Great-tier

• Tempura Tenko (super old tempura chef, super delicious tempura. We had a pretty rude waitress though)
• Imoto (blend of kappo and kaiseki, great chef, great food. Super interesting food. Great overall experience)
• Sushi Kubota (Super super small 7-seater hidden away by the side of the road. Great experience. Talisker highball very nice by the way. Solemn, quite mood but generally great sushi. Pacing perfect too. Spent around 2 hours ++ there and the food kept coming regularly without being overwhelming)
• Stereo Coffee (standing cafe. Great filter coffee, gorgeous setting)
• Oshige Shokudo Imaizumi (great ramen! The best in Fukuoka! Real top tier stuff, super interesting. Broth concentrated using a coffee siphon. Super light and subtle broth but so many layers. Sardines, beef, bonito flakes etc etc etc).

Good-tier

• Pizzeria de Gaetano (very very good margherita, not quite Seirinkan let alone Savoy Azabu Juban, but even better than 4P’s in Hanoi and much better than Pizzeria Dihyang, never mind how many Italians supposedly say Dihyang is good. Anyway, sausage and broccoli pizza is delicious too)
• Mashica (super cool wine bar. Great ambience, nice wine, pasta of the day was actually very good too)
• Chez Remy, yatai (delicious mulled wine, super tiny place, 3 funny French dudes, tiny stoves and tiny stall. Tiny portions too for the price. Delicious escargots though. Great pork leg too. Skip the bouillaiaiaise (Sp?))

Alright-tier

• Kashiwaya Genjiro (chicken spot inside a mall. Chicken salad is nice, oyakodon comes with fantastic egg but weird, tough free range chicken).
• Rec Coffee in Kitte, next to Hakata station (nice filter coffee inside a mall)
• Genki Ippai (for tonkotsu, pretty good. Am not a big fan of tonkotsu anymore though. A bit below Kanbe in Malaysia)
• Key Coffee (the only decent coffee place around if you’re near Hakata canal. Super old school coffeehouse. Nice if you want to smoke inside)

The post Fukuoka, Japan appeared first on Foodgazer.

More diminutive than definitive, but we hope we’ve covered just enough to whet your appetite.

The not-so-good: Bangkok isn’t great for the hydro homies. Free-flow filtered water? You’d be lucky to find more than a few spots. Expect to tote around a lot of water bottles. And…expect (very) dark roast coffee practically everywhere.

The good: the food. Especially, to our surprise, those less street-food-y types. Read through and you’ll see why.

The Bangkok guide is divided into 4 categories, ordered alphabetically within each list, and will continuously be updated – photos and individual posts coming next.

The great:

• Charmgang Curry Shop: Spectacular. From the cowa leaves curry (fantastic, with the smokiest, most luscious pork jowl) to the grilled koji-aged picanha skewer (paired with a stunning fermented fish chili and tomato relish) to sublime duck. Only downside is the desserts pale in comparison – both the Thai caramel rice bar and custard apple in coconut syrup were a step below the cooked dishes. Also, they can be a bit heavy handed on the salt, even for a saline boi like me – e.g. the smoked swordfish curry was delectable, with gorgeously cooked and smoky fish, but crept up in saltiness towards the end. The casual setup of the place is great though, absolutely buzzing with a lovely open kitchen, beautifully decorated walls, perfect light levels etc. A must-visit, like every other spot in the “Great” category.
• Cote by Mauro Colagreco: Close to faultless. Impeccable service, great great food.
• G.O.D.: photos / videos don’t capture how impressive this place looks. Drinks fantastic too. Conceptual, yes, but the taste backs that up as well. Should be in my top 5 bars list for Bangkok, with Ku Bar, Rabbit Hole etc.
• Homeburg: Purely taste-wise, this had to be one of the greatest meals of my life. Definitely one of the most technically impressive too. This single location featured one of the best chawanmushi I’ve ever had, the best jerk chicken, the best ginger ale, the best steak, the best french fries etc…unreal. Luckily the desserts were just-okay, or this would have completely redefined what it means to be great.
• Ku Bar: Absolute gem of a space, has to be one of our favourite bars in Bangkok. Insanely cool setup and layout, with fantastically layered and complex cocktails. For instance: Bael-infused whisky with tobacco syrup, xuixian tea and rose water. Or a warm saffron latte longan. Or a super strong Szechuan peppercorn drink that slowly oozes more banana as you sip. S’all good, man.
• Larder: Oh wow, the best breakfast. Perfect thick-cut bacon slices, surprisingly yummy sourdough (surprising cos they slice it real thin), delish blood sausage
• Pad Thai Fai Ta Lu: Why are noodle portions so tiny in Bangkok? This place served some of the best pad thai (and siew yoke) that we’ve had though.
• Rabbit Hole: Great cocktails! Delicious, rich, complex, and just really well thought out. Take, for instance, the London Jesus (longan, saffron, coffee, salted Tonka cream) or the salted lemon butter layers of the Cowboy Pie. Thrilling stuff.
• Saawaan: Refined Southern Thai tasting menu. Loved a lot of it, especially the “toned-down” subtlety of flavours, the highlighting of specific techniques, and the petit fours actually being the strongest flavour punch of the meal.
• Samlor: Silly good. Delicious dishes. Attentive service. A must-visit.
• Some Time Blue: From what we could tell, they only have drip coffee. Both cups were great. Finally a cafe without crazy dark roasts. And they have free-flow water too. My kind of aesthetic, could easily double as a jazz / listening bar. Love the furniture.
• Tax: Love the interiors, the walls, the spacious layout split up into a lot of nooks, without being overly loud and echo-y, and the concept – vinegars from liquors etc. Tried two great cocktails, including a killer oolong with a sudden aftertaste of roasty toasty cashews. Definitely feels more of my place than Asia Today, but both would easily place in my top bars list in KL. And I’d be a regular at Tax.
• Zao Ekkamai: Insanely good Isaan food, one of the highlights of our Bangkok trip. Challenging, excitingly different flavours, all bursting out of some exceptional, layered, and well-priced dishes. Word of caution though: some of the dishes are crazy crazy spicy. Great service, lovely buzz in the dining room(s).

The good:

• 168 Thai Restaurant, inside Chatuchak market. Surprisingly delicious. Only tried 2 dishes, but still. Red curry thing is killer. Spicy sour soup very tasty. Coconut pudding delicious too.
• A Keen House: Iced long black fares much better than the hot, oddly enough. Good music, gorgeous design.
• Aksorn: A 1-star that doesn’t push boundaries too much, but bundles in a tasty meal within a lovely experience. The setting is cozy and inviting, the music top-notch, service pretty good, and the crockery and interiors mesh into a unique statement. Highlights of the food itself was the shrimp paste relish, a red curry with grilled salted beef, and the smoky sugar snap peas. Oh, and the nice walk down to the nice washroom.
• Asia Today: Backdoor Bodega vibes, but really tasty cocktails based around honey. Need to try more to potentially move it further up. The Eastern Honey (with the bee wax mug) was tasty, and the Bitter Have My Moni was even more so, with that punchy, vinegary cherry pickled liquor. Delightful.
• Bar 10010: nice ice cream – with loads of interesting flavours!
• Bask Project: good coffee, lovely space. Lots of cool stuff to look at and buy
• Bun Meat and Cheese: From the mad genius brain of Mr. Homeburg. Doesn’t quite reach those heights, but it’s still very good. Not as earth-shattering as the first time trying Homeburg, but it certainly beats out pretty much all burger joints in Malaysia, even Barbacoa.
• Nai Soon Charoen Nakhon: Delicious duck noodles…less depth than Heng Dee’s broth in Malaysia perhaps, but still hella tasty. Very competitively priced too.
• Okonomi: Japanese breakfast! Lovely little place.
• Rot Rue Dee: like the setup a lot. Well-priced too IMO. Well-cooked fare like the massaman curry with killer smokiness from the chicken. Decent mango sticky rice too.
• Rung Reung (Tung) noodle: yum pork noods, even the dry one.
• Save Our Souls: They say the burgers are good here, but I didn’t try them. The basil rice is solid though, surprisingly enough. Nice selection of craft beers to go alongside.
• Sugarray Apartment: Lovely bar setup (seats 10 at most along the bar counter, a small nook for 3 at the corner). Good drinks that would place it quite high up the KL Bar list, but not quite at the level of those in the Great category.

The decent:

• A Coffee Roaster by Li-bra-ry: Espresso was…almost kinda decent? Flat white tasty. Could potentially be the best out of the cafes in this category.
• Flaneur
• Gatta Cafe inside Siam Square: Slightly better than some other cafes we tried, but not by much.
• Mother Roaster: interesting space, decent coffee
• Nana Coffee Roasters Ari: Lush garden, great rendition of a dirty (though it ran a tad sweet, was still the best we had in BKK), but the default long black was a really dark roast, as per usual in BKK. Stick to milk-based stuff and you’d probably have a better time here.
• OFTR: Like the setup. The drinks are more mediocre – wouldn’t be out of place in KL.
• Prego: We only tried a risotto but it was fantastic. Potential to shoot up this list if all other dishes are as good.
• Shelter coffee
• Tai Soon Bar: A relatively nice space, with 18 beers on tap, opposite the overhyped Jay Fai. Not exactly the setup / feel / clientele / selection of beers that appealed to us though.

The not so good:

• Baan Pueng Chom: Highly recommended, highly disappointing. The star was the stir fried glass noodles with petai – every other dish was poor.
• Brave Roasters: Both long black and the filter served with too much water IMO, ratio feels off.
• Buay Pochana Thonglor: Decent egg noods, decent soup, nice duck leg, meh duck wonton. Overall serviceable but not a must-visit by any measure.
• Chimchim: Terrible coffee, breathtaking interiors. Might actually be worth visiting just for that.
• Conkey’s: The setting is gorgeous. Tranquil back garden. And the spread of bakes sets the heart a-flutter alright. But the pastries themselves are surprisingly not-great. E.g. the donut – love the orange custard filling in the bombolini but the donut itself could be better. Salty fig tart not bad, not great. Sourdough croissant very dense. Fairly mediocre even if it were in KL. Breads do look decent though.
• Holey Artisan: Challah meh. Berliner meh but the butterscotch glaze was quite alright. Disappointing beef baguette – everything cold and so-so, with the baguette being incredibly tough.
• Jasmine Siam Kitchen: Pineapple fried rice with tofu was expensive, and the rice was mushy. Red curry was tasty, despite the tough beef. Factoring in the prices vs setting etc, hard to justify moving this out of this category though.
• Paga: Boy do they love their dark roasts here. We had one alright filter, one standard-order dark-roast nearly-undrinkable long black.
• Red Diamond @ Thonglor: THB 120 for espresso. Fairly meh, all things considered. Strong dark roast like most places here.
• Supanniga: Disappointing. Expensive. At least the service is good. And the kai-yok song does have some tasty, plump crab meat.
• Tropic City: Hmmm.

Naturally, we’ve barely scratched the surface with Bangkok. Some other places we want to check out next time:

• 23 Bar & Gallery (bar in an art space)
• 80/20 (1 star)
• Alonetogether (collab between Sugar Ray and Ku Bar owners) (jazz performances Wed-Sun night. B400 cocktails, happy hour B300 from 6-8pm daily)
• Bamboo Bar (Mandarin Oriental)
• Bar Marco (listening bar)
• Beer Belly (20 taps)
• BKK Social Club (bar)
• Black King Pizzeria
• Bloom Pretzel & Coffee (pretzels and coffee)
• Blue by Alain Ducasse (1 star)
• Brioche from Heaven (cinnamon brioche and caramel, yuzu meringue)
• Cadence by Dan Bark (1 star)
• Canvas (1 star)
• Casa Blue (8 craft beers on tap, good German food)
• Craft Silom (20 taps)
• Doc Club & Pub (indie cinema)
• Dukedon (specializes in grilled, dry-aged Thai catfish. Duke don (B219), pla mor (perch fish) don (B249)) (Fri 12-7pm, Sat 10-7pm, Sun 10-5pm)
• Eight Days a Week Home Bar (only Thai craft beer – prices around B180-300) (5pm-12am daily)
• Gaa (1 of the best restaurants in Thailand) (B 4400++)
• Grow Tea Studio (Uji tea from South Kyoto)
• GTG Cafe (CBD infused drinks and cookies)
• Hair of the Dog (great craft beer spot) (11am-12am daily)
• Homeburg (6 courses, including the burger. B2500++)
• Huus of Bread (Jap-Scandi bakery. Shokupan-donut (shonut)) (10am-4.30pm, closed Mon)
• IGNIV Bangkok (1 star, “global” fine dining, 3 course lunch B 2000, 4 course dinner B 4000)
• Ink & Lion (great coffee) (9am-4pm daily)
• Keaton Tailor
• Kimi sushi bar (semi-outdoors omakase sushi,10 rotating natty wines, 6 seats per seating, B 2100 for 15 courses)
• Koji-delic (Nordic-style cuisine, all based around koji and fermentation. 10 courses B 3,500)
• Koryoriya-te (low-key shochu and sake bar) (6-11pm, closed Sun and Thurs)
• Laab Udon (good Isaan food, off Surasak BTS station) (4pm-3am daily)
• Labyrinth Cafe (great coffee in a basement bunker) (10am-6pm, closed Mon)
• Lahnyai (modern Thai. 14 courses B3,590++)
• Le Du (1 star, elevated Thai) (4 course tasting B 3000, 6 course tasting B 3600)
• Le Normandie (2 stars, Alain Roux (from 3 starred Waterside Inn) arrived in Jan 22. 3 course lunch menu B 3400)
• Liberty Area One @ Ekkamai (great clothing spot)
• Methavalai Sorndaeng (1 star)
• Mash (16 rotating beers, nice setting) (5-11pm, closed Sun)
• Mazzluna (2 stars)
• Mezzaluna (French Japanese fine dining, 7 courses B 6500)
• Middle Bar (good cocktails, B400)
• Mihara Tofuten (Gaggan partnering with someone from Fukuoka. Fine dining dedicated to tofu from Kyushu. 12 courses B 4900)
• Ministry of Crab (branch of Sri Lanka’s best restaurant. B 1,800 for 800g medium sized crab)
• Mod Kaew Wine Bar (ex-somm of Gaggan. No wine list. B690 for a 3 wine flight. Or get a bottle)
• Nahim Cafe x Handcraft 
• Nahm (1 star)
• Nine Pastry (challah, Jerusalem bagel etc) (8am-5pm, closed Wed)
• Paste (1 star)(modern progressive Thai, 1 star) (B 4300 for tasting menu, can get ala carte for around B1,000 per dish) (12-2pm, 6-11pm daily)
• Pijiu (Chinese beer bar)
• Pizza Massilia (great pizza)
• Potong (Thai-Chinese fine dining, 20 courses B 4,500)
• R u u classic cocktails (B300-400 cocktails, chill spot)
• R-Haan (2 stars)
• Rue De Mansri (good croissant, decent coffee, nice place)
• Saep Sudjai (good Isaan dishes, especially the pork liver with toasted rice)
• Samrub Samrub Thai (private dining, some of the best food in Thailand. B 4,500 for tasting menu) 
• Saneh Jaan (1 star, old school Thai dishes)
• Savelberg (1 star, French cuisine with touch of Dutch influence) (B 4750)
• Shuu Shuu (umeshu bar)
• Siwilai Sound Club (cocktail and jazz bar) (6pm-1am, closed Mon)
• Smalls (jazz bar)
• Soei (10.30am-9.30pm, closed Sat) (fried mackerel cheeks – may need to reserve, Thai shrimp ceviche, pla goong, soft shell crab in curry powder) (can end up queueing for 1-2 hours)
• Som Tam Sida (family run Isaan restaurant)
• Somtum Der (Isaan food)
• Sorn (2 stars)
• Soufflé and me (souffle) (11am-10pm daily)
• Sra Bua (1 star)
• Sunray (bright, pastely and airy cocktail bar. Drinks B300) (6pm-12am daily)
• Table 38 (great food, need to book way in advance next time) (5-9.30pm, closed Mon)
• Tapas Music Bar (modern tapas)
• Teens of Thailand (cocktail bar, gin-focused)
• Thaipioka (cocktails influenced by Thai flavours, B350) (7pm-2am daily)
• The Jam Factory (crafts, stores)
• The Rose Natural Wine Bar (small space, about 14 bottles usually. B350++ per glass, B1,600 upwards per bottle)
• The White House (great food and cocktails)
• Timo & Tintin (good coffee, gallery space)
• To More (jazz bar, nice cocktails)
• Varen (good coffee)
• Vesper (bar)
• Walden Home Cafe (good coffee, Parisian interiors)
• Wattanapanich (beef and goat soup noodles) (9am-7pm daily)

The post Bangkok, Thailand appeared first on Foodgazer.

