Hanare, The Intermark KL

Posted on February 14, 2011 by Lyrical Lemongrass

Shijimi Clam shells

I was miserable. I had been working through Chinese New Year and the weekend after that, and all I wanted to do was spend some time with the husband over a nice meal. We had several choices at Doubletree and the Intermark, but in the end, as we made our decision, it didn’t feel like much of a gamble to visit Hanare, a reincarnation of the popular and highly rated (and now defunct) Tykoh Inagiku. Quality and freshness is a priority at Hanare where seafood is brought in from the Tsukiji Fish Market in Tokyo three times a week. Shipment had just arrived the day we visited. Joy.

As we pored over the menu, my initial reaction was that of shock. The prices were probably some of the highest I’d seen, but as we talked through it, we told ourselves that we would not be cost-conscious and deprive ourselves of a potentially good experience. As we rattled off our order to the Manager, I casually asked if they served an omakase menu, to which he replied in the affirmative. An omakase is a great way to acquaint one’s self with the Chef’s specialties, and at RM250 per head, it seemed very reasonably priced. Like most omakase experiences, a menu wasn’t provided and we left our fate in the Chef’s hands, merely giving him a couple of our special requests.

Perhaps it was the wine, perhaps it was the sake, perhaps it was the food, perhaps it was the company, perhaps it was the release of tension and stress, but it was one of my most pleasurable meals in Kuala Lumpur in a very long time. The cacophony of laughter from the table beside us merely added to the enjoyment, and not surprisingly, as the night went on, I found myself smiling more and more as I submitted myself to the flair and mastery of Chef Sudo San.

Hanare
Ground Floor, The Intermark
182 Jalan Tun Razak, KL

Tel: 03-2164 2133/2164 2633

Note: In addition to the ala carte and omakase menu, Hanare also offers a champagne brunch every Sunday priced at RM298+ with champagne and RM150+ for food alone.

Yuba Tofu and Yuba To Okura – two starters using tofu skin as its base, one resembling the typical beancurd sheets we are familiar with, and the other a denser, mushier texture with a more intense flavour.

Shirako – cod milt – sacs containing seminal fluid that taste like pig’s brains. A rare and pleasurable treat. Nothing to get repulsed about.

Sashimi – Toro, Buri, Hirame, Akagai – delightfully fresh. Served with freshly grated wasabi.

One cannot deny the pleasures of sake….

Wakasagi Saikyo And Aka Miso – Ice fish with two types of miso – eat it whole.

Mozuku (Seaweed) Chawan Mushi with a hidden surprise – cod milt again! The egg custard had a smooth consistency.

The tomato was firm with a very thin skin and smelled like it had just been plucked. Juicy and incredibly sweet with a dense texture.

Amberjack fish and seaweed in mini steamboat – swish for a bit in the boiling hot soup to sufficiently cook it. The soup, once infused with all the flavours, can be subsequently drunk.

Tomorokoshi, Imo & Soramame (corn, sweet potato and Japanese broad bean). The Japanese take pride in every ingredient and item that is served at the dinner table. Even the humble vegetable is given pride of place on the omakase menu.

Sushi – Toro, Hotate, Ikura and Uni.

Shijimi Clam Soup – aromatic and flavourful.

Homemade green tea ice cream.

I love the decor at Hanare. The custom made tables of granite and wood (some made of a single piece of wood, proudly displaying its uniqueness and imperfections) are simply beautiful.

Remember this name.

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Bald Eagle was featured in a Valentine’s Day article in the NST where he gave his two cents worth on what Valentine’s Day means to him. I agree wholeheartedly with him that it is more fun to surprise each other throughout the year, and that one should be spontaneous and unpredictable. Which is why we’re celebrating Valentine’s Day apart this year – he in Sydney, while I remain in KL – and we’re none the lonelier.

Happy Valentine’s Day to all. May your lives be filled with love and happiness.

Marufuku Udon, Jaya One, PJ

Posted on October 25, 2010 by Lyrical Lemongrass

A blog reader left a comment recently expressing his outrage about the price of food in KL’s upscale restaurants. This brought me back to another online conversation about the price of fruitcakes on a friend’s facebook profile. To summarise that conversation, a 1kg fruitcake with alcohol was retailing at RM75 per kg here in KL. Two ladies in Singapore and Australia picked up on that thread and lambasted the friend, one asking if it was made of gold, and the other saying that it would be cheaper in Australia since one should compare “dollar for dollar”, i.e. a RM75 cake would be equivalent to AUD$75 in Australia. My friend (let’s call him FBB) and I were unable to comprehend the logic of her argument given that the price of raw ingredients was not comparable on a dollar to dollar basis. Taking it a step further, if the fruitcake (at her implied price) formed the “basket of goods” (the Fruitcake Index as opposed to the Big Mac Index hahaha) on which purchasing power parity were determined, then the Ringgit would be grossly undervalued. I guess my point is that a 1kg fruitcake with alcohol at RM75 is not expensive, BUT the blog reader who was unhappy about the price of food in KL’s upscale restaurants does have a valid point. When restaurants are importing raw ingredients because the quality of local produce is not consistent, this pushes up price levels. Food prices are not just determined by the cost of ingredients. Overheads, wages, etc are also relevant factors. But as long as the quality of service isn’t up to mark and wait staff blunder with delivery and dispensing of information, we still have the right to question the prices. Having said that, my boss likes to say, “Aiyah Meena, it’s a chicken and egg thing lah.” People are willing to pay, and restaurants thrive by that demand. So where does that leave us?

