There are very few Japanese restaurants in my neighbourhood. In fact, there's just one which specialises in
yakiniku (grilled meat), one specialising in udon (
Udon-Ya San) and another two specialising in (conveyor-belt) sushi (
Sushi Mentai &
Sakura Sushi)...and that's probably about it (at least the ones I'm aware of).
So, when we feel like eating Japanese within our
taman, there are very limited options to choose from. That was what led us to reconnect back with
Tokyo Yakiniku @ Pandan Indah, a place we used to patronise (I wrote about it
here and
here) but one that we completely forgot along the way. I happen to bump into the boss when I was dining at
Tasty La La Meehoon (in fact he's there regularly) and that was what jolted my memory about his Japanese restaurant that I've not visited in a long while...
lol!
As the name (
yakiniku) implies, grilled meat is their speciality, so that's what we regularly have when we're here....and we usually start with orders of one their set meals of either:
BBQ Chicken Set @ RM12.90
BBQ Pork Lean Meat Set @ RM12.90
BBQ Spicy Bacon Set @ RM13.90
Each set meal comes with a choice of side dishes of either
tofu pok or
fried oyster mushrooms and a
miso soup. You can add on a
drink for RM3. And then we would add on a couple more side dishes to accompany our set meals with our usual orders being one of the following:
Of course no one is going to complaint if there's more bacon...such as
BBQ Bacon @ RM10.90.
BBQ Spicy Bacon @ RM10.90
BBQ Pork Neck Meat @ RM8.90
Australian Ribeye @ RM21.80 - the beef here unfortunately is not quite the quality I'm looking for. I guess I can't expect much really with that kind of price.
Spicy Pork Pandan Roll @ RM6.90 - and no, these are not made inhouse as I've eaten the same thing at other restaurants.
Green Lettuce Stir-Fried or with Oyster Sauce @ RM12.90
Even if it comes free with the set meals, we're always inclined to order more
Tofu Pok @ RM4.50...
.....and that goes for the
Fried Oyster Mushrooms as well @ RM9.90.
There's only one
dipping sauce option here....and it's one that tastes like a sweetish teriyaki with a sprinkling of sesame seeds.
You can also order their pre-set BBQ menus for 2 (RM48.80) or 4 (RM118.80) persons...and this is extremely popular with most of the diners who dine here. They enjoy grilling the meat themselves though you can also have the kitchen staff grill them for you.
My Personal Opinion
We used to do the grilling ourselves too (just for the fun of it) but soon realise that the kitchen does a better job...they can get a more even browning on the meats (coz they probably flip them around more often than we do). So, in the end, we thought why go through the hassle of grilling and having to watch over your meats so that they don't burn when we can just enjoy our food and leave without the smell of grilled food in our hair and on our clothes...lol!
Even after a long hiatus of not visiting...and the fact that they're still around after so many years is testimony to the fact that their food is acceptably decent as their prices are affordable and reasonable for a weekend family meal.
Tokyo Yakiniku
76G&A Jalan Pandan Indan 4/6B
Pandan Indah
55100 Kuala Lumpur
Tel: 03-4295 4833
The dishes look very tasty! I like the presentations...although they are not fancy, they are attractive, colourful and I like the differently shaped dishes! (triangular, round, etc). For myself, presentation isn't as important as flavour. For example, I cook at home a lot and I am not at all talented in decorating or presentations, but the food I make tastes good. So the presentations don't mind so much to me.
ReplyDeleteHowever, I do like and appreciate the artistic talent of chefs, and if a chef is equally as good at presentation as he or she is at flavour, this is a true winner for me.
Thank you so much for sharing, I really appreciate and enjoy your posts.
Beautiful photos, too.
Thank you, Linda...I'm glad you enjoy my posts. I guess if we're paying top dollar for the food, than good food presentation is important as (you know what they say) we feast with our eyes first. But since this is not a fancy restaurant, so presentation isn't expected. You must be a very good cook since you cook often at home...and for home cooking, we're just interested to get a dish out that tastes good.
DeleteAh! Grilled meat is what I love! I have seen a few yakiniku restaurants in Subang Jaya and I think there is one at 1 Utama (none in Uptown unfortunately). But I was unsure if we are expected to grill our own meat or does the restaurant staff do it for us. Those sets you ordered, they come with the meat ready grilled in the kitchen? What you had looks pretty good with all those side dishes.
ReplyDeleteP.S. I love tofu pok too!
Oops...what happened to my reply (eh, didn't get published?).
DeleteYes, those sets we ordered came already grilled coz we requested for it to be so. In some restaurants, you're given both options...to grill yourselves or they do it for you (you have to ask if they do). In fancier/pricier restaurants, they even do the grilling at the table (I guess they do it coz they don't want you to overcook and ruin their good meats)...lol! :D
I will never do the grilling myself if I have the option of the staff can do it for us.
ReplyDeleteThe meat portion seem rather small.
It depends, some restaurants don't have the option of grilling for you, so you'll have to do the grilling yourself (which can be fun too).
DeleteAs for the meat portion being small, certainly you can't expect too much when prices are only around RM10+ a plate! I actually thought the portions commensurate with the prices charged.
I don't think I have tried grilled meat in Japanese restaurants before, usually for Japanese food, I always end up ordering sushi or Don set with pork katsu, chicken katsu or tempura and my favourite is the chawanmushi. For the sides, I would choose fried oyster mushrooms instead of the Tofu Pok. And the BBQ chicken set looks great!
ReplyDeleteJapanese grilled meat is delicious...especially if it's premium/expensive beef or seafood. The fried oyster mushrooms were more savoury than the tofu pok here because of the flavoured batter coating the mushrooms.
Delete