Thoughtful food, deft execution, interesting ideas – Chocha has morphed into one of the most interesting spots in town.

It took a bit of a journey to get here though. Way back in 2016, we said it was potentially one of our favorite places in KL, what with its delish range of teas, great cincalok fried chicken (and kinda promising other dishes), and gorgeous interior. Fast forward to 2017 and food wasn’t quite as good as we hoped it’d become, and the food quality was wildly inconsistent with each visit. By 2019, we’d go a lot more frequently to Botak than to Chocha (that’s a whole different story, though, with the latest iteration of drinks being nice but slightly too sweet).

So imagine our surprise when we saw the new revamped menu featuring lots of familiar bits and bobs from Ketawa Lunch Club @ Rumpun (hey, we only had like 3 IG posts about it). And by pulling from and riffing on some of the best moments of Ketawa, the new chef and new menu have the makings of a real hit. Now to work on expanding into a full menu, and having rotating specials for regulars. And call me regulargae or foodgaeregulareats, because I’m out to slam my MCO-enlarged ass down into Chocha’s chairs over and over again.

And let’s get this out of the way: if they can replicate the Ketawa experience in a condensed, consistent, concise menu at Chocha, they have the makings to be one of my favorite restaurants in town.

Anyway, we ordered the whole currently-available menu, so here’s a full marathon run through of the dishes:

Coconut bread and fermented coconut oil

I don’t mind the bread (think a slightly harder-outside, and less-gummy-inside version of the coconut buns we grow up eating) but the highlight for this was the coconut oil at Ketawa. Missing the strong punch of coconut oil this time, so maybe the fermentation didn’t work out for the batch. A real shame, because this has the potential to set the stage for the meal and it didn’t quite pan out that way.

Tenggiri pate, eggplant chips

Mild. Quite subtle. It does grow on you, though it risks being overwhelmed by any other flavors at the table. Could do with a few more elements to either double down on the oiliness / fishiness, or add a different layer of flavor. Eggplant chips were nice and crisp but ultimately could be replaced by any other crispy dipping vehicle really. Could be interesting if this had an additional eggplant sambal to go with the chips and pate?

Yam mille feuille

All technique, baby. Sheets and sheets and sheets, but combined with the near-opposite texture of biting into a yam cake. Love that contrast, thanks to the crispiness outside. Delicious dish.

Tempura banana blossom with sambal cream

The banana blossom is having a bit of a spotlight moment right now (hey, even Pizza Roma has it on a special) and I’m happy for it. I’m even happier for the sambal – it’s delicious! Pairs great with the well-fried tempura. And it’s great to go with drinks, eh?

Which reminds me to remind you to not forget about the drinks here. Because Chocha certainly hasn’t forgotten about them. Your choice of libations are extensive here. Go with a bottle of wine first (there’s a whole host of natural, biodynamic and sustainable wines to pick from), follow up with a sake (the Korin Yuki Junmai is a biodynamic, absolutely gorgeous sake), and maybe round off the night with a few cocktails from Botak – though I’d suggest you ask them to tone down on the sweetness. But take a look at the ingredients going into them and tell me you aren’t excited. Bunga Raya, for instance, mixes tuak with hibiscus kombucha and mangosteen. Come on!

Chicken feet

So good we ordered it twice. Boneless! Deboned! Delicious! Gelatinous! Soy caramel outside.

Bitter gourd, cucumber, pomelo, black bean

Interesting combo. Felt more like a side dish though that needed another component to go with it as an anchor. Enjoyed the flavors without being too enthused by it. Definitely gets you thinking though.

Cured jenahak, kedondong

Again, very interesting, but not my thing.

Local flowers, vegetables and leaves, jackfruit seed cream, cincalok dressing

Familiar! The jackfruit seed cream was good again, but I was really pleased they had the cincalok dressing this time. I previously said it was crying out for something like a strong fig sambal etc, but this cincalok works! It’s delicious. Nice variety of vegetables too.

Mushroom, salted duck yolk, curry leaf, mustard seed vinaigrette

Tasty beer grub. Not a knock on it, but this does bear resemblance to something you’d get from Table & Apron etc. Cooked well, has just enough of local elements to make it both tasty and accessible, without being too exciting.

Deep fried kembong, budu mayo

Budu mayo bit too mild, but holy shit that kembong is fantastic! Probably my favorite kembong dish ever. Light years away from over-fried over-dried kembong, the flesh was perfectly, just perfectly cooked. Salivating just thinking about it.

Abalone with XO butter

Yum. Really good. Sabah abalone, slightly smoky, thick but not overwhelming XO. Can’t ask for more, really.

Tamarind glazed marinated duck, pickled mustard leaf

Duck was a misstep IMO and we gave feedback to the chef on this and the goat dish (more on that later). Essentially nothing too special with the duck, meat was overcooked for my liking, and some parts were excessively sour. To be fair, it looks like the plainest / most normcore item on the menu, and it certainly turned out to be.

What I wouldn’t give for this to had been swapped out with the transcendental smoked chicken from Ketawa instead. I do hope they look at reworking this dish because there’s so much promise and good technique in the other dishes and it’s disappointing for that to go to waste in a Main Plate.

Wild patin, mango sambal, roselle leaves

Another familiar sight! There were more variety of leaves at Rumpun but this is fundamentally the same dish – except, guess what? They stepped it up a notch, neff. Previously said mango sambal too mild – much stronger here. Said skin not crisp enough – properly crisp here at Chocha. Can’t fault the cooking of the fish at all, it was excellent. One of the highlight dishes of the night, really, this and the kembong. Just a joy to eat.

Winter melon cooked in dried shitake broth, Chinese celery

I admire and appreciate what they’re doing and where they’re going with this, but personally didn’t enjoy it. Most of the table did. Which is good! I like it when places push the boundaries and don’t try to cater to everyone (which usually translates to just dumbing it down to the common denominator). Bold and pretty unique flavor pairing here. I personally much prefer the texture and flavor of the braised winter melon at Chipta, but eh apples and oranges.

Heirloom red rice, chicken wing and skin, sweetcorn

Langit to the fore. Y’all know I don’t usually like mushy rice but damn does it work here. It’s like a mix of rice pudding and risotto, thanks to all the starch. The chicken wings are delicious by the way. Perfectly done. And the chicken skin as well! Wow. Not overly crispy like they can sometimes get, just crisp enough to still enjoy the chewiness of it. Lovely. Some didn’t enjoy the sweetcorn in it (overly sweet apparently) but I liked it. They might look at changing the variety etc of the sweetcorn to get something a bit less sweet and more uhm corny.

Regardless, very solid dish in my opinion! After the patin, this is easily my favorite main dish.

Goat char siew

Unfortunately can’t say the same about this. The star of this dish is the accompanying spring onion and ginger relish – blisteringly fiery and sweet and just begging to be paired with dishes other than this char siew. I like goat but I’m wondering if they did a char siew just to make it more accessible and avoid the curry route. I mean, yeah, it’s not game-y (which is not good for me since I like game-y goat), but it’s also way too sweet. This dish needs work, and preferably a rework IMO.

Only two desserts on the menu. Both good.

Chocolate from Pahang, fig ice cream

Tasty. What it says on the label. If you’re familiar with Choc Concierge, and the recent boom of local figs etc, you’d roughly be able to guess how it tastes. It’s good, not great.

Rice custard, jackfruit, coconut

Preferred this. Tasty! Not amazing but I can’t say no to jackfruit and rice custard.

I do think the desserts are a bit more straightforward than the other dishes though. Would be good to see them bring in a pastry chef that can really develop it further and extend the menu to another layer of depth from the desserts section. I mean, I generally love Sitka‘s desserts so would obviously love to see Chocha step it up with desserts at that level.

Overall thoughts on the meal? Already summarized it above. Great, with greater potential. Imagine if they reworked the goat and duck, expanded the menu with more experimental dishes, and beefed up the dessert department – we’d be in for a real treat with Chocha. More to come then!

The post Chocha, 2020 appeared first on Foodgazer.

The food scene is pretty underrated here IMO, especially for the non-local food. And the drinks? Wow. Best gin ever. Unfortunately a lot of our favourite joints closed down during the pandemic.

Anyway, as per usual, summarized some of my top picks below. Ctrl+F to read more about a place.

Last updated: 29 July 2023 – photos added and I am told this now formally qualifies as a proper list!

The Takeaway (kind-of in order of my personal must-go):

• Mawsim (must reserve ahead. Insane hospitality, dodgy location, excellent gin, jazz of course. Buy back a few bottles! That orange fizz gin cocktail is delicious, and the raisin gin butter wew)
• Sak Pub (could be my favorite craft beer bar at PP right now. All their brews hit the spot)
• Seekers (Phnom Penh-made gin! Also, 1st Friday every month is a great Seekers-based cocktail menu. IMO they should do it every night, it’s such a great place)
• Samai (Thursdays-only cocktail parties at the distillery, delicious cocktails)
• Malis (great breakfast spot, delicious Khmer food)
• Mexicano (Proper perfect tortillas, addictive frozen margaritas, delicious tacos overall. Thought the quality of the tacos has dipped a bit during the last visit.)
• Topaz (USD25 business lunch set is well worth it. Decent French food – not quite Hanoi-tier, but there are some good dishes)
• Sushi Lab (USD 25 lunch omakase sushi set! And it’s good!)
• Pizza 4P’s (it’s not as good as in Vietnam but it’s still very very good!)
• Garage Sale (tasty smash burgers)
• Katanashi (legit izakaya, quality has dipped but still solid. Love the feel, and love the food even more)
• Sundown Social Club (gorgeous interiors, great fish tacos, cocktails better and cheaper than Coley’s Koktels, some cocktails may be a tad too sweet)
• So Wat Coffee Roasters (cafe hidden away inside an alley, with a large roasting area in front. Note: apart from So Wat and Story etc, not many 3rd wave coffee spots in PP. Don’t expect a scene like Hanoi or KL, it’s not quite there yet.)
• La Volpaia (it aint cheap, but the pastas are good. And the setting is lovely)
• Soba and Udon Chiyoda (great tempura and soba – could be mid Tokyo level – but expensive)
• The Chug Lab (tucked away in a housing area, metal and craft beer. Giggity)
• Embargo (craft beer from around Indochina and more, worth visiting after Katanashi etc)
• Delikat Gelato (delicious gelato) (rebranded to Pinocchio Gelato?)
• Le Marche (great French grocery store with lots of nice products – and a cafe upstairs)
• Farmhouse (nice Chemex pourover, super chill vibe. Great to relax and/or work)
• Brooklyn Pizza (good pizza, great craft beer)
• Story Coffee Roasters (more commercial feel, but the filter coffee was great)
• Feel Good Coffee (espresso wasn’t great but deserves a revisit)
• Nesat Seafood House (beautiful place, lots of greenery, delicious pasta pastis, good to great seafood – although quality has dipped quite a lot in the latest visit)
• Eleven One Kitchen (good Khmer food, better than 72 Restaurant. Nice setting)
• Indy Steak(order the fried chicken and bring it to Tini – although since Tini has closed down, you might want to eat it at your air BnB)
• Long After Dark (good selection of whisky. Whisky flight worth it. Individual drinks may be a bit pricey)
• La’Baab (decent Khmer fare, very nice setting, pricey)
• Odin Bar (used to be a fantastic place, but it feels very different now. No longer the Tokyo-vibes of a hidden whisky bar with only Japanese patrons, smoking away at the countertop. More limited whisky options now, though they still have a wide range. Food nowhere near as good as it used to be. Plus it’s bloody expensive)
• No Style (Maruhi Sakaba-level yakitori, cool setting)
• Khema Pasteur (decent breakfast place)
• 72 Restaurant (relatively cheap Khmer food, not bad)
• Le Boutier (decent cocktails – best to ask to tone down the sweetness)
• Integrite (nice setting, very relaxing, coffee expensive and so-so)
• Open Wine (Pretty place, French food. USD 14 bistro lunch is cheap but food underwhelming especially compared to Hanoi)
• Pepe & Co (local artisan charcuterie, made from local ingredients. Truly delicious stuff. Super informative and friendly owner too.) Tragically, this has closed
• Tini (cocktails better than Coley, great coffee, great vibe, can bring outside food etc – recommended to bring in from Indy House. Absolute gem of a place) Tragically, this has closed
• Masamune (ramen better than KL, great gyoza too) Tragically, this has closed
• Phka Slaa Khmer (Great Khmer food without the Malis price – the USD 6 lunch set is killer value) Tragically, this has closed
• HanaMizuki (solid tempura in a Japan-like tiny spot) Tragically, this has closed

Haven’t visited the following places yet: Botanico Wine (jazz and craft beer), Kingdom Breweries, Seibur (cocktails), Enso (great breakfast?), Chubby Brother បងម៉ាប់ អយស្ទ័រ 1 (grilled stuff for sharing), Piccolo Italia (pizzeria), The Providore ($10 Spanish platter), 54 Langeach Sros (great ribs, goat with black ants etc), Jidaiya (legit yakitori – eggplant dote-katsu is a must), The Box Office (craft beer), Bouchon Wine Bar, Himajin, Buffalo Sister, Friends the Restaurant, Romdeng, Kinin (pasta pastis, kampot lok lak, drinks), Lot 369 (coffee), Maloop (good food, good cocktails), Juniper Gin Bar (cash only) (5-7pm happy hour!), d.e.s. Coffee roasters, Cheriny (pastries, cakes, desserts), Himawari Microbrewery (craft beers), noisy chili tap house, Voodoo Boulevard (cocktails), Oh San ramen, Prei speakeasy, The Keys by Tomaka (cocktails), Itacate (Taco Tuesdays)

Integrite:

• Decent espresso, not amazing. Everything seems a bit pricey. Although Gin & Tonic with Roku for USD 5, and Monkey Shoulder Old Fashioned USD 6 were enticing. Lovely top floor setting. Super chill.

Sundown Social Club:

• Gorgeous views, gorgeous interiors. Less grand than Pacific Standard Bar but I prefer how it looks. Bit like Miami was smashed against Pacific Standard Bar, if that makes sense.
• Great fish tacos. Nice and crispy, not soggy at all. Good flaky flesh too. Eggplant tacos were terrible though. So watery, eggplants poorly cooked
• Very good cocktail actually. Sundown Social Club Special cocktail. Very boozy, can taste the high alcohol content, but not too sweet. Much better than Coley’s KOKtel menu and cheaper

Nesat Seafood House:

• What a beautiful place. Lovely open kitchen. So lovely. Hard wood tables. Boat with cushions on it, and tables. Lots and lots of greenery everywhere. Have I said the open kitchen is gorgeous? It is. Draft $1 even before happy hour strikes
• They’ve moved, by the way, to a much bigger place, and it’s arguably even prettier now. Lots of open space, open air, lots of plants
• Pasta pastis is delicious. Damn. Don’t like pastis but it’s a stroke of brilliance to pair it with the creamy sauce. Rich, decadent, bite of sweetness and er acid? Astringency? Whatever it is, it’s great. An excellent plate of pasta – only point to nitpick is pasta could be more al dente
• Nesat madness platter – lovely grilled squid, cooked perfectly. Crab super sweet, delicious with the kampot pepper. Prawns sadly not very fresh. Would advise to steer away from this platter and get the other dishes. Hard to go too wrong here, it’s just seafood cooked simply but well. Love the place tbh.

Mory pizza:

Back-of-a-van style pizza oven. Pretty cool. Nice toppings, poor crust, don’t expect too much. Good enough if you’re looking for something to soak up the alcohol

Samai:

Go on Thursdays, but bring a friend. Or a group of friends. And go early, it gets super packed. Fun stuff though. Try all the rums and the cocktails and the delicious chocolate truffles. Most of the cocktails are pretty dope. I did ask them to tone down the sweetness even before I ordered though, so might not be able to ascertain accurately. Damn I do love those truffles though. Anyway, the store is open pretty much everyday and it’s right opposite the distillery so you can check that out too during other days.

