I love shopping mall. I love fast food. I also love japanese food.How nice if I can experience all of it together?Sakae Sushi is the answer.I first come across Sakae Sushi in 2006 when my sister brought me over to their branch in Bangsar Shopping Complex. The location & the restaurant environment is telling me that it's a premium japanese food, comparing to other brand like Sushi King, that's very famous last time. My sister's treat so I'm not sure how much is it. The impression lasted for a while until I think I can afford to dine in, then I try it out and it become my favourite japanese fast food outlet in KL.
As current writing, Sakae Sushi has a total of 11 branch in KL & Selangor while additional 3 more branch located in Penang. It's fast spreading and there is no doubt while it become favourite of many.
A view of the comfortable dining experience but a little pack. It's a fast food outlet, so they truly make use of every little space they have in the shop. It works well though, the tables are well spaced and surprisingly there is enough privacy for everyone. I love the setting.
One of the main highlight of the shop is the computer ordering screen on every tables. It shows the entire menu of the shop, a highlight description of the food and best of all, giving you a total cost for the entire dining, as long as you order everything from the menu, including those from the rotating belts. Just make sure you don't take it yourself from the belt, and they will serve it pretty fast. Where else can let me know how to budget up my dinner as we are eating? Very nice arrangement.
We made our order and we did candid shot, showcasing the superb quality of the Canon S90 that I chose for my wife. Incredible quality and low light capability. Those planning for compact, no need to think, just grab the S90 or newer S95. It's the same with Canon G11 or G12. For others that's serious, go for dSLR, nothing beat it.
Then a shot of my wife. She love Japanese food, there explained the grin.
A generous pot of ginger that's placed on the rotating belt for all customers to help themselves.
Similar to a pot of Wasabi that's also placed on the rotating belt. Self service, and it's available from time to time, nice arrangement. As said earlier, one of the good indicator of food quality in a Japanese restaurant is quality of Wasabi. Its good for a fast food outlet but there are better wasabi in those premium shop. I appreciate it.
Green tea or known as "ocha" served in the convenient pack. The green tea is good but sometimes it get too strong because the pack is left with the cup for a while. Just keep drinking it will solve the problem. Prefer for them to give me a pot =)
A shot of the rotating belt in Sakae Sushi. We never take anything from the rotating belt because we love to record our dinner on the menu to track the expenses. 
First to come is the Hana Maki in red plate that cost RM5.90. This is our all time favourite and its a must order for our visit. Three pieces of fresh salmon with mayonaise at RM5.90, that's a real bargain.
My favourite of Inari Sushi served on green plate that's priced at RM1.90 only. Funny thing is somehow all my favourite food is also my wife's favourite, so we always shared. The sweetness of the Inari is crazily twisting my tastebud when its dipped in wasabi. 
I love Sakae Sushi because their pricing is very reasonable with their maximum charge of red plate in just RM5.90, which is mainly either fresh salmon sushi or larger 4-5 piece rolled sushi. Green plate like Inari is just a nice plate to kill your hunger if needs to. Importantly, it taste good!
Every table is also equipped with a tap of hot water for your convenient to refill your cup of green tea anytime you want. I love the design, just very convenience without waitress disturbing your dining experience, possibly these kind of small detail is what keeping me happy with the privacy arrangement.
Our next to come is the humongous Guisa Gozen Bento Set that's priced at reasonable RM34.90. This plate easily serve a couple in anytime, trust me. We regretted for taking up the sushi plates earlier but is it nice? Let's go into details.
First of all is the Teriyaki Chicken. It's well grilled and the sauce is well balance with sweetness and chicken taste all round. The teriyaki is best to be eaten together with the rice.
A small surprise to find out a side dish of Japanese Baby Octopus with the bento set. My wife don't eat octopus, so I walloped everything! Whoever that love the baby octopus will love it.
A small serving of mixed Tempura with dipping sauce. It's ok only, but it's good enough to fill your crave of Tempura in a Japanese Restaurant.
A delicious Chawanmushi, it's my wife favourite. I suppose it's her only egg based favourite dish around the globe. It's very nice, lots of ingredients within and overall good taste.
A large pot of half shell scallop and vegetables in Kimuchi soup. The pot is so big that I "bloated" my stomach after the dinner!
