Rakuzen is an authentic Japanese restaurant. They have a few branches in Empire, Subang, G Tower, Sri Hartamas and Desa Park City. The branch which I went to in Bukit Bintang has closed for reasons that I do not know. (It was really hard to get there anyway since it is right in the centre of one of KL's busiest streets.)
The tables and chairs were cozy and nice. Even the Wasabi came in a shape of a leaf! Talk about class.
We have always looked forward to going to this restaurant. I went with my family as I do not have so much $$$ to spend at that time. (I was still in form 5) Anyway, we normally visit this restaurant for Sunday lunches. They have the buffet during this time so we can eat to our hearts desire.
This is not like the traditional buffet where everything is on platters and counters for you to take from. It is however and order and eat buffet. Anything from the lunch menu! In whatever quantity you want!! (there's a hefty sum to pay if you're wasting)
I started off with one of my favourite appetizers - Chuka Wakame (it's a seasoned seaweed which is like strands of green hair). Okay, it sounds a bit disgusting from how I described it but I'm sure the pictures shall justify this. With it came other appetizers - the Teriyaki Baby Octopus and the marinated Jelly Fish. All whom I dearly enjoy but with a really bad side effect - it made me ten times hungrier! In cantonese it is called - Hoi Wai (the opening of more space) or in better terms enhancing your appetite. Thankfully it was a buffet.
Next came the 'mains'. I wouldn't call them main courses because I myself do not know what the main courses are in Japanese dining. There were plates of assorted Sashimi so we got to try every single kind of raw fish they had to offer.
Followed by the Unagi which was cooked to perfection. With the sweet and sticky Barbeque sauce (or sweet sauce) covering the whole chunky slab, it was really nice.
We had loads and loads of raw Salmon and they came in very generous portions. I think we might be responsible for the shortage of salmon in the restaurant that day.
We ordered quite a variety of dishes. (given that we're already paying for them - i think we tried everything on the menu!) There were handrolls (temaki) - soft shell crab temaki, salmon temaki, unagi temaki.
Also Sushi's - Ebiko, Salmon, tuna. The sashimi salad was really good for neutralising all those raw food. There were Tempura Prawns, Deep Fried Mackerel and also Beef Teppanyaki.
The beef was so soft and juicy that you don't even have to chew much to get it down. The flavour was well kept within the beef and the juicy essence of it flows out once you take your first bite!
Plates of Unagi, Raw Salmon, Beef, Handrolls and also the 3 awesome appetizers kept coming. There were loads more that we ate. Cannot really remember every single dish but we made sure we ate the full 2 and a half hours when we were there, and it was definitely worth every penny!! In all that, I'm glad to say that we did not waste any food too!
When we were near our limit, there was Edamame - green soy beans, to keep the jaws working consistently. It was a really good chewing exercise as it keeps the pace going for more food. At the end of it, there was green tea ice cream to fill up those little spaces still available in the stomach. And good green tea to wash down all those food in between too.
It was a really good experience. Sad to say that the buffet is no longer available, but we definitely made the best out of it when we were there.
All of this for a price of RM55++!! It is a deal I dearly miss now.
