Sushi Zanmai

The four of us went for an early light lunch before starting to shop for grocery and then having some snacks for tea prior to leaving the mall. We chose Sushi Zanmai as the food there is tasty and we have a discount coupon for MYR10 off when the total bill is above MYR50 (bills can't be combined).

4 glasses of hot green tea at MYR1 each and refillable. This is the cheapest green tea around. 

1 Chawan Mushi MYR4.8 

Sushi: Avogado Tobiko (flying fish roe) is my favourite sushi here - MYR2.8 for two. We have to order the sushi in sets of two.  Unagi Tamago - MYR6.8 for two; Smoked Salmon - MYR6.8 for two - I don't quite like the smoked salmon as it is too salty so I won't order this next time.

Sushi: Toro Salmon (Salmon Belly Sushi) - MYR4.8 for two. I prefer salmon belly to normal salmon sushi because it is more flavourful due to having more fat. Since there is only one salmon belly sushi for each of us, we won't be eating too much salmon fat per person.

Aburi (partially lightly grilled) Salmon sushi - MYR4.8 for two - very tasty due to them being partially grilled. Suitable for those who do not eat raw salmon.

We also had two plates of maki from the sushi conveyor belt. MYR3.8 for each pink plate.

We find Sushi Zanmai to be one of the more affordable sushi conveyor belt chain restaurants that serve tasty Japanese food. As such we no longer frequent Sushi King, Sushi Tei and Sakae Sushi.

Service Charge: 10%

Gov. Tax: 6%

Total Bill: MYR71.45 before applying a discount coupon of MYR10 (for spending above MYR50) so in the  end we paid MYR61.45 for four so on average it is about MYR15.36 each.

2013 vs 2025 angpow design

On Saturday 18.jan.2025, he suggested that we go pavilion bukit jalil today because I wanted to eat the small abalone chicken soup noodles in Jordan Cafe. Before that we went to Lou Ban Cha Don Mega Mendung because he wanted to buy minced meat bakwa 500g MYR 45 nett from a nearby chapfan coffee shop which turned out to be out of stock so he bought the sliced meat bakwa instead 500g MYR 50 nett. Parking fees in PBJ is MYR 6 nett from about 9.48 am to nearly 2 pm.

*** Sushi Zanmai 2013 vs 2025 Angpow Design ***

11.12 pm - the smaller Angpow is from the year 2013 which I kept for 12 years. The bigger Angpow is this year 2025 design from sushi Zanmai. When I saw the 2025 Angpow Design at sushi Zanmai, I suddenly remember the 2013 Angpow in my cabinet from Kura restaurant in one world hotel. Kura and sushi Zanmai are from the same organisation. 12 years, is it a long or short duration?

*** Lou Ban Cha Don Mega Mendung ***

8.44 am - 2 soft boiled eggs for only MYR 1 nett which is the way this coffee shop attracts customers. A small paper cup of hot cham MYR 3.90 nett includes the plastic cover.

8.45 am - his wanton mee soup MYR 9 nett. He wanted the deep fried lard noodles but it was not ready yet. We walked away from his remaining noodles because I want to keep my stomach space for food from PBJ.

9.04 am - good that this new coffee shop has a long queue now to be around for many years.

*** Jordan Cafe PBJ ***

10.39 am - two small abalone chicken herbal soup noodles MYR 13.88+ when one more main meal is ordered. Normal price is MYR 29.90+

I ate the chicken bone and drank all the chicken soup without getting thirsty so no msg is used. I also ate all the thick rice noodles which are crunchy because I suspect that they are not cooked longer.

10.40 am - char siew and siew yuk rice MYR 26.90+ as our choice for the main meal. I requested for a small portion of rice 🍚 but the rice is still a lot. I requested him to eat almost all the siew yuk and char siew. I ate all the rice so I ate a lot of carb in this meal. Total MYR 44.85 nett.

Morning 43.80

Next morning 43.70 but when down to 43.40 because I break my fast at 1 pm. The cotti coffee acted as a powerful diuretic so the rice noodles and one small bowl of rice didn't retain water.

10.40 am - the siew yuk is Ng fa lam belly meat because there are many layers of fat between thin layers of meat.

12.13 noon - total MYR 44.85 nett. We didn't order any drinks.

*** PBJ Cny decor ***

12.46 noon - the cny decor here is not as much as the decor in pavilion kl.

*** Cotti Coffee PBJ ***

12.56 noon - he informed me about this coffee kiosk outside tonkatsu ma maison. I don't remember seeing it here but I can't remember what stall used to be here.

12.56 noon - took a closer look

2.02 pm - and ended up buying 5 takeaway coffee with rice milk, 2 cold 3 hot at a total of MYR 44.50 nett so it is MYR 8.90 nett for one cup. The rice milk has a bit of genmai taste.

3.10 pm - envelope with calendar in it and stickers

3.13 pm - the calendar

*** Sushi Zanmai PBJ ***

4.23 pm - 4 portion of shioyaki salmon aka grilled salmon with a light layer of salt. Total MYR 119.20 nett so one piece of salmon is MYR 29.80 nett. Angpow pack need a spending of MYR 120 nett but the cashier says it is ok, so I was given a pack of Angpow.

