Shin Shiki Japanese Cuisine 新四季日本料理 — Restaurant in Perak

Update 27/7/25: the chirashi don is really well-made. I like that they included aburi engawa and aburi scallop, lends a touch of smokiness and elevated the entire dish. The aji furai is also very good, like mini fish and chips paired with a tangy, citrusy sauce. Refreshing! Shin Shiki is now one of my favourite Japanese places to visit, just for the lunch sets and to try new items. Well done!

Update 28/3/25: they've improved! My latest visit was very positive. The uni roll was fresh and briny, while the salmon sashimi don was fresh and succulent, with thick satisfying cuts of salmon. A big win all around, rating updated to reflect this.

Look, we have to support the little guy.

Small businesses that stick out their necks, fueled by passion and a drive to succeed, deserve our support against big conglomerates opening branch after branch (Big Sushi?). Shin Shiki is very new, opening near Symphony Suites and facing a main road, with ample parking to boot. So far so good...

Once inside I was wowed by the ambience and decor. They designed this place with love. Pleasing white, beige and brown with Muji sensibility, plastered with Japanese artwork, colourful (fake) plants and trinkets from front to back. Even their cutlery looks nice. The service staff are quick, attentive and friendly. Very helpful with tea refills and taking your orders. Full marks for first impressions.

Now, the food. The grilled cod is fresh, flaky and tender... Beaufitully done for RM42 as a set with rice. I highly recommend this. The avocado ebi roll however, wasn't rolled tight enough, and the avocado itself was a bit hard. As for the sashimi, they are superbly fresh, but the slices are a bit thinner.

Shin Shiki seem to be after the working class customers looking value for money. Their prices are reasonable and sure to attract many. This market is cornered by the very popular Living Ginza nearby. So they really have to pull their socks up and improve especially the food. The cod is near-perfect by the way, so they have a few aces up their sleeves.

3 stars is a bit harsh, that's because Google won't allow me to award 3.5 stars which is what they deserve. Not a straight recommendation but...

In a quiet corner of Gunung Rapat, Ipoh, Perak, lies a modest yet astonishing gem of a restaurant—Shin Shiki Japanese Cuisine (新四季日本料理). If there is one dish that captures its essence, it would be their cod set meal with vinegared rice. The silver cod arrives snow-white and jade-like, its flesh delicate and velvety. Its natural richness of fat is the very soul of this dish. After being marinated with a secret seasoning and patiently grilled over a gentle or distant flame, the fat slowly transforms under heat into a deep, mellow fragrance, giving the fish a melt-in-the-mouth tenderness. When the skin is grilled to a golden crisp with faint, uneven char marks, a nutty aroma laced with miso rises to the nose. The fish itself must be cooked to precise perfection—done on the outside yet moist within, retaining a translucent suppleness. At the lightest touch of the chopsticks, the flesh parts like cloves of garlic, never breaking into dry fragments. The very first bite is an explosion of roasted miso intensity—the caramelized depth of the Maillard reaction—followed by the lush melting of cod fat across the tongue, releasing a pure, profound umami. The interplay of miso’s sweet-saltiness with the cod’s natural savoriness lingers long, like a symphony unfolding in distinct movements. Its perfect counterpart is the vinegared rice, the true spirit of this meal. Real vinegared rice is not a mere mix of “rice plus vinegar,” but an art of balance: the acidity should be refreshing without harshness; the sweetness should lift the aroma of the grain without overpowering; the saltiness should subtly deepen the layers of flavor. Each glistening grain, plump and distinct, pairs seamlessly with the abundant seafood, so that every bite becomes a dialogue of freshness and richness,...

Besides the comfortable,hygenic environment n the good attitude of the floor manager, I really don't have anything good to say about the food. They are like prepared by amateurs, 1st the water has chlorine taste . 2nd, the egg（chawanmushi) is so watery whereby the floor manager decided to emit the charges. Not to mention the Shashimi, not fresh...what is this man????

Other than that, the portion is small, it's like everything is very " giamsiap". Everything is taste "less"... Well, for this kind of standard, paying RM178 is definitely way off expensive. (Not value for money)

To sum it all, it's a very unpleasant...