Of all things the things I got to eat on this trip was Japanese food. Malaysia has long had a sizeable Japanese expat population and KL is not short of these eateries, ranging from the chain kaitenzushi to upmarket ones with fish flown in directly from Tsukiji. The family likes Sushi King, which in my books is kinda okay-lah, but I came across Tokyo Teppan in the Tokyo Street section of Pavilion KL. I decided on it as it appears to have a variety of dishes as opposed to purely sushi/sashimi, hence more appealing to the varying tastes we had in the family. I just wanted to have noodles so I opted for the udon with tori katsu.


For kicks, I also ordered a pair of tobiko gunkan and salmon nigirizushi, which was very nice if I should say so myself. Nice neta-to-rice ratio and the fish was very fresh, and this was further exemplified in my sister-in-law’s chirashi order which came with miso shiru, a cube of soft tofu and mixed leaves. Ayah enjoyed his mixed tempura immensely. From all the smiles (even after getting the bill), as a family, we felt this place was a winner and we would be keen to return.

Tokyo Street Level 6
Pavilion KL
168 Jalan Bukit Bintang
55100 Kuala Lumpur

I’d like to add that Tokyo Street was a delightful section of this upmarket KL shopping outlet. Touted as a mixture of old and new Japan, they tried to emulate the experience of being in Japan itself. Since I had visited the country myself, I can’t vouch for its attempt at authenticity but the presence of shops selling onigiri, mille crêpes, mochi and sencha ice cream would mean it’s not a bad preamble to the real thing.

I would like to recommend a visit to Arthur’s. The mille crêpe slice (comes at about RM10 a whack but so worth it) was similar to the one I has at Doutour in Tōkyō! Next visit to Pavilion, however, I’d wanna try Kampachi. So, watch this space.

Our usual ayam penyet place had relocated and we now have a new place which is a tad pricier. This outlet is also in Puchong and is one of the branches of the Ayam Penyet AP chain.

The fried chicken was of a decent size and was delightfully crispy. That is good enough for me. Not much room for nasi tambah these days *KOFF* and the portion is therefore just right. Not a real fan of their other stuff although dad had their ikan lele penyet (catfish) with terong balado (brinjals), and my brother had the empal penyet (beef). We arrived just after the lunchtime crowd had dissipated, and the wait for our order wasn’t too long.

2 Ground Floor
Jalan Puteri 1-8
Bandar Puteri
47100 Puchong

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One surprise I had at one of my revisits was at Nando’s. I have generally been disappointed with this chain in Malaysia as the chicken tends to be “under”-grilled hence not crispiness to the birds at all. However, one thing the Malaysian outlets have is the espetada, which is Portuguese-styled meat in skewers.

I had the espetada rustica which also included sun-dried tomatoes and red onions. It was a welcome change and if only the British outlets would have this in their menus!

Whilst Nando’s Malaysia was a surprise, our visit to the PJ A&W Drive-In on the other hand was really sad. It was bad enough that we received news that this historic fast food outlet is to demolished, but the state of the place in itself was another matter. This was the place where I enjoyed my Baby Burger (in the days of Papa and Mama Burgers in the glorious 70’s) and where me and my BTU4 batch matches would down mugs and mugs of root beer (the *gologologolokk* incident comes to mind).

We were there just shy after the first week of Raya which meant the restaurant was operating with a skeleton crew of sorts. As for the food, the quality was still okay but gone are the eponymous ice cold glass mugs of root beer. The root beer is now served in paper cups just like Coke at McD’s. Why?!!

And how can I not forget the RM14 bag of popcorn?!!

After hearing much about this from members of the esteemed Kelab, I tried out Garrett’s at their lower ground outlet at OU. The Chicago Mix has kinda grown on me. But RM14 for a small bag weh! No branches in Europe yet, let alone the UK. Since I am going to Tōkyō again this autumn, I might just bring a bag back. Wait a sec – this was that CRAZY queue at Harajuku I saw when I was there last spring…