SUSHI TAKA — Restaurant in Kuala Lumpur

Ushi. I fell in love with Japanese cuisine after spending a month in the country back in 2015. Since then, every time coming back to Asia, I am chasing places where I can reunite with true Japanese food. And, of course, one of the shining diamonds of Japanese products is wagyu beef. So, after booking a room in St.Regis KL when I heard they have Ushi – a restaurant dedicated to Ozaki beef – the first and only in KL - I was full of sweet anticipation. Communicating with Concierge desk about different arrangements I asked them to send me Ushi’ presentation and menu. A (supposedly) well-known chef from Japan itself, 30 years working with meat with experience of work in 3-star restaurant in Tokyo – my imagination of the dinner we are going to have with my wife was getting more and more colourful. The menu told me that there are several set options (kaiseki/omakase), but on top of that there was a-la-carte, where there were listed 3 parts of wagyu you can have your steak from: tenderloin, sirloin and chateaubriand, each existing in 2 options: regular one and 21-days maturated. So, 6 possible different options on the whole. Dreams coming true. After arrival to St.Regis (remembering that about everything in Japan must be checked and confirmed) I asked the concierge to talk to the restaurant and ask whether we will be able to share a chateaubriand with my wife with the chef making her part as well-done and mine – as medium-rare. The answer was that they will gladly do it for us, so I made a reservation for our last night in St.Regis – for an evening 2 days after asking them the question. Finally, the evening comes and we are going down to 3rd floor, where Ushi is. Passing a fridge on the way, where different parts of wonder-beef are displayed each with a tag informing the passer-by which part of the cow each is. Saliva keeps forming in my mouth. After being seated in a private dining room, first thing we found out was fridge temperature in it from the A/C. So, I asked first the waiter and afterwards a manager to make the A/C less strong – nothing they can do about it, they told me, it is centralized, but we can give you blankets. Meaning we were obviously not the first clients complaining about being freezing cold and them having blankets for everyone handy. OK, we can live with the cold, it is the food we came here for, Ozaki beef. Getting the already familiar menus, I ask for the wine-list. Mmm, the waiter says, - one minute. Coming back with a bottle of wine in hand and tells us: actually, this is the only wine we actually have, but we have sake too. Once again: a fine-dining restaurant in a high-class international hotel has only 1 type of wine. ONE WINE. All right, - my wife says, - we will drink this one. So, I proceed with our food aka meat order. Hhhr, I need to check what is available, - the waiter answers and goes out. And then comes the culmination when he comes back from his “checking” and tells us that, he is sorry, but none of these parts from a-la-carte menu are available, but they have “shoulder part”. So, a restaurant, specializing in Ozaki wagyu meat only (first and only in KL), doesn’t have a single one out of 6 different steak options they have in the menu. Utterly ridiculous by itself, not to mention that we actually had our virtual order checked and confirmed 2 days prior to us coming. At that moment I felt that we must be unwilling participants of some prank hidden-camera TV program. And right now the waiter will laugh and the door will burst open and the TV crew will pile in with champagne and tell us they got us caught and our legs have been pulled. Which didn’t happen either. And the waiter just kept looking at us with best half-apologetic face he could master. Of course, we didn’t stay and just ate in another place. Interesting what Ushi has on display in the fridge at the entrance, though. Dummies...

Taka is currently helmed by Sushi Chef Yazawa Daichi formerly of Hakkoku in Ginza, Tokyo. Luring someone of Yazawa San's calibre is indeed quite a feat by the owners of Taka and it shows. Taka is currently serving up some of the freshest and best quality ingredients in town.

I had the Taka Omakase which consists of an orchestra of 7 appetisers, 1 grilled fish, 10 sushi & 1 sushi roll. The gastronomical journey consists some of the freshest and top-grade sea urchin, fatty tuna and of course being the winter season, some top flight shirako.

If you are in the mood to complement your meal with some Ozaki beef, you can order from Ushi's menu, which is just next door to Taka. Look out for the last dish on the menu, which is Chef Yazawa San's unique take of the tamago. As opposed to the mainstream spongy cake-like omelette we are used to, his version tastes a custard-like cake with a crème brûlée top.

Less heavier menus are available such as the (normal) Omakase course which consists of 4 appetisers, 1 grilled fish, 10 sushi & 1 sushi roll or Hana which consist of 4 appetisers, 8 sushi & 1 sushi roll. Tsuki, which consists of 8 sushi & 1 sushi roll is available for lunch only.

Taka has a decent sake menu offering some of the finest sakes to pair with your meal. Quantities of these fine sakes are limited so it is recommended that you call ahead to ask for the sake menu and reserve a couple of bottles of your favourite sakes to pair with your meal.

Albeit the premium pricing, the quality of premium ingredients served by Taka is arguably the finest in town. Service levels at Taka are of course as...

My first and last visit was 5 years ago. This will be my first visit to TAKA after Sushi Saito took back his name and chefs. TAKA’s current head chef, Yazawa Daichi-san used to work at Hakkoku at Ginza. Actually I met him once there but we do not know each other then.

This meal here at TAKA got postponed since May 2021 because of lockdown. Was so so glad that we finally made it and it surely did not disappoint. Staffs were very friendly and attentive.

I really enjoyed the flavour and texture of the shari. It might taste very vinegary to some but I loved it, especially when paired with tuna. I ordered Tsuki course as the rest of the course was not very cheap and I do not want to splurge on my first visit under the new chef. But I do feel that it’s really worth the price tag as all the neta that he served us were really good when I compared to the few sushiyas that I visited frequently. The size, the shape, the taste.. It’s closest to the Japanese taste that I’m used to, and since we are still unable to fly to Japan, this will definitely satisfy my craving for edomae sushi for now.

TAKA is really a place for edomae sushi aficionado, I can guarantee this. I can’t wait to revisit them again the next month. And I will try another course on the menu that chef said yes to tweaking it a little for me. Chef is not a person of many words but I do feel if you have any question regarding the food, the origin of the seafood, he would explain...