Tsubohachi Izakaya Japanese Restaurant @ Publika KL - Time For Some Fun!

Oh hey, finally! A restaurant which actually approves of playing with food!

Tsubohachi Izakaya Japanese Restaurant

Hailed from Hokkaido Japan and famed for it's Izakaya adventures, Tsubohachi Izakaya - a mouthful I know -  is one of the most interesting Japanese restaurant I've visited, where I had a taste of some less than conventional Hokkaido dishes, made memorable by a witty game of fishing for ramen and tomatoes!

Fresh Grapefruit / Lemon Sour Japanese fruit liquor. Rm17.80.

Ramen Sarada. Rm16.90.

I'm not a huge fan of cold noodles, but this Tsubohachi signature ramen was a fantastic dish to kickstart our meal. Served chilled, noodles, bacon, salad with a drizzle of sesame dressing. 

Deep Fried River Shrimp (Rm14.90). Grilled Ray Fin (Rm12.90). Chicken Karaage (Rm13.90).

Japanese grub, best eaten with a pint of sub-zero Asahi, which was exactly what we did. I couldn't stop gnawing on those chewy shreds of grilled ray fin.

Hokkaido Style Deep Fried Potato. Rm8.90.

This dish got me confused. It was sticky, sweet and had mushy-like glutinous rice textures, unlike what I'd expected deep fried potato to be. I'm sure there're other better dishes to order here - like the next dish.

Potato Mentaiko Yaki. Rm13.90.

Easily one of the favorites of the evening - hearty food in all it's glory. On a hotplate, chunks of steamed potato topped with savory cod roe and melted mozarella cheese. We wouldn't mind another one.

Chicken Skin Skewers (Rm7.80). Chicken Thigh Skewers With Leek (Rm7.80). 

The chicken skin skewers had a great crunch to it and reminded me of Thai pork chips - unhealthily addictive. You wouldn't go wrong with the chicken thigh skewers too. Those were delicious.

Grilled Mackarel. Rm52.90.

We didn't quite enjoy the mackarel however. You'd have to have beer with this, it could get really salty, and don't eat it in a hurry, you wouldn't want to gag on those small bones. Order with care.

Deep Fried Flounder. Rm42.50.

Four cuts of skillfully sliced and prefectly battered flounder. We really liked this - one of my top picks of the meal. 

Chicken Patty with Half Boil Egg. Rm12.90.

At hindsight, the dish looked amazing, but sadly tasted otherwise. The minced chicken patty had a fair share of soft bones in it, which added an unpleasant crunch to every mouthful.

Hokkaido Salmon And Vegetables. Rm21.50.

A rather unmemorable hotplate of Hokkaido salmon and stirfried vegetables in a pool of sweet sauce.

Salmon And Vegetables In Miso Soup. Rm19.90.

We also shared a hearty bowl of salmon and vegetable miso soup.

Hokkai Kamameshi. Rm36.90.

If there's a dish that I would recommend here, it would be this kettle-rice. It takes 20 minutes to cook and the outcome - sweet aroma of fragrant sticky rice topped with delicious king crab, scallop and seafood.

Nagashi Somen Setto. Rm27.90. 

"This is so fun!" I squealed. The icy cold water goes in circular motions, dunk in the ramen and vegetables, fish them up with chopsticks, and dip it into the shoyu sauce at the side. It serves no culinary purpose - just some fun time. The set also comes with a platter of tempura and sliced vegetables.

Yuzu. Green Tea. Vanilla. Black Sesame. Rm9.90/two scoops.

The ice cream - nothing to shout about. If you have to order one, go for the black sesame.

Matcha Mochi Mochi. Rm12.90.

Matcha De Roru. Rm14.90.

One of the must-haves here - green tea crepe wrapped with frozen cream, red beans and rice cake. It really didn't need the added drizzle of caramel sauce, it was good on its own!

Overall Rating: 7/10. I was half expecting a typical Japanese feast when I arrived at Tsubohachi that evening, only to be clued that it will be an Izakaya "happy hour" meal instead. Don't get me wrong, I'm glad that it was - something a little different; a little more interesting. If I were to pick my favorites - Ramen Sarada, Potato Mentaiko Yaki, Deep Fried Flounder, Hokkai Kamameshi and Matcha De Roru dessert.

Tsubohachi Malaysia is located at:
Address: A2-UG1-9 Publika Solaris Dutamas, 50480 Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia
Phone: +60 3-6206 5526
Opening Hours: Daily 11.30am - Closing.