWYG... the ~8-10" thin crusted pizza has light layer of teriyaki sauce and topped with teriyaki chicken pieces and onions plus a perfectly poached egg. Squeezing of mayonnaise and sprinkling of spring onions and shredded nori finished the ensemble. My boiboi ate all but 2 slices of the pizza but without some pieces of chicken! Eating this pizza is one messy affair especially after the runny egg yolk flowed all over but nevertheless it's rather enjoyable affair. It's too bad there isn't any wash basin inside the restaurant. I have to bring boiboi to *ahem* Burger King to wash his hands :p



As for myself, I had Niku Onsen Tamago Rice (RM16) which came with white rice, beef slices, a poached egg and side salad. The slippery smooth beef slices is flavourful and cooked just right to my liking. If not mistaken add another RM3, you can have this in a set where there are miso soup and salad or was it chawanmushi (can't really remember).



Capt'n Hook ordered an Agedashi Tofu (RM9). One of the better one we have tasted and the portion is very generous. The deep fried starch layer is thin, the tofu is silky soft and the tentsuyu broth tasted just right not too salty.



Funny it's a pasta outlet but none of us ordered any pasta dish hehe so I guess that will be next round. There is a 10% service charge and 5% Government tax imposed here.

Pasta Zanmai (1 Utama)
G210B, Ground Floor Promenade,
1 Utama Shopping Centre,
No 1, Lebuh Bandar Utama,
Bandar Utama Damansara,
47800 Petaling Jaya
Tel: 603 - 7728 1210
Business Hours:
Sun - Thurs 10.00am - 10.00pm
Fri - Sat 10.00am - 10.30pm


Technorati Tags: japanese food

Review: New York New York Deli @ 1 Utama

Just a quickie today as this place called New York New York Deli, opposite Cold Storage 1 Utama, is not worth so much of my time. I'll just let the pics do the talking mostly.

This is Summer Cuddle a thick frozen strawberry and mango drink which was ok but the thing was boiboi ordered Lover's Sunset which is an orange juice with cranberry. I have no idea the order was wrong until I paid the bill *roll eyes*








My order of Smoked Salmon Velvet (RM14.90) with a description of smoked salmon, tuna mayo, marinated tomatoes, grilled vegetables and stuffed onions came looking like this. The colour of the smoked salmon is kinda turn off. There were just a tiny blob of tuna mayo and I can't remember seeing any tomatoes nor grilled vege.



Boiboi had wanted pizza but they ran out of the base and it was only 7pm on a public holiday!!! So he opted for beef lasagna (RM16.90) which was just so so only.



The crazy Capt'n Hook went and order this burger...



It's not any burger but a Giant Yankee Burger that costed a whooping RM43.50!!! It's about 8" in diameter and supposedly if you can finish this whole dang thing all on your own, you won't need to pay for it! I didn't even have to try ok cos by just looking at it, I'm stuffed.



Capt'n Hook said the thick bun is DRY and the rather thin meat patty is DRY and just look the amount of cheese on top... so stingy. Don't bother to order ok, just not worth it. Anyway, this burger can be shared by 4 person. On yeah... not only you'll have the hazard of NOT going to touch any burger for the next one month, you'll attract a lot of stares and on-lookers who came up just to look at the burger!



Seriously, this is not a place I will return ever again! I've read the latest KLUE and there was a review saying that the food was not up to mark as they're only 2 months old and it could be a teething problem. 2 months and still having teething problems???

Anyway, not only the food was not up to mark but the wait staff need to be educated on what's on the menu. We asked one of them to explain on some items but she can't. She asked the manager to come to attend to us. This happened twice! Well, the manager is not well versed in English and had difficulties in expressing. Towards the end, Capt'n Hook gave him feed back in Cantonese about the burger and he just stare and nod without saying anything. Perhaps Capt'n Hook should have spoke to him on Mandarin???


New York New York Deli
1 Utama

Review: Sushi Zanmai

Enough of Chinese at the mo...

I have always meant to check out Sushi Zanmai ever since seeing countless postings of them in food blogs BUT there is always one deterrent factor - long queue!!! Something that put off Capt'n Hook, duh.



During December holidays, I took boiboi to watch Bolt 3D version at 1U whilst Capt'n Hook went to prepare some presentation slides at a cafe. After the show over, it was quite early for dinner but anyway I took boiboi over to Sushi Zanmai... and yet there is a queue snaking away. I decided to queue and nearing my turn I gave Capt'n Hook a call so he have no more excuses!

Whilst waiting for him come, I placed my orders and when he arrived, he placed his. We ended up having too much food :p

I so understand now why the queue thingy cos the sushi plus the food here are really above average plus the prices are certainly reasonable. Even though the place is packed but service is still attentive.

I'm not going to describe the stuff we ate but just let the pics do the talking...





















There were more food actually but I didn't managed to snap them up, the hot sake and drinks, all in all the bill came up to RM158.25 including 5% Government Tax and 10% Service Charge. See the receipt here for the detailed pricing.

