Kouzu @ Taman Tun Dr Ismail

We are well versed with tapas aka small plates of Spanish savoury dishes....but what's Japas?  Well, it seems they're the Japanese version of tapas.  Ooo...I like small portions.

And Kouzu @ Taman Tun Dr Ismail is a place for Japas besides also serving yakitori, donburi, salad & greens, pasta & noodles, Japanese pizza and desserts too.

Absolutely loving the colourful murals on the wall that looks somewhat like those illegal graffiti, drawn free hand, we see on street walls....hahaha! ;D  Except these ones are a lot, lot nicer, of course.  Choose a good spot and you'll come away with a nice background for your photo or selfie.

From the Japas menu, there's a wide selection of about 20 choices with the majority of them priced between RM18 - RM28.  We ordered the Creamy Baked Oysters @ RM19 to start.

As much as I like a fresh oyster, I like a baked one even more.  Covered with cream cheese and a dollop of salty capelin roe, they were baked to a nice golden-brown.  Juicy, velvety-smooth, perfect Japas to start with...and getting five oysters for the price paid was certainly good value.

Our next Japas was the Stone Grilled Sirloin @ RM27.  It arrived in fashion wrapped in aluminium foil with a bit of smoke and a sizzling sound that makes you eager to see what's inside.

Opened to reveal 5- 6 fairly thick slices of charred beef sizzling on a hot stone with some cubes of potato in a sweetish teriyaki-type sauce.  Tender, juicy, but not necessarily all that flavourful.  You'd want to eat it quickly before the still pinkish meat becomes more cooked.

From the Japas, we moved on to their Donburi section (with 8 selections, RM18 - RM30) and went with the Ishiyaki Stone Bowl @ RM30.  Served in a hot stone bowl that consisted of sweet-sticky unagi, vinegared prawns, a good-sized and well-charred scallop, minced chicken, sauteed mushrooms, a perfectly cooked onsen tamago, masago and rice.

We went about eating this by sharing out the prawns, scallop and unagi first and then breaking the runny yolk and mixing it in with the rice (together with the rest of the ingredients in the bowl).  That yielded moist, sticky rice at the top and crunchy textured bits at the bottom.  For a light eater, this delicious bowl is a complete meal in itself with a bit of everything...and you don't have to share! ^o^

From their Pasta & Noodles options (there were five priced between RM22 - RM27), we selected the Angel Hair Mentaiko Pasta @ RM22.  Nice presentation...wrapped around a pair of chopsticks! ^_~  The angel hair pasta was tossed in a creamy-but-not-cloying concoction of mentaiko and topped with masago, tobiko and thin strips of seaweed.

Next, we moved onto the Japanese Pizza offerings (with five alternatives to choose from, RM20 - RM27) and picked the Pizza with Japanese Escargot @ RM27 just because I love snails...of the edible kind....kekeke! ;)

With a layer of crackly rice as its base, this 4-inch pizza came topped with crunchy escargots, crispy and super thin slices of lotus root, greens of arugula and baby spinach along with Japanese mayo and a sweetish sauce.  Not the usual pizza and something new with its rice base dough though you may need to do a bit of hunting to find the scarce escargots though. :(

Only after devouring these dishes did we make our orders for their yakitori and that's just so we can eat the skewers of meat as and when they arrive at the table, still hot, straight off the grill.  There are at least 25 varieties to choose from ranging from as low as RM5 to the most expensive at RM18 a stick.  Here were some of our selections.

The Sirloin @ RM15 was juicy, flavourful but not as tender as I thought it would be.  And that's just my friend's finger hoping to get 'famous' on my blog giving you an estimate of the size of the skewer...hihihi!) :D

The Gyutan @ RM12 aka ox tongue was, unfortunately, very chewy and no where near tender nor flavourful as the ones I've eaten before.

The Chicken Wings @ RM6 (each skewer comes with two wingettes), with tender flesh, were fragrant from the charred and crisp skin and hands down the best skewer of the night.

