KEN HUNTS FOOD: Miraku Japanese Restaurant @ G-Hotel, Penang.

Saturday, December 29, 2012

Miraku Japanese Restaurant @ G-Hotel, Penang.

Miraku Japanese Restaurant, is a one of the well-renowned restaurants in Penang which offers fine dining experience. The word "Miraku" simple means the great place for customers to enjoy great food. Located at first floor of G-Hotel (right beside Gurney plaza), Miraku offers a wide variety of quality Japanese food, prices might be a bit steep. They do have some unique course-dinner (prices vary, starting from Rm100++) and the menu changes everyday depending on the availability, you will just have to check with the management. Anyway, we had some of their Bento sets instead of the course-dinner. Service was just okay (as in we need to ask for refill of water for a few times) and there are rooms of improvements. I find the foods were quite good overall but in terms of prices, i'd rather go for Edo Ichi Japanese Restaurant instead (their service was better too).

We were served some of their Appetizers shortly after placing our orders. These were something like Stir Fried Egg with Pickled Onions and a touch of Ebiko and some Seaweed. It was okay to me but my dad finds it a bit bland. It wasn't sweet nor it was sour, just something very ordinary.

My dad opted for this Unagi Kabayaki Gozen (Rm 68) which comes with Kobachi (small side dish), Salad (some shredded Cabbage topped with Japanese Wasabi Mayonnaise), Nimono (Japanese simmered dish), Chawan-Mushi (Japanese steamed Egg), Rice, Miso Soup, Pickles, Dessert (Fruit Jelly) and Ice Cream. The Kobachi served was some Cold Tofu topped with Enoki Mushrooms, I'd say it was not a bad choice, quite refreshing. As for the Chawan-Mushi, I find it superb personally, especially the texture and the broth given to complement it, the Chawan-Mushi was fulled with ingredredients too (prawns, chicken meat etc). As for the Nimono, we were served with some Stewed Yam Ball, Carrots and Green Peas. The dish has a hint of sweetness but I find it just normal and nothing much to shout over. Move onto the main character- Unagi, the Unagi was one of the best that I've ever had, very soft and smooth in texture, further complemented with the perfectly mixed sauce and a layer of aromatic fish oil. Works perfectly well with the piping hot Japanese Steamed Rice.

As for me, I had opted to go for their Waraku Gozen (Rm 78), similarly, it comes with Kobachi, Salad, Sashimi, Tempura, Grilled Eel, Nimono, Chawan-Mushi, Rice, Miso Soup, Pickles, Dessert and Ice Cream. This grilled version of Eel has a different texture from the previous one, this was more to the crispy side and has a distinctive aroma. The Sashimi was fresh, thickly sliced to perfection but some complaints for the Tempura, I find the Tempura a bit oily and some of them turned soggy for leaving them a while.

The dinner ended with a small scoop of Green Tea Ice Cream. It would be better if the Green Tea flavor can be a bit stronger but I like the fact that the Ice Cream was not too sweet.