Hajime Japanese Restaurant for the Best Japanese Food
Filed Under (Food in Kuala Lumpur, Food in Malaysia, Halal, Japanese Cuisine) by kuanfoodfetish on 13-07-2008
Tagged Under : ambiance, asian, bar, beef, benito, best, black, bungalow, caviar, champion, chawanmushi, cheese, chicken, clay, cozy, crunchy, Cuisine, dish, egg, fancy, favourite, figu, food, fresh, grill, hajime, hotatei, ice cream, jalan damai, japanese, kuala lumpur, kurugoma, mid eastern, miso, ninniku, puffer, restaurant, rice, romantic, salmon, sashimi, sauce, scallop, set, spider roll, splendid, steam, tatami, teriyaki, tofu, tun razak, utensil, warm
I was pretty ecstatic that Mr. Bf decided it’s time for another visit on our 2nd anniversary! I was curious to find out whether it still deserves to be on the top of my list. Located in the midst of the busy Kuala Lumpur town; Hajime is a splendid Japanese Restaurant set in an old bungalow on Jalan Damai. For your information, actually the whole row of bungalows along the street had been converted into fancy restaurants of all flavours. Here you can get from Asian food to Mid Eastern food. You can’t miss the restaurant because there’s a sign board with a picture of a puffer fish (fugu) which by the way is one of the specialty dishes in the house. The ambiance is good and romantic. It’s cozy enough for a comfortable dinner with friends and family too. You can choose to be seated at the normal table or bar else i would really recommend that you sit ‘tatami’ style. The menu changes seasonally. So don’t be surprised that on your second visit the menu if totally different. On my first visit, once we were seated we were served a complimentary appetizer/starter. We even received a complimentary desert (ice cream). I was pretty disappointed that there were none this time. Maybe they forgot? Well, the place was packed. One of the season’s special dishes is the Hotatei Ninniku which is grilled scallop with cheesed and caviar sprinkled on top. Ingenious! I love seafood with baked cheesed and the scallop is very fresh and crunchy. Paired with a thick layer of baked cheesed it was superb. The spider roll i had on my last visit had me hooked. But instead of the normal spider roll, they had a different type on the menu this time. The black spider roll for the additional black caviar on top. Hajime really have the best spider rolls. So far, it’s the best i’ve ever had compared with other restaurants. Super fresh and super crunchy. Had me drooling for more! I must say the food presentation was expertly done. Everything looked fabulous. Loved the plates and the utensils they served the food with, especially this clay Chawanmushi cup. It’s great actually because the clay cup preserves the heat so that the steamed egg would stay warm longer. Heart it coz i hate cold steamed egg. We were pretty full by then but decided to have a go at the Chicken Teriyaki set. The set included chicken teriyaki with rice, miso soup, fried tofu with benito (yum yum!) plus salmon and beef sashimi. I’m not a fan of sashimi because i had my share of bad experience with un-fresh produce. However, Hajime has top-notch sashimi. We ended our meal with the Kurugoma Ice Cream (black sesame ice cream). Very aromatic and delicious. Also one of the best i’ve had. Hajime definitely is staying as the champion of my Japanese cuisine favorite list. I had many ‘best’ dishes here. Great ambiance, excellent service and fantastic food. Chicken Teriyaki Set – RM38.00 Total: RM105.60 (RM96.00 + RM9.60 – service tax) ————————- Hajime Japanese Restaurant Tel: +603-21430073
Tatami style
Puffer fish
Puffer fish sauce plate
Hotatei Ninniku – grilled scallop with cheese
Black Spider Roll
Clay cup
Chawanmushi
Chicken Teriyaki Set
Kurogoma Ice cream (black sesame)
Hotatei Ninniku -RM16.00
Black Spider Roll – RM18.00
Chawanmushi – RM12.00
Kurogoma Ice Cream – RM12.00
No. 64, Jalan Damai,
Off Jalan Tun Razak,
55000 Kuala Lumpur
Fax: +603-21484200
hajime ‘s food looks great but i am too broke to pay a visit…
The scallop make me droll.
aiwei>> next month lor. hajime won’t run away
allie>> oooo me too
Eh? I thought it’ll be expensive. Quiet ok wor the price.
simon>> It’s ok lar. Depends on what you order. But worth every penny of it lor
[...] Kuan Food Fetish [...]
lingzie>> thanks!
After i went there once, i was addicted to it!!!! haha!!! now i am the frequent customer! their sesame ice cream is just fabulous!
K@w@ii @ LOL i know what you mean. I’m really addicted too. Now whenever i go to other Japanese restaurants i can’t help comparing with Hajime haha
I’m a visitor to KL and decided to try out the restaurant based on your raving review. The selection at this restaurant was not huge. The quality of the sashimi was good but the salads and other rolls were disappointing. The spider roll is very small and the raw fish drapped on top were less fresh than the fish selected for the sashimi. Sham on them for not using the best ingredients for all their dishes!
I also found the service to be lacking. The only person who appeared service-oriented and friendly was the cashier. The rest of the staff were not attentive (my eating plate was changed only when I was almost done with my meal) and while I was waiting for a taxi after dessert, no one came by to add hot tea for at least 20 minutes.
Annie,
This review was done in 2008. If you’ve read my recent review in 2009 you’ll know that i too am disappointed with the service and the menu at Hajime. The standard have dropped. I hope they’ll pick up soon or they’ll be losing customers.