Sushi Tei @ Tropicana City Mall

Price Range: A full meal here costs an average of RM50 onwards per person 

Cuisine: Japanese  

Pork-free

Nothing's worse than meal time approaching and you're bombarded with the question, "What to eat?" 

This time around, we let our pocket full of Worthy Book vouchers decide where to head to, and we ended up with a pleasant meal at Sushi Tei =) 

Mix & Match Set Menu @ Sushi King

Price Range: Mid-range

Cuisine: Japanese

Catphobia-Friendly?: Yes

Pork-free (refer to note at the end of the post for further clarification)

Our peak levels of indecisiveness usually strike the moment we step into a Japanese restaurant. Every single thing on the menu is amazing but there’s only so much stomach space (and not forgetting budget!) to go by. To go with the salmon don or the tenpura udon? The saba kabayaki or the salmon karaage?

So we dropped by Sushi King the other day after a long time, and found that they’ve introduced a Mix and Match Set – smaller portions of Japanese favourites that you can have as a set! Perfect!

Franco @ 1Utama

Price Range : Slightly splurge-y (mains are mostly RM20 and above) 

Cuisine: Japanese-French fusion 

Cat-phobia-Friendly?: Yes 

Pork-free (some dishes have traces of alcohol, which they highlight in the menu)  

Franco has got it going on in this busy street in OU for quite a while now, though some may have known it by its previous label, Miam Miam. We're sincerely glad Franco won the name battle ;) 

Sukiya @ Kota Damansara

Price Range : Budget 
Cuisine : Japanese (Fast food) 
Recommended For : Casual meals 
Catphobia-Friendly? : Yes 

The bright facade of Sukiya caught out attention and drew us in for dinner a few nights back; welcomed warmly by very Japanese-sounding staff, we stood at the self-service counter and had fond flashbacks of Yoshinoya! 

Veggies Gyudon

Call for Nominations: Time Out KL Food Awards 2013

It's that time of the year again! 

Yes, Raya is indeed around the corner, but we're referring to another exciting event that's also got us pumped: the Time Out KL Food Awards! 

The awards, which honour the best of the best food finds in the city, are all the more exciting due to the fact that the nominees are all voted by the public! What better way to get to know the best restaurants in town than through the eyes of its seasoned dwellers? Plus, the shortlisted restaurants make an awesome makan-makan to-do list! Here's last year's list for your reference. 

Nominations are now open until 31st August 2013, so head on over to the voting page and enlighten Kuala Lumpur on your favourite food haunts! Categories this year include Best Cheap Eats, Best Healthy Eats, Best Place for Coffee, Best New Restaurant and many more. (We had a hard time picking just one favourite restaurant for each category, traipsing from one insanely scrumptious memory to another, but pulled through somehow). 

Happy voting! =) 

Organic Coffee @ Motoya Express, Omotesando, Tokyo

Price Range : Mid-range 
Cuisine : Organic Coffee 
Recommended For : The Anti-Starbucks 
Catphobia-Friendly? : Totally!

What's a trip without a good cup of coffee to go with it? Just steps away from the Ben & Jerry's store in Omotesando Hills, we came across an unassuming little brown van tucked in a hidden corner, spewing hypnotic coffee scents. 

Sushi Breakfast @ Daiwa-Zushi, Tsukiji Fish Market, Tokyo

Price Range : Splurge  

Cuisine : Japanese (Sushi)

Recommended For : Finding out how sushi is MEANT to be

Catphobia-Friendly? : Yes

Articles after articles about the sushi at Tsukiji Fish Market conclude with a unanimous “You will never see sushi in the same way again.” It is not hard to believe their confident claims, what with Tsukiji Fish Market being the largest seafood market in the world! Where else would you find the freshest, plumpest piece of tuna for breakfast?

Roasted Fatty Salmon with Salmon Roe Donburi @ Ameyoko Street Bazaar, Tokyo

Price Range : Mid-range  

Cuisine : Japanese (Donburi)       

Recommended For : A filling pit-stop to fuel a full-on shopping session  

Catphobia-Friendly? : Yes! (No stray cats at all on the streets of Tokyo! Hurrah!)

There are two main reasons why Ameyoko is always packed with pedestrians: 1) it is a haven for budget shoppers and 2) it is a haven for food lovers! Finding ourselves fitting comfortably in both categories, we took the train to Ueno to witness and savour first-hand this highly-recommended street bazaar.

Japanese Cheese Cake @ Miki Ojisan No Mise, Bangsar Village

Price Range : Mid-range 

Cuisine : Desserts 

Recommended For : The best Japanese cheese cake in town! 

Catphobia-Friendly? : Yes 

This little place in Bangsar Village has always been our trusted go-to bakery whenever a (rather specific) craving for Japanese cheese cake hits! 

The thing about Japanese cheese cake is that it is arrestingly divine and perfectly embodies all that is right in the cake world: soft and creamy, smooth and pillowy, dense yet airy... The fact that it is very light makes it a great choice when you're steering away from full-on rich and/or fudge-laden desserts. 

Jogoya Japanese Buffet Restaurant @ Starhill Gallery

Price Range	: Splurge
Type of Cuisine	: Japanese Buffet
Recommended For	: Proper food indulgence of the Japanese kind
Catphobia-Friendly	: Definitely!

 We take our penchant for Japanese food seriously, and at Jogoya, it is evident that they do too! There’s steam floating off each of their buffets counters, either from freshly-cooked dishes, or from mounds of ice keeping their seafood super fresh!

The restaurant is rather large, with each counter offering one mouth-watering dish after another, that we literally didn’t know where to start! When in doubt, always go for the sashimi! The sashimi here is pure perfection. The slices are thick and meaty, and with each bite you can feel the firmness of the fresh fish sinking under your teeth. The salmon is of course a no-brainer must-have but their butter fish sashimi is the best we’ve ever had, like ever! It literally melts in your mouth, as it should.

The Korean oysters we had were about as big as our palms (and some even bigger), and they are so fleshy and huge and incredibly fresh. Topped with a spritz of lemon juice, it is an obese piece of heaven just waiting to pleasure your tastebuds.