Sushi Tei

Dropped by Sushi Tei on recommendation from my brother one weekend, after his claims that food there was better than the currently (as of this post) ultra popular Sushi Zanmai. The outlet we visited was in Tropicana City Mall, PJ.

We had some of the monthly specials, as well as a couple of our common favourites. First off, the salmon moriawase, comprising a mix of select sashimi slices and lightly seared salmon meat. I found the sashimi here much fresher than Sushi Zanmai's offerings, and almost comparable to that of Kissaten's; excellent for its RM18 price tag.

Another item from their specialty menu I tried was the Spicy Chicken Karage roll. I personally don't consider chicken sushi one of my top choices, but the "Spicy" prefix attracted me, and at RM8, I felt it couldn't hurt. Turns out it's a surprisingly delicious dish, so good that I ended up ordering a 2nd one! The chicken was still warm from the pan, succulent and slightly crispy, and it all blended will with the sesame seed-peppered roll and spicy mayonnaise.

Carol ordered her usual Chicken Katsu Don, and according to her it was also slightly better than the one she had at Zanmai; great news for chicken katsu-don lovers :)

Apart from some sushi and various small dishes off the kaiten belt, I also tried the Chuka Ildari (Baby Octopus) and Chuka Wakame (Frozen Seaweed), which were both fresh and pretty tasty. The wakame was tossed with thin slices of 'cili padi', which I found a little strange, but I had no complaints there :)

Overall, I give Sushi Tei a thumbs-up, and recommend it as a great alternative to similarly-priced sushi hotspots like Zanmai and Sakae.

Kissaten Japanese Restaurant

I had dinner with the family at Kissaten Japanese Restaurant, seems their pork burgers are a hit. Since the restaurant has a fusion-esque theme to it, we decided to try a variety of dishes, from sashimi to pasta to steaks, and of course their renowned pork burger.

The sashimi turned out to be really fresh, something that's pretty rare among local Japanese restaurants - sweet, smooth, and doesn't feel like it was yanked out of a freezer and left to thaw. The miso ramen and gyoza turned out to be pretty standard stuff, taste and presentation-wise, a safe bet if you're not feeling particularly adventurous.

I had the Salted Pork Belly Spaghetti, which I'd say is a simple but nice fusion dish. The saltiness of the meat slices blended well with the lightly flavoured pasta, garnished with seaweed strips and a poached egg sandwiched under the meat. The Wafu Mushroom Burger was served in a manner more like a sizzling steak dinner, and the meat was juicy and tender, albeit slightly saltier than the salted pork pasta (?!) 

The pork burger was really quite good, juicy and tender, topped with egg, salad, cheese and a variety of japanese sauces. The top burger bun even had a Kissaten logo and name stamped on it!

Finished off with a cup of coffee, and it looks like they use illy beans in this resto. The coffee was smooth and not too bold, just the way I like it. My brother ordered a Banana Cheesecake for dessert. The texture was rather pasty, taste-wise it was pretty much like any good cheesecake, except that I couldn't make out any hint of banana! Give this a pass unless you're into plain ol' cheesecakes.

Service was good on the first visit, and the staff were friendly and helpful. This is an overall good restaurant to visit if Japanese fusion and pork dishes are your thing, and if you have a budget between RM30 - 80. I'll definitely be back for more.