The soup is very tasty but it's a little spicy. For an air-conditioned environment in shopping mall, it gets to make you sweat a little, very nicely done with japanese noodles solving your craving. I love the soup, no surprice I help them to clean up the bowl =)
As said, the soup is named for the shell scallop and here is the scallop. Look at the size! There is three of them in the pot and again I walloped two leaving one for my wife. It's so big and very delicious! The scallop absorbed all those kimuchi soup and giving it a very good mixture of scallop taste with the kimuchi.
Lastly, the rice. They added in some spices on top of the rice, giving it a very nice taste. I love the spices and it's incredible nice with the kimuchi soup earlier.The entire dinner cost both of us RM58.20 including 10% + 5% tax. Inredibly cheap for good japanese food for two! This is the main reason why I love Sakae Sushi. A real good pricing with a real good quality of japanese food. After I get to this shop, I'm not sure how other japanese fast food is going to survive. It's quality of food is even threathening the existence of some higher quality japanese restaurant in the town. The only reason why I still bother to pay higher price for others is mainly due to the glamour privacy that other premium restaurant is offering, unless those are listed as my favourite, where their quality of food surpassed Sakae Sushi.For those with a tight budget, forget about every other outlet and try only this one out. For those with a bigger budget, still make this your weekly visit and occassionaly frequent those premium for a good dining outing experience with your partner, that should do the trick! I'm sure your partner appreciate it as well, my wife did =)Sakae Sushi @ 1 UtamaLot G212, Ground Floor PromenadeNo.1, Lebuh Bandar UtamaBandar Utama Damansara47800 Petaling JayaTel: +603 7726 6428Website: http://www.sakaesushi.com.my/Location Coordinate: N3 08.958 E101 36.979
We wanted to buy something over in IKEA so we drop by after work for little shopping and dinner. We tried out the IKEA's kitchen food earlier, so we walked over to Ikano Power Center to hunt for something special. Disappointingly we can't find anything different, so we just wanted for a simple & quick dinner. Somehow we ended up in Ichiban Ramen at the lower ground floor. Ikano Power Center really quite dead, nothing interesting there also.
I somehow mistaken this shop with the Ajisen Ramen that I frequented earlier, and I only realised that after looking at the menu. There are limited choice on the menu for ramen but they have other bento sets available. On variety, Ajisen Ramen easily has triple the choice of ramen compare to Ichiban Ramen here.Anyway we ordered and waited for our food. As we are waiting, I scout around and notice the place is indeed very neat for such a small shop. Ichiban Ramen is a franchise bussiness similar to Ajisen Ramen but in a smaller scale, I suppose. There is also an outlet in Sunway Shopping Mall.
The decoration is decent and most importantly it's clean. It looks like a family run ramen shop comparing to those bigger franchise brand.
The decoration on the wall is also good, adding a good space environment to the dining experience. There are few diners around but it's comfortable for a seat, chat and food.
First to come is our drink. My wife wanted something special, so I ordered the Macha priced at RM7.00. It's actually Ice Blended Macha, something like Green Tea Ice Cream but in drink form. It taste not bad too, something healthier. I think only this shop serve this, never see this anywhere else before.
My wife is not very hungry so control the order and get a Shishamo priced at RM11.00 for sharing. Both of us love the Shishamo and it's an always must ordered dish in japanese restaurant. There is five of them and the size is quite big. Not bad but nothing spectacular, I'm not complaining.
Then for our main dish, I looked over the Bento section and ordered the Grilled Salmon Bento Set at RM28.00. The bento set is served with miso soup, rice, karaage, grilled salmon, and vegetables. The food is overall good, but again, nothing spectacular.Overall the dinner cost us RM52.90 with 10% + 5% tax. Our simple dinner ended become a quite expensive dinner and with that price, I think I can get something much better out there. Anyway, the food is nice and importantly I enjoyed the comfortable environment with close walking distance from my visiting place, IKEA. But I can spend that much to get a much decent japanese food in PJ/KL with better quality food. Your choice.Ichiban RamenLot LG 19&20Ikano Power CenterMutiara DamansaraPetaling JayaTel: 03-7725 4199Location Coordinate: N3 09.356 E101 36.653
I'm a big fan for Megamall, probably because I'm Malaysian, so I frequent these places a lot. Naturally, I also eat at lot within and one of the special restaurant that can be found sprouting around the Megamall in Malaysia is the Pasta Zanmai, a good fusion on Western influence in Japanese food. 
The particular Pasta Zanmai restaurant that I visited this time is located in One Utama old wing within the Promenade area. I particular love this place because of the special items that you can find here, such as Japanese Pasta and Japanese Pizza, a true fusion of both culture and that sparks up a twist to the already good cuisine from both culture.
