Unveiled this week at Mid Valley, Waku Waku is a fun, carefree Japanese eatery that might exasperate purists while exhilarating everyone else.
Sure, there's edamame, unagi kabayaki and tori karaage on the menu, but skip the safe stuff and see what Waku Waku calls its house-special 'Nasi Lemak Jepun.'
Sticky, coconut-infused rice, topped with a wobbly egg and served with veggies in a hot pot.
The speedy, smiley service team (which absolutely deserves the highest praise) helps customers stir it all up for a carb-fanatic's dream come fragrantly true.
The rice is partnered with savory sambal, darkly stewed chicken, delicately spicy prawns, anchovies, peanuts and pickled radish. All for RM12.90++, it's well worth battling traffic in and out of Mid Valley.
Gotta love this 'Kuey Teow Jepun' too, with a soft-boiled egg that's nothing short of perfect.
Costing RM9.90++, it's a steaming-hot sensation, sufficient for two to share.
Our only sorrow: not even sake is served at Waku Waku. Sobriety can be a curse.
Somehow, after a somewhat aimless ten-minute walk, we found ourselves on level six of The Gardens Hotel, where all-day dining restaurant The Spread was by then emptied of patrons.
Martini Bianco, Extra Dry and Rosso, with olives for nibbling.
Waku Waku,
Level 3, Mid Valley City, Kuala Lumpur.
Tel: 03-2284-1172