No complaints on the Rock Lobster @ RM15 as it was fresh, moist, succulent.

The Salmon Cube @ RM12, fairly fresh, featured soft, tender flesh.

Was there any doubt I wouldn't order the Quail Eggs @ RM5 (each stick came with 3 mini eggs) if I see it on the menu?  Of course not.  However, these may have been left on the grill too long as some parts of the egg white were slightly rubbery.

As for the Shiitake Mushrooms @ RM5 (3 mushrooms in each stick), we were over eager to eat them (hence the sticks were removed before pic was taken!) as we enjoyed the sauteed mushrooms in the Ishiyaki Bowl earlier.

I've always loved Japanese sweet potatoes for its taste and looks (contrasting yellow flesh against purple skin), so an order of Sweet Potato @ RM5 (4 wedges of potato on each stick) when I see it on the menu comes as no surprise.  However, these ones were underdone as the flesh near the skin + the skin itself was still hard.

The Okra @ RM5 (4 pcs in one stick) was well-charred, soft and delicious.  All the skewers were simply seasoned with shio and pepper or a drizzle of soy to allow the natural flavours of the protein and vegetable to shine.

We enjoyed the Chicken Wings the most, so we placed a second order for another two sticks.  It was at this time I casually mentioned to the server (who took our orders) that we didn't like the gyutan and sweet potato skewers.

Without warning and to our surprise, the server brought us replacement skewers of the gyutan and sweet potato.  This time, the sweet potatoes were better executed.

Sorry, but the gyutan was still very chewy...and I took one bite only and left the skewer unfinished.  We, however, appreciated their gesture to replace the skewers that we mentioned weren't successful.

The server did later explain that the chef tasked with the cooking of the skewers is new, barely two months old.  But I think that was only half the cause, the other half being the quality of the skewered food.

When the plates of yakitori arrived, it immediately reminded me of the now-closed Shinjiro as they used the exact same plates (even the holder to put your already-eaten sticks is the same!).  But taste-wise, Shinjiro was much better.  Till this day I 'mourn' the closing of Shinjiro.  I don't know why it happened as the food was good.  I think they were in the wrong location/mall and I think they needed to add more to the menu other than just offering predominantly grilled skewers of food that may end up to be a costly meal for some.

P/S: You may want to check the discounts offered by eatigo (for food only, drinks excluded)

My Personal Opinion

Though the yakitori seems reasonably priced from RM5 to RM18 per stick, the fact remains that you'll need quite a few sticks to be full.  Imagine you're eating satay, if you need 10 sticks to be full, you'll need 10 skewers of meat...and at an average price of RM10 - RM12 a stick, you do the math, the amount can add up very quickly.  Even I can easily down 10 sticks, so you can imagine how many sticks the more ferocious eaters may need.

But since the skewers weren't that successful anyway (other than the wings), I'd probably stick to their Japas and donburi offerings with a few occasional skewers.

Still a good place to unwind, over the weekend or after work, with a couple of Japas in one hand and a beer or sake in the other! ^_^

Kouzu Restaurant
18 Lorong Datuk Sulaiman 1
Taman Tun Dr Ismail
60000 Kuala Lumpur
Tel: 03-7733 9309

Gai Ye BBQ Satay Lok Lok @ Cheras Business Centre

After our underwhelming experience at BBQ Garden Restaurant in the same area a while back, we went to Gai Ye BBQ Satay Lok Lok @ Cheras Business Centre looking for another barbeque meal at another time.

The typical shop-like air-conditioned interior has a few a tables inside though you'll hardly feel the air-conditioning since the shopfront is open.  There are a lot more tables at the open-air area in front of the shop.

Once you step in, you'll be confronted with trays upon trays of raw food on skewers, the variety of which makes your selection just that bit more difficult but you wouldn't want it any other way.

All kinds of processed meatballs, big or small (from pork to chicken, squid & fish)....

.....including lots of commercially prepared mini sausages & bean curd type items.

There are also fresh items like chicken, squid (head & tentacles), prawns, fish & cockles.

