KUALA LUMPUR, January 29 — Your first time trying out a restaurant can be tricky.
With Japanese restaurants, especially those that offer omakase meals, it’s even harder as one would need to fork out a pretty big sum to sample their food
It’s not just the money. One would also need to dedicate a longer time to it since an omakase meal is served course by course.
At Kenji Japanese Restaurant, one can circumvent all these fears by sampling their set lunches first. Here, the set lunch is available daily except on Monday when they are closed.
Kagoshima Unagi rice bowl offers a butter-like ‘unagi’ with a not too sweet sauce.— Picture by Lee Khang Yi
It’s the perfect opportunity to test out the waters. Once you’re happy with their offerings, you can go for their seven-course omakase for RM350 dinner.
There’s also an option for a la carte choices too, as these are available for lunch and dinner.
Started about a year ago, Kenji is different from the usual Japanese restaurants.
The only noodles available for the set lunch is the cold Cha Soba. — Picture by Lee Khang Yi
As the best ingredients are a must with Japanese cuisine, Kenji has ties with the Takeda family who has been in the business of sourcing priced Miyagi bluefin tuna for their own processing plant since 1966.
The seafood is also selected by them in the market and imported in directly rather than following the typical supply chain for other restaurants.
Lunch is a variety of rice bowls, some topped with negitoro, Hokkaido ikura and salmon, or mixed sashimi. There’s also unagi sourced from Kagoshima and grilled mackerel fillets.
An assortment of tempura with seafood and vegetables is paired with the Cha Soba (left) and also served with ‘chawan mushi’ (right). — Picture by Lee Khang Yi
Or go for the usual tempura, chicken teriyaki, salmon teriyaki or their version of karaage known as Japanese fried chicken here.
There’s also one noodle set, where cha soba is paired with tempura.
Prices match the high quality of the ingredients, like the bluefin tuna and unagi.
And if you’re flush with cash, there’s also a mini kaiseki with three types of sashimi, tempura, yakimono, sunomono and dessert for RM63.
Miyagi Bluefin Tuna Ootoro Negitoro (RM38) rice bowl is the best way to sample their signature tuna.
Japan Fried Chicken has juicy meat with an ultra thin crispy batter. — Picture by Lee Khang Yi
The rice is topped with chopped fatty tuna, a generous portion of finely chopped negi or green onions. There’s also pops of briny ikura.
Depending on your appetite, one can bulk up the rice portion, whether it’s small, medium or large.
The velvety bluefin tuna goes well with the slightly pungent green onions while the ikura adds an unexpected and delightful touch with its slight saltiness.
It ranks highly on the satisfaction scale, which perks up your mundane work day.
Should you prefer cooked fish, try out the Kagoshima Unagi (RM68) rice bowl.
Solo diners or small groups can sit at the counter to watch the preparations for their meal. — Picture by Lee Khang Yi
The grilled eel has a butter-like texture, melting in the mouth. What I also enjoyed was that the sauce gently brushed over the fish wasn’t sticky sweet, complementing the plump rice grains.
The restaurant uses unagi sourced from the Kagoshima, the largest eel producing prefecture in Japan.
With the hot weather, Tempura & Chasoba (RM45) is a good choice.
The cold green tea noodles are dipped in a sauce mixed with wasabi, negi and toasted sesame seeds.
A mix of assorted tempura is served with it, allowing you to enjoy the fried seafood and vegetables. Here, they use a slightly thicker batter.
There’s also a silky smooth chawan mushi with the set.
All the set meals are served with miso soup where you get a light dashi broth mixed with miso and served with wakame seaweed and tofu cubes.
The broth has a clean flavour with a distinct taste of the konbu.
One-year old Kenji Japanese Restaurant is located at Medan Damansara, behind the popular steakhouses, Victoria Station and Jake’s Charbroil Steaks. — Picture by Lee Khang Yi
From the a la carte menu, there’s Japan Fried Chicken (RM28). Here, their version of karaage has juicy chunks of chicken thigh meat encased in a golden batter with an ultra thin and crispy crunch.
It’s popular during lunch time, where regulars come to grab a quick mid-day meal. Booking a seat here is encouraged, especially weekdays.
With limited tables, small groups may have to sit at the counter while you enjoy the busy preparations.
For Chinese New Year, if you’re looking for a change from Chinese food, Kenji will be open throughout the public holiday as they only close every Monday.
Kenji Japanese Restaurant,
132, Jalan Kasah, Medan Damansara, Kuala Lumpur.
Open: 11.30am to 2.30pm, 5.30pm to 10pm.
Closed on Monday.
Tel:03-20110759.
Instagram: @kenjijapaneserestaurant
* This is an independent review where the writer paid for the meal.
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