Penang Food For Thought: Tokyo Kitchen

Update: This business has ceased its operations.

Tokyo Kitchen (東京厨房) is a chain of Japanese restaurants from Klang Valley. The dishes here are inspired by Tokyo cuisine. The sole outlet in Penang is located at Icon City, right next to Ittan Izakaya.

The dining area is elegantly decorated with Japanese ornaments. There is even a small pond with live koi (鯉). To enhance the ambience, Japanese pop songs are played in the background.

Tori Karaage Don (鶏から揚げ丼, RM19.80) is a rice dish with a fried chicken cutlet on top. Dressed with mayonnaise (マヨネーズ), the cutlet is crispy but is a bit salty. The meal also comes with a bowl of miso soup (味噌汁) that contains seaweed (ワカメ) and tofu (豆腐).

Una Cheese Roll (うなチーズロール, RM26.80) is a maki sushi (巻き寿司) with freshwater eel (鰻) on top. The rice is rolled with crab stick (カニカマ), daikon (大根), cucumber and seaweed (海苔). Besides unagi, toppings also include tare sauce (たれ), torched cheese and shrimp roe (えびこ).

Tokyo Kitchen Green Tea Latte (ラテ東京キッチン緑茶, RM9.80) is an ice-blended drink using matcha. Unfortunately, the ice is not blended thoroughly, so there are still chunks of solid ice in the drink.

While the restaurant's ambience and table service are commendable, I think the food taste deserves some improvement. Note that Tokyo Kitchen does not serve pork.