Malis:

What a gorgeous courtyard. Open air, lots of greenery etc, perfect place to be in the early morning. Unfortunately, no fermented amok in the morning though, and I hear that’s great. Fortunately, breakfast is very much impressive enough to warrant many returns.

Had the Kuy Teav Prahok Ktis (USD 4.80) which was bloody delicious. The pork broth came separately from the dry noodles, and boy was it a big portion. Huge pork rib inside. And I loved the noodles too! The fermented fish paste was delicious. Huge plump, juicy prawns. Overall dish was impressively subtle with its layers of flavors.

Farmhouse:

Very decent Chemex pourover. Nothing exceptional but it does the job. Also, very chill and quiet place. Perfect to chill/work.

Le Marche:

A very well-stocked French grocery store. Impressive range of stuff. And they have a cafe upstairs. Neat.

Mexicano:

Best believe these are the best tacos I’ve had, and nothing in KL even comes remotely close. The decor inside is gorgeous of course. And the frozen margarita (USD 3) is so addictive. Not too sweet at all. Dangerous!

Tacos are USD 7 but they come in a set of 3 and are absolutely packed to the brim. Only gripe with the place is they overload the tacos a bit too much IMO. Becomes messy. Not that it matters, it’s still delicious. And the tortilla shells don’t break apart like at Momo’s, and don’t go soggy and limp like at most other places. Because the tortillas are…god, so bloody good. The taste and bite of the corn is perfect.

Great great tacos. Won’t bother telling you which ones I got, because I’m confident they’ll all be good.

Seekers:
Surely a must-visit. What a beautiful place. They really should open up every night for cocktails, instead of only on the 1st Friday of each month. Ah well. You can still buy the bottles during normal days anyway. 11 native botanicals from the Mekong river (everything from pomelo to pandan to palm seed) and spring water from the Kampot mountains make a bloody good gin. Oh, and don’t sleep on their bottled martini. Surprisingly great!

Lot 369:

• Leafy entrance, green wall at the side, plants at each table. The greenery seems to be a common theme in PP.
• Long black served too hot at first. Beans roasted by the famous Feel Good chaps. When it cools down a bit though, the flavour is good. Robust without being overly roasted/burnt. Laces of acidity. Very drinkable. Good deal better than a lot of places in KL, I’ll give them that.
• Chicken bobor was a mistake to order. Comes floating in a massive bowl of soup. Never a fan of porridge, especially when it’s this watery. Oh well.

Phka Slaa Khmer

• Gorgeous place. Bit glitzy without being tacky.
• USD 6 lunch set is fantastic value. Green curry chicken – chicken is tough and stringy but the curry delicious. A watery curry far removed from the usual Thai fare – barely any heat, but it bursts with a more complex medley of flavours. A tad salty though. The pork rib (also in the curry) is very tender. Dumplings are good – crunchy wonton skin outside isn’t anything special but the filling is surprisingly rich, meaty, fatty, and has a nice bite to it. Clams are fresh and the sauce is great. Tastes like a very mild touch of white wine, and lemongrass gives it a SEA-spin.
• Was told to get pumpkin flowers but not available today sadly.
• Coconut expensive at USD 2 but really great. So sweet and soothing.

Hanamizuki

Is this Japan? A 7-seater izakaya, stumbled upon it – can’t even find it on Google Maps for that matter. There’s jazz! And they only have kushiage and tempura, plus some other small dishes. Oh, no smoking inside, so I suppose it’s not Japan. Plus the ventilation is…non-existent, so expect to sweat when the cooking gets going.

But anyway the $7 tempura set was great great value. Ran out of shrimps so he swapped out with pork for me – and oof the pork tempura is good. Not the greatest coating but it’s almost certainly better than the vast majority in KL (so much better than Tendon Kohaku KL lol but that’s a different story). Can’t remember the last tempura in KL that matched up to this – perhaps Makoto? Haven’t been back there for close to 1.5-2 years though. Anyway, juicy and tender pork inside this one. And boi the tempura set is just an endless array of more and more deep-fried goodness. Only drawback is it’s a bit greasier than the best tempura spots in Japan. So much food though!

Also had the hot udon with a lovely subtle, soothing broth. So-so noodles but liked the broth a lot.

Embargo:

Tucked away further down inside the same lane as Sushi Lab, Katanashi etc. Craft beer spot, mainly featuring Cambodian breweries on tap. Generally not a huge fan of Cerevisa (Himawari is a bit better), but prices are cheap and the breweries are slowly improving. Worth supporting. Nice, chill place too. And lots of other bottles available.

Taste Budz:

Dosa is very meh, nothing on MTR. Great idli though.

Pepe & Co:

A local artisanal charcuterie, using local ingredients to make everything from fennel salami to guanciale. Both of which I tried and both of which are bloody delicious. The owner is also super friendly and informative, chat with him for recommendations if you’re not sure what to get. Love this place.

Le Boutier:

Cocktails. Tiny, gorgeous place – 3 floors, each one seats 10 people at a squeeze. A tight squeeze. Decent cocktails but generally all too sweet – definitely ask them to tone down the sweetness.

Khema Pasteur:

Decent “Western”-style breakfast place. USD 12 for free-flow breakfast but IMO not worth it, given the limited options. Heard the steak frites and pate here are good, so maybe try those. Pain au choc was nice, croissant wasn’t. The sausage that came with the “eggs your way” was nice too.

Feel Good:

Two outlets, as far as I know. Went to Feel Good II, which is under a hostel, and next door to Botanico. Deserves a re-visit. Espresso I had there was so-so, though Tini gets a special blend from Feel Good that tastes great. Very nice place to chill at and work/relax anyway.

Sushi Lab:

What a find! USD 25 for the lunch set omakase is such a steal. The female Japanese sushi chef ran the show. Snails for starter was a surprise – very atypical of the usual sushiya, to say the least! – but loved it. Portion was surprisingly massive, but I do love me some snails. The nigiri in general ranged from good to great. Rice was nice and warm, no temperature modulation in general but at least it was warmer than Ori and Oribe. Bit more vinegar would be better too. Also there’s a lot more wasabi here than in most places.

Standouts were the ika/squid which easily contends with Ori/Oribe, barracuda with yuzu kosho, sawara (with a touch of chili!), and the akami (one of the better renditions I’ve had).

Great pacing, by the way. 90 minutes just flew by. Amazing value at USD 25. It’s not the most sophisticated omakase experience by any means, but would easily be top 5 in KL. Worth visiting for dinner too, of course. But that lunch deal is unbeatable. Oh, and they also serve a ginger ice cream that’s so much better than the ice cream ending at Ori and Oribe.

So Wat Coffee Roasters:

• What a cool place. Right up front is the roaster, go further in to find the tucked-away coffee bar.
• Costa Rica single origin espresso: good cream, perfect temp, good body to it. Generally very good.
• Chill setup. Single wood (proper wood, as always here) and pipe table that seats 6. A 5-seater bar around the espresso machine. That’s all the space there is. The roasting space is as big, if not bigger.

Brooklyn Pizza:

• So happy I came here. Beats most of the pizzas in Malaysia easily. Inside looks like a blend of Mikey’s and a homey Italian joint. However, upon 2nd visit (1 Jan 2020), the Brooklyn Bridge wasn’t that good. Probably steer away from the pies that have too much meat/toppings on them.
• Riel Craft Beer – IPA ($4 on draft): Very nice. Bright bite at first, hops linger for quite a bit. Sure, it’s 4x the normal stuff on draught in PP – which actually is much better than like a Tiger or Carlsberg or whatever piss Pilsner the usual bars stock in Malaysia – but it’s still a really good price. It’s half the price of a craft beer on tap in KL.
• Riel Craft Coffee Stout – thick, very coffee-y, but gets a bit overwhelming after a bit. Too syrupy in mouthfeel.
• Riel Craft Honey Blonde – insanely sweet. Too sweet for me. Still finished it, but it was a chore.
• New York classic cheese thingy – fantastic pizza. Crust as hard as Mikey’s when it first came to Malaysia, but had a more satisfying chew to it. No flopping. The cornicione not as good as Proof etc but small price to pay for such a delicious bite to the crust. Tart, citrusy, umami tomatoes and very good cheese. Would eat it regularly if it was in Malaysia.

Chiyoda:

• Place is expensive. USD 16 for a (very small) starter, a drink (well, at least I can get a highball), soba and tempura.
• Love the place outside and in. Like an authentic slice of Tokyo. And surprise surprise, the food could be right out of Tokyo too.
• The appetiser was alright. Slimy okra was almost too slimy. Understated sauce was a bit too subtle.
• Tempura was excellent. Rivals Makoto in KL which means it’d be one of the best in KL. Perfectly crunchy, light batter without any feeling of greasiness. Prawn was plump and juicy. Vegetables still crisp inside.
• Soba even better. Far superior to any soba in KL. There’s a really satisfying bite to the noodle – grainy, chewy, and you can feel the bruised edges and all the nooks and crannies. Better than the one I tried in Fukuoka, not as good as the best in Tokyo. But definitely formidable.

Long After Dark

• Not bad. It’s dark inside, vinyls on the wall, alright collection of whiskey, some cool beers on tap. Long ass bar seating (again, proper timber) that can sit 15 people in total.
• Drinks are a bit pricey but the USD 12 explorer flight is great value. Nikka All Malt (haven’t had it before, very marshmallow-like), Laphroaig Quarter Cask (always good), Rebel Yell Rye (not a distinctive rye apart from the sharp initial bite), Bushmill’s Black (never been a fan)
• Wanted gnocchi but finished. Empanadas sucked, so probably best to stay away from the (expensive) food

Story Coffee Roasters:

• Outside, leafy as most places here are. Inside, more upscale and polished and sort of clinical. USD 3.50 for the filter which is a well-poured V60 to be fair. Very good filter.

Masamune:

• Ridiculously cool location. Tucked away inside a tiny alley that has a bunch of other bars and restaurants and little stores. Dope. Cool inside too. Reminiscent of walking into Seirinkan to a certain extent. Small place at ground floor, about 4 can sit at the ‘bar’ – or, well, the top directly facing the semi-open kitchen (the customers are separated from the smoke by glass), and there are a couple of tables near the actual bar area.
• USD 7 lunch set (shoyu ramen + gyoza + Salad). USD 2 Asahi bottle
• Salad bright and crisp.
• Ramen fantastic. Rivals Keisuke Tonkotsu King in SG except it’s shoyu, not tonkotsu. Noodles are perfect. Don’t have to ask for hard. Auto-hard, bro. Stiff like morning wood. Slurpy bite to them. Bamboo shoot not good. Meat (shoulder) very lean and not amazing either. Shoyu broth subtle but good – although only gripe is it’s a bit too salty. All comes together for a Tokyo-level ramen.
• Gyoza – again, better than KL. Beats Hanabi’s. Perfectly crispy at one end. Resistive but soft on the other.
• Ajitama cold and very salty, shouldn’t have added it

Indy House:

• How not to love the concept. Small place, 1 man runs the grill from 11 to 3, and 4 until sold out. Choose your protein, he grills it. Also, this dude has such a strong Thai rockstar vibe. Chicken @ USD 3 comes with fries, rice, huge salad. Place is always packed with people waiting downstairs for their to-go order, or eating inside. Packed for a reason, dawg. It’s not amazing but the chicken is tender and juicy inside. The accompanying sauce is very slightly spicy and sweet, and pairs great. Simple, but satisfying. Although rice mushy so I didn’t eat much. And the fries are frozen fries. Go for the pork instead of the chicken.

Tini:

• This place speaks to my goddamn soul lmao. Cafe, bar, art space, cinema, outdoor area, coffee that’s cheaper if you get it to-go, interesting cocktails, most of the furniture and decor on loan from an antiques store. You can even bring food from outside to eat in. The Indy House guy came buy to collect plates.
• Happy hour goes from 5 to 7pm: 25% off all bottles of wine, buy 1 free 1 glass of house wine / cocktail
• Great music too. Heard while I was there: Flume, Grimes, Royal Blood, Sufjan Stevens, The National, Radiohead, The xx
• Cafferinha (USD 4): happy hour means this costs USD 2, or MYR 8. Insane. Also much better than Coley’s KOKtel range. Coffee-infused cachaca cuts through immediately with a boozy haymaker. Palm sugar and lime round out the simple drink – not too sweet, which I’m always thankful for.
• Don’t Be Shy (USD 4): Stolichnaya vodka, fresh watermelon juice, mint, lime. So refreshing. Tastes like a freshly squashed watermelon juice, with all the pulp. Real mouthfeel, namean. Like a buzzy, boozy watermelon juice. Balanced and refreshing.
• Merik Mule very tasty too. Lovely peppercorn bomb.
• The M. Chapouter Marius wines were not my thing but hey, cheap. Not a huge loss.
• Long black very good too. USD 1 for a takeaway

Sesame Noodle Bar:

• Like a lot of other takeaway spots here, they use a natural plant fibre biodegradable takeaway box.
• Nice looking space, plays a lot of Radiohead
• Thor Buns: Good pork. Soft buns are ehhh but the spicy firm pork is delicious.
• Noodles with ground pork: pricey at USD 4.50 but big portion but ehhhh it doesn’t taste great. Nice, not amazing, noodles.
• Also there looks like there’s a legit Chinese dumplings store next to it

Katanashi:

• Izakaya down another insane alley. Like the back roads of Tokyo. Random dodgy looking, then you go in and there’s a whole bunch of tiny Jap joints and some not-so-tiny ones. Katanashi for instance is actually one of the bigger ones around. But it’s still cool. It’s very cool.
• USD 1.90 for a highball. Not too boozy, but that’s okay. Helps to drop the alcohol level a bit. Definitely tastes like a highball right out of Japan. Play the dice game anyway, it’s fun.
• Downstairs, about 8 people can fit around the bartop. Space for about 8 to 10 others around the tables. Then there’s an upstairs spot.
• Katanashi beef steak: USD 3.90 for 100g, got 180g. Great. Only gripe is that sometimes the meat ends up getting cold by the time it reaches the table. A could-order, rather than a must-order.
• Scotch Shime Saba (USD 3.90) – salted, vinegared mackerel. Then they torch it. Brilliant. Great portion. Very vinegary. Inside soft and luscious. So it’s like a ceviche inside but outside is smoky and firm. Skin not very crisp but not limp and chewy either. A must-order
• Mentai butter gohan: pretty nice.
• Mentai & potato ahijo: meh bread, but super delish oil and garlic. Get it!
• Pickles meh don’t order
• Squid and lemon thing: garlicky, lemony, umami. Squid is great, perfectly cooked. Bread isn’t great but does the job. The anchovy taste very prominent. Loved it overall.
• Osaka-style omelet: love it. Runny eggs, delicious dish.

The Snack:

• Grilled and deep fried shit basically
• Low tables, low stools, sauces on table, you know how we roll.
• Salad was tasteless, just random sliced up cucumbers and carrots
• Chili served at the table was very fiery but tasty
• Staff all super young + command of English non-existent
• Nice grilled frog. Slightly sweet which lent itself well to the ferocious chili
• Lunch set: fried chicken stuff. Juicy chicken. Skin too dry though. Thai-tasting sweet dipping sauce.
• Decent meal, worth dropping by if you’re nearby, but don’t go out of your way

72 Restaurant:

• Was told this is the best cheap Khmer restaurant around
• They’ve all sorts of dishes, alright. Rice, noodles, the whole gamut.
• Ordered random fried noodles. Kinda pricey. USD 3 gets a bunch of stuff fried together. Wet noodles, which I’m not usually a fan of, but at least not too soggy.
• Satisfying without being great. Probably better value to get the rice stuff. Not amazing.

Delikat Gelato:

• Love the low key palace-like vibes. Long ass bench thing is a brilliant way to maximise seating space while giving a nice structural flow to the floor. Love the tree too, right at the entrance. Huge cook-space, completely see through behind the glass panels. See-through, sectioned-off washroom area: open the door to a garden-like short walk to get to the toilets. Gorgeous.
• Avocado ice cream: delicious gelato. Thick, creamy, lush. Rivals Piccoli Lotti, really does. USD 1.50 for a big ass scoop. Really happy that it’s not too sweet
• Free yoghurt: wow, delicious. Much better than Llao Llao etc. Imagine this with the Llao Llao cookie sauce, god damn. Tart, not too sour, or too sweet, and it’s quite milky. Very pleasing, thick mouthfeel. Chewy, almost!

