Taverna by the Tokyo restaurant — Restaurant in Kuala Lumpur

Glad to be given a table although without reservations. Had the dinner set with saba appetizer, squid ink oyster pasta, cheesecake, stew oxtail. The cheesecake feels lived up to its hype especially appreciate that they serve it in a chilled plate alongside some light whipped cream that's mildly sweetened. The cheesecake is not the light nor sponge-y type but just the right dense mouth feel without county cloyingly screaming cheese flavour.

The Saba (mackerel) appetizer was surprisingly tantalizing to the taste buds as an appetizer should. Mackerel was fresh and well grilled and seasoned with citrusy notes. I enjoyed how they've cut the sizes to slightly bigger than bite-sized portions so you can really get a big mouthful with the juices oozing. Nicely paired with a thin slice of grilled potato at the bottom of each bite of mackerel. The flavored oil that was drizzled atop also bound all the ingredients together.

The pasta was on a whole different level. Never thought I'd enjoy an aglio olio this much especially since was first disappointed in the fact that they used black squid ink pasta instead of real squid ink to cook the sauce. My worry immediately left me once I took the first mouthful of pasta which was cooked perfectly al dente (in fact slightly firmer which was perfect for me) and the heat and flavor burst into a euphoric experience. There's a mild seafood briny flavor which matched well with herbs and properly emulsified with the oil base. The pasta was not drenched in oil nor sauce, so much so that I almost wanted to lick the base of the dish for the remaining flavor bomb. Let me talk about the oysters in the pasta.... They were fresh and oh-so-well grilled/parboiled! The wings of the oyster was slightly crispy while the body of the oyster was still juicy and retained the original fresh oyster juiciness. With 5 oysters in the pasta that's so well executed, I'd say the price was worth it.

Only complaints I have is the tight and enclosed atmosphere which was very humid. I can hear many conversations from tables around me and the waiters had to squeeze their way through the back of customers' seats to get to other tables. Also would have hoped they provided complimentary drinking water. It's a small gesture which will...

Had an unplanned dinner here and didn’t expect much about the food. But they prove me that im wrong. All the food was simply delicious, delicate and amazing ! The presentation quite straight-forward but i do get it that they focus on flavor wise which is my liking.

1. Saba mackerel - that was one of the amazing fish i ever ate, well cooked and well seasoned. The potatoes accompanied well with the fish (and lemon segment i guess) that really work well. 5 minutes to finished up that dish was easy for me.

2. Stuffed chicken breast - some of us might hate chicken breast bcos might be dry, worry not. The chicken breast well so tender and perfectly cooked to perfection. The stuffing inside is da bomb. All the element well accompanied on that dish. Tomato, mashed potato, mushroom and chicken? Best combo ever. Well delivered.

3. squid ink pasta with oyster - tbh I can eat 5 plate of this in one go. The lightly seared of oyster was amazing. I taught this dish will be salty but it’s just perfect ! Nothing to complain. Just a big applause to the chef. exquisite dish + amazing flavor is the best thing ever.

4. Tiramisu and cheesecake - im just being honest that this is the best cheesecake i ever ate. The silky smooth texture really melt through my mouth. Never eat a good cheesecake before and i think i can peacefully die (jkjk). The tiramisu was nice tho. I might be bias bcos i have a soft spot for tiramisu in my life. I love how the coffee didn’t overpower the mascarpone cheese. Well balanced.

Lastly, shoutout to the service staff was super amazing. Even i came on peak hour but they managed to treat me and explain the dish which is not all service staff managed to do that. You can feel that they welcoming you so much.

Thank you Taverna Team for the amazing food and hospitality. Me and my wife love it so much !...

Nice ambiance and friendly staffs. However, very slow services and short-handed which is too bad. There were no waiters on the floor when needed. And lots of dishes on the menu are not available or planning to remove and even all house wines are not served anymore because they changed the menu and the current one is old, which I believe… they should’ve already updated accordingly before the weekend comes when they can expect people to visit more on the weekend?

Also as you see, we ordered bread, soup and pastas. But very funny, cos I got the bread at last in halfway of finishing my pasta even if we asked a couple of times and ordered it ahead of all dishes.

I understand this restaurant is new but I know the Tokyo restaurant has a couple of other restaurants in town. Given that, I don’t want to go harsh too early and yet you have rooms for improvements and feel like that should be sooner or later. I would’ve appreciated it if I were initially told what is on menu available and what is not so I don’t waste my time to think about those unavailable options, also if I could’ve gotten my starters first before my main dish was served.

One thing I was thankful for was that the waiter let us try the wine when I was torn between ordering glasses of wine or a bottle of wine. It saved me from a deeper frustration that I could’ve had besides things I wasn’t happy lol. Food-wise, it’s not too bad but I didn’t get a chance to try...