It was like about a week before Shaz‘s birthday and the ever popular guy invited me and a few other friends for a food tasting cum birthday part at Jaya 33, Nagomi Japanese Restaurant.
It was only later I found out that some of the attendees were my friends, such as Wilson Ng, Sandra Wong and Gary Lim. I thought it would be nice to bring along Yintse since she knew them and the party wouldn’t mind having an extra attendee.
Oops, missed out Gary and myself. :-|
Eddie Kong, who used to manage Yo! Sushi at Pavilion, is now the restaurant manager for Nagomi Japanese Restaurant. He greeted and welcomed us by offering us a small bottle of sake. I am not too fond of sake but some alcohols certainly loosen up ourselves and got the party food tasting started.
Hashi or chopsticks in English.
The outlet is divided into various sections; two private VIP dining rooms, semi-private seating corners at one side of the restaurant and open table seatings at the other. On top of that, there is a sashimi and kushiyaki bar.
First up was Mango Salad (RM28) with salmon sashimi, mind you. The combination of home restaurant chef made sourish dressing and sweet mangoes made the salad a perfect appetizer in opening up your appetite for the feast later on. The little croûtons, fresh lettuces, crab sticks and fish roes added extra texture and flavour to the dish.
Sakura Sashimi Moriawase (RM128), served in a big bowl of shaved ice. There were seven different types of seafoods and each type comes in three. For those who are on a tighter budget, there’s Ayame Shashimi Moriawase for RM60; which has five different types and also comes in three pieces each.
While the fish slices weren’t the thickest I have seen, but it was thick enough for me to savour the natural sweetness and juiciness. The raw prawns were a little yucky though; but that’s just me.
Despite the utmost freshness and imported ingredients, I do feel that the price is a little steep for average diners, like yours truly. The good thing is, there are ala carte sashimi that ranges from RM18 to RM90; with most items like salmon, tuna, octopus and prawn priced between RM20 and RM30.
Golden Roll (RM32) or tempura prawn rolls topped with mango slices. I think our customary food “praying” session took a little wee bit too long. By the time I had the sushi roll in my mouth, the tempura prawn had lost its crunchiness and was cold. That being said, the sweetness from the mangoes certainly added extra flavour to the succulent prawns. I wonder what would it taste like if the prawns/sushi rolls are served piping hot while the mangoes just out from the freezer/chiller. Hmmm…
Avocado Tempura Roll (RM28); the avocado roll is first coated with a layer of tempura flour and then deep fried for extra crunchiness, topped with flying fish roes and served with mayonnaise and teriyaki sauce at the side all over it.
Nothing too distinctive for me to remember and unless you are a fan of the taste-like-butter-and-creamy avocado, you can order this sushi roll.
Summer Roll (RM32); soy bean, cream cheese roll, topped with flying fish roes and bonito flakes. I only managed to snap a picture of it for my table didn’t order it nor did the other table share it with us.
Crunchy Cheese Roll (RM28) which the main ingredients were unagi, salmon and cheese, topped with one edamame pea.
Sake Sako Hush (RM30) or salmon pressed sushi; I have no idea what did they mean by “salmon pressed” but the tiny yet ridiculously sour lemon slice on top of the sushi “jolted” me quite a bit. It also sorta cleansed my mouth and refreshed my taste buds after having a few dishes earlier on; something like a sorbet that is served in between dishes.
There are a whole lot variations/ingredients under the kushiyaki/barbecue section, such as capsicum, quail egg, tomato, scallop, asparagus, salmon, chicken wing, white button mushroom, black mushroom, beef tongue (I know!), ladies finger, cubed beef and etc. The price ranges from RM3 to RM12 and each order comes with two sticks.
Gyu Enoki (RM10) or sliced beef with straw mushroom. Beef bacon, what can go wrong?! Yums!
Gyu (RM12) or in plain English, cubed beef. Do remind the waitress how you like your beef to be cooked and I recommend you to choose medium as the beef could be really chewy and lose its flavour and juiciness when cooked to well done.
No Japanese meal (of mine) is complete unless a slice of perfectly cooked and glazed Unagi Kabayaki (RM30) is present. I like how they used fried eggs as garnishing; both colors are in contrast with each other.
While there were only four slices on the plate, each slice was rather big and thick. Unlike the cheaper unagis out there which tend to be powdery, the one I had at Nagomi was firm, succulent and sweet. Yums!
