Soulful, honest flavours, skilfully constructed with minimal fuss by chef Komoto and his team – opening this month in Sri Hartamas, Yoshinari is the first Malaysian offshoot of a Japanese restaurant of the same name near Tokyo’s Shibuya Station.

1. Yoshinari 2. Yoshinari

Customise your set lunch

Yoshinari’s chief attraction is its customisable lunch sets – for RM37.60+, choose two main items from the menu, which will promptly be put together with rice, miso soup with house-made bean curd strips, and at least two side dishes, which may include creamy tofu mousse flavoured with sesame and wasabi. For dinner, omakase multi-course meals are offered (RM180-RM260).

3. Yoshinari - customisable lunch set 4. Yoshinari - customisable lunch set 5. Yoshinari - customisable lunch set 6. Yoshinari

Salaryman’s lunch

 We enjoyed our salaryman’s lunch – Yoshinari’s take on bibimbap was tasty, a medley of beef, vegetables and soft-boiled egg, meant to be mixed up.

7. Yoshinari - bibimbap

Pork belly with smoked potato salad was satisfying too – luscious meat and soft carbs. But not everything was a success: the beef hamburg steak was too gamy; the tuna and scallop sashimi was only OK (Yoshinari says it secures its supply from Tsukiji market).

8. Yoshinari - pork belly with smoked potato salad 9. Yoshinari - beef hamburg steak 10. Yoshinari - scallop sashimi

Still, the hits outnumbered the misses – both the lightly battered chicken laced with red pickled ginger and the simmered flatfish were moist, delicate and delicious. Shochu mixes are available, blended with green or oolong tea.

11. Yoshinari - battered chicken with pickled ginger 12. Yoshinari - simmered flatfish 13. Yoshinari - shochu with green and oolong tea14. Yoshinari 15. Yoshinari

Location & Details

Shibusan Yoshinari Tokyo Shibuya

A-00-11, Plaza Damas 3, Jalan Sri Hartamas 1, Kuala Lumpur

Open for lunch and dinner; may be closed Mondays (the restaurant had not confirmed its business days when we visited)

Find: View Shibusan Yoshinari Tokyo Shibuya’s directory here