Daidomon Japanese BBQ Restaurant Sdn Bhd.

Saw a brochure about the promotion of Daidomon on the desk of my Japanese boss, Buka Puasa Special dinner buffet was only at RM43.90++. Boss said he tried it with his family, his remark was positive.

One rainy Thursday, we drove straight to Jalan Ampang after work. To avoid traffic jam, we used Smart Tunnel. Arrived Great Eastern Mall around 7.30pm.

Like every other buffet style, customers are required to pay prior the meal. As soon as being seated, we couldn't wait to check out the buffet table. After a round, Moon brought back salad with Wafu (Japanese) dressing, light and refreshing. For grill items, we got to place order with waiter. The waiter suggested warming up with assortment of beef & seafood. He also explained to us that scallop and oyster are controlled items in this promotion in which each group of customers only allowed to order once, others products are free flow though.

While waiting the meat cooked, we had sashimi and sushi. Choices were limited and freshness is just so-so.On the other hand, Daidomon is such a heaven for beef lovers as they serve different parts of cow including ox tongue. This was my first experience taking animal’s tongue; the texture was crunchier and chewy, not bad at all!
Although they claim to have more than 100 dishes, but throughout the night, we only attacked the grilled food, we hardly approached the buffet table for other selections. For desert, they serve ice cream and limited choice of fruit. The peach flavored ice cream was nice!The verdict is, quality of food is satisfactory but only 1 type of dip being served, should have more choices indeed. Besides, It’s not really that well worth if you are no beef person. Anyhow, the ambiance was great if you are looking for a place to get chatty with your mate.

Kampachi Pavillion 勘八

Moon is a great fan for Japanese sashimi. I hate to say but the fact is fresh sashimi always treated as luxry food here as diner is not only paying for the food but also bearing the implicit air cost for importing the fresh raw material.

In conjunction with Moon's birthday, I decided to treat Moon a sumptuous dinner at Kampachi in Pavillion. I know she was tempted to pay a visit since it was highly recommended by her Japanese colleague as well as her cousin Joelle.

We requested a table at the corner so that we could enjoy some private time together.

Despite the usual green tea, the captain recommended us to try some fruit tea. It's not a bad idea to have something cheery, so we opted for peach tea (RM12)! Tangy fragrance of peach, no doubt a terrific refreshment! We started off with our most favorite Shake Kawa Salad クリスピー鮭皮のサラダ(RM24) . This starter seems slightly pricey as compared to Xenri (RM15) but looking at lavish portion of crispy fried salmon skin covered the whole salad bowl, I would say, it's not that expenssive after all.We flicked through the table menu and were captivated by the gigantic osyters (RM48 for 3 pieces). It was Moon's big day, I was prepared to lash out, so I said"go ahead".Sugaki 酢牡蠣 served with ponzu sauce and grated radish. *Slurp*....Uhmmmm, so plump, so juicy and so fresh!!! Yes, we definitely miss the wagyu we had at Komura which was perfectly charred, the inner texture was so tender that required only minimum chewing while the slightly seared outer layer was aromatic, gosh, divine! This wagyu cooked with Tataki Style (RM80/100gm) , even garnished with much crispy garlic chips and spring onion, it could never beat.....and I started to miss Komura.... Joelle said their handmade soba was also a "must try" item. The soba itself costs RM20, so we thought we might as well ordered Soba & Chirashi Set (RM45) so that we could relish more raw fish, wahaha..... See the twinkle twinkle little roes? That's an evidence of freshness. The total bill came up around RM240, *phew*, I thought it gonna cost me RM300++. I heard, the meal Joelle had here with her hubby and 2 other friends spent them RM600.....

Address : Lot 6.09.00, Level 6, Pavillion Kuala Lumpur.

Tel : 03-2148 9608

Restoran Xenri ( 2nd Visit)

Very soon we paid our second visit to Xenri! This time, we said NO and NO to dinner set. Yeah, we’re coming for Ala Carte! Again, we were seated at a small table facing the entrance.

"一滴入魂"

You see that!!?? Gosh, the name itself of this Japanese Sake is enough to kill, man.....Nah, nah, we are not coming for a drunken night, forget it!

We started our meal with Salmon Skin Salad ( RM15).

This flavorful starter complemented with crispy salmon skin earned our votes. Never try never know, the deep fried salmon fish skin is such a fabulous fish cracker that goes so well with the bowl of greens, good innovation and we think the price is reasonable too!

Hokkaido Uni（北海道海胆 RM38.00）

Sea urchin from Hokkaido!?? Who cares where it came from. Moon already spotted this during our first visit and was told that they were running out of stock that night. Moon insisted me to give sea urchin a try , sure I would love too! Talking about this 1st experience of sea urchin, it was all fine. In fact, I am kind of like this creamy delicacy permeated with its distinctive natural sweetness and a tinge of ocean feel. We are determined to save $$ and pay one more visit to Japan someday....Imagine, licking the freshly picked sea urchin, wahaha.... how excited huh!?

Agedashi Tofu （揚げだし豆腐 RM13)

Oh, come to agedashi tofu, didn't I tell you we’ve come across really horrible agedashi tofu? OK, this Agedashi Tofu laden with a big heap of bonito flakes is definitely not flunk! Zaru Soba　(ざる蕎麦 RM18)

Moon was in the Soba’s mood..... MEDIOCRE, that's the word. Grilled Salmon Jaw (RM68.00)

Don't be fooled by the waitress.*Sigh* This is indeed our very wrong decision to have taken her advice, it's bland, RM68 is just such a rip off !!!

