Himawari Japanese Restaurant • 日馬和里 — Restaurant in Kuala Lumpur

Hidden Gem of Traditional Japanese Flavors - The Japan Club (Himawari) 🌸

My recent dinner visit to Himawari Japanese Restaurant, located within The Japan Club in Seputeh, was quite an experience! Finding it on Level 1 (accessible by lift or stairs) was the first step into what felt like a truly authentic Japanese setting. I was even surprised to see members practicing traditional Japanese swordsmanship near the entrance – a unique glimpse into the club's culture! It’s like walking into a old japanese library 😇

Walking into a fully packed restaurant was a shock, but we were incredibly lucky to be seated immediately. The menu itself is a hefty, traditionally printed affair, adding to the old-school charm. Prices seemed reasonable for the quality and atmosphere. It was also a nice touch to have our orders taken manually by the crew.

However, the service was noticeably slow. We experienced a significant wait for our food to arrive, and dishes even came out at very different times – some of us had finished eating while others were still waiting for their meals. It seemed the restaurant was struggling to keep up with the dinner crowd, leading to a somewhat disjointed dining experience.

Despite the slow service, the food itself was undeniably good. It tasted like genuine, traditional Japanese cuisine, which is what we were hoping for.

Important Tips for Future Visitors: Parking: Take note that parking is only available outside The Japan Club premises. Non-members are not permitted to park inside. If you see any street parking available nearby, grab it and walk into the club. Best Time to Visit: Based on my experience and what I've seen online, if you're planning to visit with family, I would strongly recommend avoiding weekends and dinner time. The sheer volume of people seemed to overwhelm the kitchen and service staff. I've seen posts suggesting that weekday lunchtimes are much less crowded and likely offer a smoother dining experience.

Overall: While the slow and staggered service during dinner was a downside, the authentic food and unique traditional Japanese club setting make Himawari worth a visit, especially if you can navigate the parking situation and can go during a less busy time like weekday lunch. I'd be willing to give it another try during lunchtime to see if the...

I was told that this place would be a good authentic traditional Japanese so it piqued my interest. As a local person who has been travelling to Japan for 20 years, I was naturally curious but boy was it a horrible experience. The food was meh. The service is horrendous. Atmosphere was OK, I guess. Lots of Japanese people. No surprise there as it was located within the biggest Japanese Centre in KL. I doubt the place will survive if it wasn't.

The servers blatantly ignore you, preferring to serve the Japanese more than a local Malaysian group. You ask them to check on your order and they disappear. Never returning. They seem to have a unhealthy obsession with clearing the tables more than serving hungry customers. Oh, don't even bother flagging down the attention of the male servers, they don't even look at you when they pass you by. They forgot a couple of our orders and didn't even bother following up. Ultimately, we had to cancel. We ain't gonna wait for another hour plus for the food.

About the food. The onigiri was so bland and the miniscule filling was just microscopic. Even Famimart gives you better onigiri. Yamakake was so so. Small. Great as an appetiser. The other lunch sets were not too bad; katsu curry rice, and ramen. Portions were decent.

Will I go again? No. Will I recommend my Japanese friends and family to go? No. Heck, I wouldn't even ask my local...

I would strongly deter this place if you are planning to have meetings or discussions here.

Food Small portion. We specifically requested for to be served ONLY when the group is here. The server agreed and insisted to take orders 1st to ease her work as we had a large group of over 20 pax. In the model of our opening session, they decided and insisted to serve our food which includes hot soup. By the end of my session and I'm ready to eat, the hot food have already gotten so cold it soured the entire experience especially because this dish was something I'm looking forward to enjoying for a very long time.

Further we specifically said to serve only when everyone has arrived yet the wait staff kept interrupting our session walking in and out and asking who which dish belongs to during our networking introduction.

The team does not even have simple courtesy to wait for the person to finish talking before interrupting the discussions.

Further, when I was making my payment, instead of apologising, the supervisor told me off and asked me to "speak nicely next time" when complaining.

Unbelievably BAD...