4.45 pm - there are 4 pieces of grilled salmon in this paper box because I requested for all 4 salmon pieces to be in one box.

4.45 pm - I ate one piece of salmon with two slices of wholemeal bread. So tasty 😋 I prefer eating salmon shioyaki with bread instead of with rice.

5.45 pm - he ate one piece of salmon with bread too.

7.38 pm - these are the Angpow envelopes.

*** Food merchant ***

39.50 daikon, strawberry for us and Julie mocha rolls 14.88 for my friend 

109.55 frozen sea cucumber oysters dish that he wanted, frozen vinegar trotter for my friend and a pack of pork ribs that he will cook with the daikon.

*** The End ***

Ang Pow Design 2019

My friend gave me these 2019 red ang pow packets that she collected from two banks - HLB and OCBC.

Back

Front - in 3 colours.

**** Sushi Zanmai lunch for 3 days in a row ****

Day 1 Lunch - sushi zanmai at the Starling Mall - salmon shioyaki (salt grilled) at MYR 23.80 nett and Midori Roll (with deep fried prawn in the middle) at MYR 17.80 nett.

Mini california maki - MYR 8.80 nett.

Total bill for 3 pax: MYR 62.55 nett.

Day 2 Lunch: Sushi Zanmai at the Gardens Mall - Tempura soba at MYR 14.80 nett.

Day 3 Lunch: Sushi Zanmai at the Starling Mall - Beef soba at MYR 16.80 nett. I can eat at Sushi Zanmai every day but my pocket begs to differ.

Sushi Jiro

I wanted to go for sushi at Sushi Zanmai but when I saw that many tables were occupied with customers waiting for their food to be served and the conveyor belt did not have any plates of sushi on it, I changed my mind because I was hungry and did not want to wait. So I decided to risk it by eating at a fast and affordable new sushi place.

Salmon sushi, aburi salmon sushi, ebiko gunkan (very salty as expected).

Aburi (seared) salmon belly with sauce

Salmon with cheese

Salmon with black pepper

A plate costs MYR3.38 but if you eat 5 plates or more, it is MYR2.99 per plate so I consumed 6 plates of sushi all by myself. Although the sushi was tiny and the slice of salmon on top was very thin, I was still very full. I can taste lots of sushi vinegar in the rice so I was quite thirsty after that. 

I like to eat seared salmon sushi so I was aiming for these. If Sushi Mentai has aburi salmon sushi, I would like to go try too.

6 plates = MYR2.99x6 = MYR17.95 nett. I will be back to eat 5 plates of aburi salmon sushi when the cravings attack.

Sushi Jiro - open plan fast and simple sushi place

My Selection

Finally we went to eat at the renovated Sushi Zanmai branch at the Gardens Mall. The above sushi items are my favourite sushi.

We also ordered a bowl/cup of chawanmushi at MYR5.80 nett.

The most expensive item in our selection is Sushi Unatama at MYR7.80 for a set of two sushi unagi with tamago. Next is the Aburi Salmon Sushi at MYR6.80 for a set of two partially grilled salmon sushi. After that is salmon peach sushi and toro (fatty belly meat) salmon at MYR5.80 nett for a set of two sushi.

The plates are colour coded.

Another look at the delicious sushi.

Which one should I eat the last so that its taste will remind in my mouth for the longest time?

I still can't decide. Which one do you suggest?

WG Yasai Omu Curry Rice

Lunch on a Friday: Sushi Zanmai (my default conveyor belt sushi eatery) at Starling Mall.

Yasai Omu Curry Rice at MYR 19.80 nett (inclusive of 6% SST). Yasai (野菜) means vegetable so there are potatoes, pumpkin, okra and carrots in this meal. Omurice refers to rice wrapped in an omelette. My friend says this dish is tasty and I guess the Curry is on the sweet side since my friend does not take spicy food.

This Yasai Omu Curry Rice is available until 12 Sep 2019 since it is on the special monthly menu for Sep 2019.

As I was quite hungry, I took this white plate of tamago sushi (MYR 2.8 nett) from the conveyor belt while waiting for my main meal.

Almost every time I go to Sushi Zanmai, I will order this dish - a small portion of soba with tempura (prawn, brinjal, okra) at MYR 14.80 nett but I think I will need to find another dish to order as I find the tempura to be too oily for me this time.

Total bill for 2 pax is MYR 37.40 nett where MYR 17.60 nett is my portion.

Lunch on a Thursday: Beans and Yogurt at Taman Connaught.

We last visited Beans and Yogurt in May 2019 (4 months ago) so they are still using the same set meal menu. This time I ordered what my friend had last time - Hainanese Fish Fillet Rice at MYR 16 nett from the All Day Long Lunch set menu that includes a cup of Honey Lemon drink (cold for me and hot for my friend) and one piece of Penang Lobak (some places call it Ngor Hiong). I kept half the meal for another day. My friend likes the fish but it was dory fish so I find the meat kind of translucent looking and slippery so I will not order it again next time. Better to stick to the pork loin chop rice at MYR 11 nett that I had the previous time.