The menu here features over 200 dishes that blend authentic Japanese recipes with contemporary ingredients and flavours. The chefs here are known to produce personalized Kaiseki (course by course) style sets that fit to each person’s specifications. You can choose to walk in and leave your dining fate up to the chef or you can let him know that you don’t really feel like eating salmon and tuna today and let him work around those restrictions. No two are alike and this is what makes Xenri unique. Each dining experience there can be as different as you’d like it to be, or you can always note down your favourites and ask for those when you visit. There is also the Ala Carte menu on hand if you would rather play it safe.
To get a feel for the favourites we decided to go with the Mini Kaiseki and the Teppanyaki Kaiseki both priced at RM68++. Both Kaisekis start off with a chilled beancurd with marinated scallop along with three kinds of sashimi based on what is the freshest. The bean curd is made in house and is silky and delicious with the light sweet and sour applesauce it is paired with. The marinated scallop tops it off with a lovely bit of chew.
Next up for the Mini Kaiseki is the fried burdock chicken roll. It is my first time trying burdock, which is a type of root meant to be beneficial for all sorts of ailments. This is very popular in Japanese and Chinese cuisine. This roll is a piece of burdock wrapped with chicken and is then breaded and deep-fried. The best way to eat it is to just dip it in a bit of sea salt. Delicious! The Teppanyaki set has a wakame salad with yuzu dressing which is a refreshing pause in the meal. The citrusy yuzu stirs up the appetite and has us craving for more.
"Crispy fried slices of garlic!"
For the mains the Mini set has a grilled eel kamameshi and the Teppanyaki set has grilled salmon, king prawn, oyster, scallops and vegetables with a side of garlic fried rice. The eel is beautifully glazed and sits atop a bed of rice that is still cooking in the pot. This is my favourite part because the rice cooks and gets a browned crunchy crust. Mix that with the eel and pickles and you’ve got yourself a tasty treat. The grilled seafood is delicious and I especially love the gratinated oyster that has a creamy cheesy filling. Extremely sinful but oh-so-good! The garlic fried rice is extemely tasty with crispy fried slices of garlic.
The meal comes to an end with a scoop of Japanese ice cream. Some of these flavours will blow your mind! There’s miso, nori (yes, seaweed!), kalamansi, as well as the usual green tea and black sesame. I tried them all and I have to say that as weird as it is, my favourite is the miso! It’s a salty and sweet ice cream, perfect for those who love salty sweet combinations.
The Xenri outlet in KL is the type of place you’d go for a nice dinner or where you’d entertain clients and the Xenri in Old Klang Road has more of a family feel to it. Both of them serve the same food though so you can pick and choose the outlet depending on the occasion.
_thumb.JPG)
.JPG)
You must be logged in to post comments