Sushi Zanmai
SK9a, Second Floor Highstreet,
1 Utama Shopping Centre
Tel: 603-7724 2030
Opening hours:
Sun-Thurs 10.00 am - 10.00 pm
Fri-Sat 10.00 am - 10.30 pm

Click here for other outlets address.

Technorati tags: japanese food

Review: CANTON-i at 1 Utama

**Non-Halal**

Tucked near TGIF/Burger King, Canton-i can be easily missed out if not for those yummilicious looking roast meats that hung up on the rack right beside the entrance. You can see the chef chopping up plates and plates of roast meat like char siu, siew yuk, roast duck etc. Canton-i is the Cantonese sister of Dragon-i which is of Shanghainese cuisine in nature.

Looking narrow on the outside, I was surprised to be brought to the back of the restaurant where it opens up. However, the tables were placed very very close to one and another. It can be rather uncomfortable, plus it's not so convenient to snap photos in secret hahaha luckily I was just using my mobile for that. Well, in actual fact, not only that, I can virtually hear the conversation next table!

Anyway, here was what hubby ordered... fresh noodles (sang meen or usually known as wantan noodles) with char siu and siew yuk. I had a slice of the siew yuk and it was really yummy. Crunching on the crispy skin was delectable indeed.



I asked for the usual char siu and wantan (meat dumplings) with fresh noodles. I loved the bouncy noodles and the gravy for the dry version, just the way wantan mee should be like. The char siu was nice but since I'm greedy, I would say there are too few slices served hehe..



I ordered siew mai and egg tarts for my boiboi to snack on. The siew mai is packed with solid meat and fresh crunchy prawns which my boiboi ate 3 up!



Now, I have to say that these egg tarts are absolutely gorgeous! The pastry is flaky and crispy whilst the egg custard is wobbly, creamy and eggy. They're simply out of this world!



This is one place that we will definitely return for more... which I'm sure my boiboi would love too.




CANTON-i
G-208 Ground Floor
1 Utama Shopping Mall
No. 1 Lebuh Bandar Utama
Bandar Utama, Damansara
Tel: 603-7729 7888

Technorati Tags: cantonese food + 1 utama

Review: Checking Up Zuup Soup Bar Again

Updated 3 November 2011

This restaurant has closed.

~~~~~~~~~~~

Actually I didn't want to post this up since we've been to Zuup numerous times and we've never failed to like their food. This is all Dr Chen's fault (words borrowed from her too). I'm now officially in her Tungku Club! I had promised her to show how my boiboi drink and eat his Tungku Soup which I had previewed yesterday haha... He's so darn cute and funny! He finished up the soup and chomped down the "bowl".

My boiboi, as like other kids of his age, if I ever ask him what he would like to have for his meal especially when we're in a mall, his reply would be either one of these - pasta, burger or pizza (jwmc's faves too)! Being a kiasi parent, I would usually accommodate. This would be better for me rather than having me to persuade him to eat other stuff. That lunch time at 1 Utama was no different especially when it was just me and him. I conveniently took him to Zuup as they would have his two favourite food - soup and pasta.

This round, I opted for the set meal for the two of us that costed RM16.90. The set came with a soup of the day, spaghetti and iced lemon tea. After checking with the staff, they're serving Chicken and Corn Soup. My boiboi doesn't like corn so I asked for his favourite, Wild Mushroom Cappucino and he specifically asked for the soup to come in a bread bowl (RM10.90)!!! On top of that he also wanted a Ribena Soda (RM5.90), sighhh the bad thing about knowing how to read the menu these days!

His Tungku soup came first and he quickly took the cover off and bite on it before I could even take a pic. So I cheated lah by turning the cover around haha... After 3 bites then he put the cover on and asked me to take pic (the one in the first pic). *roll eyes* This soup is of a consistency we both liked, not too thick nor creamy. He almost finished the whole bowl of soup which is pretty huge in my standard. On top of the soup, he whacked half of the bread bowl! Then he licked his fingers too... it was that good!

My Chicken and Corn Soup in a light creamy based is good too but paled in comparison since I quite like mushroom myself. When the spaghetti (darn, I had forgotten it's name) came, I knew it was a big mistake asking for a creamy based one. Not my fault either cos my boiboi picked one. He hardly have 4 bites of his small share of the spaghetti, duh!!!! Next time, I'm gonna decide for him but then I also kiasi he don't eat. How lah??? I tried to stuffed myself as much as I could and left some behind. This spaghetti have sliced sausages and mushrooms, not as creamy as I had before... delicious!

Zuup Soup Bar
LG 223, Lower Ground Floor,
1 Utama Shopping Centre, Lebuh Bandar Utama,
47800 Petaling Jaya,
SELANGOR
Operation Hours: Monday to Sunday From 11:30am to 10:00pm
(There is a 5% Government Tax imposed.)

Technorati Tags: soup + 1utama