Yayoi, The Gardens Mall Midvalley
It has been a hot minute since we travelled to Japan with the way the world is right now. We can’t wait to travel again but for now, we will settle for our international cravings with some of the best Japanese food Malaysia can offer. Its sheer variety and rich flavours mean that there is still much to discover within our country.
Yayoi brings with it a unique teishoku experience to discerning Malaysian diners. Teishoku is a set meal, typically served with a main, a soup, a side and pickles.
I remember queuing up in the Tsukiji fish market for one of their famous food offerings, which is the tamagoyaki, and when I sunk my teeth into the steaming hot egg, it was love at first bite. The Yayoi rendition of the tamagoyaki (RM5.90) is a delicious rendition, one that caters very much to the Malaysian tastebuds with its slight sweetness and overall umami flavouring.
A dish that I would recommend trying at Yayoi is also their Ebifry roll (RM20.90), which is freshly made to order and is absolutely delicious from its fresh roe covering the rice to the crunchy tempura prawn filling. After finishing a piece, you will be craving for more.
Another popular dish here is the chicken namban (RM20.90 for the teishoku set), which is fried chicken served with tartar sauce. I admit, I was not sure what to expect with this dish, but when it came and I tried it, I was pleasantly surprised to find the tender chicken meat, oozing with juices and the tartar sauce went with it perfectly. This turned out to be one of our favourites of the day.
Catering to the local palate, Yayoi has also introduced a spicy version of their chicken karaage. Those who love spicy food will have their mouths watering at this dish. IT surely packs a punch and is delicious down to the very last bite.
We also got to try the beef nasumiso and saba shio teishoku set (RM29.90) and this was surprisingly good as well. This is a particularly filling set because it comes with two protein options. The beef is cooked in miso paste with stir-fried eggplant and the saba fish is salt-grilled. I could recommend big eaters to order this dish as it will surely fill you up.
If you are a fan of katsu, then we would recommend trying their chicken miso katsu teishoku (RM26.90). Another filling meal on its own, the crispy breaded chicken fillet comes with a side of rice, salad, tofu and miso soup. Don’t forget to add in the onsen egg into your dish!
Otherwise, those who enjoy eel, will want to try the unagi hitsumabushi teishoku. This interesting dish comes with its own set of “instructions” so you can try enjoying the dish with dashi broth. You can choose to eat the dish on its own as it is, or mix the unagi and rice with the dashi broth and condiments on the side. I personally enjoyed adding in the dashi broth for a richer experience.
Finally, for dessert, we sampled their chocolate nama roll (RM14.90), which is a deeply decadent finish to the meal and definitely a must-try here.
Overall, our experience at Yayoi was an enjoyable one. The quality of the ingredients are good and we could taste the freshness of most of it in the dishes.
I find the price point of Yayoi to be more than reasonable. Currently, the dining establishment is pork-free and they source their ingredients from halal suppliers.
SOP is adhered to at the restaurant, which is very reassuring for paranoid diners such as myself! We would definitely be comfortable dining here again in the near future.
Some of the dishes we have yet to try but would love to return to try would be their beef sukiyaki!
Yayoi @ The Gardens Mall
LG-231C, Lower Ground Floor,
The Gardens Mall, Lingkaran Syed Putra,
Mid Valley City, 59200 Kuala Lumpur
Open daily from 11am - 9pm
03-2202 0588