The restaurant entrance is disguised by the Japanese mini-market but you will see the Pasta Zanmai entrance at the right side. It's actually owned by the same company named Super Sushi Sdn Bhd. The company also has other Japanese food outlet around the town such as Sushi Zanmai and Sushi Zen. Let's see what they have.
After you made your entry into the place, you will be seated by the waitress ready to serve. Main reason is the restaurant is huge, with plenty more seats located at the back of the kitchen, so you wouldn't know if there is any table available. The waitress is very helpful, so let them do their job. As we are seated, we go through the menu (after many many times visit, we still need to go through the menu), because this is not a typical restaurant that you can recall from your mind, so this is what we got.
A pot of Green Tea for RM3.00, very cheap and it's a very good idea indeed. That way, the waitress will have more free time to serve other customer while you will enjoy less disturbance dinner. Win win situation, why other restaurant is not doing the same?
First to come is the Soft Shell Crab Mentai Pizza priced at RM26.00. A real fusion of western & japanese food and guess what, it's really good. A good twist with the thin crust of pizza with soft shell crab and delicious sauce. This plate is one of Pasta Zanmai's October Special order, not sure if they are retaining it after October, but there are plenty of other choice which I'm sure is equally good.
A close-up shot of the pizza. The only complain is the soft shell crab is not crispy anymore, and reducing it's overall rating for the dinner. However, it's delicious and recommend to try out.
Next to come is the Sirloin Steak Set priced at RM30.00. The set is served with rice, miso soup and mashed potato & salad. The steak is cooked medium well and served with teriyaki sauce but to my disappointment, the steak is lack of taste. This is the common problem with most restaurant, but probably it's only me that expecting wagyu beef quality everywhere. It's overall good and I think it's a good bargain for this price range in this environment. No complain and I visited this place that many times means that it must be quite good to keep me going back.
A mix of mashed potato with side salad. I'm big in potato, so I walloped everything. Cheers =)
A close look of the medium well sirloin steak. It's a bit raw from the photo, but it's cooked. Meat is tendered chewy. Not one of my favourite dish in the restaurant though.
This is the front section of the restaurant, and alsmot all tables do have soft cushion seat unless you fancy some chef action around the kitchen bar. The seat are high and good ambience for a good food and good catch-up with your friends or partner.
On the other front side of the restaurant is the mini market. I think this place serve all kind of stuff that a Japanese needed. I didn't take a close look, Japanese stuff, must be expensive.The whole dinner set us back at RM67.85 including 10% service tax. No government tax? A real steal, easy saving of RM3, small money but any saving is good. Overall rating, it's a very nice fusion mix of western & japanese cuisine and that alone should draw customer into the restaurant without me promoting it. The food is good and special, seriously think whoever that love both western & japanese food should try it out. It's not that expensive for a good dinner for two and with that pot of tea, you can sit longer like in kopitiam =)Pasta ZanmaiG210B, Ground Floor Promenade1 Utama Shopping Center1 Lebuh Bandar UtamaBandar Utama Damansara47800 Petaling JayaOpening Time: 10.00am till 10.00pmLocation Coordinate: N3 08.935 E101 36.982
It's been very long since we've eaten Japanese food, mainly because of our busy schedule. This day I suggested to try out the newly open Ishin Japanese Restaurant at Old Klang Road. It has been getting over thousand fans over the facebook in a few months, so off we go again. Hunting for some better japanese restaurant.If you are heading towards OUG from Midvalley direction, it's just located on your left opposite the 3rd Mile Square. It's located in a bungalow just beside the main road. Once you reached there, there are surprising lots of staff to guide you where to park. I think they have more staff at the parking than the restaurant. I will share more of my experience below. Here is a shot of the restaurant from the Old Klang Road.
Parking is plenty and they do double parking around the restaurant as well. No jockey parking though, but they will request for you to remove your car if other diners are leaving. I think it's a disturbance in the middle of the dinner to remove your car, but it might well worth it if the food is good. Let's see.Once we step into the restaurant, it's almost full house and the 1st question from the waitress is "Do you have a reservation?". No, we answer, and we are directed to the bar seat. Not exactly something I expect and fancy when having a dinner with my wife. No choice, so we move over because we have a movie to catch later on at Midvalley. As we are seated, I checked the area and noticed most of the diners are young family with kids. There are also more diners joining in that's ranging around 40-ish couple. All are wearing shorts and leisure home wear. I suppose Ishin is family orientated restaurant. Maybe they don't wanted to but because of the location, they are attracting local close-by family for frequent visit. A little surprise though, to me, never have the chance to see that in other japanese restaurant. Good or bad? Let's see.
