Eat Drink KL: Hikari-Ya @ Desa Sri Hartamas

Tuesday, November 29, 2016

Hikari-Ya @ Desa Sri Hartamas

Eel enthusiasts, be excited: This new venue serves unagi sourced from Japan's coastal city of Nishio, where eels have been farmed for over a century, conveying the flavours & textures of unagi at its most unadulterated. The eels are flown live into KL, with Hikari-Ya's chef Moroi Kunihiro slaughtering them in his kitchen & slicing them with his special eel knife of two decades.

Start your meal here with the rarely seen unagi shirayaki (RM95+), roasted without a sauce, mildly seasoned only with salt to maintain the focus on the fresh eel's delicately clean, pure flavour & naturally smooth, tender texture - it's a reminder of how unagi once tasted in KL's Japanese restaurants, before cheaper Chinese eel imports inundated the scene. Ask chef Moroi nicely & you might receive a bowl of kimosui (clear eel liver soup), potentially an acquired taste because of its pungent flavour.

Another highlight is the hitsumabushi (RM112), a more elaborate version of unadon - the centrepiece is a grilled eel fillet over warm rice that's meant to be portioned into four servings. Consume the first serving plain to savour the comfort-fare combo of eel & rice; then mix the second serving with spring onions, wasabi & sansho pepper for extra uplift. The third serving is poured over with a clear soup, ochazuke-style, for a heartwarming, home-made feel. The fourth serving? Eat it the way you like best.

If you must, you can eel-ude unagi - the menu features other intriguing temptations like the Kuroge Wagyu sashimi platter, showcasing fatty, buttery beef, with some slices raw & others gently seared (RM88). Even the complimentary starter (juicy eggplant with ginger & bonito flakes) & dessert (warabimochi) are pretty good - bookmark Hikari-Ya as a place with potential.

Hikari-Ya Japanese Cuisine
54, Jalan 27/70A, Desa Sri Hartamas, Kuala Lumpur.  Lunch & dinner, Tues-Sun. Tel: 03-6211-1409

The Eat Drink KL mobile app is now available, connecting restaurants & customers to promote a positive spirit of community.
Every restaurant on this app rewards users with a 6 percent discount, instantly & conveniently, everyday, all day long. 
In return, users share photos of their experiences at these eateries, creating a new community of restaurant lovers.
For every transaction, at least RM0.10 will be channelled to a charity of the month.

Stay up to date: The Eat Drink KL newsletter is sent by email to subscribers every Monday; it's the Klang Valley's foremost weekly round-up of new restaurant openings, F&B promotions & other tasty tidbits.
Subscribe to Eat Drink KL Weekly for free via this following link: 
Note to subscribers on Gmail: The newsletter may be in the Promotions folder of your inbox.

Check out the latest edition of Eat Drink KL: 100 Favourites, with 100 recommended restaurants. This eBook is available to read or download at this link: http://issuu.com/eatdrinkkl/docs/ebook

Buckle your seatbelts: Eat Drink KL is partnering with Uber to take restaurant lovers on new adventures across KL & Selangor!
If you haven't used Uber yet, it's time to begin! For new users, just follow the steps below to redeem free rides:
1. Download the Uber app from the App Store, Play Store or Windows Store - and register your Uber account.
2. Apply the code EATDRINKKL as your first promotional code & you'll receive 2 Free Rides worth RM30 each.
3. Request a ride through the app and ride for free to any destination (with two ride values of up to RM30 each).