Nagomi Shabu Shabu @ Menara Hap Seng, KL

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During the National Day last Sunday, I had a shabu shabu dinner at Nagomi Shabu Shabu in Menara Hap Seng, KL. Ms Tam Poh Poh, the acting COO of Nagomi Shabu-Shabu was our host that night. My first impression on the restaurant was bright, classy and the huge entrance gives people a welcome feeling.
Shabu shabu means swish swish, referring to the swishing action when cooking thinly sliced meat in the broth. This method of eating was actually introduced by Genghis Khan in the 13th century, who intended to feed his army more efficiently by gathering them around the food cooked in a huge pot of broth. It was then introduced in Japan in 1948 and subsequently to the whole world.

nagomi menara hap seng

We chose a window side seat, so we could enjoy Kuala Lumpur’s night view while enjoying our Japanese food. Shown here is the single pot each customer will be using for shabu shabu. Purpose is to promote a better hygienic dining experience. According to Tam, shabu shabu restaurants in Japan are small and they use only one pot for cooking.
Because of that, customers have to huddle around the pot and it could be pretty uncomfortable. Which is why Nagomi Shabu-Shabu chose the Japanese word ‘Nagomi’ as the restaurant’s name, it carries the meaning of peace and harmony.

fried tuna

Maguro Pirikaara Age, Fried Tuna @ RM18 is an appetizer consisting of white and red tuna. Behind the tuna are Japanese cucumber and fresh mango juice. The juices in Nagomi are prepared by blending freshly cut fruits with crushed ice and no sugar is added (honey is added into the cucumber drink) The fruit juice’s creamy and thick texture is nice but I would probably like it even more if it was sweeter lol.

fried tuna

If you look carefully you’d make out the white and red tuna in the dish. Red tuna would have a darker color and has a stronger taste compared to white tuna. Maguro Pirikaara Age is light and fresh in taste, a palate opener and an excellent way to start the meal.

spider maki

Besides shabu shabu, Nagomi also serves good sashimi and sushi. There are over 30 items to be ordered from the sushi and sashmi menu alone. One of them being the Soft Shell Crab or Spider Maki @ Rm18. It is a delicious hand roll sushi made using generous amount of deep fried soft shell crabs.

spider maki

Although the price is quite expensive, it is value for money because of the huge pieces – look at the big chunk of soft shell crab meat in the sushi, you can really feel its crunchiness in your mouth, damn nice. And the satisfaction of enjoying it in a mouthful was just indescribable, haha!

nagomi shabu shabu

A set of shabu shabu in Nagomi, be it Sake Nabe, Ribeye Nabe or Chicken Nabe is always complemented with vegetables as side dish. There are three types of broth available in Nagomi – Nagomi’s signature broth, spicy or chicken broth. All the broth as well as the dipping sauces in Nagomi are specially handcrafted by their Master Chef Ikuo Tanabe-san. Tanabe is one of the most experienced Japanese chef and was also the head chef of Daikoku, now known as Kampachi in Equatorial Hotel.
The vegetables used for shabu shabu in Nagomi are all soaked in icy salt water for 20 minutes, twice. This process is done to remove all unwanted pesticides, bacteria and insects from the vegetables. I really felt the difference, the vegetables are fresh and have a sweeter taste.

kobe beef

Shabu shabu is best enjoyed none other than getting to dip and swish Kobe Beef in the soup, then savoring it. Since young, I have read a lot of comics and watched some dramas from Japan. So, I know a little about Kobe Beef, it is a top-grade beef from the breed of Wagyu cattle which is so expensive it can be considered a luxury.
How luxurious? At Nagomi, it is priced at RM125 for 120g. That’s more than RM1000 for a kilo for a kg of the meat! From what I read, Kobe Beef is so soft and tender it could melt in your mouth.. that’s how special the meat is.


kobe beef

For me, I have been wanting to try Kobe Beef ever since I got to know about it. And just recently I saw another food blogger blogged about her experience with Kobe Beef, which made me crave and hoping I could afford it one day. Luckily enough, I finally get to taste it in Nagomi.
Kobe Beef really lives up to its reputation and price tag, it is simply a heavenly meat with unmatched flavor and tenderness. Because they are sliced thinly enough, they usually cook within seconds in the boiling broth.

kobe beef shabu shabu

OMG I am drooling, lol! For a perfect Nagomi Shabu-shabu experience, follow the 5-step tips they have outlined:

  1. for a more flavorful broth and to bring out the taste of meat, first, cook all the white vegetables, mushrooms, bamboo shoots, onions and leeks to enrich the broth that will later bring out the sweetness of the meat.
  2. Dip a slice of meat into the hot boiling broth, and swish it back and forth for less than a minute.
  3. Dip the cooked meat in our homemade clear Ponzu or goma dipping sauce. Clear ponzu sauce is also great to accompany vegetables, and to suit the Malaysians’ taste bud, there’s always the Chili dipping sauce.
  4. Intersperse the cooking of meat with other green-leaf vegetables and tofu.
  5. Pour the bowl of steamed rice into the enriched leftover broth to epitomize your Nagomi Shabu-Shabu experience. Let the congee simmer a little, enabling the rice to absorb all the goodness from the broth.

