Sazori Shabu Zone & Grill @ Sunway Mentari, Petaling Jaya

Sunway Mentari has been a hotspot for steamboat or hotpot outlets. With numerous brands come and go, I have nearly lost track on the updates and trends of the latest eateries available for choice. Introducing the new market player Sazori, situated at a rather quite zone of Sunway Mentari just opposite Restoran Murni, parking was a breeze during lunchtime on weekends.

The selling points of Sazori are the flexibility of individual shabu-shabu pot, grilling and Japanese style broth namely Ponzu soup.

Choices of broth :

-Ponzu Soup
Savoury with a tinge of sourness, not a bad choice if you want something different other than the coventional broths served in usual steamboat places.

-Clear Chicken Soup
Light for the tastebuds, good flavours compilation towards the end from various ingredients as you can hardly go wrong with this.

-Tom Yum Soup
Just average, one sip and we knew it's made from tom yum paste. Not too bad either, could do with more fragrance by adding lemongrass or lime leaves.

-Beef Soup

I had both tom yum and clear chicken soup, the latter was essential to determine the freshness of ingredients served.

We started with some appetizers while waiting for the goodies to be cooked in our choice of broth.

 Chicken Gyoza

Decent fillings while the gyoza skin could be crispier and less mushy.

 

Chuka Idako needs no introduction as it is a popular Japanese octopus delight.

Dipping sauces play an important role in bringing out or enhancing flavours of various ingredients too. Sazori did well on their homemade sauces especially peanut sauce & sesame sauce. Both had a nutty and hint of sweetness which opens up appetite easily. You can go for your mixture of own sauces too- spring onions, fried garlic, fried shallots, groundnuts, chilli padi, soya sauce, vinegar. 

 

Free flow of protein boost- marinated chicken, beef bacon strips, chicken ham, slice lamb and sliced beef. Other than marinated chicken which is being circulated on the Kaiten belt, the others are served upon order.

Beef slices

Lamb slices

Chicken Ham

Although the sliced lamb requires slightly more of jaw exercise, they are good for both grilling & dipping into the broth, further accentuated with sesame & peanut sauce. Good thing that the lamb slices did not have gamey taste too.

Seafood selections- scallop, prawns, mussels, bamboo clams, calamari rings, Dory fish. The bamboo clams were rather salty, perhaps need longer soaking process in water to pull out excess sea salt. I liked the scallops as they were satisfyingly fresh, while the prawns were decent.

You can expect to find the usual processed items such as cheesy tofu, fishballs, seafood taufu, beef balls and others as well. Not as extensive as other places but good enough as the fresh meats made up for it.

Vegetables, tofu & mushrooms selection: Leafy greens, broccoli, pumpkins and yam. I really loved the yam slices as good quality ones are picked, proven by the excellent texture and yam fragrance.

 

Noodles for carbohydrate satisfactions.

Drinks, fruits & jelly served nicely in the refrigerator. There is also refillable hot/cold green tea as an option.

Sazori did not neglect on their ice cream flavours and quality too- my pick was chocolate and yam flavor. I was delighted to find tiny bits of yam in the smooth ice cream texture. Sprinkle some groundnuts and you are good to go!

The only setback in Sazori is the rather small and less comfortable seats. Maintained quality of food served and promoting their specialty of Ponzu soup are essential to keep customers coming back for more.

Pricing as below:

Lunch: 12:00 – 3:00 p.m.

1. Buffet & Grill
Adult RM 31.90
Kids (Below 120 cm) RM 19.90
Senior Citizen (60 years old & above) RM 21.90

2. Buffet only
Adult: RM 26.90
Kids (Below 120 cm) RM 18.90
Senior Citizen (60 years old & above) RM 21.90

Dinner: 5:30 p.m. – 10.00 p.m.

1.  Buffet & Grill
Adult: RM 38.00
Kids (Below 120 cm) RM 24.00
Senior Citizen (60 years old & above) RM 26.90

2. Buffet only
Adult: RM 34.00
Kids (Below 120 cm) RM 22.00
Senior Citizen (60 years old & above) RM 26.90

Do take note that maximum dining time is 120 mins (2 hours). 

