Pages

Monday 31 December 2012

Food Review: Rakuzen, Oasis Square, PJ

Pin It





One of our favourite Japanese restaurant, Rakuzen, has just opened a branch in Oasis Square, Ara Damansara - just 1 minute drive away from our house.  Its first day of business was on Christmas day, and tonight, being Sunday night, the place was already more than half full.  Word spread fast where good eating places are concerned.





Oasis Square is a new commercial centre located in Ara Damansara, developed by Sime Darby.  It is designed with multistory retail lots and service suites surrounding a centre podium with several fountain pools and bungalow type of 3-storey retail lots.  Rakuzen is housed in one of these retail bungalows.



The centre podium with the feature pools and retail bungalows. 
Background is the Oasis Service Suites. 


The restaurant interior is warm and cozy, with lots of wooden panelling that are designed around a honeycomb theme.  Whilst its original branch in Subang Jaya is more rustic and simple, with tables and chairs arranged in a straight line along the walls, here you can choose to sit in circular cubicles or private rooms with designer hanging lamps - very trendy.  Lots of sofa space for the kids to clamber, lie down, or even play some peek-a-boo. 














Peek-a-boo-ing through the open panel

The menu is the same across all the branches.  We were feeling rather hungry, so we ordered two dinner sets, a starter and an individual rice pot.  Ended up way too much food for two adults and a kid :P

Hubby wanted to try the Salmon Sashimi with Roe in Chirashi Rice.  It came in a huge set with chawanmushi, miso soup, fruits and a small side dish of stir fry cabbage with hokto mushroom. 



Generous chunks of sashimi belly with big juicy roe that gave a mighty pop in your mouth. Nice, except that the rice was not chilled enough. It was kinda lukewarm. 




Hubby and I loved this Wagyu Beef Rice in Hot Stone Pot.  The rice was wonderfully fragrant with that stone smoky aroma, the beef strips flavourful and moist, and there is a layer of crispy brown rice crust at the bottom.  So good. 



before adding the sauce and egg..love the gingko nuts







The chicken karrage was ok, i thought the batter was a bit too thick and chewy, instead of crispy and thin.  Taste was good though.  Goes well with the mayo.





I had the nabeyaki udon.  Didn't realise that it also came with another bowl of sashimi salmon with tobiko roe (more roe!) and also chirashi rice (more rice!).  I was like - too much carbo!  There was a massive amount of udon in the bowl, as well as three pieces of tempura, mushroom, some chicken meat and even one fifty-cent size hotate.







Again, lukewarm rice - why???


Service was efficient.  They have a button attached to the side of each table for you to call. 




Total damage: RM146, including tax.  All meals come with complimentary green tea. 


Parking is a breeze, as the place is still 90% unoccupied.  Rakuzen is currently giving a RM$10 voucher for every RM$100 spent.  I like the fact that there is no minimum spend on the voucher.  You can use it to pay for any amount of meal.  Valid while stock lasts. 







Sushi preparation area - notice the stone in the centre of the picture?  


The table corner is carved to fit around the stone.


Six footers beware! Toilets for "short" people ;P
Converted from a storeroom - hubby (who is 5'11") can just walk
through without knocking his head. 

14 comments:

  1. Wow, Esther I must go there soon! Very nearby for me too. Hmmm.....,must warn my brother about the toilet. He is 6'2" :)

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Ha, yr brother is very tall, must be careful about that door!

      Delete
  2. This is making me hungry! Food looks so good.

    ReplyDelete
  3. Hi Esther,
    Thanks for introducing another nice place to check out. Love these reviews that you are putting on, my heartfelt appreciation :) Cheers to a wonderful year ahead!

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Thanks Adeline :) Hubby and i love to check out new eats, and if they are good, we want to help spread the word so that they dont go out of business haha! Happy new year to you and family :)

      Delete
  4. Thanks for sharing. I've not been to Oasis Square, let alone knowing about it. Now I have a new place to lepak..lol. Happy New Year to you!

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Ya, quite a nice place to hang out and have a good meal.

      Delete
  5. Thanks for dropping by my blog. Enjoy reading your new place discovery. I used to visit Japanese restaurant. My favourite is shashimi salmon. Your photos make me hungry :D Happy New Year!

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Thanks Vivian, the sashimi here is very good, happy new year to you too :)

      Delete
  6. Hi Esther, Happy New year to you and family. Wish you all the best in 2013, looking forward to read more posting from you.

    Thanks for sharing,excellent pictures.
    Have a nice day ahead.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Hi Amelia, happy new year to you and your family too.

      Delete
  7. Yeah ! I'm a tad sick and really hungry and looking at all these wonderfully tasty food makes my stomach grumbles ! lol

    Esther , I wish you and your family all the best in 2013 ! Here's to more delicious and fuss-free post in the year ahead - Cheers !!!!

    ReplyDelete
  8. Oh hope you are feeling better now Ann, thanks for all the encouraging comments, and yes, cheers to more delicious and fussfree recipes this year :) happy new year to you and your family!

    ReplyDelete

Feel free to leave your comments here. If you are not a blogger, just select profile and choose "Name/URL", fill in your name and leave the URL blank. Thanks and hope you enjoy the postings here, or better still, get to try some new recipes from here. Cheers!