Kimi-Ya Japanese Restaurant @ Avantas Residence, Old Klang Road

Marvelous May Promotion, Mother’s Day Special, Lunch Set and More…

If you’ve never had fugu before, you can now savor this exotic pufferfish at Kimi-Ya Japanese Restaurant this month. Located in Avantas Residence in Old Klang Road, Kimi-Ya serves lots of Japanese classics to avid foodies of The Land of the Rising Sun.

It wasn’t hard to locate the restaurant since it was located on this fairly new residential block of the bustling road. Beautifully designed, it had all the markings of the epitome of a Japanese restaurant with lots of woodwork as the base of the restaurant theme.

Dine in booths as well as regular dining tables or catch some sushi actions at the beautifully designed modern and minimalist sushi bar. Kimi-Ya also has a private dining room for private parties.

The restaurant is spacious and well-designed that echo Zen and comfort throughout the restaurant.

Kimi-Ya has a large impressive collection of sake too!

For Mother’s Day promotion, Kimi-Ya is bringing an exotic taste of the infamous pufferfish to diners with Fugu Nabe. Valid from 1^st May till 14^th May, diners can enjoy fugu in its purest form. Fear not if you’re wondering as Kimi-Ya’s chef is licensed to prepare this special fish.

The fugu is served thinly sliced on the side with a pot of bubbling nabe filled with lots of various vegetables and bean curd in delicate dashi broth. Just gently swish the fugu slice for a few seconds in the hot broth and enjoy the delicate natural flavours of the fish. The slightly firm and bouncy texture of the fish is rather unique. It’s a very refine dish that symbolizes what Japanese cuisine is all about.

For the whole month of May, diners can also enjoy Japan Karatsuki Hotate Butter Yaki. Glorious fresh Karatsuki scallop with roe from Japan is cooked gently at our table on its own shell with Shimeji mushrooms in rich butter sauce. Deliciously aromatic and succulent, the scallop was sweet, buttery and divine. The mushrooms had also soaked in the sauce well and was a treat to enjoy with the premium scallop. One may not be enough…

Kimi-Ya’s a la carte menu consist of various selections of sashimi and sushi. We had the Matsu Sashimi Moriawase, featuring six types of the freshest sashimi cut of the day. We noted that the Matsu Sashimi Moriawase platter was arrange in 360 degree presentation and was told that this way, everyone around the table can enjoy this platter.

The Matsu Sashimi Moriawase platter had Salmon, White Tuna, Yellowtail, Tuna, Scallop and Salmon Roe.

Sublime slices of sashimi that is further enhanced with house recipe soy sauce and fresh wasabi.

The gorgeous salty globules of salmon roe is divine!

No matter which angle you look at, this sashimi platter is striking beautiful and delish…

Next dish of Hamachi Carpaccio features my favorite yellowtail sashimi. Sublime slices of Hamachi is rolled with finely shredded radish and onion and sauced with house ponzu soy sauce. It’s an explosion of umami flavours in the mouth!

The Salmon Tataki is also superb with thick slices of lightly seared salmon sashimi served with house soy sauce, spicy grated radish and scallion. We adored the salmon for its texture and flavours. It’s so moreish, we were literally fighting for this dish.

One cannot go wrong with sushi rolls, especially if their looking this good! We had their Avocado Ebi Mentai Roll and Unagi Avocado Roll but there are few more rolls that sounded equally tempting in the menu.

The Avocado Ebi Mentai Roll has that salty luscious Pollack roe or mentai sauce with creamy avocado and crispy prawn tempura. This one is also very tasty and delish with its combination. It was polished off faster than a speeding bullet on our table.

The Unagi Avocado Roll takes on classic combination of sweet and smoky eel with creamy avocado, tamago egg, cucumber, salmon roe, mayo and eel sauce. Needless to say, flavours of sweet, savory, smoky and creamy works harmoniously yummy.

Besides a la carte, Kimi-Ya offers value-for-money lunch set on weekdays that comes with a free choice of dessert. Diners can choose the 12 variations of lunch set that comes with Steamed Chawan Mushi, Pickles, Soup, Fruits, Rice or Noodle. Price starts from RM26 to RM46, Monday to Friday from 12.00pm to 3.00pm.