Now, do you know how to enjoy shabu shabu better? I did, lol.

ribeye

If Kobe Beef is too expensive, you can always opt for Ribeye which is available at RM21 (150g) via add on. For Ribeye shabu shabu set, it is RM39.

ribeye

Nagomi uses only ribeye from Australia for its juiciness. While its flavor and tenderness are not as wonderful as Kobe Beef, it is still an enjoyable meat. Most importantly, it meets the budget!

shabu shabu sauce

The dipping sauces are (from left to right) Goma, Chili and Ponzu sauce. If you didn’t know, goma and Ponzu sauce are the two traditional condiments of shabu shabu in Japan. Goma sauce is made from ground sesame, soy sauce, kelp (seaweed) stock, sake and sugar, with a combination of seven different sauces. Both meat and vegetables can be dipped into goma sauce. This nutty sauce has a texture similar to peanut butter, but with the taste of sesame.
On the other hand, Ponzu sauce is made of soy sauce and juice pressed from a bitter orange, sweet sake and kelp. This sauce is nicest when eaten with raw salmon or tuna. Lastly, Chili sauce is there to cater for Malaysians’ taste buds. I like the Chili sauce the most, and goma sauce the least.

salmon

For sashimi we had some thick and juicy Sake (salmon), priced at RM28 for 150g. The salmon can be swished in the broth too if you like. But I will have it raw because I prefer the tender and buttery flavor it has when its raw.

salmon

The salmon used for sashimi in Nagomi is the not normal Norwegian salmon, but Salmon Trout which has less smell and better meat texture.

nagomi shabu shabu

An overview of the feast we had. They are all good but if you ask me, I enjoyed Kobe Beef, ribeye and the Spider Maki the most.

goma ice cream

Then we ended the meal with a goma ice cream, a dessert made of black sesame with soy milk from Nagomi’s sister restaurant – Dessert’s Bar. It was nice.

slicing kobe beef

Nagomi also implements an open kitchen concept where you can see the chefs slicing the Kobe Beef and ribeye right in front of you. The meats are sliced using a machine as shown and then weighed on a weighing machine.
The process is very strict and the sliced meats cannot be too thick or thin, or they will not be served. Quality and waste control is heavily enforced.

nagomi shabu shabu
sushi bar

Nagomi’s sushi bar. For those who want to enjoy sashimi or sushi with Sake instead of shabu shabu.

nagomi shabu shabu

Throughout Ramadan month, Nagomi is having a special BUY 3 FREE 1 Ramadan promotion. This means if you have four in a group, one of them will be enjoying a free set or ala carte dish. You can also think of it as a 25% discount on the foods.

Nagomi Ramadan promotion

The only requirement to enjoy this promotion is that the free set or dish must be lower or equal value to the first 3 items. This is a great deal considering that most Japanese restaurants’ bento sets are usually priced at least above RM20.

Menara Hap Seng **MAP**
Suite 1-19, 1st Floor
The Podium
Menara Hap Seng
Jalan P.Ramlee
50250 Kuala Lumpur
Malaysia
Tel: +603 2141 6332

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18 COMMENTS

  1. i wanna kill ppl liao…… can some one hold me…. can some one get a string to tie me on anything to stop me….

    vkeong…. you such a bad and naughty guy… y u wan to treat me like that…..

    look at those kobe beef…… tell me how i can hold sitting at Penang now? tell me….

    I wanna go down KL now… need to book air ticket liao… vkeong.. fetch me at airport and I belanja you to makan together.. ok? deal?…

    lolx……..

    PenangTuaPui’s last blog post..Penang Restaurant: Kopitiam Junction

  2. I love Shabu Shabu!~ lovely photos! any tips on how u take such great photos inside the restaurant with relatively dim lighting (assuming it was dim) ^^

    noobcook’s last blog post..Stir fry Eggplants with Egg & Tomatoes

    vk: It wasn’t really dim :D But the lights were yellowish.. so gotta post process them to rid of the yellow cast. I think my lens is the main contributor here.. aperture 1.8 is really nice to take sharp photos

  3. hehe..me and my colleagues had dinner there every now and then since they opened as our office is very nearby..cozy and quiet environment,food’s nice and keeps ur stomach full for a long time and since we got closed with one of the very friendly staff there, we are always given free ice creams on our visits…hehe..besides the goma ice cream, you should try the green tea and vanilla flavour too (very milky)..nagomi soup is still my fav choice..love it till the very last when u boil the rice in the remainding soup and all the flavour is absorbed in the rice…i think i’m gona patch a few colleagues for another round next week..hehe..thinking of it already makes me craving for it..

  4. Looks great…will go to try later.Do you know that Xenri Japanese Restaurant is at 2nd floor of Menara Hap Seng.But I prefer the Xenri at Old Klang road, opposite Central market……

  5. the kobe beef @ Nagomi is superb & one of the best value in town.

    It recently launched Bento lunch sets, think for the office crowd near Hap Seng, who only got 1 hr for lunch. Big portion, great value oso, frm RM14. i love the salads.

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