Yummy Malaysiana: Gyu-Kaku Japanese BBQ Restaurant Isetan 1 Utamas Eat Paradise

Gyu-Kaku Japanese BBQ Restaurant Isetan 1 Utamas Eat Paradise

I went to Jaya Ones Food Bites today and frankly I wondered why was it called Food Bites Gourmet Street Food Marketwhen there were barely more than 10 stalls selling food.
Youre likely to be less disappointed if youre there for shopping; as the variety of clothes, accessories, knick-knacks were abundant. Go with friends and youll likely to have a great time catching up and browsing around. For me, I was tired, jet-lagged and had a mountain of work. I went there for food, and I went back hungry.

A hungry Becky is never pleasant. Furthermore I was there specifically because a friend had set-up a stall; and thus I had wanted to show my support. Lets just say a few incidents happened and I left shortly after, hungry and disappointed.
Luckily KC was still game for lunch after his RM10 dry bun-ed hotdog. We hopped in to Gyu-Kaku Japanese BBQ Restaurant, one of the new outlets in 1 Utama that we had wanted to try since it opened.

Conclusion of the meal was food is good, prices marvelously value for money and service was exemplary.
For RM199, we chose the Fuku Set, which came with everything that youll see in this post, and yes, including desserts.

Their Calpis drinks (Calpis Soda and Calpis Water)were very good as well, each reasonably RM5.90 and RM4.90 respectively.

I like it!

Our total bill.

We could barely finish the food!
At 2.00pm on a Saturday the outlet was bustling busy but the service was incredibly efficient. The food was served rather systematically as well.

First up wasNamuru Assorted seasoned daikon, horenso spinach, bean sprouts, zenmai royal fern (normal ala carte price RM14.90) andClassic Kim-chee (RM5.90). Both were adequately prepared.

There were a platter ofAssorted Sausages (RM10.90) as well, which was forgotten till it was already on the grill in my haste to start eating.

For our salad option (our set allows an order of salad and rice) I chose Horenso Salad -Jjapanese style spinach, crispy garlic, & goma dressing. (RM8.90). The picture below didnt do it justice. It was a lovely bowl of greens drizzled with superb house-made goma dressing. Slivers of raw meaty mushrooms was hidden underneath the leaves.

When I said service was exemplary, I meant it was beyond the usual serving exercise. Service here was almost akin to dining in a fine dining restaurant. Because there were 3 of us, every dish that was supposed to be shared was portioned for us, without us having to ask; case in example our salad and the rice.

Ishiyaki Mentaiko rice, salmon, cod roe and greens topped with dry seaweed in hot stone bowl. (RM18.90). Fabulously flavourful and non-oily!

Below: One of the helpful service staff mixing up the contents nicely prior to serving it to us in individual bowls.

Because it was a set meant for 2, we got 2 BIG bowls ofTofu Chige soup. (RM12.90). This wasnt spicy but flavour rich, not! to ment ion generously loaded with tofu, eggs and chicken meat.

All of these came in quick succession, and this was efficiently followed by the grill and meats.

Since it was a set, we didnt get to specify our marinates or dips for the meat. Anyhow, all were good, sufficiently marinated and succulent in texture.

It was really up to us for the doneness of the meat. The grill was easy to control and we had fun (or rather KC did) grilling. I just focused on eating everything on the table. :dd
At this juncture, I just had to mention about the commendable service again. After a short grilling or eating session of 10-15 minutes, one of the staff will come around to change the grill plates as well as our dining plates. Now this is truly deserving of the 10% service tax!

I thought that was it, and we already felt that there was a lot for a set meant for 2. But no, after the meats came the Seafood Platter!

For 2??? You have got to be kidding me!
Seafood platter. RM 79.90.US foil scallops,Norwegian salmon, KingPrawns,Whole Squid,Oysters in foil.

We loosen our belts and proceeded to cook. The oysters in a foil were meant to be cooked in the foil in the middle of the grill. We were advised to let it boil till the butter on top melts.

Fat, juicy oysters. There 2 of them in here and they were fabulous.

Then we threw in the scallops, which was incredibly fresh and sweet. Same verdict applies for the salmon, squid and king prawns.

Happy with my King Prawns! :dd

Gyu-Kaku may be known for their meats, but we concurred that the seafood was good as well!

We were stuffed but our set came with 2 desserts. The staff was nice enough to offer us 2 different ones so we could sample their Green Tea ice cream (RM8.90) as well as their signature Milk Pudding (RM9.90).

The Milk Pudding was lusciously creamy and aromatic with milk. I declared it the best milk pudding I had so far, but do keep in mind that I have not tried those in HK, supposedly the city that makes the best milk puddings.

I strongly recommend the sets, but if you would like better control over the meats and marinates, then go ala-carte. Be prepared for a costlier bill though.