LocationB-G-3A, Block B, 

No 1, Jalan PJS 8/15, 

Arena Mentari 

46150 Petaling Jaya, 

Malaysia

Opening Hours:
Mon - Thu: 12:00 pm - 3:00 pm, 5:30 pm - 10:00 pm
Fri - Sun: 12:00 pm - 11:00 pm

Contact Number:
03-5887 2843

Malaysia International Gourmet Festival 2013- "Cool Chefs - Cooking With Attitude"

I was lucky enough to be invited to MIGF 2013's media launch last Friday, a big thanks to Jackson and VisionKL. It was a truly wholesome gourmet experience as my foodie partners and I were mesmerized by various dishes served by at least 28 participating restaurants in Theatre of Cuisines as follows:-

 

1. Arthur’s Bar & Grill – Shangri-La Hotel, Kuala Lumpur

2. Lafite – Shangri-La Hotel, Kuala Lumpur

3. Bunga Emas – The Royale Chulan Kuala Lumpur

4. Dynasty – Renaissance Kuala Lumpur Hotel

5. Sagano – Renaissance Kuala Lumpur Hotel

6. Five Sen5es – The Westin Kuala Lumpur

7. Prego – The Westin Kuala Lumpur

8. Qba Latin Bar & Grill – The Westin Kuala Lumpur

9. Grill 582 – BEST WESTERN PREMIER Dua Sentral

10. Lai Po Heen – Mandarin Oriental, Kuala Lumpur

11. Mandarin Grill – Mandarin Oriental, Kuala Lumpur

12. Nook – Aloft KL Sentral

13. Samplings On The Fourteenth Restaurant – Berjaya Times Square Hotel KL

14. The Restaurant – The Club, Saujana Resort

15. Tuscany Restaurant – Putrajaya Marriott Hotel & Spa

16. Midori Restaurant – Putrajaya Marriott Hotel & Spa

17. Seasonal Tastes – The Westin Langkawi Resort & Spa

18. Blu Med - Blu Med Ristorante e Bar

19. Chakri Palace – Rotol Food-Chain (M) Sdn Bhd

20. Cuisine Gourmet By Nathalie – Nathalie Gourmet Studio

21. Kelantan Delights – Kelantan Delights Sdn Bhd

22. Kiraku Japanese Restaurant – Shaftsbury Capital Sdn Bhd

23. Marini’s On 57 – Mont Oro (M) Sdn Bhd

24. Minori – Multiple Reward Sdn Bhd

25. Nerovivo – The Nero Group

26. Tanzini – Sonata Vision Sdn Bhd

27. Ten Japanese Fine Dining – Sushi Train (Malaysia) Sdn Bhd

28. Tarbush Restaurant – Restoran Tarbush Delicacies Sdn Bhd

 

MIGF 2013 officially launched by Steve Day

 

Everything came in small tasting portions so that we can sample each and every single item. We were all overwhelmed with the awesome food along with premium beverages, leaving with contentment and satisfaction. Check out the food that we had that night.

Nook – Aloft KL Sentral

Sarawak Lobster and Abalone Laksa with Organic Soba Noodle

Wagyu Beef Cheek Rendang, Farm Vegetables Achar Jelatah, Turmeric Coconut Rice

 

Grill 582 – BEST WESTERN PREMIER Dua Sentral

Prawn Mango Salsa

Loin of Lamb under Herb Crust & Redcurrant Lime Jus

Beef Pastrami with Cheddar Cheese Bruschetta

Chilled Chocolate Chilly Chiboust

 

 Blu Med - Blu Med Ristorante e Bar

Rigatoni stuffed with Mentaiko Cream Cheese, Seaweed & Oba Leaf

Eel with Vegetable Brunoise and Blu Med Teriyaki Sauce

 

Midori Restaurant – Putrajaya Marriott Hotel & Spa

Seared Maguro with Yuzu Dressing

Chawanmushi with Ebikko

Matcha Pudding

 

Nerovivo – The Nero Group

 

Prego – The Westin Kuala Lumpur

 

 

Cod Fish with Potato Mushroom

Beef Carpaccio with Black Truffle

Tiramisu

 

 Qba Latin Bar & Grill – The Westin Kuala Lumpur

 

 

 Sautéed Shrimp with Spicy Tomato Sauce

Slow Braised Oaxacan Mole Black Angus Beef Short Rib

Layered Pumpkin Milk Chocolate Mousse

 

 

Dynasty – Renaissance Kuala Lumpur Hotel, Sagano - Renaissance Kuala Lumpur Hotel

 

Chilled Coral Clam with Mango Salad

Enoki Ham Roll

Seafood Dumpling in Superior Stock

Grilled Mackerel with Sweet Miso

 

Tarbush Restaurant, Starhill

 

 

Uzi Lamb

Kebab

 