No Style:

• Yakitori. The bar counter sits 8 in total. Very small place. There’s one table by the side that can sit 4 people, then there’s a washroom. That’s about it.
• Fucked up card game unlike the cool dice game at Katanashi where everyone wins. Here, I ended up paying USD 2.20 for a normal size draft instead of USD 0.90. Thanks fam.
• 12/10 for atmosphere etc. But food-wise, it’s largely around the same level as Maruhi Sakaba only – okay, but not great.
• Tsuya Buta: Pretty good. Fatty. Not amazing.
• Kamo Negi: Duck breast and leek. Very nice duck. Leek was alright.
• Negi Maki: Nice, smoky, salty bacon.
• Ichiya dori: Very juicy chicken leg. Could do with more salt
• Chicken pate: Very nice crispy chewy biscuit. The pate is not bad – Yench does better pate
• Truffle pepper shrimp: Alright.
• Atsu age: tofu with walnut miso. Meh
• Gari Bara: Pork with weird ginger. Meh

Odin Bar:

• Jazz and whisky, baby. Long single bar counter seats up to 12. Massive, long timber piece. Beautiful. Prices are steep though.
• Must be 500 bottles up in here at least. Beautiful. Crazy whisky bar.
• All Jap clientele the entire night (the first time). The second time, there was a group of noisy Frenchmen. So annoying.
• Akkeshi is a new distillery established in 2016 in Hokkaido. This one is a vatted blend of non-elated malts matured for 5-14 months in bourbon casks, bottled in Jan 18 and released in a limited run of 10,000 bottles. Clean, straightforward nose that then develops into a distinct, strangely pleasing fermentation aroma. Malty cereal mixed with mustard seeds, almost. Tastes faintly of ginger, of ripe apples, rich, short finish etc. Best Jap whisky I’ve had.
• See whisky reviews for further notes (Hokkaido Akkeshi, Hibiki 17, Springbank 17, SMWS 125.69)
• Tsukemen: USD 7.50 feels very expensive for no pork, no meat etc. But then it comes out and the noodles are just perfection. Chewy, resistive, so slurpy, so pleasurable to gnaw at. The broth is shrimp flavour bean paste, ridiculously thick, more solid than liquid, and too salty for me. But I still ate it anyway, that insanely salty insanely thick sesame and (anchovies?) broth. Tokyo-level, but unfortunately not around anymore.
• Tantanmen at USD 8 was great nevertheless. Spicy, but not too spicy. Rich, but not too rich. Lovely bite to the ramen. Definitely recommended to order this.

Open Wine:

USD 14 bistro lunch, 11-5pm everyday. Is it worth it? Kinda. It’s cheap, but food not great. Definitely worse than Topaz. Brown bread – decent bread, butter too cold. Chardonnay by the glass wasn’t too bad though. Starter – mozza – was very much lacking in flavor. Basil oil was too subtle, and both the tomato and mozza weren’t great. Main – fish was overcooked. Had to season with salt and pepper myself too – imagine that, adding more salt in a French restaurant! Apple tart so-so. Would suggest sticking to Topaz biz lunch, but no harm trying this of course.

Eleven One Kitchen TTP:

• Smaller than expected, but looks great. Partially open air, plenty of natural light
• Fri & Sat from 7pm onwards, there’s a $4.95 BBQ Pork Ribs, chicken wings, seafood (usually shrimp skewers) and a side. Sounds like a good deal to me
• $5 for fish amok and rice. Which isn’t super expensive but does feel a bit expensive compared to a lot of other options around. Atas Khmer stuff
• The white rice strangely enough was nice. Smaller/shorter grains than I’m used to. Slightly sticky but not disgustingly wet like some rice can be sometimes.
• Fish amok was alright. Fish cooked perfectly. The curry subtle and yeah, just subtle. Nothing particularly remarkable about it.
• Luckily, the place is not too expensive. Still a good place to try it. Recommended also because of the setting of course

Topaz:

• USD 25 biz set lunch is good value for the setting. Gorgeous, glitzy place. Plus you get 3 courses, wine, and coffee/tea
• It’s beautiful inside. And the garden @ the back is splendid. Heck, even the walk to get in to Topaz is very nice. Inside, soothing, calm jazz
• The house red is quite nice.
• Bread is alright. Took the hardest one possible. I like the hard crust. But it’s a bit gluey inside. The butter is nice though, very good butter
• Surprise starter shrimp was okay
• Appetizer/starter – should have taken the charcuterie bar. The rilettes, pates look good. Instead, took froggu legs pan fried – plate very warm which was nice. Frogs are usually quite tasteless but could have done with more salt / more sauce directly on to the frog. Needed more flavour. Bit bland. Also cos pan friend, some parts not as nice and crisp as others so less flavour. Overall decent.
• Pork fillet mignon – looked great. Unfortunately very dry and tough. Not to the point of being inedible, but just enough to make me wonder if perhaps should have sent it back. But I trudged on away.
• Carrots are nice. Extremely soft. Quite salty though. French-level salty. But works well to take a bit of carrot and a bite of the pork.
• Sauce is nice, and helps to add moisture. Overall pretty good
• Pistachio financiers: looks brilliant. Plating and presentation perfectly on point, but the flavour isn’t quite there yet. They’re not great, but they do taste a bit better when paired with the long black, at least.
• Coffee: good. Even though the beans taste too roasted/dark for me
• To be fair, likely not even the main chef cooking

The post Phnom Penh, Cambodia appeared first on Foodgazer.

There’s just…too much. Of everything. The food is endless, the second-hand clothes are insane, you can drink at dressed-up cocktail bars and whisky shrines, or at tiny hole-in-the-walls masquerading as wine bars, or at a local izakaya that seats a maximum of five people, four of whom are already very much drunk, or you can forgo alcohol and instead spend the time eating and queuing up to eat and browsing used cameras, slack-jawed, and standing shoulder-to-shoulder at Mandarake to skim through manga, and taking photos of the pachinko and the people, who, by the way, are everywhere. Which is all to say: I don’t fancy cities, I don’t like skyscraper skylines, I don’t like masses of people, but I am absolutely addicted to Tokyo. There’s nothing like it.

So, anyway, it’s an impossible task to summarize Tokyo. I’m nowhere close to scraping the surface. But here’s what we’ll do. This is a summary of my personal must-visit spots, you can Ctrl+F to read more about each of them below. The full post also covers other spots that may be worth visiting. Read to find out, I suppose!

Last update (9 Jan 2024): 

The Takeaway (kind-of in order of must-go):

• Kappo Sanoya (sublime kappo. Every dish a hit. Sake pairing sensational, brought it to the next level)
• Gracia (fantastic tasting menu)
• Konjiki Hototogisu (best ramen ever for me. Clam based soup)
• Kagari echika fit ramen (top 3 ramen spot for me. Top-tier chicken ramen)
• Terunari (possibly my favorite food experience in Tokyo. Modern kaiseki at a bargain price. Best to book online beforehand)
• Bar Unknown
• The Hisaka Bar
• Mantensushi Marunouchi (some of my favorite sushi ever are from here. Modulation of temperature of the rice is so cool. Recommended to book online for dinner) 
• Ten To Sen
• Mantensushi Nihonbashi (possibly even better that the Marunouchi branch, at least the time I went. Lovely pieces. Though lacks the variety of the temperature modulation)
• Bar Ishinohana (my favorite bar in Tokyo)
• ENEKO (very unique experience, some very good dishes. Best to book online beforehand)
• Savoy Azabu-Juban (‘24 update: still good but nowhere near as good as before. I wonder what changed. best pizza in the world. Warning: it’ll ruin you. Pizza in Malaysia in comparison isn’t just in a different league, they aren’t even playing the same game)
• Gyukatsu Motomura (‘24 update: a lot more touristy now, with loads of branches. Still good though, but maybe not as shocking as the first time. Revelatory gyukatsu, prepare for crazy queues)
• Nata de Cristiano (perfect Portugese tarts. Take away only)
• Bear Pond Espresso
• Standing Sushi Bar, Shibuya (good sushi for cheap. Casual setting, and it’s a standing sushi bar! You kind of have to try it, don’t you)
• Glitch Coffee (best coffee in town)
• Bonjour Records (records, clothes, coffee. Good coffee)
• Ita Soba (best soba I’ve had, not too expensive)
• Torikizoku (cheap but very good yakitori)
• Jinroku (izakaya near Fuglen, Monocle etc)
• 麺屋 みちしるべ (Menya Michishirube) (great tonkotsu-style ramen)
• Kuriya Kashi Kurogi (warabi mochi is incredible, but expensive)
• Seirinkan (original bad boy of the pizza scene)
• Tsukiji Eel nisshin tasuke (great value eel if you’re in Tsukiji market)
• Chuuka Soba Tomita (a living legend dishes out a legendary bowl, but it’s more cerebral than enjoyable. Definitely not recommended for ramen beginners)
• Nakajima (go for the lunch sardine set – Yanagawa Nabe, enjoyable and comforting)
• 4/4 Coffee (good long black, heard the hand drip is great)

Bonjour Records is such a crazy dope store. Records, brilliant music played loud enough without being obnoxiously so. Brilliant books and zines. Vinyls, casettes, CDs. Clothes. And a coffee stand. Amazing stuff really. The vibe is exquisite. Slightly sub culture and street without being gaudy garbage like Supreme, namean. Y 302 for Guatemala pourover. Yeah I’m paying that price any day sir. Not the most refined pour but it’s very nice regardless. About the same or better than the one I had at Onibus. Goes on the list of must visit stores.

Kamasi Washington to Lana del Rey to Harriet Brown, the music here is exquisite. I find it difficult to even leave. What a place. So good. Listening to killer tracks properly played out loud while reading the Monocle Guide to Cosy Homes and sipping on a filter. Bliss.

Seirinkan
– what a crazy looking place. In a good way. Bgm is Beatles. Winding stairs up to multiple floors below and above. Pizza itself is…interesting, and great. Two types only. Very Neapolitan style in a way: watery-ish sauce, slightly soggy base, not sliced. The cornicione is killer. It’s not Pizza Savoy but god damn is it a million times better than Dihyang.

Shout out to Brooch – one of the best used stores so far. Fantastic selection and very reasonable prices. Bought a Givenchy sweater there.

Torikizoku

Cheap Y 321-a-skewer yakitori that beats almost everything in Malaysia (apart from Palillos). It’s a damn chain but God is it good. Keep the skewers and beer flowing (the beer goes for the same price too). Soft bones are great, pretty much everything is good. Come hungry, and come with friends. Thanks again, Ken, Ryan.

麺屋 みちしるべ (Menya Michishirube)

If you like tonkotsu, come here. Great broth. Noodles squiggly and stunning. Tsukemen perhaps even better. Simple joys in life.

Also, you know how Fukuoka is the birthplace of tonkotsu etc? Yeah, well, this place beats every tonkotsu there hands-down. So good.

Gohanya isshin daikan-yama

Right underneath some police box thing. Place looks ridiculously nice for lunch sets that start at 950 and top out at 1890. Most are 1300. This stupid gaijin went for 1.8k of course. And a tiny Kirin draft for 400 which is a rip-off for the size. At least the place is great! Dimly lit, but not too dim. Frank Socolow (sp?) plays in the background, amidst other great jazz tunes.

The rice is very good. But honestly Menya Hanabi in Malaysia has really great rice – probably even better than this one here. Not that this place is too far off. Nice bite, almost as good as Onigiri Bongo’s rice.

Sashimi : the maguro is great. Only slightly less fatty than Yamazaki’s. Nice resistance and creaminess to the salmon too. Lovely. Tempura good but a bit oily. Doesn’t compare to proper tempura spots like Tempura Tenko at Fukuoka or even Tempura Kohaku in Singapore. Still pleasurable though.

Avoid the Kirin draft. Tiny size. At least it’s not swill like Carlsberg and Tiger though, very very drinkable. Basically not the greatest food in the world. But atmosphere is stunning for the cheap prices.

Kagari echika fit ramen

Close to a religious experience. The tori paitan soba is just..something else.

Where to even begin with this ramen? I would be ecstatic if I could cycle between this and Afuri every other day. It’s an incredibly creamy chicken broth that isn’t overly oily and fatty. It’s rich in all the right ways. It’s silky. Luxurious. And the chicken breast is very good though I wish it was seared a bit for some textural contrast – but I’m nitpicking the best chicken breasts I’ve ever had. And it looks stunning for a sub 1k bowl of ramen. It matches the place itself – a super comfy and cramped oasis that shutters off the sounds of the world outside apart from the soft rumbling of the train overhead and the pitter patter of feet. It only sits a few people (of course), so queue up and wait outside. It’s worth it.

I want to eat this out forever until I get lockjaw, but even the creamiest of things come to an end eventually, and so this gluttonous slob mulched its way back home after (with a quick onigiri pit stop at Onigiri Bongo along the way).

Note: the rice with raw egg is good too. The egg is good, yeah, but the rice is excellent. Would love to try the risotto next time.

Kuriya Kashi Kurogi
A must-try but it’s a bit too pricey for multiple return visits, in my humble wallet’s opinion. Warabi mochi set is Y 2700, for instance.

But, hey, it’s in a gorgeous, gorgeous spot inside a campus. Beautiful layered roof and wall. Small indoor seating. Very comfy. Much larger space outside, which I bet is great during spring and summer.

The set comes with filter coffee (delicate, sweet, but decent body to it too), and some jelly thing (deliciously savoury and umami). The mochi itself is layered around daintily like iceberg…pebbles on a gorgeous lake. With pink flowers on the water. Presentation is top top notch. Very noice.

The texture of the mochi itself is incredible too. Not just soft and sticky but luxuriously, lusciously layered. Really stumped how to describe the texture but it’s a singular experience. Much more jelly-like than regular mochi but still retains a satisfying bite and the underlying flavour bursting through right at the end. Both kinako taste markedly different but both are great complements.

What a place! Expensive, very expensive, but very good.

ENEKO
What a sublime experience.

Food generally all stellar except for the doneness of the duck. And the desserts and petit four were too sweet for me, but that’s personal preference. Excellent service too. Y 10,692 including the meme egg, which is a bargain.

First, I started off with a picnic in a greenhouse garden. Crazy stuff in test tubes, lots of pruned plants and stuff to smell and touch and uh photograph. Some lubrication to start with. Then the picnic basket: a delicious crunchy brioche with mild-tasting unagi inside and punchy anchovy cream, foie gras with orange (this shit is wild. Foie gras and orange is a GENIUS combo), and a…kaipiritxa? Cherry tomato looking thang, with wine inside. Intense, sour, boozy, sweet, lovely. Spanish bloke walked me through the entire thing, then escorted me up to the dining area upstairs. Very much felt like walking from a garden up to a dining hall.

Truffled egg add-on: For an additional Y 1500! Not really worth it, but it’s a cool experience. Part of the yolk is removed and replaced with truffle injection.

Starter: Basque-style mushrooms, sliced super fine. Great texture, great technique, but so-so taste-wise. Good, not amazing. The tempura yolk is the star imo. Light tempura, and the yolk (removed from the truffled egg!) explodes in the mouth. Gorgeous. Take me back, please.

Fish: Bacon-rolled monkfish fillet, roasted red peppers sauce, pickled grapes. The bacon wrap is super thin! Almost looks like the skin of the fish itself, and feels like it (super light and crispy). Monkfish was perfect. Texture almost like scallops. Can taste the individual strands of the meat as it flakes away in the mouth. Moist as anything.

Meat: Charcoal-grilled duck breast, apple, basil, served on a very warm (nice!) marble (probably not?) plate. Duck unfortunately quite chewy. Lots of flavour while you chew away, gamey, bits of smoke, but the parts in the middle are just a bit too tough on the old jaws. Great with the sauces though – basil sauce, apple puree give the dish a sparkling new layer of flavours.

Dessert: Strawberries and roses. Comes with coffee (below-average espresso). The dessert was very interesting. Marshmallow base. Tastes more like super soft foam. But somehow both rose and strawberry flavours inside! Wild. Too sweet for me (y’know I like Sitka-style desserts), but wild.

