KUALA LUMPUR, Sept 30 — The moment I walked into Sumitaro Yakitori Izakaya, I felt like I was back in Shinjuku in Tokyo.

That small space decorated with Japanese posters and the menu felt like one of those yakitori places I visited in Shinjuku’s Omoide Yokocho, where there are about 80 yakitori restaurants packed in the area.

It’s not until you walk out and see an acupuncturist and a huge Chinese temple that you realise you’re in Kepong.

Sandwiched between a Chinese restaurant and a Western steakhouse, this small space is operated by Japan native Kenta-san and his wife.

Like at a typical izakaya, people chill here after work over yakitori accompanied by drinks, just like the average salarymen in Japan.

It’s pretty small with around 20 plus seats at the counter and tables inside with converted beer crates for chairs.

They also placed two high tables at the front.

There’s 20 yakitori that includes a whole dried aji on the menu. It’s focused mainly on chicken, where different parts like the skin, bishop’s nose and gizzards are used. There’s no liver though.

Pork, lamb, shishamo, and squid skewers are also served.

Bulk up your meal with grilled rice balls, ochazuke (green tea with rice), inari soba, gyoza and Nagoya deep fried chicken wings.

There are also chalkboard specials for the day.

Once you place your orders, be patient and wait for the skewers to be grilled.

You can nibble on the cabbage salad. I liked how they give you a smear of miso on the side, giving a savoury flavour to the crunchy leaves.

The skewers are mainly seasoned with salt using a lighter hand. This lets you enjoy the smoky flavours of the meat.

Some items like the chicken leek or negitama and tsukune are slathered with their tare sauce.

Here, the meat has a firmer texture, maybe to suit their clientele’s preferences.

I especially liked the chicken thigh skewers flavoured with yuzu kosho and umeboshi. The slight tang and peppery yuzu kosho uplifts the meat perfectly. With the umeboshi, you get the gentler taste of the sour plums.

The chicken skin is grilled till it becomes golden, crunchy bites.

For the pork selection, there’s a few skewers where pork belly slices are wrapped around enoki mushrooms, cherry tomatoes and Japanese yam.

That Pork Belly with Japanese Yam was my favourite bite of the night. Think juicy pork belly with crispy edges, wrapped around a cube of refreshing Japanese yam enrobed with an oba leaf. Sublime!

The squid was also good without that dreaded rubbery texture.

Yakitori starts from RM2 for the garlic yakitori. The priciest item is the whole dried aji fish for RM18.

For the chicken yakitori, it’s RM4 per skewer while the tsukune (chicken meatball), pork, squid and lamb yakitori is RM6 per skewer.

I’m a big oden (RM12) fan hence I had to order that from their permanent menu. It’s good with that light dashi broth.

It had the most important piece I like in oden, the soft daikon radish that absorbs all of the goodness of the broth.

Inside the bowl, there’s an assortment of soft fishcakes, soft beancurd, konnyaku and a hard boiled egg. Just dab a bit of karashi or Japanese mustard and it’s the perfect food with my drink.

From their daily specials, the Beef Udon (RM16) was a great choice. Slurp down the thick, smooth noodles in the light seaweed broth with the tender beef slices.

It comes with beni shoga, red pickled ginger that I always eat in Yoshinoya with my beef rice bowl.

Sumitaro Yakitori Izakaya, 32a-1, Jalan Burung Pucung, Taman Bukit Maluri, Kepong, Kuala Lumpur. Open: 6pm to 10.30pm. Closed on Monday.

Take note, they will be closed from October 6 to 14. Business resumes on October 15. Tel:017-2696746

*This is an independent review where the writer paid for the meal.

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