The Chicken Teriyaki Gozen (RM26) features delicious and tender chicken thigh with the classic sticky sweet and savory teriyaki sauce. Can’t go wrong with this one…

If you love Salmon like me, you can opt for the Salmon Mentaimayo Yaki Gozen (RM38). Cooked well, the salmon was moist and was deliciously draped with the moreish mentaimayo sauce that has been lightly torched.

For some slurping action, the Nabeyaki Udon To Sushi Gozen (RM36) never fails to satisfy with its comforting flavours of hot broth, thick, slippery udon, shrimp tempura, soft egg and vegetables. This dish is paired with an assorted plate of sushi.

From the lunch set, one can choose one dessert from its dessert menu. There’s Vanilla Ice Cream, Chocolate Ice Cream, Black Sesame Ice Cream, Matcha Ice Cream, Mizu Shingen Mochi, Abekawa Mochi, Matcha Shiratama Zenzai, Yuzu Sherbet and dessert of the day.

The Mizu Shingen Mochi is irresistibly adorable with the cute concept of kitty cat and cow. It’s actually the latest Japanese dessert craze of Japanese raindrop cake, well not really cake but jelly to me, served with brown sugar syrup and soybean powder.

The Matcha Shiratama Zenzai is refreshing with its lush Matcha ice cream served with red bean paste and little glutinous rice balls.

Dessert of the day was a Sweet Potato Pudding that is light and easy on the palate as a sweet ending.

Kimi-Ya offers quality and premium ingredients in their menu as well as classic favorites. Prices are slightly above the normal Japanese chain franchises but diners are assured of quality and execution. There is also free valet parking for diners too. There’s plenty of dishes to cater to every one of all ages and the ambiance is really lovely and comforting.

KIMI-YA JAPANESE RESTAURANT

G-2, Avantas Residences,

162, Jalan Klang Lama,

58000 Kuala Lumpur

Tel: +013 239 3406

Facebook: www.facebook.com/KimiYa.Malaysia/

Business Hours:

Mon to Thurs         Lunch 12.00pm – 3.00pm | Dinner 6.00pm – 10.30pm

Fri to Sun              Lunch 11.30am – 3.00pm | Dinner 6.00pm – 11.00pm

Youmiqi Cuisine @ Old Klang Road

Fine and Sumptuous Shunde Cuisine

I never knew much about Shunde cuisine that is till I kept seeing some restaurants flagging bragging rights in serving exquisite Shunde cuisine. Shunde or Shun Tak (in Cantonese) is a district in Guangdong province, hence it can also be classified as a precursor to the world famous Cantonese cuisine that many favors. It does have its own unique identify through its diverse and intricate cooking techniques that produces some of the richest and flavoursome fine dishes said to befit for royalty.

There are not many Shunde restaurants in the city but one that has been standing out over the last few years is Youmiqi Cuisine. Located in Old Klang Road along the main road, the restaurant is discreetly housed in its own building. We headed there one evening to experience what Shunde cuisine is all about with some foodies.

The restaurant has a decent number of seating but if you’re determined to dine there, do call for reservations to avoid disappointment. There is the main general dining area sectioned into various rooms while few private rooms are also available on the level above of the restaurant. Though I am sure the restaurant was once in full glory in its design, it seemed that the ambiance feels lack luster except for the tables which are still nicely set in beautiful shades of blue, green and peach. Maybe it’s just because of the various items unconsciously placed all over the restaurant like rice, plastic chairs and etc. Nevertheless, we are here for the food and if the food satisfies, I would certainly return gladly.

If one has no clue what Shunde cuisine is, Youmiqi’s menu has plenty of pictures of the dishes that makes ordering so much easier. Choices are plenty and making them does not seemed any easier simply because the pictures looked very enticing with lots of seafood stealing the limelight here.

Shunde cuisine focuses on the freshest ingredients they can find and this includes seafood kept in tanks to ensure that it is as fresh as it gets. Youmiqi also has lots of seafood kept in tanks in their restaurant. There is even the highly prized sturgeon!

Every table gets a small plate of Chicken Feet and Pickled Cucumber when dining at Youmiqi cuisine. The chicken feet has a generous flavour of tong kwai infused into the pale claw of the phoenix while the garlicky and moreish chilled cucumber has lots of juicy and crunch factor.

The cuisine’s freshest ingredient concept can be reflected in Master Chef Flaming Wine Prawns (RM120). Live prawns soaked with generous splashing of Chinese wine before being lighted up in flames had us tucking into the sweetest prawns ever.

