Food Review – Maiu Japanese Restaurant

What can you do with RM38.80 these days? Going for Japanese food? Maybe. Having a lots of Japanese food? I don’t think so…

Last weekend I went to Maiu Japanese Restaurant at Damansara Perdana. This restaurant is situated at the ground floor of The Place (an office building). The building is quiet and there are only Maiu and another cafe operating at the entire building on weekend. Toilet is secluded and girls are advised to go in twos or group.

Why Maiu ala carte buffet? Firstly, I am lazy to queue up for food, instead of serving their food on the serving table, you can make an ala carte order of food you wanted to eat. Besides that, I have little tolerance towards people who take too long standing in front of the food and can’t make up their minds. Secondly, I do not have to wait long for the kitchen to replace my favorite food (which is usually the hot item in buffet selection eg sashimi) on the tray. Lastly, the food is freshly prepared in the kitchen, where you can get sizzling hot tempura and grilled food as you order.

We reached as soon as the restaurant is opened. There are two private room for parties but I soon realized it’s inconvenient as the customer in the room had to walk out to place an order because the waiters were too busy on the floor.

Shiro maguro (white tuna),  maguro and salmon sashimi (clockwise). Check out how tempting it was to see the salmon fat that is spread evenly on the salmon sashimi. The thickness and the cutting of the sashimi affects how it taste, needless to explain, it tastes as good as it is in the picture.

Itako kyuli, the gravy is a bit starchy and the sizes were not standardize. The first plate (as shown in picture) was ok, but the few plates which were served later on were very chunky that leads to difficulties lifting up with chopsticks.

Chuka kurage (seasoned jelly fish) was very crunchy and appetizing with the sesame. It is disappointing when the waiter said it’s out of stock when we wanted to have order the second plate.

With a generous portion of salmon, tiny crispy batter and the fresh seaweed wrap, it is delicious. I believe freshness is the most important thing when comes to making delicious food. Everyone who has tried this salmon handroll left a very good remark! One is never enough, enough said.

Ebiko sushi, maguro sushi, and california maki (clockwise).

Saba shioyaki (grilled mackerel) with grated daihon (white radish) and shishamo. The fish is usually grilled using only salt to bring out the true flavour of the fish. Shishamo (pregnant fish) which  is wholesome goodness eggs and bones but watch your intake, it is high in cholesterol!

Tempura mori that consists of okra, sweet potato, egg plant and shrimp to be eaten with dipping sauce. The batter here is light enough so it does not take up much oil which will results in soggy and oily tempura. Overall it’s good except the shrimp was  soft.

Grilled piman (green pepper).

Soft shell crab age, tastes so tantalizing when the crab roe melted in your mouth gently.

You must  try wasabi ice-cream with read bean paste topping (front) once! It tastes exactly like wasabi except the texture is like ordinary ice-cream and appear like vanilla ice-cream. The strong fiery taste will past through your nasal passage and will soon wash away by the chilly feeling and sweetness of red bean paste. The green tea ice-cream taste almost similar to Japanese ocha, not too milky.

Although the restaurant claimed that they are serving fusion Japanese food cater to local taste buds, I am glad that the food is not ‘overly fushion’ where you can see all sorts of unrelated food on the serving table while claiming to be Japanese buffet before hand. I have changed my mind about  Japanese ala carte  buffet restaurants after visiting Maiu because it is reasonably priced yet the food is above average.

Possible related posts...

• Emmagem’s Foody Guide
• Food Review – Haikara Style Cafe

Tags: Japanese buffet, japanese food, japanese restaurant