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Buffet
Munakata Buy Two Free One Ala-Carte Japanese Buffet Dinner is back
Dec 24th
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.
Eyuzu Japanese Restaurant Buffet RM82++ @ Eastin Hotel
Mar 4th
Just for your information, Eyuzu Japanese Restaurant at Eastin Hotel PJ has no relation with Yuzu at The Gardens. They might have a very smilar name and logo but I was told they are actually under different company and management.
But if you tried Yuzu’s food before and expect the same quality at Eyuzu and vice versa, let me just say you won’t be disappointed. I was researching for a good pure Japanese buffet restaurant and Eyuzu fell into the radar. Eyuzu has not been extensively blogged but most reviews were positive, which was a good indication for starters.
Eyuzu’s Shumatsu (Weekend) Japanese Buffet Dinner is priced at RM82++ for adult and RM41++ for child. If you are dining in a group of four on Sunday, one person will get to dine for free thus reducing the price to RM61.5++ per pax. With this, Eyuzu is essentially one of the more affordable Japanese buffet in town that is also better in terms of quality. However, if you are expecting lots of food selection like those in Tenji or Jogoya then Eyuzu is not for you, as they are sticking to serving only Japanese dishes.
Each diner is given a Dobun Mushi (Japanese tea pot soup)
Komura Ala Carte Japanese Buffet RM98++ @ Corus Hotel, Kuala Lumpur
Dec 26th
Going for a Japanese Buffet nowadays could be a huge headache – there are simply too many choices and new ones are mushrooming like nobody’s business. For important celebrations and occassions I usually stick to the more reputable and established ones. And Komura Japanese Restaurant at Corus Hotel is one of them, which I chose to celebrate my birthday not long ago. Although expensive at RM98++ (easily the priciest) it was a pleasant meal overall. FYI, Komura’s buffet is of those tick-from-a-paper-menu-ala-carte style.
5 types of sashimi available for the buffet: Maguro (Tuna), Shake (Salmon), Mekajiki (Butterfish), Tako (Octopus) and Ika (Cuttlefish) The salmon slices were fresh and delicate, comparable to what I had in Munakata.
Because of that we had many servings of Salmon sashimi. Butterfish was also nice without the frozen taste.
Umai-ya Weekend Japanese Buffet RM46++ (Lunch) @ Damansara Utama
Sep 9th
Umai-ya Japanese Restaurant’s weekend lunch buffet has got to be one of the most affordable around @ RM46++. It is an ala-carte buffet, the kind I prefer because you won’t have to rush for the food and the dishes always arrive fresh.
The choices of food are plenty with quite a number of expensive items. And since any Makimono or Sashimi would probably cost more than RM20, I feel the buffet is much more worthy to try. But of course not all the ala carte items are included in the buffet menu, like for example sea urchin and cod fish. The descriptions of the food will be brief, as most of them are good (unless stated otherwise)
For sashimi alone there are about 5-6 types but the ones I would really recommend are salmon and maguro. Both were fresh and satisfactory for buffet standards and we enjoyed it. Although the butterfish sashimi slices were thick, they had a frozen, refrigerated taste and felt watery inside.
The Sukiyaki‘s portion is huge with generous beef slice, shiitake and tofu. The broth’s seasoning is strong with heavy flavor, which could be mistaken for being salty. And actually you are supposed to dip the Sukiyaki’s ingredients into the raw egg, not pour the raw egg into the pot like we did, lol.
