Munakata Buy Two Free One Ala-Carte Japanese Buffet Dinner is back

Munakata is one of the very few Japanese restaurants in town that serve Cod Fish as part of their ala-carte buffet menu. That alone is a major reason why I would still go back to them. While it is true that their ala-carte buffet menu is not as extensive as the rest, I have been to Japanese buffets many times enough to know that quality matters more than quantity.
After my last visit, Life Centre went under a much-desired renovation and many questions were posed asking if Munakata was still open, as the scaffolding pretty much hid the restaurant from sight hence creating an impression that they were closed during that period. Well, the answer should be pretty obvious now that you are reading this. Truth is, they were never gone and to sweeten that fact, Munakata’s “buy three, pay for two” ala-carte buffet dinner promotion is back again. If you are wondering, this is the same promotion I had when I first went to Munakata a few years back.
But firstly, let me address some of the common complaints I have received about Munakata. Variety wise, I have said this again and again – if you are looking for hundreds of things to order in your buffet, then please head elsewhere like Tenji or Jogoya. Food portion wise, I really can’t comprehend why would anyone even complain about it.
Take the sashimi for example. If you already know that per person’s portion is 3 slices and you were expecting maybe like 30 slices, you can always place another 10 orders. This is just simple maths, no? I really can’t see how this is a valid complaint. It is not like they are placing a restriction on how many orders you can place on each food. And just to be clear, I am not deliberately trying to defend Munakata. But the way I see it, some (read: *SOME*) of you just like to place the blame on others if anything goes wrong, either the restaurant or the blogger.

OK, enough of my long winded rant and let’s get back to business. Since this is my third post about Munakata and the buffet menu remains very much the same, I am just going to highlight on the items that are worthy of ordering. Don’t get me wrong though, I am not saying the rest are bad. But in a buffet I think you gotta be smart and get the good and higher valued stuff, right? Please be a smart consumer.
Salmon is the only choice of sashimi being served here, which is bad news for those who are expecting more like tuna or squid. Well the good thing is they still taste great and personally, that is all that matters to me since salmon is the only sashimi I truly enjoy anyway.

Gindara Teriyaki (Grilled cod fish coated with sweet soya sauce), the most recommended item to get in terms of value.

In my previous two visits I have always felt their Grilled Scallops with Butter & Soya Sauce are a bit too salty. After getting numerous similar feedbacks from the customers I think the chef has finally to cut down on the salt and it tastes a lot better now.

The Unagi Kabayaki is only prepared upon order so they are always warm and tasty.

Soft Shell Crab Tempura – another premium item on the menu worth getting.

Teppanyaki Seafood – the tiger prawns are not the freshest you will find but still acceptable by buffet standards.

The deep fried seafood bean curd with seaweed packs quite a delightful flavor with a crispy skin. Not bad for a seemingly ordinary stuff like this.

Just to be clear, the Hokkaido King Crab is not part of the buffet menu but a seasonal item at Munakata. We actually had this at a separate visit after we found out they are having a promotion for it. There are two ways to enjoy these crabs here, either grilled or shabu-shabu style.
We chose the former and shown here is a serving of the crab’s legs with snowy white flesh, which are also the best parts. I know the portion is not a lot but seeing this is shipped all the way from Japan I can’t really complain. Taste wise it was sweet and exquisite, but somewhat lacking in texture because they were shipped frozen.

The buy-2-free-one buffet promotion was started since 1st Sep 2011 and will end on 29th Feb 2012 so you still got plenty of time to check them out.

Munakata Japanese Restaurant
Mezzanine Floor, Life Centre,
No 20. Jalan Sultan Ismail,
50250 KL.
GPS Coordinates: N3 09.215 E101 42.518

Business Hours: Lunch: 12.00noon ~3.00pm
Dinner: 6.30pm ~11.00pm
Closed for Lunch on Public Holidays (SUNDAY CLOSED)
Tel: 03-21667441 Fax: 03-21667825