Sushi Hinata – St Mary Residences KL – excellent Japanese sushi & sashimi

I’m quite excited. Other than Ichiro Sushi in 1 Utama Shopping Centre, I think I found another gem for excellent Japanese nigiri and sashimi in KL! 🙂

While it’s true there are many Japanese restaurants in Klang Valley, I’m specifically interested only in those that serves top notch sashimi (fresh seafood) and really good vinegared rice. I want something comparable to what I had in Tsukji Market in Tokyo. Something like what Sushi Dai serves.
Or even Sushi Daiwa, which though it is not as impressive as Sushi Dai, but still good nonetheless.

Sushi Hinata comes close. For a price.

Bluefin Tuna. Maguro, Otoro or Chutoro for you? 🙂

We went for lunch, a safer bet to give the place a test before splurging our hard earned cash. He took the Omakase (RM200++) while I opted for the Mini Kaiseki (RM150++).

Let’s begin with mine – the Mini Kaiseki (RM150++) – traditional Japanese full course sushi menu.
Appetiser, sashimi, grilled fish, steamed egg hotchpotch, soup and dessert.

Appetiser.

Fresh wasabi. I didn’t expect anything less from an outlet of this stature.

Sashimi. First up – 2 slices of seabass and tuna each. Absolutely fresh and great texture; the seabass firm and muscular while the tuna meaty minus any icy water taste (happens when the fish was frozen and then de-frosted).

Steamed egg – the smoothest and silkiest chawanmushi ever. There was a layer of umami-ish stock over the custard, nicely flavouring the wobbly custard.

Grilled fish – mine was salmon while his was flatfish.  No complaint on this and I must recommend the chef for the wonderful crispy skin.

The Tempura set consisted of 2 prawns, 2 slices of pumpkin plus corns and carrots. Unfortunately this was pretty oily. I can’t say I like it very much.

My 5 pieces of nigiri was next.
Chef Eiji started me off with a sweet ebi followed by the luscious salmon and then the lightly seared scallop with a scrape of yuzu skin shavings (which gave a wonderful lift to the overall taste). The marinated tuna was marinated while I was enjoying my earlier courses so I knew it was freshly made. Lastly, by my request, a sea eel – anango nigiri.
Just a word of caution; the vinegared rice here can be stronger than usual.

*Preparation of my marinated tuna piece.

A piping hot bowl of Miso was next. Even the simple miso soup boast of a more robust taste compared to other versions I’ve had elsewhere.

Dessert: Chilled pineapple jelly.

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So how was his Omakase set (RM200++) different from mine? 🙂

Well his appetiser was similar.

Then he got otoro for his first sashimi. And seabass too. But it was his otoro that I wanted.

A fat ebi (prawn) followed.

And more prawns, this time little (minion shrimps the Chef had said) shrimps that was unbelievably sweet; topped with ikura, yuzu shavings and a dab of wasabi.
Each mini “pop” of every little orb of ikura encompasses an immense amount of flavor on the tongue but the yuzu and wasabi really added dimension to this dish.

While I enjoyed my humble chawanmushi, he spooned his portion into his mouth that’s topped with more ikura.
Ah, my dear readers, see what you get when you pay for Omakase? 🙂

Instead of salmon, his grilled fish is a flatfish. Of what species I didn’t know, and perhaps in my subsequent visits I’ll be more chatty with the chef as I didn’t want to scare him off with my uh, interrogation.

His next dish was the same tempura set as mine. Then it was the nigiri – seabass (this time swiped with sauce), yellow tail (kampachi) and mackerel.

This Hokkaido uni (sea urchin) dish was the highlight of his lunch. And I concur.
I sampled a small portion from his bowl and was totally bowled over the sweetness and creaminess of the uni. I had uni before in Japan but this one was particularly sweeter in comparison!

Just before dessert we had our miso soups. His dessert was a green tea pudding which I assumed must be very good because he didn’t care to share. 🙂

Sushi Hinata, I’ll definitely be back for more lunches! 🙂

Sushi Hinata
A-0-1, Ground Floor St. Mary Residence,
No.1, Jalan Tengah, 50450 Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia
Mon – Sat: 12:00 pm – 3:00 pm, 6:00 pm – 11:00 pm
+603-2022 1349

Website http://www.shin-hinata.com/index.html