Japanese Food @ Iketeru, KL Hilton, Kuala Lumpur

What a dull and dreary Monday morning it is today! Sigh, hopefully the sun comes out later on or else it's going to be one grey and dismal day. To cheer you all up, here's lots of pictures of Japanese food for you to drool over. I finally visited the famed Iketeru at Kuala Lumpur Hilton with El Presidente of the Japanese Food Kawan Association, Ms. Lyrical Lemongrass. Totally pure accident as the original plan was dim sum at Chynna but the place was full.

Since Ms. Lemongrass has yet to try their lunch menu, we settled for their Mini Kaiseki (RM94) to share between both of us. Luckily we shared the Kaiseki as it was a lot of food. Served course by course, the kaiseki is a great way for the restaurant's chef to showcase various types of food and their specialties.

We started out with the Kurogama Tofu (Black Sesame Curd) which was very smooth and fragrant. Served cold, we each shared the small cube. Next came a trio of appetizers in an elongated box - lotus root slices in a cute eggplant shape bowl, fresh edamame and tamago cubes (omelette).

The edamame was steamed minus any salt and the tamago pieces had a texture akin to cheesecake. The lotus root slices tasted as though it has been simmered in a dashi broth.

Next we were served a soup which was their Tomorokoshi Surinagashi, a Japanese style corn soup. Very yummy stuff which was nice and hot to warm our tummies. I loved the slight sweet taste of the corn.

Next was an assortment of sashimi. I'm quite hopeless at identifying sashimi but I did recognise fresh tuna. Am not too sure about the other two but could it be amberjack and white meat fish?

This was my favourite - just a biteful but incredibly good the way the tastes meld with each other . The simmered unagi tofu where a piece of tofu has a slice of unagi to give it flavour.

Next was the Teppanyaki grilled swordfish served with black pepper sauce. I thought the sauce kinda overpowered the fish's fresh taste but I really loved the grilled vegetables they served it with. One was a grilled mushroom that had a lovely earthy flavour to it.

By this course, we were struggling to finish the food. We had a palate cleanser - the pickles which was wafer thin cucumbers, seaweed and chicken. There's suppose to be a touch of wasabi but I didn't taste any. Very nice and refreshing to allow our senses clear a bit before we proceeded with the other courses.

Next was a plain soup served with somen noodles. The broth served with these thin noodles was not too sweet and light.

They served us Inari Sushi which is beancurd pockets filled with vinegared rice. The beancurd was soft and I liked the sushi rice within that had a slight sweet taste from the rice vinegar.

Earlier when we ordered, we thought the Mini Kaiseki was insufficient for the two of us hence we also ordered a few makis. This is the Salmon Skin Roll (RM30) which was filled with crunchy bits of salmon skin that gave a nice crackle when you bit into it.

We also ordered the Dragon Roll (RM41) which was very good as they topped it with huge slices of unagi. A bit difficult to eat but very nice when paired with the rice that was filled with crabstick and vegetables.

We ended the meal with a platter of fresh fruits - sweet honeydew, refreshing dragonfruit, slightly sour strawberries (ichigo), juicy watermelon and tropical papaya.



They also served us a chilled redbean soup with slivers of orange peel which was refreshing and light. It was an extremely satisfying meal but it took quite some time hence both of us were late from the leisurely lunch. If you have the Hilton card, note that the meal will be 50% for the two of you.

Iketeru
KL Hilton

Sentral
Kuala Lumpur

(Pork Free.)

*Disclaimer: The opinions expressed here is entirely based on my personal tastebuds and may vary for others. The reviewer also declares that she has not received any monetary or non-monetary compensation from the restaurant for writing this review.

Tagged with: Japanese Food + Kaiseki