Review: Kimi-Ya Japanese Restaurant, Old Klang Road

Happy New Year folks! Well, technically it's been about a week since the new year, but Happy New Year nonetheless!

This time around, I am here to share with you a Japanese restaurant located at Old Klang Road, called Kimi-Ya. If you're on Old Klang Road, the restaurant is located inside Avantas Residences, on the way to Pearl Point hotel, away from Mid Valley Megamall. 

If you know me, you know that I always like to have Japanese cuisine every once in a while, and what's important to me is its freshness and affordability. 

The layout of the place was clean and has a very Japanese feel to it. Not surprising, as it is a Japanese Restaurant.  The chairs were comfortable, and there is decent spacing between the tables so you don't feel like you're overcrowded.

The restaurant has two private rooms, each seating ten and eight pax respectively. The lighting and decor in here are also very minimalist, and the arrangement is such that you don't have to worry about accidentally bumping elbows with the person beside you.

We were seated in the smaller room, and I liked that it is cosy, and not too stuffy.

Before we started, we were given a palate opener, which tasted similar to lime juice. It was very refreshing and definitely whetted my appetite for what was to come!

Unagi Cheese Roll

 First off, we had the Unagi Cheese Roll, which is an omelette and cucumber roll with roasted eel, cream cheese and sesame topping

The eel was fresh, and didn't have the fishy smell at all, there was a fairly generous amount of drizzle on top, and we cleaned off the plate in less than five minutes! This dish is served with six pieces of rolls on the plate.

Tenzaru Inaniwa Udon

We were told that the udon here was good, so we decided to try it out. The udon here is handmade, and the owner used to work at Ichiban Boshi in Pavilion. Our first taste of the udon, and we were sold.

This dish is called Tenzaru Inaniwa Udon, which consists of Cold Thin Wheat Noodles with Assorted Tempura and Dipping Sauce

Don't let this simple dish fool you, and always be sure to finish up the noodles the moment they are served. When they arrive at the table, it is always best to consume the noodles within seven minutes, and to get the best out of your noodles, always follow these three steps:

Step 1: Take the noodles, dip it into the dipping sauce, and slurp it up. When I mean slurp, I mean to suck the noodles up from the dipping sauce. Enjoy this step and the quality of the sauce. When you slurp up the noodles, the sauce is still coating the noodles, so you get a delicious combination of savoury tastes against the plain noodle background.

Step 2: Garnish your noodles with a little bit of wasabi, dip it into the sauce, and slurp it up! Be careful not to let your wasabi get into the sauce, as it will dilute the flavour.

Step 3: Mix in the spring onion, wasabi, and raw quail egg into the dipping sauce. Stir it all together, but be careful not to beat the eggs in the sauce until it all combines. You should be able to see it still separated. Then dip in the noodles and slurp it up. Here you will be able to taste all the different distinct textures and tastes from the spring onion, wasabi, and egg.

These are their lunch sets, you have a choice between their Sushi To Yakiniku Gozen, or the Chicken Teriyaki Gozen.

Each set comes with fruits, chawan mushi, apetizer, and nori soup.

Their sushi is fresh, and comes in the standard variety of tuna, salmon, white tuna, prawn, squid, and egg.

Chicken Teriyaki

 The chicken teriyaki itself is stir-fried to perfection. Sweet enough with the teriyaki sauce, but also not too overpowering to the taste buds.

Tara Shirako

Can you guess what this is?

In layman terms, this is called codfish sperm. Yes, the codfish that everyone loves to eat, only this is their sperm. In Japanese terms, it is called Tara Shirako.

According to the owner, this particular dish is good for the ladies, and because it is so delicate, it's shelf life is only two to three days. Any longer, and it won't taste as good.

Any Japanese restaurants will allow you to order their sashimi sets, so we thought why not. The centrepiece of this particular sashimi dish is the Tara Shirako, which has been blanched in hot water and served with a dash of soy sauce, spring onions, and chilli salsa.

It's not a dish I would normally partake in, so I went YOLO and took a piece. Not surprisingly, looking at its texture, it was very smooth and crunchy (perhaps from its ball sac), but it does not have any particular taste or fishy smell. It was not as bad as I thought it would taste, and if you didn't tell me that it's codfish sperm, I wouldn't even know what it was.

The rest of the sashimi dish is that standard fish that you would normally get, with tuna, white tuna, etc.

Moving on to one of their December promotions, the Botan Ebi Sashimi.

Botan Ebi Sashimi

The Botan Ebi Sashimi has two price ranges, you can take three pieces for RM48, and five pieces for RM68.

one of the reasons I like to go to Japanese restaurants is to see the chef's creativity and skills when crafting a sashimi dish. All the dishes I see are so beautifully laid out and crafted that sometimes I feel it's such a shame to eat it. But then my tummy gets the better of me and I reach out and partake in the delicious meal. 

This particular dish was no exception. The prawns were fresh and silky, and may I reiterate that there was absolutely no fishy taste at all, as most seafood does.

Additionally, once you are done with the dish, with only the head remaining, you can even request for the chef to cook you some soup with the head of the prawns. However, this request is only applicable if you order four pieces and above.

Because it is so fresh, the soup that has been cooked with the heads are sweet and full of taste. Added into the soup are cabbages, carrots, and spring onions, not including condiments such as MSG.

Premium Sushi Mori

 Last of the sashimi dishes that we had is the Premium Sushi Mori. This dish consists of Kamasu (barracuda), Aka Mutsu (Rosy Seabass), Sagoshi (Spanish Mackerel), Shimaaji (Striped Jack), Anago (Sea Eel), Akami (Japan Maguro), and Chutoro (Japan Tuna).

A5 Wagyu

 Apart from Seafood, Kimi-Ya also has beef dishes, and pictured here is the A5 Wagyu. The beef is sourced from Kogashiwa and has a marble 12 level and above. What that means is that the beef has a balanced ratio of meat and fat and when you take it in, it has a very silken taste.

The beef is cooked sous vide style, in a water bath that controls the temperature and keeps all the taste and flavour into the beef. According to the owner, the Wagyu beef comes with a certificate which enables you to trace its ancestry all the way to their grandmother, great grandmother, even great great great grandmother.

So these were the dishes that we've tried, and I daresay, if you're somewhere in Old Klang Road and have a hankering for Japanese food, this is where you should be.  

Getting there

Getting to the place is easy, it is located on the left, on the way to Pearl Point Hotel. Just Waze/ Google Map Kimi-Ya, and it will bring you right to the building.

Parking

If you were to dine at any of the resaturants in the Residences, you can park valet for free. But if you don't want to park valet, the price is RM2 for the first two hours, and RM1 for every subsequent hour. 

Dining Concept
Their dining concept is similar to Rakuzen; which is kind of like a semi fine dining, but their prices are much cheaper.

Address

G-2, Avantas Residences, 162 Jalan Klang Lama, Kuala Lumpur.

Tel

 +6013- 239 3406

Business Hour

Mon- Thurs: 12pm- 3pm, 6pm- 10.30pm

Fri– Sun:  11.30am- 3pm, 6pm- 11pm

More information can be obtained at their Facebook page, and while you're at it, give them a like as well!
https://www.facebook.com/KimiYa.Malaysia/

Would you head over there for a bite? Let me know!

Til the next time, stay beautiful!

xoxo,

yin