Dumplings, crab sticks, crab claws, more fish, squid & prawns.

Roast pork, dried barbequed meat & sausages.

All sorts of mushrooms, quail eggs & corn.

Of course, vegetables must feature at some point....

......and noodles too.

You also have a selection of more premium items (from the fridge) which looked a bit dehydrated to me (from being exposed uncovered in the fridge).  There were some premium fresh seafood like giant tiger prawns and crabs too.

Price-wise, it's very simple...the plain skewers are RM1, the black-marked skewers are RM2 and RM6 for the red-stained ones.

You start with the broth of your choice and I see six on the menu...satay, kimchi, assam laksa and three more written in Chinese.  I went with satay (of course, for that satay celup experience) and salted egg yolk (I know this one coz I've read about it online).  Broth bases start from RM10 (for one) or RM12 for a choice of two.

The salted egg yolk broth does have the taste of salted egg but probably not enough of it to cling to the skewers of foods you put in to cook.  You'll be given crushed peanuts to add to your satay sauce to thicken it...although, initially, it'd be quite diluted but it did thicken somewhat over time (especially towards the end of your meal) as the broth kept boiling (and reducing).

You can ask for more crushed peanuts if you prefer your broth thicker...though adding an extra bowl wasn't successful.  I'd suggest you spoon some of the satay broth into a bowl and then add your crushed peanuts to that to try and create a thicker, chunkier sauce.  Taste wise, let's just say it wasn't as great as some of the satay sauce I've had.

Luckily, there are other dipping sauces available to perk up the flavours of your sticks of food...like the more fiery fresh sambal sauce (bottom right) which I preferred.

Here were some of our selections.  You actually have a choice of how you want your skewers cooked....grilled, deep-fried or lok lok'ed (much like how you'd dunk skewers into a boiling broth to cook them like in a steamboat).

Some we lok lok'ed ^_*

Some were grilled :)

And some we had them deep-fried! ^.^

I actually enjoyed the lok lok items the least as the thin broth/sauce wasn't able to stick to the skewered items to give it enough flavour like a good and thick satay sauce can.

As for the grilled items of squid, dried barbequed meat, chicken and prawn, I liked them a lot more than the lok lok items....especially the squid tentacles and chicken wing for that smoky char deliciousness. ^_^

Some of the items were definitely better suited for deep-frying.  They were dipped in a dry seasoned flour before being deep-fried rendering them savoury and absolutely crispy.  I especially loved the squid tentacles and ham wrapped enoki mushrooms done this way. ^o^

We ended with some cooked noodles, of course...yee mee doused in satay sauce and egg noodles in salted egg broth (both a little odd tasting, nothing like noodles in a conventional soup).

And you'll need some icy drinks to wash it all down which you can order by glass or jug.  I say go with the jug as you'll end up needing more liquid than you think.  Our Honey Lemon @ RM6 a jug and Chinese Tea @ RM3 a jug.

#Side Observation

On a side note, I did make an observation that I'd like to share.  If you've noticed, some of the skewers of food already have blackened marks on them (prior to cooking) which leads me to think that some of them could be reused skewers.  I may be wrong though I highly doubt it.  Other than the black-stained ends used to denote the price of the RM2 sticks, how else can you explain these blackened marks at the tips or in the middle of the stick.  Sometimes, the entire stick is discoloured even before cooking.  We all know what a new stick looks like (and it looks like the prawn skewer!).

Some of you might not feel at ease with such a thought of reused skewers but it happens...probably more often than we know (like with satay).  With satay, we won't even know it they're recycled skewers as the sticks will be burnt already when they're served to us.  I'm sure they'll wash the sticks before reusing (hopefully! O_o), so think of it as washed chopsticks when we eat noodles outside...kekeke! ;D

Also, you have to be perfectly fine with hovering flies (not a lot but some) when you eat here since the sticks of food are laid out exposed (you'll see a worker trying to shoo them away whenever one of them is free).  Flies are something we constantly deal with when it comes to eating street food.