Petit four: Basil and yogurt lollipop (it’s a shell! The shell cracks apart. Very cool. And tasty. Waitress gave me a second helping!). Raspberry and mint macaron (actually prefer the macarons from Tiny Temptress last time lol). Berry and pepper jelly (could do with more pepper, super sweet). Red wine bonbon (meh).

So, yeah, not the best ending. But a great meal nonetheless. And a great price imo.

Mantensushi Marunouchi

It’s a magical place. It really is.

Y6k for the dinner omakase is a crazy good bargain. You get 27 different dishes and yes, that’s not a typo. Nice, cozy space, everything comes out at a fast pace (but far from Jiro-style fast) over the 70-80 minutes meal, and there’s notably less of an emphasis on ebb and flow of flavours that you’d expect from the more premium, top-tier omakase courses. But it’s Y6k, so who gives a shit? The sushi is fantastic. The interplay of temperatures is stunning. Selected dishes below.

Snapper: crazy sweet fish. Paired with very very warm sushi rice. Surprising. Delicious. Great start.

Unknown drink: looks like diluted cum. Salty and warm. Nice.

Octopus sashimi: interesting. Salty, squiggly.

Sawada (spanish mackerel): skin delicately fired up. Wonderful. Just wonderful. The smokiness danced around the tongue and lingered for the rest of the Tokyo trip.

Saba: initially alright, just alright. Then the oil starts coming through slowly at first, then all at once, like a gushing oil well. Delicious. The saba itself is warmer than the snapper, and the rice is correspondingly less warm here. Interesting!

Tofu: Not jiggly, quite firm outside. Bite in, though, and it’s an explosion. Softer and creamier than cream cheese. Amazing. Incredible. In the note book, I just wrote: “Amazing!” five times, so yeah

Oysters: Intense. Briny. Sweet. Mouthwateringly good.

Enoki sushi: enoki colder than saba, so the temperature of the rice hikes up once again. Very warm, more vinegary.

Mentaiko: faintly spicy with wasabi, then the beads of roe explode into a million constituents in the mouth. Texturally, a goddamn delight. So satisfying. Better than the mentaiko in Fukuoka

Red snapper (kinmedai): Slightly too heavy-handed on the wasabi but still a good piece. The last time I was at Oribe, Nao-san served a better kinmedai though. This piece is a bit less sweet and bold.

Steamed egg: temperature too hot to eat straight away. Egg was alright. But the crab meat inside was great! Lots and lots of it. Delicate but held together enough to feel the chunks and chunks of crab.

Abalone sashimi: Immediate top note of yuzu opens up into an earthy mushroom umami I’ve never really associated with abalone. Firm texture, and each bite releases more earthiness. Wow!

Shirako (milt): Hey, isn’t this sperm? Milky, creamy.

Shrimp: warmest rice yet. Very very warm. The shrimp bursts into a creamy explosion but I’ve had sweeter shrimps before. Rice is the star.

Akami: Has to be the most flavourful lean tuna I’ve ever had. Gives way willingly to the bite, but has such a depth of flavour.

Otoro: Slightly, delicately warm rice. Super super fatty, melting, glistening, rich, oily beast of a fish slice. Best tuna I’ve ever had, hands down.

Ikura roe on rice: ikura itself not too cold, which is nice. Taste-wise, the Hokkaido Izakaya in Singapore still has the best ikura I’ve ever tasted.

Uni from Hokkaido: pretty good, but sadly uni was a bit too cold. Not the best I’ve had.

Tamago: pretty good. Layered nicely. About on par with Sourakuya at its peak, though less sweet.

Tiny clam soup: warm, sweet, fantastic. So satisfying. Vaguely tastes of sake at the back end.

Sea eel (anago): cold rice because…it’s aburi anago! Very very light smoke right at the back end but the juxtaposition of warm, almost hot, anago with cold rice is so good.

Tuna onions rice roll: Mmmm warm rice, chopped tuna, onions. Onion lingers a bit too much at the end but still very very good!

Sole strawberry as the ending! Perfect sweetness, IMO. Barely any tartness, just there at the back end. Better dessert than Eneko’s sweet stuff, lol.

Bar Orchard
Place feels like a dream, walking in. Size-wise, it’s about the size of Omakase. Bar counter is lovely. Lots of cool stuff and the ‘menu’ are the fruits.

Apple base first – very good. Pulpy apple. Bit of vodka flowing here and there. “Medium level” alcohol is surprisingly boozy. Egg white. Tasty, very tasty.

Persimmon – super sweet, fleshy. Delicious. I love persimmon. Comes with liquid nitrogen matcha liqueur (Wow! Sweet, bitter, delicate). Scoop the matcha and sip the persimmon and white wine. Sublime. Tasty, boozy, not too sweet.

Red pepper base – blowtorched bacon on top. Tastes almost like bak kwa without the sweetness. 7-spice etc, so it makes sense. Super foamy drink. Intense body and a fresh, spicy pepperiness. Bit of black pepper on the foam too. Bright and punchy.

Overall thoughts? Generally very good, but also overpriced. Y1000 cover charge (ouch). Total bill of Y7000 (insane). Preferred Bar Ishinohana.

Tompachitei @ Ueno

Katsuraisu for weekday lunches. 900 gets you pickles rice katsu etc. 5 counter seats and 4 tables. So you queue outside quite long lor. Tokyo like that lor. Super cozy homely feel inside. Run by an old couple.

Prefer the cabbage to maisen. Katsu is very good. Understandably the pork itself not as good cut as maisen. Less rich and deep in flavour. Then again this isn’t their recommended rosekatsu. It’s just the cheap lunch cut. Half the price. I really like the miso soup and the silky tofu. I love the homely feel of the place. I love that two people run everything. The chef actually leaves the counter to come and serve you. I love the crunchy crust, can’t fault that either. It’s just the inferior pork cut that lets it down a bit. I have no doubt their rosekatsu will be killer though.

Kagura (if you must eat sushi in Tsukiji, eat this)

Notes on Kagura in Tsukiji (outer market). Also, shout-out to the amazing grilled eel on a skewer (up to Y200 from 100, but it’s still to me) and the beef dumplings in the outer market. Y’all the real champs to this penny-pinching pauper.

But hey what’s Tsukiji without a sushi set or two. Kagura was my first stop before Yamazaki, and it took first spot in my hearttu. It’s a ramshackle hole in the wall, with vinyl curtains to keep out the winter chill (and cast a red hue over all the photos). There’s a bit of jazz in the background, like basically everywhere in Tokyo. The chef is super friendly. Sit by the counter if you can, there are only two small seats. Get any set that has a good mix of the usual nigiri and their aburi (grilled) specialties. Rice is generally alright here though would prefer a more vinegary style. Love the amount of wasabi though, perfectly balanced for each piece. The scallops? Stunning. Smooth, gentle, tender, ridiculously fresh.

And the whole course goes that way, pretty much. The shrimp, the tuna (even the least fatty cut feels absolutely infused with a rich fatty mouthfeel), the uni (incredibly rich and creamy without being overwhelmingly salty), and then there’s the grilled boys. All the seared stuff is on some nother other shit. The grilled char is like a flavour bomb overwhelming the senses. Gotta try this stuff. Only downer is the rice (not the best), the tamago (there are a lot of better ones around) and the negishio (ok ok la). Still a must visit though imo.

Tsuta

8.15am on a Thursday in winter, CNY eve. Waltzed in with no queue to collect the ticket I wanted: a 3pm slot. Can we all agree that the queue system is weird af though. You queue up then you have to go in and use the vending machine to order then give your ticket then get a card thing then go back in line.

Shoyu soba with chashu and wanton: Wanton sucks. Noodles soft and mediocre.

Chashu very soft and thin. Bit like bacon and ham in a way. Nice. The soup is good though, have to admit. Much better than the shoyu at tsuta Singapore. And strangely enough much less salty. Almost like two completely different bowls really. Really like the broth. It’s not top tier but it’s very good. Wouldn’t queue up for it again.

Ichiran @ Ueno

You know what, the Ichiran here was better than the Ichiran in Fukuoka. And it’s 24/7, which is great. Also, it’s definitely not as isolation chamber as you might think. If anything, it gets a bit noisier / more distracting than the regular ramen spots, since it’s so small and cramped.

Broth: good. Balanced. About the same level as the broth at Haneda Airport, which is to say it’s pretty good. Kind of around-ish the same level as Menya Shi Shi Do’s black garlic (Kuro) in KL. The chili doesn’t do much for me. 

Pork: decent, nothing to shout about. Better than some of the stuff in Fukuoka, worse than some of the spots in KL. Salted soft-boiled egg: alright. Can skip and spring for kaedama (extra noodles) instead. Noodles: good! The ones I had here were much better than the noods at Ichiran Fukuoka. Firm, very firm, and tasty. 

Best ramen? Of course not. But it’s a fun experience and the convenient times are commendable. Sometimes you want a bowl after and before 11 and nowhere is open. Plus them noodles are good. And Ueno is denim central*. So hell yeah I would return if I was in the area. 

* Don’t miss out on the denim stores in Ueno. Lots of next-level stuff around. Area feels a bit like Petaling Street collided with Shibuya, but if you’re focused on your Barbour or your Momotaro, there’s really no point buying from anywhere else. Place is crazy. 

In particular, check out Hinoya. Super knowledgeable and friendly staff. Recommended and let me try on all sorts of jeans: Momotaro, PBJs, etc. Believe it or not, I actually ended up with their house brand collab w Warehouse. Loved (and still love!) the slubbiness. 

Next level customer service, really. Dude gave me a bunch of different jean releases to look up online and jizz at afterwards. 

Tsukiji Eel nisshin tasuke @ Tsukiji market- fucking good. Blows away the tare Unagi in Malaysia easily. 200Y a skewer is a bargain but get the bowls for even better value. Tempted to get more.

If you’re still at Tsukiji, get the Yoshizawa Shoten (Matsuzaka minced beef cake). This is killer. Huge huge matsuzaka minced beef. Delicious dumpling. Really massive, you have to get it. Nice and fatty and meaty too. Lovely.

Yamazaki @ Tsukiji

Place is like 4 times bigger than kagura. Still small but doesn’t look as painfully cramped and rushed as Dai. And a queue of Chinese and white tourists is so off-putting. Fuck that. Worth getting omakase here for 5k? Maybe. Think kagura is a better bit though. Rice a bit grainier too compared to kagura.

Tamago here much better than kagura. Really top tier this one. So good. Surf clam good. Nice sweetness to it. Scallop very good too. 

Salmon is salmon. Good salmon but still. Prefer grilled. Squid. Interestingly textured. Love the chew and almost sliminess. In a good way. Snow crab. It’s okay. Shrimps. Crazy sweet. Builds on the slimy squid

Tuna. Not bad. Also fatty but not as good as kagura. Salmon roe wew salty. Not as good as the Hokkaido ikura in Singapore eh.

Anyway overall good but prefer kagura. The aburi there is great and the normal nigiri solid too. Rice here a bit disappointing. Super friendly chefs though. And they speak English well. Worth a visit if you have to but would return to kagura instead. Dai and daiwa ew. Those queues. Those tourists. No thanks. Yeah I dunno. If youre coming to tsukiji I would say hit up that amazing eel and matsasuka dumpling and kagura at the outer market. Then head to a random sushi place slightly off from the Dai alley in the inner market (couple of steps away into another alley and you can see spots that actual locals are at). Doubt there’ll be a drastic difference in quality plus you don’t get the off-putting tourists vibe. You’ll be the offputting tourist instead! Just keep chanting sumimasen and apologize for your intrusion and existence etc.

Onigiri bongo
Hey, a specialist onigiri spot!

Great rice. Fillings bit salty. Nice big portion. Overall pretty nice. A step above the typical konbini onigiri, which is by no means bad anyway. 

Maisen

The super hot towel feels wonderful in winter.

Radish appetizer a bit too strong, until you add the yuzu soy. Lifts it up a bit. The tea is very good.

The pork itself is very good. Fatty but nice bite. Good crust. Essentially, it’s slightly better than the best tonkatsu I’ve ever had in KL – but the differential is not that big vs KL’s offerings (as compared to the difference when it comes to ramen, sushi etc). It’s not massively better. FOr the price, wouldn’t really bother returning. Would go to the standing sushi bar nearby AND the gyukatsu place for the same total bill. 

Gyukatsu Motomura – original location

Shit on me, why is this so goddamn satisfying. Queued for close to 2 hours in the cold, and every second was worth it. Tender, succulent beef inside, perfect crust outside, perfect setting etc etc. I don’t know, man. It just hit the spot so well.

Chuuka Soba Tomita

The legend. Honestly, too hardcore and experimental to be really enjoyable. Like post-modern art and avant garde noise music, you kind of have to appreciate the history leading up to the movement to “get” the movement. You have to know what it’s upending, after all. Here, every component of a typical tsukemen is taken to its logical extreme.

Noodles – you like them chewy? Of course you do. Soft, soggy ramen noodles is a fucking travesty (ahem, unless you’re Hototogisu). Malaysian Chinese love their flaccid, limpdick noods, but most good ramen temples in Tokyo are going to be serving up the hard stuff. Tomita goes 3 to 4 steps further and churns out the chewiest, toughest noodles you’ll ever have. It’s a struggle, a full-on battle, with each bite. And to give it extra slurpiness and make it more of a challenge, the noodles are also extremely long.

Broth – thick, beyond goopy, and extremely salty. It’s almost all about texture here. It’s slimy, thick like pulped down sardines, it sticks to the noodles and your mouth, it barely moves in the bowl.

Pork – varied in doneness. Goes from barely cooked to deliciously blowtorched.

In summary? It’s a top 10 bowl in terms of how much I enjoyed it, but boy was it a cerebral struggle to enjoy. It’s not easily accessible, that’s for sure.

Fuglen

Legit beautiful place. But way too packed with tourists taking photos. Place was ruined for me, tbh. Coffee alright.

Nata de Cristiano

Perfection, basically. 

Terunari
Y 6500 is an insanely good bargain. I’m 100% penciling Terunari down for every single Tokyo trip from now on. Possibly the most enjoyable experience I’ve had in Tokyo.

Beautiful bar counter, right up next to the young chefs. Gorgeous open kitchen. Love, love, love it. Right up next to the action. And the seating is super comfortable (the leg support, the railing etc etc). Bar counter seating is a must if you’re not in a large group, and the service is beyond top notch (kept chatting with the chefs, main chef exchanged a few food and drink recommendations, insisted on taking photos together etc).

Okay, let’s go step by step.

Appetizer: stir-fried shrimps from Kochi. Juicy, plump, but with a gentle touch of smoke. Tiny egg yolk. Delicious start.

Congealed puffer fish: welp, does nothing for me. Fish in jelly. But nice snappy, crunchy cucumber slices.

Tuna: mediocre. Squid: the lemon really steps up the broiled white squid to another level. Bright without being sour, it lets the wisps of smoke slowly seep in while eating. Very subtle but incredibly rewarding.

Egg custard: very watery. Smells amazing. Tastes stunning. Like essence of beef. Is this boiled down beef sinew? Very oily, meaty, umami. Insane. It’s more like drinking beef consomme with floating bits of egg. Like a sort of inverted chawanmushi. The egg is not the focus, it’s there to add texture – and they feel like light floating icebergs that dissolve against the tongue. Easily my favourite chawanmushi ever by far.

Chicken liver mousse sandwich: excellent. Super light cracker biscuit shell – delicate, slightly sweet. Rich, cold liver with bits of very thinly diced up sour pickles. Best liver dish I’ve ever had. Flower has a very mild spiciness to it. Sweet potato chips don’t add much but sort of echo the sweetness of the liver shell. Pate itself so pink it looks like strawberry ice cream. Remarkable dish.

Kochi yellowtail, lightly deep fried. Served in a soup. Sweet fish. Firm flesh. Not bad.

Yamagata roasted pig is the main dish, and what a main dish. Fantastic pork. Slightly pink, slightly resistive, but not too chewy. Each bite bursts with an almost agonizing crescendo of flavour. Unabashedly porky. Sherry vinegar reduction. Only sore point is the meh salad (and the chef insisted it’s a “taste-good salad”!). Can sub out meat for the more expensive stuff (eg. +Y800 for Hungarian duck, +Y800 for Ezo dear, +Y1k for ostrich, +Y1.2k for wagyu – and the wagyu looks phenomenal). 

