Bonito entrails
I just ate oats and tuna for lunch. Unforgiveable, I know, especially in the land of milk, honey and sambal belacan, but with my work piling to Timbuktu, I figured I’d use my lunch hour to write a quick post instead. Zipangu updated its menu late last year, and in addition to a few new additions, the inevitable price increase was also evident.
I’m not sure what possessed me to agree to bonito entrails. If I remember correctly, we throw away entrails, and if the cat’s lucky, it gets a nice smelly meal. Perhaps I was hoping for a Zipangu twist, but no, it looked and smelt like entrails when the dish appeared. Coupled with the sliced yam bits, everything was slimy and salty. Thankfully, Bald Eagle was more appreciative of this unique dish and whacked it all up.
Seafood gratin
One of the new items on the menu, the seafood gratin was baked on a shell and served with a mentaiko (pollack or pollock roe) sauce. A little pricey at RM80. The texture was nice – browned and slightly crisp surface and mushy underneath.
Shimeji mushrooms
These slightly nutty flavoured mushrooms were served teppanyaki style and had a lovely smoky taste. Very enjoyable.
Roasted wild duck
Not sure where one gets wild duck here, but I loved the texture of this meat…so tender and succulent. Nice gamey flavour, if you like that kind of thing. Also a new item on the menu.
Dancing crab roll
Foie gras wintermelon
A perennial favourite in Zipangu. Only RM30.
Cha soba
The soba had a nice bite. Toppings include sliced mushrooms, wasabi, spring onions and finely sliced fried egg.
Salmon belly sashimi
Thick cut slices. Delicious!
Rice cake rolled with ice cream
So when we first read it, we thought it would be something akin to mochi. What arrived was ice cream wrapped in a pastry-like sheet made of, presumably, rice. Nothing exciting, and certainly not worth the RM18 price tag.
Macha tiramisu
There is a reason why I swore off japanese desserts a long time ago. Although the tiramisu (cake form) fared better than the other dessert, I was still not blown away it.
Overall, I’d say that Zipangu hasn’t disappointed me yet in terms of food quality. My only irk is that the prices are pretty hefty. The total bill (before my prestige card discount and the 10+5% taxes) came to RM353. I suppose one has to take into account the ambience and location, but with so many japanese restaurants mushrooming in the city, one could just as easily find a comparable restaurant with lower prices. What’s your favourite japanese restaurant?
My previous writeup can be found HERE.
Zipangu
Shangri-la Hotel Kuala Lumpur
11, Jalan Sultan Ismail
50250 Kuala Lumpur
Restaurant reservations: 1800 88 7881
