Taka by Sushi Saito is, IMO, the best sushi restaurant in Kuala Lumpur.
It’s the only overseas offshoot of the 3-Michelin-star Sushi Saito in Roppongi Hills, Tokyo - which Joel Robuchon called the “best sushi restaurant in the world”.
Prices are not cheap in its KL branch: set lunches come in 3 price ranges - RM450/US$100 per head, RM650/US$145 per head and RM1,400/US$313 per head for the omakase. But you do get perhaps the best sushi meal you’d ever have outside Japan.
Kazunoko (herring roe) topped with katsuoboshi (finely-shaved bonito).
Kinmedai - golden-eye snapper. Not fishy and slightly sweet, with a yielding yet not too soft texture. All sushi served here are lightly brushed with a soy-based dressing already, so no dips are offered.
Sayori - Japanese Half Beak.
Sayori is one of the classic Edomae-style sushi. By using entire piece of filleted sayori for one serving sushi, the style is called “wazukuri”. It has a clean, firm texture and a slightly fishy.
Anago - conger eel, lightly grilled then delicately shaped into a sushi. It’s very difficult to make sushi out of this as the flesh is fluffy and soft - a true testament to Chef Kubota-san’s skill.
The sushi is lightly brushed with a sweet soy-based sauce.
Tamagoyaki - Japanese sweet omelette.
Tasted like manna from heaven - the soft custard-like tamagoyaki consisted of eggs, shiba ebi (dried shrimp powder), yamatoimo (Japanese mountain yam), sugar, salt & mirin.
Meticulously prepared, using very fresh ingredients - fish supplies come in from Tsukiji on alternate days - one of the best sushi experiences I’d had outside Japan.
Address
Taka by Sushi Saito
Level 3A, The St. Regis Kuala Lumpur
6, Jalan Stesen Sentral 2,
50470 Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia
Tel: +60 12-330 3600
Opening hours: 12 noon to midnight daily.
4 Likes
Harters
(John Hartley - a culinary patriot eating & cooking in Northwest England)
2
Out of curiosity, which was the price for your meal ?
The cheapest option - MYR450 or £82.50 per head, before taxes and service. You need to pay more for drinks.
BTW, I thought it was pretty telling that Joel Robuchon himself now calls Sushi Saito the best sushi restaurant in the world!
He was the one who, back in the 90s, said Jiro Ono was the best sushi chef in the world. Robuchon liked Sukiyabashi Jiro so much then, he measured the sushi bar counter there, and modelled his first ever L’Atelier de Joel Robuchon (in Paris) after it. And he also pioneered the concept of a French chef preparing and serving food to customers over a bar counter akin to a sushi chef.
The rest is history. Sukiyabashi Jiro also became the first sushi restaurant in the world to earn 3-Michelin-stars.
Now, who is the No. 1 sushi chef in the world - Jiro Ono or Takashi Saito?
It’s very easy to get bookings in KL, as it’s pitched at the very high-end market there.
I’d not tried Sushi Saito in Tokyo, but those who have said the KL outpost, depending upon chilled products air-flown from Japan 3 times a week, may seem slightly “lesser” in that sense.
I’d had Shinji Kanesaka and Hashida Sushi in Singapore - quality is quite the same as Taka, but the head chef here makes a lot of difference with his approachability. Am going back again this weekend.
Great meal and especially nice photos, I like especially this photo of chef Kubota with his sushi, as if he was practising some martial arts (magic) while cooking.
I find the menu you took a good value price for a very high end restaurant.
Thanks for the information. I failed to secure reservations to Saito (no surprise) for an upcoming trip, this sounds like a good fall back. Btw, I checked with the restaurant and their shipments from Tsukiji are Tue, Wed & Fridays.
Some highlights from my recent lunch at Taka. Quality remains excellent and any negative comments are just me be very critical due to the relatively high cost. Service was very attentive and has noticeably improved from my last visit. Plates were cleared almost immediately and my tea cup was constantly refilled.
One of the highlights of the afternoon. Sliced off the largest lobe of ankimo (~12" ??)I’ve ever encountered; I wonder how large the fish was! Perfect smooth soft custardy texture; amazing! Renewed my love for ankimo in the rights hands. Just wonderful, a new benchmark for me.
Aji sourced off the waters of Izumi - Kubota-san indicated this is the best source for Aji. Incredibly fatty and flavorful. Another highlight and new benchmark for me.
Chutoro sourced from the waters of Okinawa. Good but not as good as the Kyoto sourced bluefin from a couple months ago. Perhaps due to waters warming up this time of year or a different aqua terroir, the flavors were not as complex as earlier this year.
I went for the full omakase this time and added 3 additional items. Tab for 1 person cost almost as much as lunch for 2 at Sawada couple months ago (or 310 plates of Char kway teow)
Hi! Am curious to find out if the omakase lunch was priced at MYR1,400. How about dinner? Can’t find its website on pricing. Keen in trying this place since it’s easy to travel up from Singapore.
I’m thinking of booking Sawada in my next trip. Does it cost about the same as other places at ¥30,000 per pax?
