Sushi Zen @ The Gardens, Midvalley City, Kuala Lumpur

Hokkaido Chirashi Don (RM15.90)

War of the Malls! So many places to shop and eat that one is now spoilt for choice. Although Pavilion is much bigger compared to the newly opened Gardens at Mid Valley City, I can envisage I'll end up spending more time here since it's located nearer to home. We did a few quick rounds at the mall to check out specifically Robinsons because they had the special promotion of 20% discount if you spent RM200 from 26th to 30th September, 2007. Saw loads of items I would love to have but decided to restrain myself. My mum was telling me about the first Robinsons which was previously located at Jalan Tun Perak (where the current CIMB Bank is located) where it was a big hoo hah in her day if you received a gift from there as everything was imported and super expensive.


Ebiten Ebikko Maki - Prawn Tempura Roll (RM4.90)

I didn't get much time to thoroughly explore the other floors of the Gardens since we were there in the evening. Heard that there are some interesting outlets on the Third Floor and I spied Alexis under renovation behind closed doors. I reckon these could be the outlets that face the rooftop garden so it should be nice dining there al-fresco. Will go check that out later today as we're due for lunch at Mid Valley.


Chawan Mushi (RM4.90)

I did manage to explore the Lower Ground area where food outlets and a Cold Storage supermarket is located. The supermarket has yet to open. There's also small outlets around the area selling various food items and serving food like Din Tai Fung (the famous Taiwanese chain with those soupy steamed buns we all love), Fogal's (serving non halal meat), San Terri Cottage from Hartamas Shopping Centre which has cakes and sandwiches, Coffee Bean and Tea Leaf, Purple Cane Tea House, Shojikiya which sells Japanese items, MBG Fruits and etc. We ended up at this Japanese place called Sushi Zen which is related to Rakuzen. It's interesting to note that Shojikiya also belongs to Rakuzen. Also available at the Gardens is another Rakuzen byproduct - Sushi Zanmai which is located on the third floor. Sushi Zen is kinda like a budget place whereby you sit at a bar counter which faces the kitchen in the middle.

Tenjuyu (RM15.90)

The modus operandi at this place is - pick the menu items you want and order this from the cashier. Pay for the items and they will assign you or you sit down around the counter. Food will be delivered to you. The menu is divided into sashimi, sushi, makimono (sushi roll), temaki (handroll), hanmono (rice dishes), menrui (noodles) and tsuke moriawase (side dishes). The sashimi has a few varieties - tuna belly (toro), maguro (tuna), salmon and kanpachi. Prices range from RM15 to RM38 for the items (5 to 7 pieces). You can also order assorted sashimi - 6 types with 2 pieces each for RM30 or a smaller one at RM20 for 3 types with 3 pieces each. The sashimi is also available at Shojikiya where you can pack the items home. Prices for the sushi range from RM1 to RM8 with choices like tuna belly, ikura, boiled sea eel and inari. They also serve assorted sushi for RM30 (10 pieces and 1 roll) or RM20 (8 pieces and 1 roll). Sushi rolls or makis are quite simple with a price range of RM2.90 to RM4.90. Handrolls are priced at RM3.90 wth choices like salmon, fried soft shell crab and unagi.

When we ate there on Friday night, not everything was available like the noodles as they had some issues on cooking with an open flame. For the rice dishes, only selected ones were available. It's interesting to note that they fry the tempura in Shojikiya. Noodles look simple - cold noodles and warm ones with beef topping, mushrooms, tempura and sukiyaki broth. Prices range from RM12.90 to RM18.90.

I was so happy when I saw their rice selection as they had 3 varieties of Chirashi Don to choose from and a Salmon Don. Yum! I choose the Hokkaido Chirashi Don which didn't dissapoint. Of course size and portion of fish plus sushi rice is much smaller than what you get in Rakuzen but then this is half of the price. Splashie Boy had his usual favourite - Tenjyu with assorted tempura topping rice drizzled with soy sauce. Pretty good as they gave two prawns and an assortment of vegetables. There's also Kani Miso Soup (with crab) which is not available now hence we settled for their super smooth Chawanmushi. Feeling greedy, we also tried one maki - the Prawn Tempura Roll. Not fantastic though as the rice felt kinda soggy but the tempura prawn was fresh.

Overall, not bad food and pretty decent if you want a reasonably priced one. I guess with economies of scale from all their outlets, Rakuzen can bring down the prices at this no frills place.

Sushi Zen
LG-K02
Lower Ground Floor
The Gardens
Mid Valley City

Kuala Lumpur

Tel No: 03 - 2282 6160

(Pork Free. From 8am to 10pm daily.)

*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 + The Gardens + Mid Valley Megamall