vkeong loves good food, travel and photography!
Posts tagged shabu shabu
Nagomi Shabu Shabu Food Bloggers Night @ Menara Hap Seng, Kuala Lumpur
May 11th
Two weeks ago Nagomi Shabu Shabu organized a Food Blogger’s Night at Menara Hap Seng – where invited food bloggers enjoyed a 50% discount on the food (exclusing beverages) ordered.
The idea was suggested by Tam Poh Poh – COO of Nagomi and I was asked to co-host of the event as well as inviting other food bloggers to attend the event. Luckily for Jason and Simon who have a wider circle of food bloggers as friends, quite many turned out for the night hence making the event a success. It was a pity that Jason couldn’t make it in the last minute though 
Anyway, I have blogged about Nagomi’s food last year so I won’t be repeating myself again on the foods’ description. I just wanna show the photos taken that night.
Each shabu shabu set comes with a big plate of vegetable and those were reserved for the guests coming that night. Can you imagine the number of people who turned up for the event?
While waiting for the others to come, we snacked on the Japanese peas. I gotta say it’s pretty addictive, but I won’t be paying to have it in any Japanese restaurants yet though.
Then I walked around and saw the staff preparing salmon sets by arranging them in a flower shape.
A big plate of soft shell crabs on the sashimi counter.
A staff slicing Kobe Beef using the machine, also intended for the meal later. I guess Nagomi anticipated that many would order their Kobe Beef that night. Given the 50% discount it would be a waste not to order Kobe Beef that night, 120g for less than 70 bucks only! A great opportunity for those who haven’t tried Kobe Beef before to give this heavenly meat a try.
Places our orders and food was getting served. Here, Tam was filling up our shabu shabu pot with chicken broth. Wow it was a real privilege to be served by the COO herself.
Kobe Beef Set. What’s special about Kobe Beef is the great amount of marbling in it that contributes to the extreme tenderness and the melt-in-your mouth experience. Click here to continue reading >
Restaurant Shabu Shabu @ Bandar Puteri, Puchong
Dec 29th
How did you celebrate your Christmas? Well, I kind of celebrated it over a shabu shabu meal at Restaurant Shabu Shabu located in Bandar Puteri Puchong. And since most of my friends have went back to hometown on the very day, I went alone. Sounds damn pity huh, lol.
Even after blogging about food for three years, I have yet to really get used to all the glares and stares from other customers when they see me whipping out my camera and taking photos. And the fact that I was eating alone made it looked even weirder, lol. If you spot any poor soul armed with a camera (especially those eating alone), try not to look please. Probably just a food blogger trying to do his/her thing.
Some things I like about Japanese [tag]shabu shabu[/tag] are the hygienic concept of not having to share your boiling pot, and easy heat control just by using two buttons (either warm or cook)
But, the most interesting thing for me about this particular restaurant is the shabu shabu ingredients that go around on the conveyor belt. It’s like eating [tag]steamboat[/tag], sushi style. If you think plain soup is too boring, you can find ABC soup ingredients to be added into your soup. It comes on the belt too so keep an eye for it ok.
Nagomi Shabu Shabu @ Menara Hap Seng, KL
Sep 3rd
During the National Day last Sunday, I had a [tag]shabu shabu[/tag] 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.
We chose a window side seat, so we could enjoy [tag]Kuala Lumpur[/tag]‘s night view while enjoying our [tag]Japanese food[/tag]. 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.
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 [tag]Nagomi[/tag] 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.
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.
Besides shabu shabu, Nagomi also serves good sashimi and [tag]sushi[/tag]. 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.
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!
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.
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 [tag]Kobe Beef[/tag], 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.
