Japanese at Zakuro, Mont Kiara Kuala Lumpur

I haven't been to Zakuro in years. I have known the owner of Zakuro for years and have always been rather amazed by his creativity and talents. Over the years I have attended a few dinner functions that Wilfred really impressed me over the simple dishes. Call it Japanese fusion or in the words of the man - Japanese food is very flexible and has been able to adapt to the rapid changes of people's taste.
Anyway, I had a meeting in Plaza Mont Kiara and when the client suggested lunch, I recommended Zakuro. It was still early and the we were the second bunch of lunch seekers in there.
First order was my usual set lunch - Tori Misoyaki which is chicken cooked with miso. Something different for a change when most places will only have teriyaki chicken or the normal tori karaage (deep fried chicken).


Zakuro maintains the usual Japanese standard of having a little appetizer to kick things off.
Today it was salmon. They are not too stingy with the salmon as mine had 3 fat pieces in it. I noticed that the salmon tasted a bit like sardines or was it my tongue playing tricks on me. As an appetizer, it was mediocre. 

Salmon appetizer. Needs to be more appetizing right? Points - 0.5 cos it somehow tasted like sardines.

My set lunch came a little longer that I expected. Chicken is not the hardest to prepare and it does not take 20 minutes to do it. Hmmmm!!!! Good portions and for RM 18 this is a good deal. I have not had miso grilled chicken and I must say this is pretty good. They did a good job in grilling the chicken which maintained the juices in it while the meat was tender. Didn't get stuck between my teeth. It was a little sweet and for people that prefer saltier dishes, this is not something you will like. The chawan mushi (steamed egg) on the other hand was very very normal. (I am sorry dude but I have to be honest, right?) I reckon that there was just a tad too much water in the egg making it diluted which caused it to lose the egg flavor. Steamed egg must taste like egg. It was smooth though but the missing eggy taste, points deducted on that. Another point to note with Zakuro is the rice they serve. I must say that they serve really good quality Japanese short grain rice served with a dash of black sesame seeds sprinkled on top. It brings out a different kind of aroma to the natural rice smell. Yummy. 

Another appetizer that came in the lunch set. Mushrooms. Points - 1

Grilled nicely, not burnt on the sides maintaining the juices. Good. Points - 2.5 (0.5 deducted for taking too long)

The steamed egg was just too light. Observe closely and you will still see the bubbles on the side. Too much water. Points - 0.5 for being smooth and hot

Finally, we got a surprise from the kitchen. We were served salmon sashimi. Hardly do this for lunch but the salmon looked extremely fresh. The orange color of the fish was so inviting that I could not resist. Spread a little fresh wasabi on it and dip it into the soy sauce.
DAMN! This is good. The slice of fresh salmon was the right size, about 2 centimeters thick. It was actually sweet (natural freshness of the salmon) combined with the nausea-tic wasabi and soy sauce. Now that is what I call sashimi. As I was always said, Japanese food is all about the freshness of their produce.

Check out the fat cuts of fresh salmon. Absolutely fantastic. Points - 3

All in all, Zakuro has maintained its standard and quality over the years. Although it has been through ups and downs, I believe that their loyal customers will return time and time again just for the quality. 


Food quality - 3
Service - 1.5 (my lunch set just took too long considering there wasn't many people yet)
Environment - 1 (something new here but the place looked pretty much the same but clean.)