Sunday, August 16, 2009

Daikanyama. Changkat Bukit Bintang, KL. Tokyo Fusion Chic.


Daikanyama is a district in Shibuya, Tokyo that is renowned for it's chic cafes and high fashion funky stores. It is a quaint little district and houses the famous Hillside Terrace Commercial Complex designed by Fumihiko Maki. It is very hip place, yet retains a certain elegant charm of old Tokyo and is certainly not as crowded as the Shinjuku/Harajuku districts.

The train station in Daikanyama is one stop from the sprawling century old Shibuya Station which is a sprawling complex as it connects a whole network of lines and also houses a Tokyu Department store. This is probably the reason that the menu at Daikanyama is interestingly enough drawn like a train line station guide style.


The interior of Daikanyama is an eclectic fusion of occidental and oriental. one solitary row of black pendant downlighting lamps greet you as you enter the dining area, which houses a bar filled with a multitude of different Sakes and Uemeshus, plus the usual alcoholic beverages. An air well in the centre offers a view of the open kitchen, separated by bamboo trees that swayed gently, blown by the breeze that followed an evening storm.


The interior probably reflects the spirit of Daikanyama in japan, which is a fusion of old and new, east and west. Loungey chill out beats filled the airspace when i was there. The menu is not as extensive as what you would expect from a Japanese Restaurant, but is also very fusion as well. Tapas styled bacon and cheese if offered together with Makis and Tempura.


The first dish was Soft Shell Crab Salad with Goma. Daikanyama uses muki goma, and not the traditional shiro goma, but the dressing was adequately palatable all the same. The dressing had some soya taste, with broth and sugar, and went well with the crispy and salty soft shell crabs and crunchy salad greens.


The Hotatei Garlic Pan Fried Scallop with garlic and cheese was as described. The scallops were succulent and was gently pan fried while retaining it's moisture and then baked with some cheese, garlic and italian herbs. Hardly a traditional Japanese dish, but it tasted good. The Avocado Love Maki came with baby octopus, avocado, cucumber and a dollop of mayonaisse was added on top with some sesame. The mayo was probably to accentuate the creaminess of the avocados, but it is my personal quirkiness that make me averse to mayos on sushis.


For dessert, i had bread and butter which came with a scoop of vanilla ice cream and some green tea sauce. The bread was a bit tough. I think this is probably another fusion dish.

Lovely ambiance for drinking and chilling out, the food thing is probably not the main attraction here, but is still reasonably good to deserve further checking out.

Cumi and Ciki had been here, and so had Lyrical Lemongrass.

Daikanyama
42, Changkat Bukit Bintang,
50200 Kuala Lumpur.

Tel: 03-2141 0323


4 comments:

minchow said...

Oh goodness! I just stumbled on here fr some blogroll or another and wow, the close-ups are fantastic! If this doesn't make me get out of my eating recluse state, I don't know what will!!

Paranoid Android said...

@ 550ml Thanks for dropping by my little blog. You are far too kind with your compliments. I bought my little LX3 on 31st May and it's barely 3 months since I started photography, which has such a steep learning curve!
I'm really glad you like the photos, and I loved your blog as well.

thule a.k.a leo said...

since you are living in that area.. changkat bukit bintang is virtually where you have your meals.

Paranoid Android said...

@ Thule: Yes, there are many wonderful places to eat here, but the most important thing is that they open until late at night. I usually finish working very late, at about 11pm. That makes me unable to go anywhere else, because a lot of places closes by 10pm.

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