Sushi Zanmai, The Gardens, Kuala Lumpur

Sushi Zanmai hits the top spot in my list of favorite Japanese food place, and it's one of those "must visit place" each time we visit shopping malls for the girlfriend. Well, no complains here as I enjoyed Sushi Zanmai as much as she do. One of the main reasons that I really adore this place would be it's consistency. As half of their ingredients are seafood and raw fish, freshness is of course the first and most important criteria, which also means being consistently able to keep quality control the freshness totally wins my vote. Magically, yet no doubt that each visit never failed my expectancy.

The girlfriend is a very picky eater, and never wants to get sushi from the conveyor belt as she wants it as fresh as possible by ordering on the spot.

Our array of mixed sushi as starters. Clockwise from bottom left: Salmon (RM3.80), my favourite Inari (RM1.80), Chuka Chinmi - Seasoned Scallop Wings(RM3.80) and Inari Ebikko (RM3.80). As always, the Salmon was really good, being very juicy and slightly bouncy from the firm meat. The Chuka Chinmi was good too and packs a good bite together with the seaweed.

We ordered a small bowl of Unadon (RM15.80) to be shared among. There's also a larger version of it with a price tag of RM26.80. Honestly, for females or smaller eaters I think a small size would suffice, as it comes with a large bowl of rice. The unagi was really really good, as the flesh would literally melt in your mouth. I really like the excess sauce that drips all over the top of the Japanese rice (the rice type being shorter and fatter, and also being used in Sushi) that makes it so addictive to be eaten.

Soft Shell Crab Okonimiyaki (RM12.80). First time trying this, and I felt this was just average. The soft shell crab was ok, nothing to complain about; bout the dough was a tad too thick too my liking, making it rather hard to be eaten. Reason being is because I felt with such thick dough base, it feels more like eating two separate items, the soft shell crab, and the other being the dough; and not both as an item which they are trying to display.

Our desert, Itachoco Monaka (RM8)! To be frank, I'm not really a big fan of after meal deserts, but this particular desert here caught my attention with a chocolate slice sandwiched right exactly in the middle of an ice cream waffle. I also like how attentive their staff are as they would 'spot check' on your desert and eating period to serve you your desert only when you have finished your main. Note to Kim Gary: Please, please, please at least learn basic customer's dining attitude...

Crunchy chocolate all wrapped up between soft icy cold vanilla ice cream. Eat it while it's COLD!


A total of RM60.05, ouch, but that's the price for really good and fresh food! Would gladly pay it. Also, spot the ":After Meal" note that they included in the receipt, sometimes, it's the trivial stuffs that actually made dining enjoyable.

We also sampled some few other items during other visits, but I couldn't really remember the price tag of these as they are rather casual visits. Nevertheless, they are all still pretty recommended and the price tags are within RM 15 +/- if I'm not mistaken.

Mixed Sashimi Salad with Sesame Seed Dressing. The dressing is pretty much recommended; very nutty and goes well with the vege and fish combination. Refreshing!

Cold Soba. This has became one of our must have food during each visit, shifting from the smaller portion to the large portion, as we just couldn't get enough of it, lol! The soba here is of good quality and the chef has really really good timing skills, the soba are cooked just al dente, very bouncy! Not just through once or twice coincidence, but it was consistent!

Salmon Teriyaki. I thought this was so-so, as grilled fish wasn't really my choice. I preferred the raw salmon sashimi.

Sushi Zanmai, The Gardens
Address : T-217, Third Floor, The Gardens, Mid Valley City, Lingkaran Syed Putra, 59200 KL
Phone : 03 - 2282 1160
Website: SuperSushi Sdn. Bhd.
Price: RM 15++