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I didn’t have to deal with that dilemma several days back when I visited Marufuku Udon. I’d been eating at its sister restaurant, Sanuki Udon, for the past 10 months, almost on a weekly basis. There is a sense of comfort that I derive from slurping up a hot bowl of udon. Maybe it is the simplicity of it all. A bowl of udon, perfectly cooked with a clean and firm bite and modestly adorned with the ingredients of choice, be it a raw egg, wakame, kitsune, kakiage or ebi. How can it not provide happiness?

Marufuku is the fast food version of Sanuki. On weekdays, people place their orders at the counter and carry their meals to their table. Weekends are a bit more laid back and orders are taken at the table. The food is consistent with Sanuki but there are a few more options. Like the Salada Udon (RM8), guaranteed to be popular with the dieters. The udon is prepared al dente and served with a ton of julienned raw vegetables, bits of crunchy tofu and an addictive dipping sauce made of sesame. The Nabeyaki Udon (RM10) is softer than the other forms of preparation because the udon is boiled in stock before serving, giving it enough time to absorb all the flavours from the other ingredients. The raw egg, when stirred into the boiling soup, gives it a wonderful aromatic flavour.

Udon is made daily at Sanuki and sent over to Marufuku. I can’t think of any other place that prepares its own udon.

Prices start at RM6 for the House Special Udon (udon with raw egg). Extra toppings are at RM1 each. Side dishes are approximately RM3 each, my favourite being the kakiage available in 3 types, original, with prawns and with pumpkin. At night, yakitori is available at between RM2 and RM3 per stick. If the yakitori is anything like Sanuki’s, then you’re in for a treat.

How’s that for cheap AND satisfying?

Marufuku Udon
L-18-G-1, Ground Floor,
Palm Square, Jaya One,
72A, Jalan Universiti, 46200 Petaling Jaya.
(located in between Frontera and Muse)

Open daily from 11am to 10pm

Also check out: I Heart Xen

House Special Udon

Curry Udon

Kakiage Pumpkin

Kakiage Ebi

Nabeyaki Udon

Poco Homemade, Cafe & Atelier, Bangsar

Posted on August 19, 2010 by Lyrical Lemongrass

Sometimes it’s hard to say even one thing true
When all eyes have turned aside
They used to talk to you

And people on the street seem to disapprove
So you keep moving away
And forget what you wanted to say

Little bird, little bird
Brush your gray wings on my head
Say what you said, say it again
They tell me I’m crazy
But you told me I’m golden

Sometimes it’s hard to tell the truth from a lie
Nobody knows what’s in the hold of your mind

We are all buildings and people inside
Never know who’ll walk through the door
Is it someone that you’ve met before?

Little bird, little bird
Brush your gray wings on my head
Say what you said, say it again
They tell me I’m crazy
But you told me I’m golden

I know what I know
A wind in the trees
And a road that goes winding under

From here I see rain, I hear thunder
Somewhere there’s sun, and you don’t need a reason

Sometimes it’s hard to find a way to keep on
Quiet weekends, holidays, you come undone

Open your window and look upon
All the kinds of alive you can be
Be still, be light, believe me

Little bird, little bird
Brush your gray wings on my head
Say what you said, say it again
They tell me I’m crazy
But you told me I’m golden
I’m golden

– Lyrics from Little Bird by The Weepies –

We are all multifaceted creatures. There was a time, years ago, when I felt a need to impress, and I hung out at quirky bookstores searching for obscure literary books so that I’d have a topic of conversation should the need arise. What I didn’t bank on was a failing memory, one that would ensure that I’d be tongue-tied when someone finally asked me something that required an intelligent answer and I’d go, “hmmm…that is an interesting question… *long uncomfortable pause*,” and wait for the earth to open up and swallow me. I think age makes you realise that you don’t have to pretend. That people don’t gauge your worth by the books that you read or your degrees or the number of skiing trips that you make every year. And then, there is another side of me. Beneath this ageing figure is a girl who twitters at the sight of pretty objects and is warmed by a shade of pastel blue because pretty colours make her happy. Oh to sit on a deckchair in verdant vegetation in an infinite landscape with The Weepies on my iPod and nothing in my head.

Little things that make me smile. Being presented with a hand stitched menu printed on scraps of cloth announcing simple Japanese offerings like miso soba noodles with egg and chicken katsu curry don. Chicken rolls and okonomiyaki. Tofu cheese cake. The attention paid to detail. A perfectly cooked egg yolk in my miso soup that, upon breaking, oozes out smooth buttery liquid sunshine. Tender pieces of chicken that are breaded and freshly fried and served with thick sweet Japanese kare. Seaweed rolls, with chicken and crabstick, that are far from soggy, the texture so light and crisp, as if shrouded by a blanket of virtual starch. A fluffy and simple okonomiyaki deriving its flavour from eggs and prawns. A tofu cheese cake that is not very sweet, reminiscent of desserts consumed in Tokyo several years back.

There is no rich datin behind the cash register.

Run by a boy, a girl, and a mother, Poco Homemade is clearly a labour of love.

Poco Homemade
1 Lorong Kurau, Bangsar, KL.

Map on website.

Tel: 03-2287 5688

Opening hours: Tuesdays to Sundays. 12pm to 9.30pm. (Closed Mondays)

A Whiff of Lemongrass

NOT a food blog

Category Archives: Food Type: Japanese

Hanare, The Intermark KL

Marufuku Udon, Jaya One, PJ

Poco Homemade, Cafe & Atelier, Bangsar