[Kuala Lumpur] New Japanese Eateries at Isetan, Lot 10

Isetan at Lot 10 in downtown KL has recently re-opened after a 1 year hiatus, with its new Japan Store concept. Its basement floor is a virtual emporium of good Japanese eats, with serving/dining stations specialising in kaisendon, soba, kushiage, tendon, sushi/sashimi, yakitori, sukiyaki, gyūdon, kaiseki, and youshoku, besides the sake bars & wine-tasting sections.

  1. Chef Takuji Takahashi launched the KL branch of his family’s 80-year-old Kyoto-style kaiseki eatery:

1a) Sakizuke: Somen (thin wheat noodles) flavoured with sesame, umeboshi (salted Japanese apricot), laver, dashi & ginger.

1b) Tsukuri: Salmon & scallop sashimi, with soysauce jelly cubes and bitter orange juice dip.

1c) Hiyashi-mono: Simmered lotus root, eggplant, mushroom, red pepper, Sando beans and grated Yuzu citrus.

1d) Yuanyaki of chicken, tossed in kuro-shichimi (Kuro-shichimi or ‘Black Seven Spices’ is a Kyoto condiment which consists of white sesame, chili pepper, dried sea weed, poppy seeds, black sesame and hempseeds), and kayaku gohan (rice with chicken & vegetables).

1e) Mizumono: Matcha (green tea) ice-cream with nectarine & pomegranate.

  1. Ginza Hageten served up one of the best tendon in town.

  1. Shoya Sushi Bar has some of the freshest sashimi freshly air-flown into KL from Tsukiji:

  1. Tamaruya offers grilled Wagyu beef at amazing prices - from RM55 (US$13) per 100g for tenderloin.

  1. Hanabi has a good selection of yakitori options, served individually, fresh off the grill:

5a) Smoked Mozzarella cheese:

5b) Chicken livers:

5c) Chicken and leek:

5d) Chicken ends:

  1. Waza+ Café from Osaka offers great Japanese-style chicken curry:

  1. Enchan-Thé serves Japanese wagashi desserts and cakes, together with a large selection of Japanese tea to choose from, in a Western-style setting:

One can browse through the wide array of Japanese cookies, baked goods, crafted beer, wines, grocery items (including futuristic “Tech Foods”) and a large array of sweets in the basement food emporium:

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Henri Charpentier, the Japanese-French patisserie, serves up one of the best green tea matcha Swiss rolls I’d ever tasted anywhere!

The Mont Blanc here was marvellous, better than the Parisian version at Angelina’s, Capitol Piazza in Singapore, which I had recently. But the chestnut puree is still too sweet for my (personal) taste.

A good selection of cakes to choose from, all air-flown from Japan.

How is it different from Angelina’s or the Singapore version? I’ve tried the version from Angelina, it was okay, still I don’t see why people are so exciting about it. There are other places do some good Mont Blanc.

The size of individual portion of pastries look more generous in size than in Paris.

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I wonder what happens when there are turbulences.

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naf - it’s the same thing, but Angelina’s was waaaay too sweet. This one I had a couple of months back when I was back in Singapore on home leave.

The one from Henri Charpentier has a creamier centre, and also a marron glace embedded inside.

Such cakes/desserts are very carefully packed - I used to work for DHL Singapore (for 7 years) back in 2000s, and we do audits of the cold chain process, where such perishable goods are transported. Careful handling every step of the way.