Yuri Japanese Restaurant,
Klana Resort Seremban,
Taman Tasik Seremban.
Tel: 06-766 7888 ext 3555
Business hours: noon to 2.30pm
and 6.30pm to 10.30pm daily.
KNOWING the Malaysian penchant for piling up our plates during buffets, Yuri Japanese Restaurant head chef Yong Kok Seng cleverly devised a menu that would ensure customers would not only eat a lot but eat healthily.
Yong who presides over the Japanese outlet in Klana Resort Seremban recently showcased five new items which will be added to the restaurant’s popular Sunday buffet lunch menu that are not just good to eat but good for you.
Healthy dishes: Kara Miso Tofu (top), Kaiso Salad(centre) and Kyuri Umezuke are three nutrition packed dishes that will balance your buffet meal.The affable chef who apprenticed under a Japanese master over two decades ago, said the cuisine was all about balance.
He said the Japanese were very careful about what they ate and would not over indulge in unhealthy food.
“For example, barbecued and deep-fried food have to be complemented with fresh salads to counter its effects.
“Food should be good for you and if you are having a couple of ‘not-so-healthy’ dishes, you have to pair it with some nutritious options,” he said.
Among the new items, Yong experimented with is the Tori BBQ (barbecued chicken) – tender strips of grilled chicken with a sticky sweet sauce.
The chicken is marinated for three days in a mixture of apple juice (made fresh), onions, garlic and good quality Japanese soy sauce.
The apple juice tenderises the meat naturally and the end result is an almost melt-in-the-mouth consistency which is just as delicious.
Another dish to be savoured is Kara Miso Tofu (deep-fried Japanese soft tofu with spicy miso soup).
The silken tofu is served in a bowl of miso soup which is well-regarded for its healthful properties.
Yong said salads were a big part of the Japanese cuisine served at Yuri as he believed in providing guests lots of healthy options to choose from.
“I like to pair different ingredients such as umeboshi (pickled plum) and seaweed with fresh greens.
“It adds depth of flavour and also has medicinal properties … in fact, guests who try it will often ask for more and that is a good thing,” he said.
We tasted the Kyuri Umezuke (vinegared cucumber with umeboshi) and Kaiso Salad (Japanese seaweed with sesame seed dressing).
Both salads are packed with nutritional value and a definitely welcome during a heavy meal of meat and seafood.
Yong also added chicken wings to the menu but with a twist – the wings were marinated with wasabi and soy sauce, coated in cornflour and then fried in corn oil.
The wasabi added zing but was not overpowering and the dish was polished off in a matter of minutes.
It is clear that the chef is passionate about the food he serves and to prove his point, he even printed out factsheets detailing the health benefits of many of the ingredients used in his dishes.
“In a buffet, the combination of flavours is most important.
“There has to be sour, sweet, spicy, salty and creamy dishes. It’s good to have a balance of flavours,” he said.
Yong said the outlet was the only one which offered a Japanese buffet in Seremban and its prices were much lower than its city counterparts.
“At Yuri, we pay attention to the quality of ingredients. We don’t stinge on quality.
“This is one of the reasons our Sunday buffet is so popular,” he said adding that unagi (eel) is imported from Taiwan and salmon air-flown from Norway while only superior quality rice vinegar was used in salads.
The Sunday buffet at Yuri has a selection of over 100 items including appetisers, salads, sashimi, tempura, grilled eafood, sushi, desserts and fresh fruit.
The buffet is priced at RM50++(per adult) and RM34++ (per child).
Ala carte items can also be ordered at the restaurant which has a Sushi Bar, Teppanyaki section and private tatami rooms.
This is the writer’s personal observation and is not an endorsement by StarMetro.