Sawanoi sake: added this on, of course. Haven’t had any sake I’ve fancied before, but this was fantastic. Really the best by far. Mild initial nose, mild initial taste. Gradually sweetens in the mouth then blooms with light notes of subtle spiciness as it warms. Sharp and spicy towards the end. 

Rice with bamboo shoots, baked chicken. Love watching them prepare the claypot and rush it to the stove. Tastes like a posh, polished claypot rice! Lovely smell. Glistening oily rice. Chicken bits have the faintest hint of charring from the blowtorch. Toasted sesame seeds. Heavenly. Eat 3 bowls of it and still have enough to pack back for the next morning’s breakfast.

Miso soup with aka dashi was meh. Mantensushi still has the best.

Dessert: tea and new hand towel first, and damn the tea is delish. Dessert: strawberry and mint jelly. Looks great. Tastes great. Better than Eneko’s desserts. 

ALSO there are more desserts? Meme-y Pocky stick with callebaut ruby chocolate. Milk ice cream. Very creamy. Taken with the cold cheesecake and Japanese orange? Delicious and decadent.

Random wine bar

Sorry, I forgot the name. But I loved the place. Tiny space, fits about 6 people at most. Super comfortable bar seats. Super chill vibes. 

Date No Gyutan 

Actually pretty damn good curry rice. The beef was flank – moderately tough but plenty of flavour. Lots of depth in the curry itself. And very nice salad.

Ita Soba @ Ebisu

What a great place. Sick jazz. 2 super long huge tables. Sesame cold dipping sauce so creamy, so good. Soba itself is perfection. Hard and mean to the bite. Great, great soba. 

Switch Coffee

Lovely small cafe. Great espresso.

Jinroku

Great izakaya near Fuglen, Monocle etc. Cover charge, but it gets you very tasty stuff (we had lovely oden, some of the best I’ve ever had). Great music played from CDs. Love the vibe. Goes from old school R&B to jazz to chill trip-hop to the entirety of Snail Mail’s album. 

Tuna sashimi: lovely, huge chunks, very buttery. Light hand on the wasabi sauce. So creamy and soft. Almost, almost as tasty as Mantensushi! Which means it’s a damn sight better than anything in KL.

Eggplant: smells captivating. Tastes brilliant. Lovely bits of char, not too slimy, firm flesh. Smoky and firm, goddamn. Delicious.

Deep fried lotus root: mediocre batter but the lotus root itself very very crunchy and juicy.

Karaage: Batter seasoned perfectly. Juicy and tender inside. Also, on a separate note, Family Mart does some damn fine karaage. Particularly like the boneless spicy one.

Octopus, tomatoes, bell pepper, broccoli, garlic, cheese: so good I almost cried. No joke. So satisfying. Home-cooked-tasting in the best possible way. Just an absolute bomb of flavours and a perfect way to end the meal.

Bar Ishinohana

Long bar counter seats about 12 people comfortably, with space for another 5-6 at the back. Lovely space. Better than Bar Orchard, probably my fave bar so far in Tokyo. Very much has the heart and soul of Bar Shake in KL, but with the bells and whistles of Omakase+Appreciate.

Strawberry pistachio Alexander: strawberry from Chiba. Strong nose of pistachio, very nutty and robust. Pulpy strawberry. Milkshake-like consistency. Very enjoyable.

Strawberry earl grey collins: super refreshing, not too sweet. Very well balanced.

Kiwi x Lavender Martin: kiwi from Nagano. Very tart-tasting, but addicted to the mouthfeel of the fruit pulp. Housemade lavender-infused gin. Fresh pineapple in there too, and housemade honey syrup. What a drink.

Claudia: rum, pineapple, ground peppers, caramel syrup, so good.

I’m picky with cocktails. Most place in KL just throw some alcohol together with a shopping list of other ingredients and try to add a ‘twist’ to it that sounds good on the menu. Give me simple stuff done right, please.

Oribe: beefeater, matcha, milk, wasabon sugar, gold powder. Gorgeous glass befitting of a gorgeous drink. Lovely fresh milk. It’s like matcha with excellent cold milk. So tasty. Beefeater just sort of rounds out the back end of the drink – really just feels like you’re drinking the tastiest matcha with milk ever.

Espresso whisky, cacao liqueur: very nice but boy oh boy does it caffeinate you up.

Larceny bourbon (92 proof), Pernod absinthe, etc (custom off-menu): almost singed my eyebrows off. Super strong. Crazy alcohol level. But what a way to end. A real uppercut of a drink.

Glitch Coffee

Best damn coffee around. End of.

Konjiki Hototogisu

Number one. The best ramen I’ve had. 90 mins wait and it’s worth it. Noodles soft but for once, it actually makes sense to be soft here. I’ve always wanted the firmest, hardest noodles possible, but the soft noods belong to this bowl. They fit perfectly with the amazing clam soup. Super clammy, super delicious shoyu. Pork brilliant too. Layers of flavour everywhere. Orgasmic. The shio is intense too, perhaps even better somehow. Insane bowls.

Savoy Azabu-Juban 

Even if the pizza was mediocre, I’d come here over and over again if I could. The place is amazing. But of course the pizza isn’t mediocre. It’s unforgettable.

Seirinkan deservedly gets all the plaudits – Susuma Kakinuma is the Holy Father of the Tokyo pizza scene and was a springboard for some of the best pizzerias in town. They all trace their roots back to the master. As does Savoy Azabu-Juban.

So, yes, Seirinkan deserves all the plaudits, but Savoy Azabu-Juban is pretty much a case of the student surpassing the master.

There’s a quadrant that seats about 8 people, all of us bunched up around and facing the massive wood-fired oven, with the chips and blocks lined up neatly under the furnace. You can feel the waves of heat immediately as you walk in. The dough is fingered gently, the rich red tomato spooned around it. You hear the spit and snarl of the wood, and watch as the maestro shaves away at a head of garlic, letting it fall liberally on the pizza. Surely it’s too much garlic? Well. Of course it isn’t.

The pizza goes in, some wood chips are thrown in to flare up the fire, and barely a minute later, your pizza is in front of you. 

The dough is…magical. Transformative. Orgasmic, even. It’s crispy and smoky and slightly, just very slightly, pleasantly bitter and acrid on the outside. Bite in and it explodes with air pockets of smoke and sea salt. It’s chewy, springy, bouncy, elastic, chewy, fluffy, buzzing with olive oil, chewy, and the gently pulsating shaved garlic is almost fully melted and embedded into the dough. It’s insane how good it is. It’s almost too good. Superlatives float gently to the surface, buffeted by the digesting dough, and they each melt away against the searing reality of the meal.

There’s really no way to explain the experience of the place. The pizzas are magical, the jazz dances around the spitting of the fire, the boys running the place are hilarious, the atmosphere is warm and jovial and…unforgettable.

There are only two pizzas on the menu. Both are sublime and beyond the bounds of what I previously thought possible. 

Passage Coffee

Along a very long strip mall-ish set of roads. Lovely space, bright and pretty spacious for Tokyo. Good hand drip, enjoyable. Drinkable. Comfortable, chill spot.

4/4 Coffee

Lovely place near Shinjuku-Sanchome station. Cool, small spot. Long black delicious. Lovely smell, cakes look great, heard hand drip great too. The sort of place you wish you could get your daily coffee from.

Nakajima

Michelin star spot that is famous for doing sardine stuff for lunch. Cute concept.

Y900 for the yanagawa nabe set. Cool place. Very spacious and comfortable for a basement spot. Sardines are big. Taste-wise, no ‘wow’ factor but tastes like the best home-cooked food ever. Deep fried sardines are lovely. 

Overall: sweet, warming, comforting. 

And of course there are about a billion or so other places I haven’t tried out yet in Tokyo. If you’re there, try out some of these and let me know how they go. I’m told they’re good. And of course, it’s not my actual exhaustive to-go list, that one is a good deal more extensive.

• Toritsune Shizendo (Y1-2k oyakodon lunch set, Michelin bib gourmand)
• Narikura (one of the best tonkatsu)
• Kintoki (tantanmen, great chicken ramen) (1-2-7, Tokyo, Nerima-ku, Kotakecho 1-2-7) (nearest station: Ekoda) (Open 11-2pm; 5.30-8.30pm; closed Mon & Tue)
• Taishoken ramen (Tsukemen)
• Nikunchu (yakiniku – tenderloin, daily offal)
• Isshin (Asakusa) – 1 michelin. Lunch sets start at Y 6000
• Sushi Kanesaka – 1 michelin. Lunch starts at Y 5000
• Pizza Strada (great pizza, dude moved to Savoy though)
• Pizza Studio Tamaki (potentially better than Savoy?) (must-order lemonade too)
• Pizza Dada (great pizza too)
• Yakitori Ebisu Nishi-Ogikubo (Y 100 Yakitori which are all good)
• Mugitooribu in Ginza (ramen – chicken broth, dashi, clam)
• Mensho Tokyo @ Kasuga (ramen – lamb bone soup)
• Fuunji (tsukemen – get nami (normal))
• Den
• Zuisetsu @ Setagaya (1 Michelin star) (set lunch from Y1620) (Cantonese food w Jap flair)
• Toyoken (expensive black curry – Matsuzaka wagyu beef, cooked for a month)
• Sushi Ryusuke (Y5000 for 10-piece nigiri lunch set)
• Yoshino Sushi Honten (Y2200 lunch set for 8 pieces)
• Tateru Yoshino Ginza (2 michelin star French joint, about 13k for lunch)
• Path @ Shibuya (dutch pancake with ham, wait 8am)
• Utsura Utsura @ Shibuya (hot sake, great otoshi)
• Forrester @ Nakameguro (Jap curry and 100 types of gin)
• Cocktail Works Jinbocho (great cocktails, e.g. matcha chai latte, opens 11.30am)
• Marugo Tokyo for tabi boots
• Tempura Nakayama (black tendon) @ Nihonbashi
• Yoroniku Ebisu (one of the highest rated restaurants on Tabelog, around Y10k, foreigners not allowed to make reservation. Must arrive and wait in line after 9pm. Last order 11pm. 150-0013 Tokyo, Shibuya, Ebisu, 1 Chome−11−5 GEMS 8F (2min walk from JR Yamanote Line or Tokyo Metro Hibiya Line Ebisu Station)(5:00 pm – 12:00 am
  – Nakiryu ramen (Y1000) (1 Michelin star) (dandanmen is great but long line) (queue up 1 hr before opening time)
  – Tamarawai (Good soba miso and yuba (tofu skin). Doesn’t take reservations)
  – Tai Shio Soba Touka (top Shio)
  – Muginae (Tsukemen) (3rd highest in Tabelog)
  – Menya Ishin (near Meguro) (Michelin bib gourmand) (yuzushio special for Y 1100)
  – Menson Rage (hidden gem, far away. Shoyu and mazesoba both great)
  – Mengyo (ramen broth from seabream and chicken, pork smoked with cherry wood)
  – Muginae (6 types of shoyu in broth, buckwheat noodles)
  – Kanda Matsuya (Best soba?)
  – Ibuki (dried sardines in broth)
  – Shichisai (order the Kitakata Niku-soba – Niboshi – one of the best noodles around) (2-13-2, Hatchobori, Chuo-ku) (11am-3.30pm; 5.30-9pm everyday)
  – Naniwaya (original taiyaki) (1-8-14 Azabu-Juban, Minato-ku)
  – Ippodo Tea (#1 ranked tea room in Tokyo)
  – Rokurinsha amazing tsukemen opens at 7.30am – ramen street at Tokyo station
  – Kajitsuen fruit parlor
  – Ahiru Store @ Shibuya, closer to Yoyogi-Koen station (natural wines by glass from Y1k upward, great breads, homemade sausages and pates) (1-19-4 Tomigaya, Shibuya-ku Tokyo) (Mon-Fri 6pm-12midnight, Sat 3pm-9pm / closed Sun) (no need reservations, but go early fam)
  – Gyoza Shack @ Setagaya (special gyoza + natural wine) (2-3-10 Sangenjaya, Setagaya-ku) (5pm-12am)

– Higashi-Mukojima Coffee-ten (coffee, great no-bake cheesecake) (1-34-7 Higashi-Mukojima, Sumida-ku – near Hikifune station) (8.30am-8pm / closed Wed)
– Good People & Good Coffee (3-4-11 Higashiyama, Meguro-ku, Tue-Fri 9am-6pm; Sat, Sun & hols 10.30am-6pm / closed Mon
– Cafe Obscura (specializes in siphon coffee) ( Setagaya-ku, Sangenjaya, 1-9-16, Tokyo)

– Gen Yamamoto (apparently a MUST GO. Also recommended by Mona so there’s that. 4 cocktail tasting menu Y 5k + Y1k cover charge 〒106-0045 Tokyo, Minato, 麻布十番1-6-4 アニバーサリービル 1F)(need to make reservations by phone though) (Tue-Sat 3pm-11pm, Sun 3pm-10pm / closed Mon)
– Beer Pub Ishii (craft beer – 3 rotating taps)
– Jazz Spot Intro (6.30pm-12am) (near Takadanobaba Station) (go Tues-Thurs for gigs)
– Intro @ Shinjuku: narrow, cramped jazz bar with live music 3-4 nights a week (jazzspot.intro.co.jp)
– Iron Fairies @ Ginza (cool vibe, great drinks, cotton candy cloud drink)
– YYG Brewery & Beer Kitchen (try the house brews at 1st floor. At 7th floor, there’s food to go with the beer – probably stick to biru eh)
– Beersaurus Ikebukuro
– Bar Ben Fiddich (Yamatoya Bldg. 9F, 1-13-7 Nishi-Shinjuku, Shinjuku-ku) (near Shinjuku station) (6pm-3am the next day) (completely custom)

– No., Shibuya

– Beer Bar Ushitora @ Setagaya (great home craft beers, and great pub food!)
– Grandfather’s Inn, Shibuya (Flat Bld. B1F, 1-24-7 Shibuya, Shibuya-ku, walking distance from Shibuya station) (vinyl, atmosphere, whiskey decently priced)
– Le Labo: Tokyo exclusive – Gaiac 10. 

The post Tokyo, Japan appeared first on Foodgazer.

It’s the system that’s causing my problems!

> Beast Monster Thing (Love Isn’t Love Enough) by Car Seat Headrest

Welcome back to Foodgazer, the sometime-blog, as we wind down for the year and race into the final month of what has been a crazy, chaotic, and very, very strange year. Well, for me at least. Oh, and of course, this is also a review of Ishin, the Japanese joint that has become a mainstay of Old Klang Road, long before Littlepeople and all the other new boys. In fact, they’re not far away from the 10 year mark now which is really remarkable for eateries in KL. It’s a transient town, at least for food.

But I suppose the golden question is: is Ishin still good? Well, that’s what we were dispatched to find out.

First off: it’s a gorgeous place. Tucked away along good old congested Old Klang Road, the bar section is a particularly great spot to chuckle at the poor saps stuck in the jam. But pretty much everywhere in the restaurant is very pretty. Also, the service is great AND you get a portable Mi tablet which isn’t affixed to the table. Brownie points everywhere and the meal hasn’t even begun! And yet…we’re not going to post any photos of the interiors because it really deserves to be seen in person.

But alright, alright. On to the food.

Where to start really? Take us back to the start, maybe, with the simmered iso tsubugai (RM 8/piece). Slimy in a kinda-okra way, but warm and comforting, and comes with a satisfying bite to it too. We finished it before remembering we were supposed to take photos. On to the next dish then:

The taragai cheese yaki. Sure, it’s RM78 for a half piece, but it’s very tasty. The bite is even more satisfying here. It’s chewier, more resistant to the hungry foodguzzlers’ teeth, but each chew sends a fresh wave of flavours out. Love that texture. And the cheese is quite nice too.

There was also the Chef’s special sashimi platter – generally nice stuff, and the uni was quite good too. Nothing particularly amazing about this but if you’ve a deep craving for sashimi, this will fix you up well enough.

Next, I wrote down ‘fish thang‘ in my notebook which I suppose refers to the Kasago Nitsuke (RM 88). What a treat this was. Super silky, lustrous tofu almost stole the show from the fish. I could eat blocks of that tofu, honestly. But the fish thang isn’t one to shy away from a challenge: it brought to the ring tender but firm flesh, a balanced hand on the sauce, and an overall plate that oozed with delicate precision. Loved this dish.

