Hokkaido Ichiba at the Gardens Mall, KL
Although both restaurants are under the same Group but somehow the quality of food here is somewhat lower and the air in the restaurant smells musty. The rice does not taste like Japanese rice at all. I like my rice to be soft but this bowl of rice is way overcooked so it is too mushy. Some of the condiments like the julienned daikon is dry at the edges meaning that it has been prepared and left there for too long. In summary, I won't be eating here again and I will have to make my way to Kura to eat the exact same set meals at the same prices.
I don't know which one my girl and the mum went to...without me...when we were staying at Mid Valley on our last trip in KL - they said it was very very good - nicer than our favourite one here, since closed down already. Never gone for Japanese since. :(
ReplyDeleteI guess people in your area like Korean food more than Japanese food since the good Korean eateries can survive but not the good Japanese eateries.
DeleteIf I am not mistaken, there is one at 1-Utama. I have not been to Kura for a long time. I remember the food there was class! Must revisit one day.
ReplyDeleteI believe there is one but recently it has closed for renovation or moved upstairs with the name Hokkaido Sushi which is more like Sushi Zanmai with conveyor belt sushi I think.
DeleteI love, love, love Japanese food!
ReplyDeleteMe too.
DeleteIf you can get such prices in a hotel, then I must say it's very reasonable :)
ReplyDeleteThat's why I kept going back to Kura for its lunch sets. :)
DeleteBeen here once only. I prefer Yuzu (the other restaurant located at the corner of Gardens mall). Seldom go to One U, hence I dun tink I will go to Kura...
ReplyDeleteI wanted to eat at Yuzu, Gardens but at 11.35 am they were just getting ready to open and the waitress show a very black face and made no attempt to show us to our seats although their opening time is 11.30 am so I have banned Yuzu at Gardens. Furthermore I believe there is no grilled salmon in their set lunch menus and the grilled salmon in their ala carte menu is much more expensive than this eatery.
DeleteDont try never know.. there are many Japanese food restaurants now, the last one I visited was Azuma or something like that, the food was not bad there..
ReplyDeleteI have eaten at this place a few years ago and did not like the service there. This time I thought of giving them another chance but still I don't like it due to the musty smell. Very true, now there are many Japanese food restaurants but most of them cannot make the cut unless the customers do not expect much out of them.
DeleteI also encountered the places where their rice did not taste like real Japanese rice, so I would order their garlic fried rice instead. Nice.
ReplyDeleteGood that you have found a solution to those places that do not serve real Japanese rice. I like to eat grilled salmon with plain rice. To me, the taste of garlic fried rice does not complement the taste of grilled salmon so I need the rice to be plain rice.
DeleteJust wondering how to finish that bowl of rice with sashimi since sashimi is pretty tasteless. It's not vinegared rice, right?
ReplyDeleteOh I was in 1u a few days ago too. Ate at Mak's Chee since queue wasn't long. Portion was small (had to eat a Rotiboy to fill up tummy!) and I much prefer Canton-i.
You are correct, the bowl of rice that came with the salmon sashimi is not vinegared rice. If you want to eat vinegared rice with salmon sashimi, you can order the salmon don lunch set. Fresh salmon sashimi has a natural sweet taste so it is not tasteless to me.
DeleteI was in 1u last Sunday and there was no queue at Mak's Chee but I did not eat there. I know you would prefer Canton-i because the portion there is so much bigger.
Maybe you should give other Jap restaurants a chance. It is ridiculous to go to Genting just to satisfy your taste buds. Maybe that one in KLCC? :/
ReplyDeleteHehehehe, you read too fast lah. Busy kah? One World Hotel is joined to One Utama lah in Bandar Utama. Genting is First World Hotel. I have not been to KLCC for a long time now. I can't even remember when was the last time I went to KLCC.
DeleteWTF?! Oh sh*t! I really did mistaken that 2 hotel names. Actually I don't even know there's a hotel next to 1U... OMG! @.@
DeleteI think it must have been many many years since you went to 1u.
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