My Personal Opinion

Prices of RM1 - RM2 are certainly very affordable...and anything between 10 - 15 skewers per person (for an average-to-big stomach size appetite) should be more than sufficient for one to be fully satiated. 

Though the place seems better-known for its lok lok, it was the grilled and deep-fried items that ended up being the skewers that I enjoyed eating the most.  They need to rethink their satay broth base or rework it into a thicker, nuttier, spicier, tastier satay sauce that rocks! ^_~

Eat here only if you can get past my side observation and is not squeamish about re-used sticks! :P

Gai Ye BBQ Satay Lok Lok
No 20-0-3 Block C Jalan 2/101c
Cheras Business Centre
Cheras
56100 Kuala Lumpur

Tel: 012-790 0922

BBQ Garden Restaurant @ Cheras Business Centre

The attraction of smoky grilled meat and seafood on a stick brought us to BBQ Garden Restaurant @ Cheras Business Centre one dinner night.

The place is a simple, no frills restaurant.  It's not even air-conditioned but offers barbequed meat and seafood you don't need to grill yourself...which is music to my ears.

You can order individual skewers of meat from chicken to beef, duck, lamb and pork belly or seafood such as tiger prawns, squid, oysters, scallops and mackerel saury pike.  There are also vegetable options like green beans, enoki mushrooms, Chinese chives, corn, eggplant, baby cabbage and green chillies to bean curd, potatoes and buns.

We decided to go with the YY Big Platter @ RM45.90 which offered greater value and a bit of everything with a combo of 6 meats/seafood and 3 types of vegetables.  The skewers came in twos or fours which is ideal for sharing between two (you can also add on rice for a more filling meal).  All the meats and prawns were marinated in the same spice mix and were very spicy.  In fact, it had a bit of that raw spice taste that I don't really like.

The Big Platter came with two Chicken Wings which were perfectly grilled to the right deliciousness.  The crispy edges of the chicken wings were immensely fragrant and a delight to eat.  I thought the chicken wing was the only meat that absorbed the marinade the best and didn't taste as spicy as some of the other things on the platter.

The Grilled Pork Belly skewers, with the desired caramelisation, remained juicy and really fragrant around the edges.  It would have been better if it didn't taste so spicy.

The Grilled Chicken Fillet skewers I didn't care as much for as they were very dry and, of course, spicy.

The Grilled Tiger Prawns were fresh but there wasn't much 'penetrated' flavour in the flesh once they were de-shelled since the spice mix clung onto the shells.  The Taiwan Sausages offered a bit of sweetness and some respite from all the heat in the other meats.

The Grilled Bacon Wrapped Enoki Mushrooms sounded like a dynamite combo but the bacon turned out to be soft (instead of crisp) probably due to the release of water from the mushrooms.

Grilled Vegetables of Corn and Green Beans together with Grilled Enoki Mushrooms round up the YY Big Platter.  I thought the fiery spices overpowered the natural sweetness of the vegetables.

On top of all that spiciness, you're given a chilli dip to spice up your skewered meats even more.....that's spicy on spicy!  I had to call for additional mineral water (with lots of ice) to put out the fire in my mouth! O_o

Now you would think that spicy is the only option for the skewered meats but apparently it wasn't.  And that brings me to my side story.

#Side Story 1

Although I did see an option for spicy or honey at the bottom of the menu for the individual skewers but it wasn't stated on the Big Platter and I promptly forgot all about it when I placed the order.

When I went to look at the menu to make additional orders, the guy at the counter (I think he's the owner) asked me if I wanted spicy or not spicy.  That's when I went, "Huh, got not spicy?" (in Cantonese lah).  I said to him that I wasn't told that by the guy who took my initial orders.  He further said that I could also ask for a mixture of spicy and non-spicy for my skewers.  What the hell!! :>(  Was that so difficult for the server to ask me?  There were only two options for God's sake.  Isn't it presumptuous of him to think everyone would want spicy and can take that level of heat?  He can't assume that I've been there before....and, as a first timer, I wouldn't know the options available to me.  (Even when ordering a RM6.50 bowl of curry mee at Jia Li Mian, I was promptly told that they have two types of curry mee...on each visit!).  At that point, the owner looked non-apologetic and also seemed to be not too concerned that his staff flubbed up.  Brushing that aside, I went ahead to make my additional orders.