And then our favourite arrived. The glorious, majestic – nay, magisterial – HOKKAIDO WAGYU KATSU SAMMICH (RM 138). Boy oh boy. You know we love our beef sando. And this one featured some unapologetically, super fatty, super juicy wagyu – it honestly wouldn’t be out of place in Tokyo, and you know that’s incredibly high praise coming from us. It’s really very good.

And so the denouement began.

It was around this point that we started mulling over the impossibility of reviewing food. This wagyu sandwich was excellent. But it was excellent at that point in time. Would it be the same if we came back a month later when the batch of beef was different? What if we were in a different mood then? Or we were just not as hungry? Or had different, more unpleasant, company at the table? Or if the kitchen crew were having an off day? Would we feel the same way? Would YOU feel the same way if you get the sando at Ishin? Maybe. We hope so. But we can only hope – and that’s the inherently tricky nature of even writing about food.

Which is all to say that perhaps the glowing reviews and scathing words of disgust that we write don’t matter all that much. It doesn’t say all there is to be said about the dishes, because we each experience them in our own different ways. If there is any value to be had in them, perhaps it’s in the way it paints a picture of the overall place: it’s a promise that even if you have a bad experience at place A, we had a good one at it before and maybe one of us had the deviation from the norm but if in general we feel that it’s going in the right direction, we’ll point it out. Maybe there is some value, after all, in reviews written about places we visited months ago. I’d hope there is, because 2019 is going to see this site relaunched.

Anyway, back to Ishin. Because we weren’t done yet.

There was, for instance, the Teppanyaki duck liver with caviar (RM 118). Nice. The foie wasn’t exceptional but the ikan bilis cracker was nice and crunchy. Loved the texture on that cracker, and the caviar was nice and briny too. And then the meal wrapped up with, we were happy to find, some dipping noodles. Cold konnyaku soba (RM 30), done well, which is a rare thing to find in KL. Such a comforting, (seemingly) simple dish.

And so that’s Ishin. Good food, great service, and an even greater setting and atmosphere that actually manages to elevate the experience by quite a fair bit. They’re a mainstay for a reason – here’s to another decade!

Ishin is open daily from 12 to 3pm, and then from 6pm to 1am. They’re at 4 off, Persiaran Klang, Batu 3 3, 202, Jalan Kelang Lama (just Waze it) and can be reached at +603-7980 8228.

The post Ishin (and the end of all things) @ Old Klang Road appeared first on Foodgazer.

No bread to start proceedings, unfortunately. From what the Gazer gathered, that either comes with the chicken pate or under the ‘Extra Bread‘ option. Oh well. Foie gras au Torchon (RM 42) instead, then.

Good? Good. Very good. The foie gras itself, at least. Rich – almost opulent – and luscious. Loved it. Just wish there was more, but that’s besides the point. Brioche itself was aite (nothing great). Buttery and crispy, it was a decent enough base. The poached berry (compote?) was nice and tart without being overly sweet. Added just the right amount of tangy saccharine to lift the liver. And the pepper arugula ties everything together. The baby/pearl onion though? Bit pointless.

Look at this obscene bastard. It’s on the specials board. Didn’t work out as well as the foie gras, unfortunately. Half of the white asparagus (RM I forgot) was cold and bland. The tip of the other half was warm and well-seasoned. Problem with the seasoning perhaps. The entire dish could have done with a bit more seasoning throughout. Pesto was very nice though, probably the best element on the plate. Apart from the plate itself, which was very pretty. We asked where it was from but our question was repeatedly misunderstood so we gave up, resumed eating quietly and occasionally smelled in the wafts from the kitchen and/or the wine on the next table that smelled very peculiarly like fresh fecal matter.

Pan-seared duck breast (RM 56) was our first main of choice. The breast itself was…sadly a bit too cold. Sous vide throughout methinks, looking at the gradiation of the doneness. Good skin. Crispy. Salted and peppered (?) well. Nice fat content. Generally rather tender.

The vegetable, though, added nothing.

I just wish the breast was warmer when it was served.

The half of a king mushroom was slimy, rubbery and quite meh. Could be replaced with quite a lot of other shrooms. The pickled beetroot was really good though. Complemented the duck surprisingly well.

Oh, and the sauce was nice. Pumpkin with…curry? Turmeric? Nice rounded aftertaste. Pumpkin’s always been a good base for spices.

Now for the not-so-nice. We liked the portion size for the chicken roulade (RM 38) but not much else. The mash…pretty sure it’s some instant package thang? Tasted grainy towards the end. Very strangely grainy and powdery.

The risotto was quite pleasant. Never been a fan of barley but this was good.

But to the roulade itself: hmm. Very, very salty by itself. Like French-level salty. Like Kenji from Food Lab would be pleased salty. It was borderline overpowering and overwhelming. Shame, really. Everything else was done quite well (could do with a bit more butter perhaps?).

So! Overall impressions: generally good technique and good produce, couple of dishes miss the mark, would/could/might return. Value for money? Kinda. We paid RM90 per pax which is the starting price of a tasting menu at Sitka sooooooooooooooooooooooo

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For the unaware, Kim was a semi-finalist in San Pellegrino Young Chef 2017 (and Malaysia’s sole representative), has worked his way up to become head chef at Sitka, and leads a young, ambitious and enviably talented team. And he’s an all-around swell guy. Sitka Studio is the tasting-menu version of Sitka’s more casual affairs and they open roughly 2-3 times a month (see their website for upcoming dates). They’re also available for private parties daily, outside of the scheduled dates.

Kim’s Sitka Takeover saw the Sitka team present a special one-day only tasting menu for the ridiculously low price of RM120++ per pax. And really, that price tag is an absolute steal given the sheer quantity of the food we got in return – let alone the quality! Don’t believe ah? Read on lor.

First out the gate and into the hatch: beef tongue katsu taco. It sounds jarring on paper, sure. But we’ve grown to trust in Sitka and they rarely disappoint. No difference here then. The tongue itself is delicious. Tender but not meltingly so, there’s still a very substantial bite to it. It’s not ashamed about being tongue-y. Perfectly salted too! The coating is light without much of a crunch – airy or otherwise – and I honestly didn’t see the point of it. Just a tad superfluous.

Katsu-ness aside, the tongue paired fantastically when layered with the rilette. Such a wonderful contrast of textures. And the taco shell was…a proper taco shell. Not wilty or soggy or overly crisp. It had a pleasing, robust elasticity to it that interplayed perfectly with the textures and tastes of the filling.

Look at that beauty. It’s kung pao lamb inside a tight, taut little yam puff package, with a dollop of cashew cream and dashes of smoked paprika. Surprisingly, the lamb itself was…just alright. And that’s from someone who generally adores lamb the gamier it gets. The smoked paprika round the outside really lifts it up though, emphasizing the more muted aspects of the meat. And that yam puff was satisfyingly crispy! The cashew cream really brings it all together though. Subtly nutty, unabashedly rich, we swept it off the plate in record time and longed for more, long after.

Yet another delicious dish? Par for the course. Burnt cabbage – and oh god, that crispy burntness is so primally delicious – with some clams and moss beurre blanc. What a sauce! Briny, savoury, faintly sweet. It brings to mind the miso umami of the Wild Beer Billionaire. This one deserves a spot on the regular menu. Let the people eat cabbage!

10 plates of food with so many standouts…like this one right here! The wagyu brisket char siew has a ridiculously good charred crust that’s been burnt in the most beautiful way. Biting into this beauty feels like crunching down into the essence of smokiness without any acrid bitterness or over-burnt charcoal. It feels like how I imagine our primordial originators felt when cooking their captured prey.

And that charred skin isn’t overly sweet and sticky either! Bite in further and you begin to sink slowly into the warm, tender, fat-rich flesh that gives way with minimal pushback. It just…feels right to fit inside.

Oh and there’s also pickled fungus and cucumber.

This plate really drove home the importance of ingredients: the steamed market prawns were not as springy and succulent as we would have liked. There was a redeeming feature though. That chili crab pomodoro was very tasty.

Fish and chicken are hard to get right when eating out, so we approached the roast mackerel in banana leaf with some trepidation. Unfounded worries, thankfully. The flesh was springy and firm. The coconut kerabu was lustworthy – tangy and spicy, with the coconut flesh so bouncy and substantial that we almost mistook it for cuttlefish. Okay, yeah, we did mistake it for cuttlefish.

AND the sambal puree was amazing too, god damn. Tangy and spicy, like a condensed, concentrated version of sambal. Only gripe? More pureed sambal please. And put this on the regular menu!

It’s just rice, right?

Well, (1) it’s conpoy and scallop rice, and (2) it’s almost groan-inducingly good.

First off, the rice isn’t soft and clumpy. It’s not overly hard and dry either. It’s in that sweet spot in between that we love for non-specialized rice (stickier fare is fine for sushi and Menya Hanabi, for instance). And it’s not even seasoned with salt! It’s the conpoy that gives it the briny saltiness, we’re told. So lovely. Perhaps even better than the delicious foie gras fried rice from Torii next door.

Passion e Sentimento: sweet, faintly mineral, jammy mouthfeel with a blackcurrant-like finish, other words to describe it that we are unable to furnish as Foodgazer is an uncivilized child who does not partake in liberal consumption of wine.

Stupid custard bun, how are you so tasty?

And it really is nothing short of delicious. Look at that ample, liberally, generously grated foie gras on top. Right on top of the best damn custard buns I’ve ever have.

The crust? Perfect. The filling? Oozing, hot custard. And all the seemingly straightforward components come together for an eruption of pleasure that spits and snarls inside the mouth. What a treat. What a delicious, delicate treat.

Plus it was a perfect opportunity for Kim to show off his remarkable care for cuisine and emphasis on hospitality. One of our dinner party had a misfiring custard bun that dribbled instead of oozed. Kim swept in like a guardian bun-angel and brought us fresh replacements. Thank you, sir. Bless your kind soul. Can I get more please, sir.

Second in our round of 3 desserts was the lemongrass jelly, aloe vera and calamansi – a pleasing palate cleanser that was deliciously cool and chilled, with a sparkling burst of citrus. Perfect transition from the custard bun. And the perfect way to end the night, really.

Except there was one more:

In with the last plate: roti cannelloni, burnt cream, mango. Interesting idea but execution-wise, it felt almost like a less rich version of the custard bun. And we had some gripes about the sequence of the plates. This would be a good starter dessert. Following this with the stellar custard bun, and finishing with the palate cleanser would have been a very nice dessert note to end on.

But it’s hard to complain too much. We got away with bargain of the year for that entry price (RM120++) and sampled lots and lots of tasty creations from Sitka’s kitchen (always a good thing).

And the post on Sitka’s menu proper is on its way soon, so stay tuned! Meanwhile, see you on Instagram where we IG-story religiously and are always up for a chat.

Sitka is located at 8-5, Jalan Batai, Plaza Batai, Bukit Damansara, 50490 Kuala Lumpur. It’s open everyday from 11am to 11pm though we recommend going at night in a group to share plates. Call ahead (03-2011 1117) for reservations, particularly on Fridays and weekends.

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Let’s get it out of the way first: Palillos deserves to be in the conversation for top 3 yakitori joints in KL alongside Torii and Sumika. Sure, we’re only basing that off of two visits – one on the house (many thanks to the gracious hosts and the inexhaustible supply of skewers) and one on our overextended credit card – but we’ve never been shy of making bold, often premature, claims. And to qualify the proclamation, there are a number of other yakitori spots on our To-Eat list (Kushiyaki Kuni, Toritama, Toridoki etc). For now though, it’s on to Palillos!

And you’ll find Palillos at the top of a stairwell, wedged between Family Mart and Pinchos (owned by the same people behind Palillos). It’s in that nefarious realm of Changkat, just down the hill from Bijan, Nerovivo and Bottega (bless their cold cuts and cheeses and dried pastas).

No night is complete without a drink, as we often slur to ourselves, and so we pre-emptively began the journey to completion with a few of them. There’s the highball (RM23), which is seeing a bit more airtime around the Klang Valley. Palillos’ version is alright. The whisky is fairly muted. There’s a mild, almost meek, lemon-ess enveloping the drink, a good contrast to the overly citrusy renditions of some spots. Highballs always make us long for an old fashioned though, which makes us long for a whisky on the rocks, which…anyway, moving on to the yuzu fizz (RM29).

And if you think the highball is getting its time in the limelight, what about yuzu? Good heavens. It’s everywhere! Dessert Bar by Stanley Choong has a number of yuzu pieces, there’s the yuzu ice cream at Oribe (our pal Jonathan reviews it on Youtube here), and you’re more likely to find yuzu than a rice bowl nowadays. Potent reminder of that here: the yuzu kicks through immediately. It’s nicer than the highball. I was still drinking when the food started arriving and the food kept coming in batches, wave after endless wave, until I staggered off in submission, texted the girl I was seeing up until that point, and stumbled back for more food.

Boquerones are, Google informs us, fresh anchovies that are typically marinated in vinegar and olive oil. We had them with roasted capsicum, some ginger and, uh, sushi-ish rice. Initial misgivings quickly dissipated, echoing the dish itself. The initial ginger note, see, is very strong. It sizzles and bites the tongue. But after that sharp initial whip, it quickly dissipates, giving way to the quiet richness of the anchovies on the bed of rice.

Then came another off-menu item: fuet, a Catalan cured meat. Oh boy. Oh boy oh boy. It’s a thick sausage dotted with pockets of pork fat that make for a very nice textural bite indeed. It’s more savoury and not as sweet as its Chinese counterpart lap cheong, and that’s a good thing in our books. Oh, and the fuet goes on top of some nice crusty bread with tomato rubbed on it. Excellent.

The Mizuna salad (RM24) is a bit of a misstep though. See those red bits on top? That’s serrano ham, toasted until crispy. Sounds good on blog-paper but we found them to be overly toasted in person, to the point where it’s hard to taste the actual flavour of the ham. All that’s left is the texture. And it sits on a bed of kaiwara sprouts, shocked in ice water, for a very crisp finish that echoes the texture of the ham rather than complements it. We quite like the sprouts and the ponzu dressing, but the serrano ham feels like a waste.

The ceviche (RM27) fares better. The yuzu returns as a marinade this time. The prawns are robust. The octopus has a nice bite to it but there’s not much flavour to it (although, keep an eye out for the reappearance of the octopus later in this post). It’s all about the fish here – lovely texture, lovely taste. And the ceviche as a whole was surprisingly satisfying, given that some places can go overboard with the acidity and sourness.

The grilled whole eggplant costs RM15 and is worth every single 5-sen. There’s pine nuts, olive oil, soy sauce, bonito flakes, all coming together for a deft offering that immediately brings to mind Sumika’s version. It’s soft inside with a nice rich umami depth, but it never dissolves into that sticky-mulchy territory that poorly cooked eggplants fall into.

Chicken liver pate (RM 19) is another standout item (and we haven’t even reached the skewers section yet). The smell is intoxicating. It’s rich without being as funky as other spots (cough cough Hello by Kitchen Mafia), and it blooms even more as it slowly warms. Such a lovely buttery richness throughout too. Could there perhaps be some fat inside? And good lord, that texture! It’s almost like a jelly in its smoothness, but it lacks the slimy gloopiness of actual jelly. Instead, it’s thick, savoury, and immensely satisfying. Smear it over the slices of toast and revel.

Alright, folks, it’s skewer time! Eryngii mushroom is up first and lord does this set the tone. So juicy inside! And no trace of that slimy gunk you sometimes get with fungi. Fresh with a touch of funk, like RHCP right after Frusciante returned.

Then there’s the good old staple, chicken skin (RM6). It’s a sort of litmus test for the amount of work that the kitchen is willing to put in, and Palillos easily passes. It’s crisp, fatty, almost like an essence of chicken concentrated into a crackling package.

Oh, and the sauce here is fantastic. Spicy, savoury, salty, perfect. Dip (and double dip) liberally. Get refills.

Also…I’ve never particularly liked rice balls to be honest but if you do, this one is pretty good I guess. There’s a crisp exterior with butter melting on top. It’s oozy inside. It’s RM9.