We had two different salmon steaks, the first picture was teppanyaki styled (RM26) while the second picture was sake shioyaki (RM19) or salt baked salmon. I couldn’t tell the difference between the two. Apart from cooking style, could it be different parts of the fish were used? I doubt so but both fresh salmons were cooked till perfection and had the melt-in-your-mouth liked texture.
We also had Gyu Sukiyaki where we got to cook really thin beef slices in a shallow iron pot containing soup/broth mixed using soy sauce, sugar and mirin and ingredients like mushrooms, vegetables and tofus. The cooked beef slices were then dipped in a bowl of raw beaten eggs before being consumed.
The picture below is the wrong way of eating sukiyaki and for sure, it wasn’t my table. :P I didn’t have a complete step-by-step picture as they got my hand to hold the chopsticks. Grrr… Anyway, I love this sukiyaki set to bits but the soup was a little too salty.
Ah, managed to grab a picture from the menu.
I wanted to order a set of Gyu Tobanyaki (RM19) but I think I pointed wrongly and ended up with a set of Gyu Ton Tobanyaki (RM19) or beef tongue on hot plate. Beef tongue, of all the items in the menu, I had to point at this. *face palm*
The preheated hot plate, with a teaspoonful of oil in it, is served together with a plate of beef tongue and a bowl of teriyaki sauce. Cook it the way you like it and you are good to go.
It was my first time eating beef tongue and can’t say I enjoyed it very much. It was a tad chewy and kinda tasteless too.
Shaz’s california handroll (RM6).
Still not feeling full, Shaz and I ordered two sets of Ishiyaki Niniku Cha Han (RM10) or garlic fried rice served in a heated stone bowl.
The fried rice wasn’t served ready-to-eat but only half completed/cooked. The set came in as three separate items, fried rice, eggs and a heated stone bowl (Duh!). The waitress first broke the egg into the heated stone bowl and let it cook for a while before stirring it quickly. The fried rice was added into the bowl later and fried again.
I could smell the faint garlic and egg aroma from the fried rice itself upon being served. The rice didn’t clump up or too wet and was certainly soft and yummy!
After all the main course, it was time for desserts and both tables ordered their preferred dessert.
Tempura Banana with Vanilla Ice Cream (RM10). It wasn’t from my table and hence, I didn’t manage to try it.
Grapes Cheese Cake (RM10) is a highly recommended item when you are in Nagomi. The fusion of cheese and grapes had a mixture of sweetness, sourness and cheesiness (Pun intended. Ha!), resulting in a unique, pleasant and refreshing taste. As such, I didn’t feel sick of the cheese after a few spoonful of the dessert.
The Abekawa Mochi (RM13) was pretty good too, with loads of crushed peanuts (I prefer crushed over powdered ones.), sugar and something else that I couldn’t really pin point what it was. The mochi, served warm, didn’t stick to my teeth like others did too.
I had Black Sesame Ice cream (RM6), served with a waffle. Is it called a waffle? Taste like those ice cream cone though.
If you are up for no frills set meals, it should cost you between RM23 for Tori Teriyaki Keishouku (grilled chicken with teriyaki sauce set), RM35 for Sashimi Keishouku (assorted sashimi set) and RM72 for Nagomi Bento.
If you can afford the premium priced sushi without “bleeding” your wallet too much, Nagomi Japanese Restaurant is indeed a viable option apart from your usual joint where you get your Japanese cravings fixed. Some items may seemed more expensive than usual, hence, do use your own judgement and order those that fit your budget nicely.
Overall, I would rate Nagomi Japanese Restaurant a 7.5/10, way above average and decent; whether is it value for money, you have to decide that for yourself as we all have different standards and taste is very subjective.
Million thanks to Shaz for inviting me to the food tasting cum birthday party and Eddie Kong for hosting us. Did I mention there were two other July babies there as well? Yintse’s is on the 22nd and Gary shares the same birth date as Shaz, on the 23rd.
One for the album.
Nagomi Japanese Restaurant
PG-02B, Ground Floor, Jaya33,
3, Jalan Semangat, Section 13,
46200 Petaling Jaya,
Selangor, Malaysia.
Tel:
+603 7956 2330
Opening hours:
Mondays to Fridays: 12 noon to 3pm and 6pm to 10.30pm
Saturdays & Sundays: 12 noon to 11pm
Menu:
Download.
Note: This was my first food tasting since I came to KL and it was in this session where I “picked up” food photography again. Pictures weren’t that good were rather bad but I felt that I had attempted angles that I previously don’t go for. A good start, fresh angles and perspective. Hopefully, it stays that way and do me more good in the long run. I will also need to polish my rusty skills, not that I have awesome skills to begin with.
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