Since we enjoyed the pork belly the most, I made an additional order for individual skewers of Grilled Pork Belly @ RM10.90 (5 sticks).  This time, knowing that there's an option for non-spicy, I went with that.  This was so much better as you can taste the fragrant pork belly without the spiciness drowning the natural taste.

I also asked for an additional order of Grilled Green Beans @ RM5 (3 sticks) and (again) requested for non-spicy of course.  Finally, I can taste the green beans without the spiciness overtaking my taste buds.  Note that the green beans are listed as long beans in the menu.  For me, I find RM5 for the green beans (or any of the other vegetables for that matter) rather expensive since you're effectively getting the equivalent of 6 pieces of green beans that have been cut into halves (wow, just imagine their profit margin for this....absolutely ridiculous)!  And they obviously know that we have to at least order some vegetables to go with this all-meat affair.

And you would think that that's the end of the story.  Not quite.

#Side Story 2

On reaching home, some two hours later, I happen to look at the receipt and realised that we were charged for two items that we didn't consume.  Since the wrongly charged amount came up to about 30% of our total bill, I thought it was sizeable enough to return to get a refund.  Actually, I was more 'motivated' to return to highlight that a mistake was made than to get my refund of RM21.

On reaching there, what transpired wasn't something I expected.  On seeing (and recognising) me, the owner got up from a table (outside) together with a pregnant lady (whom I'm assuming is his wife).  I explained to him that I was overcharged for two items I didn't get.  His initial demeanour that surprised me was one of disbelief (you'd think I'd drive all the way back here just to claim RM21 if it wasn't true?).

He proceeded to check the order chits which was fine by me.  He showed me my order chit and said, "See, you did order these two items."  That was when it all came back to me...yes, we did write down those two orders (for individual skewers) before we realised the big platter offered a better value and decided to cancel the individual skewers.

We subsequently cancelled those two orders by crossing it out.  I told him what was there not to understand with a horizontal line crossing out each order.  I said obviously your kitchen understood the order chit since we weren't served those two orders.  At this point, he got a little worked up but I was more appalled at what came out of his mouth next...he said I should have checked the bill! O_o

Now how is it that a mistake made by him suddenly becomes my fault! @_@  Yes, I could have checked the bill but I certainly can't be faulted if I didn't coz if I was billed correctly in the first place, I wouldn't have needed to check the bill.  I said, "You made the mistake but now you want to put the blame on me?".  There were some raised voices and, in the end, he did refund me but at no time did he offer me an apology nor admit he made a mistake.

My Personal Opinion

The fact that the owner wasn't even apologetic tells me a lot...and if that's how he wants to conduct his business, he can very well do without my business.  I'm sure he couldn't care less if he had one less customer.

As for the food, the taste was just one note...overly spicy with everything marinated in the same spice mix or non-spicy with only salt and pepper.  It's so spicy, it numbs your taste buds and you can't taste much of anything else after that.  Plus, there's only one dip...and (no prize for guessing) it's also one-dimensional...super spicy.  So, if you have a low tolerance for heat, you only have one option here.  And the other choice of honey is only recommended for certain skewers.

Even if the food was great (and it clearly wasn't), there's no way I will go back there again....no, nay, hell no! Was that explicit enough? >:(  In this day and age, customer-friendly service matters and I can very well take my hard-earned money and spend it elsewhere.  It obviously doesn't matter one bit to him...well, good luck....to his longevity in this business with an attitude like that! :P

BBQ Garden Restaurant

68-0-9 Jalan 5/101c

Cheras Business Centre

Cheras

56000 Kuala Lumpur

Tel: 03-9133 6280