Four years ago, I had lunch at Zipangu. My sister and I felt that the food was alright. However, my mom commented that it was just an average Japanese restaurant compared to places such as Kampachi and Hajime. Since then, my family had never been to Zipangu, despite owning the Prestige Platinum card, which allowed us to enjoy discounts when dining in Shangri-La KL.
Zen much
Out of the blue, my dad suggested that we should try Zipangu. My mom frowned at the idea. I, on the other hand, thought that the place deserved a second chance. Anyway, it had been four years since our visit. So, all of us agreed to have lunch at Zipangu. Plus, my sister needed to soothe her cravings for Japanese food.
Amuse Bouche
Four years had passed but Zipangu still gives me the chills as I walked through walls after walls of wine racks and sake displays. Ironically, we were seated on the same table that we were given four years ago. We were also served with the same seaweed amuse bouche we had in our first visit. Did I mention, the seaweed amuse bouche was an exact replica of the one I had four years ago?
Chawan mushi
Nevertheless, there were changes to the menu - more set lunch choices were available. Some of the set lunches are cheaper than others. I remembered seeing a grilled fish set lunch going for approximately Rm 50. Quite a steal for those who want to enjoy Japanese food at a posh setting for a reasonable price.
Each set lunch comes with an entree of the day, miso soup, chawan mushi (Japanese steamed egg), rice and a choice of coffee or tea. The entree we had was a bowl of nikujaga or Japanese stew. The ingredients used in the stew were potatoes, carrots, daikon and duck. The potatoes, carrots and daikon were cooked to melt-in-your mouth perfection. The duck was pretty smooth and much of the taste was still present. My only complain was the the stew was slightly on the sweet side. I prefer my nikujaga to have a rich bonito taste.
I have to say, the miso soup is pretty ordinary but palatable. The flawless chawan mushi was simple in terms of flavors yet it does not disappoint. However, one should not expect too much from the coffee and tea. They were rather watered down compared to the ones served in LaFite or Lemon Garden.
Special Grilled Fish of the Day Set lunch with sashimi
Being a lover of fish, my dad picked the special grilled fish with sashimi set. The fish of the day happened to be my mom's favorite grilled Japanese mackerel, aka saba fish. Both my parents loved the fish. How can one not when the fish was very fresh? It was so fresh that I had to eat the head, whole. It was a bit salty, but this made it good to go with plain rice.
Inaniwa Udon set lunch - you can have the noodles served either hot
or cold
Being a lover of the smooth and flat Inaniwa udon, my sister picked the inaniwa udon set. My sister was happy with her choice. She loved the fact that the soup was screaming BONITO. Not only that, the ingredients used to prepare tempura were fresh. Served hot and crispy, the tempura was a crowd pleaser. What we did not like was that the tempura dipping was quite salty, even though daikon was added to it.
Rolled sushi
The rolled sushi from my dad and sister's set was everybody's favorite. I loved the fact that lots of different ingredients were used. Plus, they were pretty fresh. The rice had a nice vinegary sweetness to it. I love my sushi done this way. What I did not like about the rolled sushi was that my sister's rolled sushi was much uglier than my dad's - his had a neat square shape. My sister's rolled sushi looked like it was going to explode.
Unagi set lunch
I picked the unagi set lunch. It was the most expensive set lunch on the table, thanks to the unagi, which was prepared from scratch. However, it was worth the price as I get to enjoy the whole unagi. The unagi did not have the weird sandy taste. Furthermore, it was very fresh. The best part was that it had a lovely charred flavor. The flavor of cooking sake was quite evident when I was savoring this juicy offering.
Soba noodle set lunch
My mom ordered cold buckwheat noodles. There was a mix up with the order. Hot soba actually arrived instead of the cold option. However, the staff quickly corrected the mistake. We were quite happy with the efficiency of the staff despite the busy lunch service they had to deal with.
The portion was huge. My mom could barely manage half of the noodles even though she loved the dipping sauce, which had a lovely balance of sweetness, saltiness and umami-ness ( don't know how to describe this ).
Good filling, bad casing
We ended our meal with a dessert - Japanese wafer with matcha (green tea) filling. The slightly bitter green tea mousse compensated the saccharine sweetness of the adzuki bean paste. The milky cream added dimension to the matcha-adzuki combination. However, the cripsy casing had a stale taste to it. My mom suggested that the casing must have been made using bad flour. Quite a put off really.
In spite of the tiny "misses" in our lunch at Zipangu, Zipangu has made to our "must-return" list. I am looking forward for another lunch at Zipangu. :)
Little things:
Cuisine: Japanese
Ambiance: Zen with a mysterious twist. This explains the shivers I get upon entering the restaurant.
Service: Good. Can get a bit slow when busy.
Portions: Reasonable. Quite large for me.
Budget: Expensive but with the Prestige Platinum card, one is able to enjoy discounts. :D