But what I do love is garlic. I really, really love garlic. And to this day my favourite way to cook them has to be slow-roasted in an oven, until it crisps and blackens on the outside and purees on the inside. Grilled garlic (RM4) is a close second though. Think of it as a milder version of the intense oven-roasted bulbs. It awakens the nose. It opens up the palate. It gets you ready for the next wave of skewers.

And on to the soft bones (RM6). There’s less of a char on these than at Sumika but yeah the flavour is there. Sumika is more focused on the crunchy texture but that’s not to say these are shrinking violets in the crunch department. Give them a shot, especially if you love soft bones like we do.

And we take a brief sojourn away from the skewers for this taco-thing: wasabi on grilled pork (lovely with the perfect ratio of rich, melting fat to succulent meat) on rice on leaf on seaweed. Bundle, pop in, knock back some sake, ruminate (should I get that suit on sale at COS? Or should I sell my wardrobe to fund a Dries Van Noten blazer?), mock Rupi Kaur on Facebook, look up to see more skewers. Skewers like the grilled scamorza:

Smoked cheese, says the menu. Smoked cheese with truffle oil for RM11. That’s one way of putting it. We’d probably go for something like “TRY THIS NOW” because this is a semi-soft smoked curd cheese (Scamorza!) with a fantastic springy bite, and a meaty, almost savoury finish. It’s decadent. It’s lovely. It’s finished way too quickly and we stare longingly at the bare skewers after we’ve slid their skewed-content into our eager mouths.

The chicken hearts (RM 4) arrive. We pop them in, write “lovely” on our Foodgazer notebook, and continue pining for the Scamorza.

And often we
consume
those we love
– not Rupi Kaur

Baby potatoes on skewers next, with bravas sauce (RM4). Fantastically crisp skin without being overly fried or burnt. Crispy like the best baked potatoes. Inside, to our surprise, it’s not starchy or thick and fluffy. Instead, it’s soft, tender, clean. The bravas sauce is nice too (not quite Marta’s Kitchen but it does the job).

And another detour off menu – pork front hock, mirin, vinegar, salt and pepper. Fatty. Dripping with fat. The fat bursts in the mouth. Lovely taste but it verges on being too peppery as they went a bit overboard to compensate for the fattiness. Could legitimately see this going on the menu after a bit of fine-tuning though: would be a great way to end the week eh?

I can see this being the main draw for some. It’s the iberico pork belly with wasabi (RM10). The meat is sublime when eaten right off the grill. It’s lustrous, luxurious, almost dangerously sensuous in the mouth. There’s a smokiness that lingers in the nose as you bite through the crisp browned exterior, down into the luscious, thick, coating fattiness. I mean that fat content is just insane. It’s borderline perverse. I let out an involuntary guttural groan then quickly peek around the table to see if anyone caught me in the throes of foodgasm. Safe this time. Everyone’s eyes are closed, heads thrown back. I go in for another bite. You see that wasabi on top, yes? It’s smeared and smattered and it cuts gently through the fat in throbbing layers.

And yes, I know that sounds bizarre and overblown but that’s the best way to describe the experience. It pulses in the mouth. You taste smoke, then fat, then the nasal heat of wasabi, then fat, then it repeats in gentle pulses.

But we’re not done yet.

In come the jamon-wrapped prawns (RM9), and what a delight they are. Plump, relatively huge, and juicy as anything. The smokiness and the ham give the body a perfect roundness, rather like how the sweetness of mantis prawns are juxtaposed by the charcoal smokiness of a CKT.

The pork neck (RM5) is next. It’s more chewy than the belly. It’s less fatty. There’s more meat to it. The onion adds a bit of light sweetness. It’s good, not great. It’s there for variation and choice.

Ah, onions (RM10). Bit of salt. Some sesame oil. And that grill brings it together into a delectable parcel – it’s soft and sweet while retaining a crunch you wouldn’t get with its caramelized counterpart. Pretty crazy how sweet this gets though.

Nothing says Yakitori quite like chicken wings, which is a bit surprising when you consider how difficult it is to pull them off. The ones here (RM14) were perfect on the first visit. Soft, almost creamy inside, with gloriously crisped skin. On the second visit though, they were overseasoned. And come to think of it, we’ve had up and down experiences with the chicken wings at Torii (underseasoned during the latest visit and could be crispier), at Maruhi Sakaba (touch underseasoned) and even at Sumika (seasoning on point but the flesh isn’t as luxurious as Palillos’).

You can get the skewer version of the Spanish octopus (RM19) or you can go all out with a whole leg/tentacle for RM75. Look at it. Just look at it.

It’s creamy, it’s rich, it’s soft on the inside. And on the outside there’s a fantastic, deep smokiness from the grill and from the pimenton paprika. It pairs amazingly well with the house red we had.

Now bear in mind that it has a bit more bite to it than the rendition at Marta’s Kitchen, which I wouldn’t say is a negative attribute in any way. If anything, it makes it fit better within the conceit of Spanish Yakitori.

Dates, bacon, blue cheese. It assaults the nostrils as soon as it plops down on the table, with a thick, unyielding pungency. Inside: oozing hot, melty, gooey cheese bursting against ripe sweet dates.

You’d think at this point there’s not much Palillos can pull out to further impress us. And that’s precisely when they whipped this beauty out: grilled iberico short loin (RM53) served with shishito. Salt is cracked on top. Thick, thick, thick fattiness reminiscent of an Old Engine Oil beer in terms of mouthfeel – it coats the mouth and rolls around the more you bite in and swallow. It’s incredibly juicy and oily and we don’t know where one ends and the other begins. Then there’s the peppers – the bitterness still tingles the tip of the tongue but the heat is very mild. It acts as a sort of astringent juxaposition that undercuts the fattiness of the pork.

The chorizo and deep-fried bread was – surprise – also great. Interestingly enough, the chorizo itself is alright. It’s, well, chorizo. Pardon the sacrilege but I’ve never had particularly noteworthy chorizo. The bread though…what is this sorcery? They tell us it’s just their usual bread drizzled with olive oil then grilled together with the chorizo. And so I repeat: what is this sorcery? The texture is amazing. It’s almost like a cookie dough in its chewiness and resistance, but the elasticity and bite remind us, for a brief moment, of the cheese curds in a poutine.

Oh and we had some Baines Pacharan (not pictured) Spanish liquer. Lots of berry sweetness on the notes, with some stinging anise notes at the end once the body dissipates. Very sweet. Pairs well with the fattier skewers.

Out come the desserts. This one is from Pinchos though, not Palillos – it’s a chocolate mousse (lovely texture and mouthfeel, almost gelato-like) on top of crispy biscuits. And of course, sea salt is always a great complement for good chocolate. Avid IG followers will know we aren’t the biggest dessert fans but we’ll make an exception for this beauty.

And we ended the night on another sweet note: RM6 grilled marshmallows with strawberries for the table. Yeah, I know, it looks too sweet. I expected an overwhelming cloying sweetness, but shame on me for doubting Palillos, I guess. It’s just the perfect level for a satisfying end to a satisfying night. It made us think of better things and better times, of fairytale endings from childhoods past, of school outings and holidays before we fell into the cycle of capitalistic wage-slavery. We melted marshmallows over open fires then, at Templar’s Park and camp sites, and waited to grow old. And maybe these little grilled pillows remind us of those fluffier times. Maybe.

And that’s all for now, folks. Go and try Palillos.

Palillos is open from 5.30pm to 1am on Mondays to Thursdays and 5.30pm to 2am on Fridays and Saturdays. They’re closed on Sundays. Give them a call at +603-2110 5051 to make a reservation. 

Search for their location on Waze/Google Maps or head over to the small stairwell in between Pinchos and Family Mart.

The post Palillos (Spanish Yakitori: best yakitori?) appeared first on Foodgazer.

You joined us for our visit to The Tokyo Restaurant before, now join us as we check out Toraji at Isetan Lot 10 in a review structured in similar form to The Poetry of Jaroslav Seifert.

Opening Poem

The walls are angular. They are not real walls. Look closer. Look closer and they dissolve into dividers, geometrical semi-walls with cut-out holes like blinds against the afternoon sun. And in this way, the restaurant is dissected and spliced into individual dining spaces. Here: a table of people from a past life, friends of a person you held hands with until she slipped her fingers away. There: the DCM head grills meat opposite the 19 year-old escort from a Baltic state (advertised online as a Russian). In between: small birthday groups, a young-ish family, and a table of hungry wage-slaves trading time and words for a free meal. This is Toraji, and they’ve all come to dine.

Gentle reader, as you read these lines, reflect for a moment and note this down; the angular structure (less like solid slabs and more like semi-cages) is the town. This is your temporary grill-city for the duration of your dinner, the faux-walls a reflection of the grill on (in) your table, already heating up in the spitting flame.

Sinful City

The city of meat, marinated then sizzled over heat. A rain of sulphur, fire, thunderbolts (well, fire at least) from below: tiny circular charcoal balls, and a stove that sinks down into the table, the top level with the wood. Extractors circle the grill. No scent of hawthorn shrubs in flower or unwanted smoke filling the town.

Red-Hot Fruit

What hurts most is one’s memory, and what one thinks will help (alcohol) never does. RM33 gets us a crisp Kirin on draft. The beer’s surfaces swirl like taut drum skins. The Kirin: a honeyed moon dripping sweet juices into flowers’ calixes. Except it’s not quite that sweet. It’s not quite that crisp. It’s not quite better beer: it’s a reminder of the festival that has been cancelled and with it the chance for another go at Pasteur St (would they have brought their jolly rancher and saison?) and the continued education of the Malaysian people. It’s still Kirin. It’s still good Kirin. We ask for more.

Apple Tree with Cobweb Strings

The diamond cut kalbi is marinated in sesame, black pepper, garlic and soy sauce. Like the apple tree – fiercely bowed down by age and fruit – the kalbi (short rib) stares back out from its bath of sauces, a crooked grin, a voice redolent of distance. I pick at it. I pick it up. I inhale its fragrance. I drop it on the heated metal, and it screams and writhes (do you stay mute when that seductive voice speaks to the vagrant in you?). I pick it up and drop it on the other side until it stops moving, apart from those final involuntary quivers and spasms. The skin blisters and darkens, from the pink of raw flesh to a deep brown hue as the marinade caramelizes. The reward is a sensuous cut of almost-candied meat. It pairs quite pleasingly with the lemon sauce which gives it a pang of (not-overly sour) liveliness, an invigorating acidity that successfully cuts through the richness, a sort of planned wedding that works out well against the odds (wait, don’t the odds say that planned weddings last longer?).

I sip my now-lukewarm beer.

(Breaking news update 24 Sept: we have been informed the diamond cut kalbi is using the “inside-skirt part”)

Dance of the Girls’ Chemises

They come in all at once and line up in front. Special Toraji, you are told. Kalbi, harami, loin, fillet. A dozen girls’ chemises drying on a line, that’s love, innocent girls’ games on a sunlit lawn. Love, which we inhale and feed on.

This kalbi is much tastier than the diamond cut.

There’s more fat, for one. It’s glossy and oily on the tongue. It coats the roof of the mouth as your fat-soaked tongue lashes against it. It’s rich. And yet, bizarrely, somehow, it’s simultaneously light. The fat doesn’t linger like cooled, coagulated lamb fat. It pumps and leaves. I like it.

Born of the buzzing hives and of the smell of flowers, honey’s little sister, honey-bathed for hours till from that fragrant bath, lifted by angels’ hands – and in the month of love, bees wove its garment strands: Harami. This is meatier. You bite it and it bites back. You eat it at medium rare, the only appropriate level of doneness for this meat and all meats. You bite into it and chew and chew again and it gives way in pulses of umami and sweet-meat and the cracked pepper on top crackles and pops like rapids against suturing boulders.

The prime loin is tender as anything. The seasoning is delicate, understated, brash and bold against the fiery heat that would make limestone blush. The flames are rose-coloured. The loin is like the start of a new long weekend, the month after you have stopped talking and are taking tentative steps towards planning for what will happen to your collection of works after you go. More than all the other meats, it most closely resembles a sliced-up “traditional” steak.

Once only did I see the sun so blood-red. And never again. It sank ominously towards the horizon and it seemed as if someone had kicked apart the gates of hell. And just as quickly, the fillet sizzles and sears and is plated. The tenderness is sublime. It’s intense. It’s almost like a mousse, a chunky cream, a tartare with the edges softened and brushed out with one of those blotting brushes. There’s not much depth of flavour to it and there’s no rich fattiness to be had here, but hey, the fillet is its own thing. It’s all about texture here.

The Striking of the Tower Clock

Pollan talks a lot about fermented foods and how incorporating them into the diet is vital for gut health. He’d like this kimchi thingamajig. I did. It’s probably the best kimchi/pickle I’ve had all year and that includes the sparkling bright cucumbers of Shokudo. There’s no alkaline grottiness here or excessive sweetness or overly tangy sourness that tastes like chugging a lemon. Each individual vegetable has its own flavour profile, robust crunch and unique texture shining through. The sourness is mild. The spice is deep and low and brooding. It’s very tasty.

The Bombing of the Town of Kralupy

As the non-dessert portion of the meal drew to an end, we drew from the spicy noodle soup. The glass noodles were more or less the typical glass noodles you get from most places (doesn’t stand out like, say, Chapter K). The broth, though, was surprisingly pretty good. It’s surprising because it doesn’t strike you right away as being exceptional. I notice the heat first of all. Perfect temperature. Leaves the eggs at that nice semi-scrambled texture without being overcooked. It tastes spicy. Not too spicy. Just right. I try again to verify. Yes, quite right. And I notice that I can’t seem to stop eating it. I want more, after every spoonful. It’s very strange because it definitely doesn’t seem to be that addictively tasty on the surface. And yet…the bowl is very quickly spent and we stare forlornly at it once it’s done. We ask timidly for more. Instead, we get

A Bach Concerto

Although I had not drunk any wine, I swayed a little and had to steady myself with my own shadow. In vain did the bells try to lift me up: I clung to the earth with tooth and nail. It was full of of fragrance and exciting mysteries. And when I gazed at the sky at night, I did not seek the heavens. I mean, I didn’t really gaze at the sky. Toraji is indoors. And indoors, I had the almond pudding with its almond liqueur-like finish. It’s not the smoothest pudding we’ve ever had at Foodgazer (less silk, more cotton if we’re talking about Naked & Famous’ silk-blend denim) but that’s not to say it’s bad. It’s rather decent. I longed for a quick instant of fleeting pleasure, said Jaroslav Seifert, and I suppose I got it. Bit like a smoother tau foo fah, with an almond liqueur aftertaste.

Canal Gardens

When I say Japanese, you say wasabi. Or is that horseradish? Or is that wasabi ice cream? This is wasabi ice cream. The wasabi is mild. Mild but pleasurable. Especially at first. Mostly at first. It starts becoming quite middling towards the end. Could be because it’s very one-note. After all, there’s not too much else that stands out here. Texture-wise it’s the usual grainy ice cream lacking the elastic bite of a gelato (shoutout to Jersey Jack) or the supple smoothness of a soft serve). Recommended to share this with a group of 3-4 people so you get through it while the initial novelty is still fresh.

And Now Goodbye

To all those million food posts in the world, I’ve added just a few. They were probably no wiser than a cricket’s chirrup, I know. They weren’t even the first footprints in the lunar dust. If at times they sparkled after all, it was not their light. But I make no excuse. I believe that seeking beautiful words (and food) is better than killing and murdering.

This is the vanilla ice cream and hot sweet potato. It’s nice. It’s sweet. Some may find it on the brink of being too sweet. Is that a subjective scale? Can a meaningful discussion be built around the ranking of too-sweetness and can there be an objective measure by which to determine who is actually in the right? Who knows. Not me. Not right now at least. That’s a discussion for another day. Can’t knock the fascinating contrast in temperature though. In your teeth go into the freezer-cold ice cream then wham bam whammy here’s the hot sweet potato now. It’s hot. It’s sweet (possibly too sweet). And that, ladies and gentlemen, is Toraji.

Toraji is open every day from 11am to 3pm, then from 6pm to 11pm. They can be found inside Isetan Lot 10, Bukit Bintang. Head up to the top floor (make a pit stop along the way to touch those incredibly fluffy towels on the 2nd floor).

You can make reservations online or call them at +603-2119 2626.

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