True sushi connoisseurs are to normal folk what shorn monks are to heathens. They eat their uncooked fish with a quiet, almost monastic reverence and their palates are sensitive to the tiniest affront. They can tell instantly if the sushi rice has been too softly cooked or cooked with too much vinegar, or whether it’s served fresh every couple of minutes, the way proper sushi chefs do it in Japan.
They will judge a sushi bar’s caliber not so much by the large quantity on display, but rather by the quality of the uni, the o-toro, the amaebi or the kanpachi. They know that sake goes best with sashimi and that the only place to enjoy it is at the bar, where you have the chef’s full attention. They never miss a beat as the skilled itamae (sushi chef) deftly prepares artfully presented sushi and sashimi.
Tatsu itself spells sophistication. Traditional Japanese meets contemporary yet minimalist deco.. all a rather Zen like environment, and very conducive for eating till kingdom come.
With a capacity of almost a 150 seats, the restaurant offers five choices of dining seating styles from the Sushi bar, a Teppanyaki room, private dining rooms, public dining area to a cosy lounge dining area. For the sushi monks, the Sushi Bar of course, and for sake and wine connoisseurs, the private Sake Bar is a must visit. Floor to ceiling glass windows and a totally comfortable environment, where you can get sloshed on premium sake as you gaze blurry eyed into the landscaped garden and cascading waterfall below. If there were a sake heaven, this would be it. The Bar serves more than 20 types of Sake, Shochu and Wines.
Tatsu’s Sushi Bar is where all the action is – Chef Tetsuya Yanagida is normally around to serve you a top selection of Sushi and Sashimi.
Sashimi (back-front) – Kanpachi (Yellowtail), Tako (Octupus), Abura Bouzu (Butterfish), Salmon (Shake) and Maguro Akami (Tuna)
First up, some starters of Smoked Wild Duck, Chuka Idako (seasoned Baby Octopus), Edamame and Jyako Negi Tofu (chilled Tofu with fried Anchovies). After that came glittery portions of Kanpachi (Yellowtail), Tako (Octupus), Abura Bouzu (Butterfish), Salmon (Shake) and Maguro Akami (Tuna), which melted appropriately in the mouth. The sashimi had a good girth, was cold without being icy, and succulent as hell. Totally passed the sushi monk’s test. I wished that it had been followed by creamy portions of o-toro or uni but this was not to be. No matter, we will be back for that at a later date.. and with a different tale to tell, I am sure.
Japanese starters (clockwise) – Smoked Wild Duck, Chuka Idako (seasoned Baby Octopus), Edamame and Jyako Negi Tofu (chilled Tofu with fried Anchovies)
The Japanese are so darn delicate. Even their soup drinking is elevated to an unrivaled level of delicate dining and finery, by means of the teapot soup.
A lovely broth of seafood soup.. squeeze some lime to take the flavours up a notch..
Dobin Mushi (teapot soup) .. arigato gozaimasu!
Grilled Australian beef.. cooked medium rare, this was the bomb! This time round we found the meat lacked something.. it just lacked a little bit of rock salt. Would have been perfect if it had just a wee bit of salt to elevate and bring out it’s natural flavours.
Australian beef (medium rare.. or as rare as you like)
Assorted Tempura
I don’t know about you but if I have to eat tempura, I normally go for the prawns. It’s not high on my list of must eats in any Japanese restaurant though. I’m more into the raw ministry. As in sushi and sashimi. Feed me raw fish and I will be happy for a long time. Just saying.
As a sushi aficionado, I do have my favourites of course. Read more about that here and here.
Salmon Fish Neck in Orange Bitter Sauce
If this fish were a person, I’d do a lot more necking. A terrific cut of salmon neck. Worthy of slobbering and drooling all over! Tasty as hell.. another must not miss.
Salmon Fish Neck in Orange Bitter Sauce
The orange bitter sauce imparts a sourish taste to the salmon neck, but it’s all good. The fish batter imbibes the orange sauce and softens the exterior as you sink your teeth into the fatty parts of the neck. Best necking session ever.
Mini Hotate (Scallops)
More buttery than natural, I could not fully appreciate the intrinsic flavours of the scallops.
Unagi Kabayaki
The unagi was too sweet for me. Am not a fan because I generally don’t like the sweet sauce that goes with the eel.
As Chef Tetsuya Yanagida was away, we had the pleasure of a live demonstration of dessert making, by Chef Darrell J. O’Neill
Chef Darrell J. O’Neill, is the new Executive Chef InterContinental Kuala Lumpur. Read more about Chef Darrell’s prowess in the kitchen here.
