Torii has unveiled its new dinner menu, jazzing up modern Japanese cuisine with intriguing creations & combinations; start with chef Nizam's refashioning of a sashimi platter, with toro, kampachi, salmon, amaebi, scallop & uni elegantly unified in a bowl, their sweet, fresh flavours & pristine succulence buoyed by the uplift of yuzu foam - it tastes as lovely as it looks, making for a memorable way to enjoy sashimi (RM42).
It's also well worth whetting the appetite with Torii's chilled soup of blended peas & edamame, beautifully textured & enhanced with a tinge of green tea, poured over salmon tartare & a quail's egg yolk, accented with a little lime, salt & extra virgin olive oil, for bursts of brininess soothed by mellow vegetarian notes - very tasty (RM19).
Bone marrow is forever a treat, but Torii ups the ante by using wagyu bone marrow, buttery & beefy to the max, made even more hedonistic with morsels of foie gras & quail's yolk on each fragment, for the ultimate diet-be-damned indulgence (RM29).
Fish takes on a twist with Torii's pan-seared tuna paired with honeycomb, which may be an acquired taste for its strange mix of seafood & sweet, complemented by zucchini & curry mayo (RM29). For a safer selection, the baked halibut is impeccably executed, moist & tender, well-matched with mashed halibut & caviar (RM29).
Vegetarians are not neglected - the house salad channels vivid flavours & vibrant textures, with the main components of rocket leaves, cubed apples, a whole mozzarella cheese ball & garlic drizzle working terrifically in tandem, their sum more satisfying than their parts (RM26). And in a nod to wisely curated produce, zucchini flowers should always merit an order on any menu, battered here & stuffed with mixed truffled mushrooms, set over balsamic-laced dashi in a playful revision of tempura (RM25).
Battle of the bowls: Torii's stone bowl rice is built to be a crowd-pleaser, brimming with unagi, shrimp, Japanese scallop, seaweed, tobiko & onsen tamago, layered over firm, hot & crackling rice (RM39). It has plenty of ingredients that a lot of people will relish, but our vote is for the Beef Donburi, which offers mouthful after mouthful of pleasure, with medium-rare beef slices, foie gras, white truffles & a soft-cooked egg, full of flavour & fragrance (RM58). And there's still much more to try - scallop uni ravioli, a smoked duck steak, & wagyu scone sliders, to name a few. Many thanks to Torii for having us back.
Torii Malaysia
Lot 8, Batai Village, Jalan Batai, Damansara Heights, Kuala Lumpur. Open Mon-Fri, lunch & dinner; Sat-Sun, dinner only. Tel: 03-2011-3798
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