When the flames died down, the prawns looked gorgeously bright red and ready for us with its delicious aroma of distinctive Chinese wine. Firm to a bite, the prawns are super juicy and sweet, emphasizing that freshness is and will always be the key ingredients to a superb dish.

Shunde Braised Live Seafood in Wok (seasonal price depending on choice of ingredients) is one of the jewels of the cuisine. Using large copper wok, the cuisine showcase live cooking actions on diners’ table where lots of seafood and meat are usually cooked in special broths or steamed. These copper woks are said to have exceptional insulating properties that can cook ingredients in an even temperature. It also allow diners to savor the cuisine piping hot in a slowly manner.

Meat Crab

Tiger Grouper

Clams

Youmiqi’s Shunde Braised Live Seafood in Wok allows one to select their favorite seafood. A pot of this can be relatively affordable as well as going all the way to premium lavishness. Our copper work consisted of Meat Crab, Lou Fu Pan or Tiger Grouper, Clams, Seafood Ball, Yam and Bean curd sticks.

Seafood Ball

Yam & Bean Curd Sticks with Ginger

After firing up the stove beneath the wok, more broth is added table side to cover up the glorious spread of seafood. And then it’s just a matter of time before the whole wok comes to a boil and we get to dig into this one pot of wonders.

The broth is very unique and complex in flavours. While it is robust and tasty, I can’t quite figure out what ingredients make this broth so ravishingly flavourful. There is seafood essence in the broth for sure. The longer the wok slowly braised on the low fire, the broth thickened lightly and the flavour is further intensified to delectable umami notes. The seafood is very fresh and sweet. I was particularly fond of the bouncy seafood balls and the clams while the tiger grouper is excellent.

There are plenty of options available for this braised live seafood in wok so choose your favorite from prawns to lobsters and plenty of fishes as well as other seafood.

Now I have had a standing chicken elsewhere before but this one tasted slightly different. Youmiqi’s Roasted Standing Ovation Chicken (RM88) had a beautiful lacquered skin of amber hue. Diners can opt to be more savage by simply tearing off the meat or have the restaurant cut up the chook for you.

The meat is nicely moist and tasty. A side bowl of chicken jus is also served to allow diners to dip the chicken into the jus for more juiciness and flavour. Though the skin is not super crispy, the overall flavours are deliciously decent.

For our carb, we savored a popular signature of Youmiqi. While there are few variations, we opted for their Claypot Rice with Village Chicken (RM40). Literally covered with lots of spring onions, the aroma was certainly heavenly when the pot was placed on our table. I can even hear the light sizzling sound of rice scorching in the clay pot. A quick mix and we tucked into glorious fluffy rice grains imbued by umami soy sauce, tender pieces of chicken and aromatic oniony note. The little bits of crispy rice scorched on the pot is simply divine! Must order…

For snacking, we also had the Fried Spiced Frog with Salt & Pepper (RM48). Little nuggets of smooth and unctuous tender frog well-seasoned with salt and spice with a liberal does of pepper. Hand me a beer please..

A new special dish of Pan Fried Meat Patties with Wong Tai Choy (RM38) is super scrumptious. The QQ texture of the meat patty, studded with bits of a vegetable named Wong Tai Choy, has a unique moreish note that I went back for a second piece. These are dishes that I can certainly enjoy daily…

We also tried the Golden Sands Yong Tau Foo (RM23), pieces of bean curd puff stuffed with yong tau foo filling, fried till crispy and smothered in a sandy salted egg sauce. There is a sense of sublime satisfaction when enjoying this dish, simply because I happen to love salted egg for its unctuous deliciousness in any dishes.

Oatmeal Custard Bun (RM29) was our sweet ending of the evening. The golden buns looked utterly delightful and inviting. Gorgeously light, fluffy and golden, the bun has a luscious creamy caramel filling made from oat and maltose. I like how pillowy soft the bun is and the rich deep sweetness of it. Not the lightest ending to a meal but so heavenly on the palate.

Youmiqi Cuisine has such unique dishes from the Shunde district that is worth of a visit. There are plenty of dishes that guarantees to please many and though the prices are on the heavier end, the quality of the seafood is excellent for the value. It is often packed so a reservation is highly recommended and do come with a big group to try their copper wok seafood for more choices.

Youmiqi Cuisine

57 Jalan Klang Lama

Jalan Klang Lama

58100 Kuala Lumpur

+603 7980 0855

Facebook: www.facebook.com/youmiqicuisine