Kampachi @ the Pavilion

It had been a long time since I had last tried Japanese cuisine. I finally managed to do so last week, when I visited Kampachi. Kampachi is considered one of Malaysia'a most renowned Japanese restaurant chains, and the branch I had visited was their Pavilion one, located on the 6th Floor of the Pavilion, next to Al-Amar's and a stones-throw away from Ben's.

Upon taking our seats, we were served by courteous and an attentive waiter by the name of Ikmal, who gave us top-notch service. He had an extensive knowledge of the menu and helped us immensely in our choices. 

We had order two plates of Endame, which we snacked on until our food came. A favorite if my dad, the pods were lightly salted and the peas were thoroughly cooked, whilst maintaining it's crunchiness. There are quite a lot of these peas in a serving, so even a plate is enough to keep you going.

The Katsu Curry Rice worth RM42, is a good enough portion to share between two. The turmeric-flavored curry complemented the tender breaded chicken served on the side. It was so delicious, that whatever rice was left was used to clear the excess curry left over, until the plate was spotless. I will admit, however, that RM42 is simply too high a price to pay, for such a dish.

We then had the Unagi Kamameshi, with RM48. This dish, a simple unagi and rice, was served in a clay pot - and required 7 minutes of cooking. The unagi was well cooked, and had a good texture to it. However, the proportions of unagi and rice were not at all satisfactory. There was just too much of rice inside, which we could not do anything with once the unagi was eaten.

The last dish to arrive was the Ten Zaru Udon. The dish, featuring a side of tempura, featured a plate of udon noodles which was supposedly Kampachi's specialty. The noodles had a nice consistency to them and were served cold, with a tentsuyu dipping sauce. The tempura side consisted of a good assortment of prawns and vegetables, coated in a thin-yet-crisp tempura batter.

All in all, we satisfied with Kampachi as the dishes we ordered were of a good quality. It should be noted that the service we received was exceptional, and Ikmal was absolutely courteous and hospitable. The ambiance was haphazard in some instances, but probably because it was Saturday night.

Presentation: 6/10

Ambiance: 5/10

Service: 9/10

Overall Taste: 7/10

General Impression: 8/10

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Cheers,

BrianandRepublic

Breakfast @ La Bodega

Before the rise of places like Plan B, Antipodean and the others that specialize in serving up the day's most important meal - there was La Bodega. Today, La Bodega still serves up breakfast, receiving a few (though not as many anymore) customers.

The service was relatively good, albeit a bit slow. We visited their Bangsar branch which is located along Jalan Telawi 2, in Bangsar Baru. We used to be somewhat frequent visitors to La Bodega, however we have stopped due to the gradual loss in the quality of their food which we noticed.

This time around, however, I ordered myself the English Breakfast, which came with two eggs (which I chose to have scrambled), beef bacon, smoked turkey ham, chicken sausages, sautéed mushrooms, a grilled tomato and a hash brown.

The eggs were rather silky, however slightly overcooked. The beef bacon was unfortunately rubbery, being undercooked. The mushrooms, however were cooked perfectly as the mushrooms retained much of their moisture.

The breakfast set was relatively reasonable in terms of pricing at RM 27, considering the fact that it came with a freshly squeezed glass of juice and a coffee, much bigger in portion to those in Plan b (however not as great in quality).

The Muesli which my mother had ordered was a disappointment. The bowl contented 70% milk and 30% content. By the time my mother completed it, there was still a bowl with plenty of milk remaining. Disappointing if you ask me.

If you happen to be in Bangsar, looking for a place to have a nice breakfast, La Bodega might not be the place for you. Plan b still tops the list when it comes to breakfasts. Or if you don't plan on spending the money as you would in either on of the establishments - then maybe a mamak?

Presentation: 5/10

Ambiance: 7/10

Service: 6.5/10

Overall Taste: 6.5/10

General Impression: 6/10

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Cheers,

BrianandRepublic