Review: Kingyu Japanese Restaurant
December 4th, 2024
Raisin’ The Roof hopes to raise the bar for KL’s eat-clean scene, pitching a tasteful range of wholesome salads, sandwiches, wraps & desserts that match its motto ‘Making Nutritious Delicious.’ This cheery vegetarian cafe – with founders from Germany, Thailand & Singapore – could become a crowd favourite, featuring hearty meals with healthy ingredients at honourable prices.
Hits include the ‘sushi bowl’ (RM17.90+), a vegan’s feast of brown rice blanketed with chunks of avocado, edamame, sauteed spinach, toasted seaweed & pomegranate seeds, dressed with sweet soy sauce – mix everything together for a satisfyingly flavoursome & surprisingly filling meal. For more pomegranate power, try the textured seeds-&-nuts ‘toast’ topped with lemon tahini spread, avocado slices & pomegranate molasses (RM18.90+), but remember to request a poached egg (RM2+) to complete the ensemble – it can otherwise be a bit dry. The toast comes with sweet potato fries & a mixed salad on the side.
Our favourite salad here comprises soft-baked, served-warm falafels, laced with pistachios & herbs, capably complemented by roasted beets, grated carrots, tabbouleh. house-made-hummus & mint yoghurt for a Middle Eastern-inspired delight (RM19.90+). The Asian salad tastes a little less memorable (though it’s still enjoyable), defined by maple-glazed, pan-seared tempeh with rocket leaves, avocados, carrots, toasted seeds & a creamy miso dressing (RM19.90+). But if you’re shirking salads, Raisin’ The Roof’s globe-trotting menu still has something for you, embracing a Mexican influence for its whole-meal tortilla, engorged with baked sweet potatoes, black beans, guacamole, rocket leaves & tomatoes, paired with a kitchen-made chilli sauce with a spicy sting (RM22.90+) – it feels like a carb-loaded indulgence, albeit with a considerably lower guilt factor.
Desserts also verge much closer to virtue than vice – our best bet is probably the pecan pie, with a distinctive, dairy-free filling of purple potato paste (RM11.90+), though the gluten-free chocolate lava cake could also become a hot seller, offered with a choice of molten strawberry chia jam, peanut butter or matcha paste at its centre, plus an option of natural ice cream (in daily-changing flavours like banana) that’s reputedly free of vegetable fat, refined sugar & all things artificial (RM15.90+ for the cake, RM4+ for the ‘nice cream’). Other temptations include raw key lime cheesecakes, orange chocolate cakes, & dense, chewy ‘bliss balls’ in signature varieties like cranberry, fig & chia seeds, or lemon, coconut & cashew (RM5 per energy-fuelling truffle).
And the drinks? Also designed to be rejuvenating – the jackfruit milkshake conveys the unmistakable flavour of nangka, mingling with almond milk, cashews & agave syrup (RM14.90+). The ‘moo-less’ nut milk selection includes raw, cold-pressed combos like pistachios with rose water, dates & sea salt (RM19.90+) or almonds with water, turmeric & honey (RM14.90+).
Raisin’ The Roof
61, Jalan Medan Setia 1, Plaza Damansara
Tel: +603-2011-5313
Tuesdays – Fridays, 8.00-6.30pm. Saturdays – Sundays. 9.00-6.30pm. Closed on Mondays.