Unagi Kama Meshi aka Eel Rice in Iron Pot comes with Miso Soup (鰻釜飯RM42.00)

Another disastrous creation of the night. Know what we like about Kabayaki Unagi（蒲焼鰻 the Japanese style broiled eel)? YES, YES, the delicate texture of the eel dipped in dripping kabayaki sauce (蒲焼ソース) that melts in your mouth at once!

Stint on the kabayaki sauce is the main reason we call this kama meshi a failure! for God’s sake this pot of rice was just served to fill up our stomach with NO satisfaction at all. ;-( Well, our next target for Nihon Ryouri (Japanese cuisine) would be Kampachi 勘八　at Pavillion.*Grin*

Restoran Xenri

One of the rainy evening, Moon suggested to have dinner at Xenri Jalan Klang Lama after reading so much good reviews about it. Of course we're aware of the Xenri Japanese Buffet Lunch Promotion and since the outcome is predictable, we don't bother to call .

Tucked away in the corner of Wisma Elken Jalan Klang Lama, both the exterior and interior pervade a soothing aura for dining. Just only 2 of us, instead of Tatami room we were seated at a small table near the entrance.

"Hmmm....the Ala Carte menu is way too expenssive." ;-oWe switched our focus to their dinner sets. Since first timer here, I would like to try the Xenri Bento (RM42) and their house Sake 日本酒（RM14) !

Pretty decent set that comes with authetic Japanese pickles, tempura, grilled mackarel, stewed brinjal topped with bonito flakes ( 鰹 katsuo) , small portion of sashimi, chawan mushi, rice and strawberry as dessert. Presentation was teriffic but taste wise, no surprise.

Moon had Sashimi Zen ( RM45.00). She seems pretty satisfied with the freshness and the variety of sashimi that comprised flying fish (飛び魚tobiuo), butterfish, tuna (マグロmaguro) & salmon (鮭sake). The only gripe from Moon, sashimi was too thick! lolBesides, the zen comes with generous portion of tempura and other side dishes & fruits, we both think this Sashimi Zen has more value for money as compared to Xenri Bento　since we like fresh raw fish very much. Basically I am not a fan of Mayo yet I think the Unagi Temaki (RM10) is tasty.Well, since the sets had passed our entry level of QC inspection , think we shall proceed to advance stage to try their Ala Carte menu for our next visit.

Address : No. 9, Wisma Elken, Jalan 4/137C, Jalan Kelang Lama, 58000 Kuala Lumpur.

Tel : 03-7783 8118

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http://kampungboycitygal.com/?p=407

http://ugwug.blogspot.com/2008/09/xenri-old-klang-road-kuala-lumpur.html

http://sugarsugarbeanbean.blogspot.com/2008/08/xenri-japanese-restaurant.html

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All You Can Eat at Komura

Moon is a great fan for Japanese food. After hearing positive comment from her friend about Komura, she insisted to try the Japanese food there at least once. Week before X'mas, Moon found a 25% discount voucher of Eat All You Can by Komura, she suggested to celebrate X'mas at Komura instead of eating turkey.

Komura is in the Corus Hotel , Jalan Ampang. This is the entrance of Komura.The Japanese village-style setting of Komura looked promising! Each group of guest being allocated individual dining room, guest may enjoy some privacy while dining together with love one.
We thought it was buffet spread yet it's more like Ala Carte buffet-style served at Rakuzen Raja Chulan that make to your order. Personally I think buffet served at this way is fresher. You may order as many dishes you like, the restaurant however controls each round with max 10 orders ( We basically have no objection to this coz it could be polite yet very effective way to control food wastage).

Since not much choice in the list, we decided to pick one item from each category, below were the dishes we had tried.

Japanese Green Bean (Edamame 枝豆) for starter.

While for main course , we selected the followings;

Sashimi assortment 刺身盛り合わせ

Grilled Japanese beef 80 gram ( wagyu　和牛)Grilled oyster & scallop on iron plate (鉄板焼き）
Cold Soba

Tempura　（Ebi Tempura えび天ぷら)

Eel　（Unagi Kabayaki 鰻蒲焼)

yakiniku (焼肉)

Sukiyaki すき焼き

For side dishes, we ordered the Japanese Salad (サラダ) & Japanese steamed egg (Cawan Mushi 茶碗蒸し).

The sashimi was surprisingly fresh, we made another repeat order for it. The succulent wagyu whetted our appetite for another 2 more helpings. Repeat order was plain simple, just press the bell and the waitress would attend you shortly.
After 2nd plate of wagyu, we thought we should stop for desserts.

For dessert, each of us had just one scoop of green tea ice cream and some fruits, we hope we could take in more but were too full to do so....

Green Tea Ice Cream with red bean Topping

Fruits

The buffet for 2 costs us less than RM180 after the 25% discount. Just the grilled wagyu itself already well worth for money we paid, it's pity that Yin didn't join us for this quality nice buffet!

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Address

Corus hotel is only a two minute walk to the underground Putra LRT and a five minute walk from the magnificent Kuala Lumpur City Centre (KLCC). Click for map.

Open daily from 12.00 noon to 2.30 pm for lunch and from 6.30 pm to 10.00 pm for dinner.
For reservations or enquiries please call : 03-2161 8888 ext 121