As I'm around the bar seat, a big plus point because I got my dSLR with me. I quickly snap some shots and here it goes. The set-up is a clean and stylish japanese restaurant, maybe because it's still new. However, the place are basically open area and there is not privacy when having your dinner. There are noise and it's not good.
We go through the menu and the price is not very cheap nor expensive. I thought a good sign and I asked the waitress to recommend what's good. There are no photos available and I don't memorise all japanese foods name, but the waitress is not helpful. In the end, I make my own choice. The waitress are attentive but that soon to change. Keep reading.
A basic set-up, we took the ocha and it's tasteful. From my experience, there are two basic things that determine a good japanese restaurant. It is the ocha & wasabi. If both is good, then you can expect everything else is perfect. 
A close up with the appetizer, we didn't order this, but add-on from the house. Free stuff, so no complain. It's good, and tofu is good for health. Japanese eat lots of them and they live very long. So take it!
Alright, first to come is the Shashimi Moriawase platter priced at RM58.00. Served with four type of fish & fresh prawns. We never miss to order a shashimi platter, because that's the main highlight. However, it's disappointing that the fish is not very good. Prawn is very great, but not the fish. Don't mistaken me, the food is good, but I'm comparing it to the best japanese restaurant I've ever tried, and it doesn't give a deep impression. I personally think there are much better japanese restaurant out there. The wasabi is also not good. Try it out yourself and let me know.But do order a plate of shahimi prawn if you are there, it's very good. I think one of the best around the town.
As we continue to savour our shashimi, the chef is preparing our next order. The soft shell crab maki. 
Again, to my disappointment, it's not good again. The soft shell crab is not crispy, soft and tasteless. The vege that and japanese rice is also tasteless. The only thing that keep me in finishing it is because of the mayonnaise sauce & seaweed that give my tastebud something to chew on. There are four pieces of maki and it's priced at RM18.00, a price that I'm expecting good maki.
The next up is the Ishin Bento set priced at RM38.00. It is surprising big portion for that price but with the earlier disappointment, we didn't expect much from this. I will do a detailed review of each serving for you.
The saba fish, this is good. Have it with the wasabi, and it's heaven like with your tears rolling down! That's how I eat my japanese food =)
Tempura, again soft and tasteless. I think they pre-prepare it and keep for serving. Bad. The tempura sauce is also not good, tasteless as well.
A mini portion of the shashimi, basically the same with what we have earlier, just a smaller version. Because it's not served with ice, it got heat up and warm very soon. Eat it fast or it will get worse. I put it with my big shasimi ice bowl to keep it cold.
I think miso soup is another way to find out the quality of a japanese restaurant, so far I'm still right. The soup is not good, and same with the food. No comment.
Some brinjal appetizer, nothing to shout about. Just something to make you full.
Last is the chawanmushi. My wife loves it, and of course, she finished it. Nothing to shout about, but at least it's good and ok. No need to mention about the japanese rice, it's tasteless.Before I reach out for the conclusion, let me clarify my review. This is not a bad restaurant, but just that I have high expectation for this kind of place. The price is not exactly cheap and I'm expecting good food. Comparing food quality to price ratio, this place does not work for me. It's better than fast food japanese outlet, but there are definitely much better restaurant choice in my post earlier, if you fancy some good japs.Overall, the place is ok, fill with local diners in leisure wear. It's not a place for romantic dinner with your girlfriend or boyfriend, but kids maybe. For me, it's not up to my expectations, and I'm not going back unless there is some drastic changes to the quality or pricing. Another complain is that in the middle of our dining, the place is packed with people waiting at the door steps. The waitress are very busy and they are not attending to us. However, there are at least 5-6 staff outside directing cars, I'm thinking, WTH. The whole dinner cost us RM132.00, not exactly expensive but not cheap for that kind of quality. The Ocha is good, but priced at RM3.00 each! Most expensive Ocha, but I don't complain on price if the quality is good. I'm more than willing to pay for it, but not the other food. Maybe it's just me that fancy good dinner and willing to pay a good price for it, do comment if you think otherwise. I'm all open. Cheers!Ishin Japanese Restaurant202 Persiaran Kelang Off 3-3/4Jalan Kelang Lama 58000 Kuala LumpurTel: +603 7980 8228Location Coordiante: N3 06.171 E101 40.662
