Friday 5 August 2011

Japanese Ramen, Matsuba, OBD Towers Taman Desa, Kuala Lumpur

This is a regular Sunday dinner joint for the family. Reason: The kids love it and we adults have not other choice and am too lazy to travel further for dinner. It is a pleasant Japanese restaurant located in a condominium called OBD which by the way is mainly occupied by Japanese expatriates.
Anyway, it is pretty much value for money and it's a pleasant, brightly lit typical Japanese restaurant in Kuala Lumpur.
Most people here will just order their Japanese ramen as they have a pretty huge variety of ramen here. The usual char su ramen and other hybrid ones which sound more Chinese than Japanese.
On a Sunday, I usually will order their dinner sets which are pretty reasonable. (RM26) It comes with a bowl of ramen (small), rice plus dish (depends on what you want. You can get teriyaki chicken, gyu niku etc), salad, fruits and pickles.
I quickly jump into assessing their food here. The ramen is typically served shoyu style here which is soya sauce base soup. I reckon that is the easiest to make and prepare. It is not exactly rocket science. Hence, the soup will always taste like a big bowl of Ajinomoto (MSG) has been thrown into it. Some people just love MSG in their food but I don't. You cannot avoid it when you dine outside but hell, why do some restaurants put so damn much of this damn chemical in their food.
The ramen here is cooked pretty well. The size of the ramen is the right size. (If you recall in my earlier ramen post, some places serve ramen that is just too thin.)


The char su(pork slices) they serve are just too lean. I reckon that you need a little fat in this to make them juicier and tender. When it's too lean, the taste just isn't there.


Points : 1 (0.5 extra is given cos my darling nieces love it.)

For RM 26, the set's pretty reasonable. Gets you full but taste wise, they better buck up!

The other dish on my set was this fried pork with bitter gourd. Damn! This is surely not Japanese. It tastes just like the Chinese dishes you get at the mixed rice stalls.


Points - 0.5



Other noodle dish we had was their Yaki Soba. Well, it's just like Chinese fried noodles ala Nippon style. Nothing exciting, it was not bad either but just not Japanese. 


Points - 0.5


Matsuba is not a bad place. It's serene, service is friendly and food's not too bad. Only thing is that I would call this place more of a fusion Chinese and Japanese restaurant. Pretty good for a quick no fuss dinner.

2 comments:

Penny said...

There is a similar Japanese/Chinese place in Plaza Mont Kiara, which serves Chinese dishes in Japanese bentos, plus various ramen and Japanese fried dishes. (I go there for pork katsu don!) It seems to be the regular 'canteen' for Japanese expat executives and families in the area. Maybe Japanese folk like to eat Chinese food, but can't cope with it unless it's in a bento...?

darthko said...

Lol, yeah reckon you're right with the bento syndrome.