Review: Kiraku, Cyberjaya

 Although Sushi Zanmai has opened up in Cyberjaya, Kiraku is still doing brisk business. The place does reek of authentic Japanese restaurant, right from the beginning with its bamboo entrance up to that dimly light dining area. That's what years of watching anime and reading Japanese-translated books has given me the impression of.

 Which is no surprise that my car insurance agent opted for this place as a 'catch up'. Like it coincided with my car insurance policy renewal. I suppose it may be cheaper for me to do it myself but what the heck. While he's not my first choice of a friend, at this day and age, new friends are hard to come by.

Grilled fish set which was relatively cheap at under RM 30. Maybe even RM 20.
It's great that they've managed to improve their food quality from when they first opened up. However, my preference would still be Sushi Zanmai.

Although, if the local program manager wants to treat the team here for a 'successful' rollout, one cannot make noise and complain so much at all. Especially after the guy kept asking us to order and not worry as it'll come out of the project budget. If only all projects run like that 😄

Raspberry yogurt drink. I rarely ever order drinks in Japanese restaurants. Mostly just green tea. But, with some motivation from the lunch sponsor, this came to mind. Those fancy drinks always piqued my interest but it felt too indulgent to be paying so much for a drink alone. This was about RM 10.

Sashimi moriawase. A platter of different raw seafood, sliced not-too-thinly. There was enough to go around for our party of 5. One was a sushi virgin and thankfully, he didn't puke nor find it disgusting. As a matter of fact, we may have converted him.

The sashimi were a good cut and fresh, a good start ahead.

Oyster cooked in teriyaki sauce.
It's funny because the waiter recommended this but noted that there were only 3 pieces left. So, what good is it for the 5 of us? Well, he literally chopped the oysters in half so everyone gets a piece. It was very surprising, given that he wasn't local (Bangladeshi if not mistaken) but obviously very keen to upsell us everything. Yes, beer and sake included.

Maybe it was the size so it didn't seem like a big deal to me. Flavors were all right. The oyster wasn't overcooked. Nothing special in the end.

Unagi and salmon omelet bento set.
They have this interesting combo set where you can pick 2mains in your bento and they'll come with the standard steamed egg, salad, miso soup and of course, rice.

The omelet was not bad. Being part of a set, there wasn't a lot of salmon but good enough to taste it in there.

The grilled unagi was sweet, thanks to the teriyaki sauce that in turn, masked the fish's naturally fishy taste. I find that the slices were quite thin but again, it's  a set.

Matcha ice cream sandwich with a layer of red bean paste.
Like the drinks, I also never order dessert. My first time trying this was in Sydney. It is somewhat baffling because you have this wafer outside with the ice cream in it so you can hold it without risking your hand getting dirty unless you are really sloppy. The ice cream had a strong green tea flavor in a good way.

For myself, it was Crème brûlée. A very decadent dessert, the crunchy sweet top is made by scorching a layer of sugar with a burner. The bottom filling is a mixture of sugar and egg. Like lots of them. Every bite a creamy guilty pleasure.

Suffice to say, I went back to the office a very happy camper 💗