Japanese Food-soh

Since-o da Japhang GT will be coming soon-des, I thought-o it would be most appropriate to write-o about Japhan-ese food-soh. Sorry about my extremely bad impersonation of a Japanese but, Hait! We are talking about Japanese food.  Aaahh..one of my blissful pastimes. Nooo not Jap women or Jap cars but Japanese food.  Just thinking of Unagi's and Sashimi and Sushi is enough to make me drool anytime of the day.  So in love I am with Japanese food that I attended 2 Japanese food classes last year which I blogged about.  Yummy!

The other day I had the opportunity to have some decent Japanese food.  My cravings for Japanese food are usually satisfied with a trip to Jaya Jusco's supermarket section where they already have wrapped sushi's and you pick out the ones you want and I would always pick up at least 4 Unagi Sushi's to complement my Ebiko, Sake and other fishy sushis.  Most to most I would visit Sushi King if I have the cravings for Chawan Mushi and Soft Shell Crab. Hardly would I go to a proper Japanese restaurant for a sit down meal because I never thought it was worth it, until recently.  My makan partner had a craving for Unagi (grilled eel) and so off I went to search for a nice Japanese restaurant around Kuala Lumpur/Selangor/Subang Jaya etc. 

After doing some research on the net (and asking a few people) its seems that each reviewer would give a different answer from Sheraton Subang Jaya, Concord Hotel, PJ Hilton, Hyatt Saujana and some place in Subang Jaya.  Even reading the reviews from the net, they would have different locations reviewed by different people for different purposes and taste.  This is similar to your Italian restaurants which are almost everywhere in the Klang Valley but not all of them are really good.  Looking through Friedchillies website, we decided to go to Saisaki, which is a popular Japanese buffet restaurant which had many good reviews.  So off we went for dinner at Saisaki in Menara OUA 2 at Jalan Pinang.  Little did we know that Saisaki there is closed for renovations and only after that did I know that they opened a new one in 1Utama (sheesh...).  So off we trotted to the next nearerst good Japanese restaurant which was is Equatorial Hotel's Japanese restaurant,  and it came highly recommended by my colleague.  You know I don't really write about restaurants which are usually already popular nor ones that are in hotel's but this one deserves a mention.

Kampachi is located on the 2nd floor of Equatorial Hotel.  It is serves exquisite Japanese cuisine trained by the culinary masters of Ginza. 
The Restaurant
The restaurant itself is fairly decorated.  Unlike some other Japanese restaurant that gives you that 'out-of-country' experience, Kampachi's decor is mild.  Nothing much to say about it but the environment is busy and bustling with guests having good conversations with their friends over the meals.  A tad to noisy for my liking but then, I guess thats the normal environment for Japanese restaurants in Japan.  The dining area is simple and so are their tables and chairs.  They do have private Tatami function rooms though, for your privacy with VIP guests or family members but you do need to have that room booked in advanced as to my suprise, Kampachi was fairly packed with patrons that night.  As this is a 'Halal' restaurant, you do see many Muslim diners there too enjoying their meals.

The Food
Since we were desprately hungry (because Saisaki is closed) we immediately ordered.  It consisted of Unagi (duh...but of course), Tempura fried Osysters, Chawan Mushi, Seaweed soup and of course, vinegared rice.  The Seaweed soup came first.  It is in an almost clear broth and the seaweed was just thick and juicy.  This is one seaweed that looked more like slices of Aloe Vera than seaweed.  It was thick and the soup was nicely salted, almost like using the saltiness of the seaweed to make up the taste of the soup.  The Unagi came next and the Tempura Osyters with Chawan Mushi.  Unagi was juicy and tantalizing.  It didn't drip as much soy sauce like the ones you buy from Jaya Jusco nor was the eel overly coated with it.  Perfectly grilled, it was springy to the touch but succulent inside.  Perfect with the vinegared rice that we had.  The Tempura Fried Oysters were lightly coated with tempura flour.  Lightly fried, the oysters remained soft and juicy inside the batter.  It went very well with the radishes and mustard that was served with the dish.  The Chawan Mushi to me was just so so.  It had all the normal ingredients and was double boiled nicely.  When I attended the Japanese cooking class, Cawan Mushi was one of the tedious dishes to as you need to make sure that the white egg is cooked perfectly.  It cannot be under nor overly cooked as the taste will be very different.  I regretted not ordering any sashimi or sushi that night but after those few dishes, we were already full.  Well not full enough to gobble some Leonida's chocolates downstairs at E'toile Bistro before going back..hehehe.  Price wise, Kampachi's food is fairly priced for a decent Japanese restaurant, but do bring some extra moolah if you decide to order more food.

L-R: Unagi (partially hidden), Tempura Oysters and Chawan Mushi below it

We staggered out of Equatorial Hotel feeling contented with the Unagi and seaweed soup that we
had and vowed to try other Japanese restaurants once a month.  It seems that each Japanese restaurant has its own speciality.  One may be good with Unagi while the other may be good with sushi or sashimi or tempura.  So other restaurants left to try would be Saisaki, Ozeki Tokyo, Moritomo and prolly other Japanese restaurants.  If you yearn for Japanese food, hell, why don't you drop me a line.  If I decide to go with you, then you are the lucky one *smiles*.  Hope you had a pleasant read.

- It is not the place nor the food, its the company you're with that makes the food taste better -