This time round, Chef Darrell would make for us, the Strawberry Sake Toban.. i.e. a dessert of strawberries, drenched in sugar, sake and more strawberry puree, and then cooked in a toban skillet… served with green tea ice cream. Wow, what a mouthful!
the skillets
And what a mouthful it was! Creamy, sweet and alcoholic.. in perfect harmonious flavour. The Sake imparted an interesting aroma and headiness to the mix that was cloyingly addictive.
The picture perfect Strawberry Sake Toban, served with green tea ice cream
With that we concluded our lunch. We will be back of course.. because 15 is not a number we are proud of. Not at all! 😉
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Add:
Tatsu Japanese Restaurant,
InterContinental Hotel Kuala Lumpur,
165 Jalan Ampang,
50450 Kuala Lumpur
Tel: +60 3 2782 6118
Pork Free Opening times: 12.00 noon – 2.15 pm, 6.30pm – 10.15pm
Price: RM98++ per adult, RM49++ (children aged 6-12)
The a la carte buffet is available for both lunch and dinner on Sat, Sun and Public Holidays.
The Strawberry Sake Toban looks great!
Only been Tatsu once, need to revisit again! 😀
Hi CK! Totally addictive.. i swear the sugar and sake added 2 pounds to my waist.. but worth it 😛 When are you planning to go back? Let me know!
Wow…awesome photos! =)
I think the Strawberry Sake Toban put us off our game plan…which was to stuff ourselves silly 😛
Will surely definitely revisit…haha 😀
I know!! No matter.. we can always go back. This time.. I challange you to 50 dishes KC! 😛 Sure can one…
Waah…so high of a target…but you are ON!!! 😛
Set! I know u love a good challenge 😛
Just lemme know when…more peeps more benchmarks to overcome! =)
I agree! If we bring 25 people, we only need go for two each! mwuahahaha… do u like the way my mind works 😛
Haha…so devious of u! 😛
But I prefer to whack at least 15 by myself…hehe =)
We were there a couple of months ago… post still in “draft” – LOL! You are right, the scallops were tremendously buttery …good for butter-lovers! Ooohh… can’t believe you did only 15?! 😛
seriously why still in draft ?! haha. Well, yes 15 is not much. but the tempura portion served was just way too huge, and it seemed like a shame to waste it. Otherwise, if tasting portions, sure we can finish the lot! LOL
Hee hee! Only 15… maybe you weren’t feeling so well that day:-) Yet, you tried some dishes we missed out on. Now I want to go back for the teapot soup and that dessert looks way more appetizing than the ones we tried.
yeah our portions were massive, so not much space for the other dishes! No matter,we will be back!
i think it might be possible to order and taste at least 40 items from the menu! but 88 sounds like a superhuman feat 😀
I say 50!! 😛
Hey babe.. gorgeous photos as always!Love the smoky beef shot.
Hey I managed 27 items out of 88 (with several reorders of some dishes)… 2 of us only… come on, I know you want to beat that! Hehe.
We know we can beat tat hands-down! 😛
The scallops were not “mini” at all!
Yes they were. I’ve eaten far larger ones woman!
Holy salmon!
Paiseh to say that I don’t know that much about how to judge a sushi but I’ll be glad to gobble them all XD
Well, eat it more often and you will get the hang of it;)
Absolutely delicious! Can’t wait to go there now. The photographs are crystal clear as well. This is a good read!
Super, let us know how it goes.. and thanks for the kind words!
all above is in the buffet list?or some is alacarte??Me too in love with raw slice of thick succulent fish and squids…
oh the seafood broth in tea pot is smth rare…I only tried once in a Ikoi, in Singapore..but I prefer not to squeeze the lime in…it taste sweeter….guess im another sweet sauce lover as i felt like in heaven if can have my teeth sink on unlimited slices of thick and tender unagi…we can order any numbers of unagi slices here?
Yes, you can order 5 plates at a time from the menu. So long as you finish, you can order 5 more:) And keep going till you reach 88! (If you can)
haha went and try already! our record 39 dish!! But the sashimi is really good..i think bout it everyweek!! darn..here my review..
http://iamtraveladdict.blogspot.com/2012/10/tatsu-intercontinental-kl-88-dishes-ala.html
OMG!!! The strawberry sake dessert with green tea ice cream looks sooooooo good. I want some now! And the teapot soup is interesting. But do you only drink the broth that pours out of the kettle? How do you get at the seafood in the teapot?