PETALING JAYA, Feb 26 — A food court isn’t your usual go-to for Japanese food.

There’s of course economy rice, pan mee, belacan fried chicken or even apam balik there. Maybe the only exotic item could be Sichuan food.

Hence, to my surprise, there’s Japanese food opened by a chef with over 20 years’ experience working in a hotel in Japan.

Turns out, I didn’t see it as it’s on a lower level from the main area that serves most of the other food.

One needs to trawl through the menu though to pick out the gems here.

It covers quite an extensive selection like tonkatsu, Japanese curry, rice bowls (donburi), udon, onigiri, tempura and even maki sushi.

While I couldn’t order everything on the menu, I took a gamble and won with their comforting one-bowl donburis.

The Butamiso Yakidon and Ontama Yakiniku Don were clear winners. Both are priced at RM15.

Butamiso Yakidon had slices of pork belly marinated with miso paste, giving it a hit of savouriness.

Each piece was grilled till the sides were caramelised, leaving a slight sweetness to the meat.

Mix in the wobbly onsen egg with your pork and rice for a comforting meal.

I was keen to see if they could do the same for beef, hence my order of Ontama Yakiniku Don.

Two things I dread when it comes to ordering beef is they use wafer thin beef slices where I can’t get much bite out of it.

Of course, wafer thin slices mean no toughness to deal with when you chew the meat. If it’s the wrong cut or too thick, this may result in chewy meat too.

Thankfully, here the slices were decent sized with a bite that was tender.

They use an abundance of sliced onions that adds a nice sweetness to the grilled beef.

Both rice bowls were great, suiting different taste buds.

For those who prefer sweeter flavours, the Ontama Yakiniku Don will be their pick.

And if the preference is a balanced one with savouriness and sweetness, the Butamiso Yakidon would be better for them.

I didn’t manage to try their fish selections but maybe next time, it’s the Unagidon or the grilled salmon or mackerel bowls. Prices for the rice bowls range from RM13 to RM23.

Your rice bowl is served with their Miso Shiru. The white miso soup is served with tiny chopped white radish, seaweed and diced beancurd.

The slight letdown is the rice as it’s not those plump, individual grains you get at Japanese restaurants. I guess for those prices, some things had to be compromised.

Omelette Curry Set (RM12) was the simplest choice from the whole range of curry rice sets. I didn’t want something too substantial and the creamy, fluffy omelette was the right choice with their mild tasting curry.

You get chunks of potatoes and carrots too but they needed a little more time, as they were still hard to bite.

For a fuller serving, opt for the tonkatsu one or even the fried chicken or tempura prawns.

One can also try out the Tonkatsu (RM16 for medium, RM28 for large) on its own. The fried pork loin cutlet may not be the thickest but it’s pretty decent with a thin crispy crust and a slightly sweet tonkatsu sauce.

One weak point here is the tempura. My tongue has been spoiled by light, crispy versions.

They tend to be heavy handed with the batter here, leaving more floury, crunchy bits.

The Tempura Moriawase (RM16) has an assortment of fried prawns with vegetables but the let down was the batter that was too heavy.

Oshima-Ya, Ming Tien Food Court @ BU, Lebuh Bandar Utama, PJU1, Petaling Jaya.

Open: 11am to 3pm, 5pm to 10pm.

Closed on Wednesday. Tel:014-7065898.

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

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