FUKUYA in Kuala Lumpur is probably one of the last bastions of greenery in the city. It’s so pleasant dining at this Japanese restaurant while looking out to the neatly trimmed clumps of bamboo, trees and other plants in its spacious garden.

Fukuya has been 15 years at this happy place, serving traditional and classic Japanese cuisine.

While omakase has been the byword of Japanese dining here in recent years, kaiseki is what Fukuya does.

Omakase means “leaving it up to the chef”, who uses the finest, seasonal ingredients in a sushi meal.

Kaiseki is a multi-course dining experience that begins with an appetiser platter, going on to soup, a raw dish, a simmered one, grilled, steamed and vinegared dishes before ending with rice and dessert.

Our kaiseki lunch started with a colourful appetiser platter of uni tofu, mentai fish and octopus, tamago, deep-fried fish, a thin crispy cracker of deep-fried tiny white bait topped with ikura and a dish of asparagus in sesame sauce topped with bonito.

The chilled uni tofu with a dot of wasabi and sitting on a shiso leaf was delightful, and I was totally sold on the mentai fish and octopus which had the seafood covered with briny cod roe and grilled.

Each item on the platter yielded different textures and flavours, such as the salty salmon roe bursting on the delicate fish cracker and the lightly sweet tamago paired with tobiko.

There was a citrusy, fragrant lift from yuzu peel in the salmon belly soup that came next. I loved the rich taste of the fish in the sweet dashi, which also had spring onion, tofu, mushroom and cellophane noodles in it.

The sashimi platter was a vision: the eyes have it in the colours of the artfully arranged fish and seafood.

We tasted the freshness of the tuna, yellowtail, salmon, sweet prawn and scallop in this pleasing platter.

Gindara or silver cod touched with miso and grilled was another visually pleasing course. A slice of deep pink lotus root pickle, a rosette of pickled pumpkin and a young ginger stem completed this grilled dish.

The creamy cod is balanced with the pickles, and the aromatic ginger stem.

I liked the clear flavours in the simmered dish with unagi and fish, a well-braised radish, mushrooms, carrot and snow peas in a clay-pot. The tender unagi stood out, as well as the juicy radish soaked in the stock.

Our main course was beef saikoro, cube-cut beef cooked to medium on the hot plate, and served with garlic flakes, fresh wasabi, zucchini slices, salt and sauce.

It was a choice of rice or noodles in soup after that, and we had both. The seafood fried rice was delicious. We turned up nubs of sweet scallop and prawns, egg and onion in the sticky and dry fried rice.

Ours was a specially arranged kaiseki lunch, and we still hadn’t finished with the savoury side of it as we were served salmon in seaweed roll which tasted as good as it looked.

Dessert was melon, berries and grapes, beautifully presented on a plate, and sweet potato jelly custard.

Kaiseki meals are hard to come by in Japanese restaurants in the city and I’m glad that Fukuya still offers such a traditional, elegant way of dining.

If you’re there for lunch, try the mini kaiseki (RM188) that serves four types of appetisers, steamed egg custard with foie gras, mixed sashimi, grilled hamachi, seafood teppanyaki or beef saikoro with rice, pickles and miso soup, ending with mixed fruit and ice cream.

Then there’s the special sushi mini kaiseki (RM228), with five appetisers, salmon belly soup, grilled, simmered and deep-fried dishes, main course of six mixed sushi, and dessert.

There are also lunch sets (RM40-RM59) – chicken or beef Teppanyaki, Unagi Kabayaki, Tempura and Saba Teriyaki among them.

Fukuya is at 9 Jalan Delima, Imbi, Kuala Lumpur. Contact 03-2144 1077, 012-5770 282 for enquiries. – May 7, 2022.

* Eu Hooi-Khaw has been writing about food for the longest time, covering all aspects, from restaurant reviews to cooking and recipes, as well as the healthy side of it. She has written for major newspapers and magazines, published the cookbook Fresh Ingredients, and also writes for her website hooikhawandsu.com.