Minamoto Kitchoan and WA Cafe at Pavilion Kuala Lumpur: Restaurant Review

Checking out two compelling new reasons to return to Pavilion this month: confectionery shop Minamoto Kitchoan and caffeine bar WA Cafe, both infused with inimitable Japanese influences.

1. Minamoto Kitchoan

First, Minamoto Kitchoan, which recently unveiled its maiden Malaysian branch, bolstering a cross-continental network that spans locations from Singapore to Shanghai to San Francisco, London to Tokyo to New York.

Wagashi

Minamoto specializes in “wagashi,” the traditional treats commonly consumed with tea. Beautifully packaged but bitingly priced; it’s startlingly simple to spend a whole lunchtime’s worth of money on more or less a mouthful here.

Mochi

Minamoto’s mochi might rank as KL’s best, exceptional in taste and texture. Sweet but not cloying, with a commanding complexity of flavor, these rice cakes feel fresh & pleasurably pasty without excess stickiness.

Sakura mochi (RM10 per piece), its glutinous grains wrapped with a salted cherry leaf & topped with pickled cherry blossom. Delicate & nuanced.

Also adore the kusa mochi (RM8), typically a springtime delicacy, colored with mugwort leaves and filled with red bean paste. Glutinous greatness.

Tsuyaguri, a whole, soft chestnut enveloped in mashed chestnut paste. Folks who feel like festive splurging can buy a nice 12-piece gift box of these for RM152.

Hoshigaki

Hoshigaki dried persimmon, reputedly a labor-intensive product to create by massaging the fruit over time, stuffed with white bean paste.

Buns

The azuki bean paste is lovely here, be it stuffed in the Oribenishiki baked buns …

Doriyaki

… or sandwiched in dorayaki pancakes (Doraemon’s favorite!) …

Koganeawase

… and koganeawase crispy-light wafers. This coming from someone who’s not a red-bean fan.

Cakes and Cookies

These “leaf pies” could prove an irresistibly buttery-sugary addiction.

Not everything here’s a hit though: We’d skip the surprisingly bland kasutera sponge cake (RM48) and fukuwatashisenbei vanilla cream cookie …

Jelly

… and the OK-but-unmemorable shimizuhakuto peach jelly (RM42).

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2. WA Cafe

Before leaving Pavilion, take the escalators four floors up to WA Cafe, where a Japanese barista  has started serving this shopping mall’s most satisfying coffee.

Coffee

Colombian Arabica beans form the foundation for WA’s lovable iced latte (RM11). 

Also admirable: Hot matcha latte (RM10), potently aromatic with top-flight green tea …

… and a deeply enjoyable roasted almond hot chocolate (RM11), both not-coffee beverages that make WA Cafe more than a coffee bar, come to think of it.

Note: WA Cafe is in a soft-opening stage; its barista advises customers to come next week, when the cafe’s own-made ice cream and a wider selection of beverages will become available.

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