Nijyumaru Japanese Restaurant (Sutera Utama) — Restaurant in Iskandar Puteri

This hidden gem delivers a seriously satisfying Japanese dining experience that punches above its weight. From the moment you step into the tastefully decorated space—think warm wood accents and soft lighting—you know you're in for quality.

The menu impresses with its breadth: Sashimi platters featuring buttery-fresh salmon and tuna slices Beef teriyaki grilled to tender perfection with just the right glaze Lesser-known gems like agedashi tofu with flawless crispy skin Curated sake list offering approachable picks to premium pours

What stands out is the consistency—every dish we tried (and we ordered ambitiously!) hit the mark. Portions are generous for the price point, especially compared to similar Japanese spots. The unagi don deserves special mention—fatty eel draped over steaming rice in a sweet-savory sauce that lingers memorably.

Service is attentive without hovering, and the relaxed pace encourages you to savor each course. While not fine dining, the attention to detail in both food and presentation feels thoughtful.

Perfect for: • Casual date nights with culinary credibility • Group dinners where everyone orders differently • Sake explorers wanting guidance • Value seekers craving authenticity

Tip: Try their aburi (flame-seared) sushi series—the scallop version is sublime. Weekday lunches offer incredible set meal deals.

Why we'll be back: Where else can you feast on fresh sashimi, sip quality sake, and leave pleasantly full without cringing at the bill? A rarity in Johor's...

Nijyumaru simply tops my go-to restaurants to fix my Japanese food cravings. The high rating by thousands of reviewers should speak volumes.

My personal recommendations that you MUST try for yourselves:- • [TEPPAN] S05 Beef Wine Steak 🐮🍷 - Super tender grilled beef cubes cooked in soy sauce and wine. • [YAKINONO] M11 Sake Fukuri or Garlic Salmon 🧄 - A must order if you love something garlicky!

Their Ramen portion is huge, and good for sharing by 2. Give their Nijyumaru Ramen a try; mildly spicy broth and soring noodles with seafood 🦐🐙🍜. Don't skip their sashimi's too; super fresh, just like all the other dishes we've tried. If you love squid, I'd also recommend their Grilled Squid in Teriyaki sauce.

What's special about dining here? • Free appetiser in the form of what I thought was sardines or chicken meat balls cooked in soy sauce. • Free green tea 🍵 (yup you read this right, no need to pay RM2 for your Houjicha) • "Cashback" in the form of cash vouchers usable for next visit. My previous visit cost me RM150-ish and I got a RM15 voucher, so this amounts to about 10% of total bill. In a way, offsetting the service charges. • Top-notch service by their friendly crew.

If you haven't given this restaurant a try, put this in your wishlist for your next...

I visited last year and I remembered it being better, this time round it was terrible, like really bad. First and foremost, nothing is fresh, not the sashimi, not the cooked dishes, and the strangest thing is, their tuna sashimi is salty?!?!? Since when tuna sashimi is salty? Their scallop is weirdly cut, size is odd, the meat is sticky. The maki roll took the longest time to prepare, and yet the prawn is not crispy, it was cold and soggy, the most disgusting part is the plate area, after we had the maki, the base had teriyaki sauce? But the maki doesn’t, I strongly suspect they did not was the plate but instead recycle it, as this is the first time I finish a maki roll with the base filled with watery sauce, makes no sense. The seafood soup is bad too, the ingredients in it is frozen and not fresh. The butter codfish is weird too, fish is not fresh, overcooked, flavour is weird. Zero effort put in to cook the steam egg, as you can see from the video. I strongly suggest, if you are reading this review, and you’re already in the restaurant, run, run for your life and never come back, don’t leave with wasted calories and moniess, don’t eat...