Marado Japanese Cuisine Puteri Harbour — Restaurant in Iskandar Puteri

Marado Japanese Cuisine can best be described with the phrase—neither fish nor fowl. A Korean-owned Japanese concept where the emphasis leans towards sauces and side dish accompaniments.

Service was friendly and welcoming. Initial serving time was impressively fast, but noticeably slowed down once the crowd picked up.

Food-wise, most of the dishes were good. No real “wow” moment though.

A pleasant surprise was the freshly grated wasabi—something that most restaurants charge extra for. However, the flavour was sharper and more pungent than my previous experience with freshly grated wasabi. Perhaps it needed to sit longer to mellow out, but it didn’t carry the subtle sweetness I’m used to.

The toro (fatty tuna belly) was served chilled—borderline frozen. While I understand it’s a fatty cut and needs to be kept cold, it would have benefited from being rested slightly before serving. Oddly enough, the experience improved when we wrapped it in seaweed and added a small touch of gochujang. Unorthodox, but surprisingly good.

Cold soba—a personal must-order at any Japanese spot—was a bit off for me. The dipping sauce had a slight acidity that I couldn’t quite place. Could be the mirin or the sesame they provided, but it deviated from the usual.

The restaurant provided us with a free dessert platter. Could it be because we told the server he actually gave us the wrong order of grilled cod instead of the order of udon noodles (G3 instead E3?). We were charged for the Cod. But to be fair, we did finish it to only realise the udon was not arriving. I blame it on the Korean/Japanese order chit. No way for us to confirm the order other than the correct quantity.

Would we return? Probably, but not high on the revisit list. Decent effort, but a bit caught in...

I highly recommend this restaurant . Pls allow me to share why . Through reviews , I chanced n came here first time . I m much skeptical towards fresh seafood as I m allergic to those that r poorly handled n/or lack freshness . However , I really love sashimi , therefore I hv to b discerning in consuming them . I bought salmon n swordfish sashimi at a hot lunch hr . They carefully packed with care to ensure the temp n texture of sashimi were kept . The temp , texture , size of cut , n taste , it’s what I view impt in every pc of fresh sashimi .

In my opinion , Their prices might not be the cheapest , but very reasonable . As I note that every pc of sashimi i consume , should b of quality .

Therefore , I definitely will visit soon again , as I m a vivid sashimi eater .

Thank you.

I returned to this resto few days again . I was v impressed that the chef so kindly served me a couple of chutoro sushi while I was waiting for my takeaway . A classy act from a chef at a Japanese resto that touched my heart . Kudos .

This will definitely b my fave resto in Puteri harbour . Will visit soon again .

Pls support this resto . You will b as impressed and delighted .

Many thanks .

P.s I bought chutoro sashimi , but I feel the quality is close to the higher grade ootoro, n check out the portion . Chef gave a lot . For what I paid , it’s definitely v...

While the service is very friendly and the atmosphere is wonderfully designed there is no way that I can give this establishment more than 1 star because of the food.

I have no idea how this is rated even close to 4.8 stars given that the food is not authentic at all for a Japanese restaurant.

The soba noodles are easily identifiable as instant and low quality (like cellophane), the unagi was slimey and the gyudon tasted more like a Tex Mex rice bowl than a Japanese beef bowl.

The only conclusion I can possibly make is that the owners/ chefs have watched a couple of "journey to Japan" videos and decided to create their own renditions of some of the most simple Japanese dishes.

Their signature abalone is just smothered in teriyaki sauce. Nothing special.

I would say that the only saving grace of this restaurant is that the ingredients were fresh and the chawanmushi was on par with the average.

If you want good Japanese food, this is not it. If you want authentic Japanese food, this is not it. You are better off checking out the other Japanese restaurants in Mt. Austin or Horizon Hills.

While the serving staff was kind and the environment was nicely designed, that is all there is to this establishment, a poor facade of Japanese cuisine.

One word for the food...