Lunch @ Xenri D'Garden Terrace, Menara Hap Seng

Xenri D'Garden Terrace @ Menara Hap Seng is a fine-dining restaurant serving Japanese kaiseki cuisine.

Kaiseki, a traditional multi-course Japanese dinner, is a type of art form that focus on the right balance of taste and presentation.  So such a meal would be satisfying not just your taste-buds but also your eyes.  Of course, with such complexity involved, it comes with a hefty price.

During lunch time, Xenri offer a more casual version of kaiseki cuisine (or what we normally term as lunch sets), with a slightly lower cost.

My chance came when my boss decided to treat us for lunch at Xenri.

I had the Shake Minute Steak To Agedashi Doufu Teishoku, which translates to a Salmon Minute Steak with Deep-Fried Beancurd Set (RM 34).  It comes with chawanmushi, miso soup, pickles & fruits.

The main dish is the salmon steak, served with generous stir-fried vegetables and fried garlic, accompanied by a bowl of fluffy rice.  The salmon, which is very fresh, is well-cooked and juicy.  The sauce is very unique, not the standard teriyaki sauce - a little bit acidic, sweet & creamy (very close resemblance to the wafu dressing) and it compliments well with this dish.

I love the chawanmushi very much.  The steamed egg is very smooth, and most importantly, it is very flavourful.  I had a feeling they have used many ingredients into the stock for the egg mixture.

The agedashi tofu or deep-fried beancurd is very soft, and me, being a lousy chopstick user, had a hard time picking up the tofu.  I like the texture, quite like pudding.

The desserts, which were fruits, were a little disappointing.  The mango was quite mushy while the rock-melon still tasted like it had not been defrosted well.  Not what I would expect to come from such a restaurant.

But all in all, the meal was satisfying, with more surprises than disappointment.  To top it, there's a sense of peacefulness when you step in to Xenri.  Perfect to unwind and truly indulge in your meal.

Xenri D'Garden Terrace
Lot 2-04, 2nd Floor
Podium of Menara Hap Seng
Jalan P. Ramlee
50250 Kuala Lumpur
Tel:  03-20786688