Five Sen5es – The Westin Kuala Lumpur

 

 

 Foie Gras and Duck Roll

Steamed Stuffed Fish Maw

Snow Skin 'Teow Chiew Oh-ni'

 

 

Seasonal Tastes – The Westin Langkawi Resort & Spa

 

Tropical Crème Brulee

Fig & Walnut Foie Gras on Toasted Brioche

 

Cuisine Gourmet By Nathalie – Nathalie Gourmet Studio

 

 



Macarons

Praline

Raspberry

Black Sesame

Violette

Lemon

 

 

To those who have not been to MIGF, you should next time! We had fun exploring the theatre of cuisines and learn about new ingredients that were new to us. Gotta love the chefs' outgoing an humour character, they were so enthusiastic in introducing their dishes. I am already looking forward to MIGF 2014, the more restaurants the merrier! 





798 Shabu-Shabu, Sunway Pyramid

 

 

First of all, why 798? 7 stands for seven types of meat, 9 being nine types of broth and 8 for eight types of sauces. Opened its doors to the public in March 2013, a fair amount of crowd was present on a lovely Saturday afternoon, with the rain came after to suit the comforting boiling hotpot sensation. I was pleased with the simple yet clean arrangement, in terms of furniture, setting as well as organization of food. You can have a pot all to yourself, great for people who loves this concept.

 

 

 

 

 

 

Drinks and dessert section

 

 

 

 Vanilla and Chocolate Ice Cream machine

 

Ice cream condiments- cornflakes, chocolate rice, Koko crunch, raisins and crushed peanuts

 

Ingredients section

 

 At least 8 types of noodles were available, with "Ma La" noodles being the most special variety, followed by Pan Mee (dried form) which is usually rarely served in other places.
 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Sauces section

 

 

 

 

 A close up shot on peanut sesame sauce and dark soy sauce

 

 2nd row, left- Suki sauce and fried garlic

 

 

A recommended sauce would be a mix of beancurd sauce, chilli flakes in oil, fried garlic, coriander, a dash of sesame oil and vinegar. Next to it is sour and spicy sauce, usually the default sauce containing blended chillies which was decent.

At first I thought the peanut sesame sauce would taste weird but I was wrong. Not only the nutty and sweet sauce is good on its own, dipping them with meat slices and meatballs were surprisingly a good match.

Suki sauce is not a standalone sauce, hence feel free to mix with other ingredients to create your personal favourite dipping sauce. It has a sweet and hint of sourness as original taste without additional mixing ingredients.

 
Moving on to the most important shabu shabu elemnt- the broth. I had winter melon broth (2nd row, left), mild sweet taste but winter melon flavours were not appealing. However, the soup became gradually sweeter with addition of meat slices and vegetable. We agreed and commented that the pork bone broth (1st row, right) and tom yam broth (2nd row, right) needs more improvement as broth is a basic criteria to a good shabu shabu experience. Both of them lacked flavours it should have, we can’t taste any apparent pork bone flavours nor sour kick for the latter. The only left would be herbal soup, very light in herbal essence thus not the best we have had.

 

The waterchesnut and loh han guo herbal tea earned some brownie points as I prefer this kind of healthy Chinese drink to be served in a buffet style restaurant. Personally, I love the pleasantly sweet yet refreshing waterchesnut drink. Lime juice that looks thick enough was well accepted by another foodie as it did not disappoint too.

Sliced meat

 

 Beef

 

 Pork

 

 Venison

 

Lamb

 

 Chicken (don't be fooled by the dry surface that made it looked like potato chips, the texture was not affected after being cooked)

 

 Dory Fish

 

 

 Abalone Slices

 

Properly sliced meat and well presented, not only pleasing the eyes but also good for stimulating appetite. They were fresh and all of us enjoyed without any complaints.

 

 

 

 

Apart from the usual fishballs, worth mentioning meatballs or other hotpot ingredients would be cheese tofu, bursting pork/beef ball and stuffed fishballs with minced pork. So far there is no ‘overly frozen’ taste in those meatballs hence freshness and quality is well assured, I hope this will continue for long term benefit as well.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

The sorbet like chocolate and vanilla ice cream was the least favourable dessert. The chocolate flavour was way diluted and melted too swiftly before we continue enjoy after having a good chit chat session. I prefer a thicker texture and certainly the flavour needs to be improved. As an alternative, you can enjoy fresh fruits served beside the drinks counter.

Judging from the quality and variety of food and beverages offered, the price is pretty reasonable and worth trying. 798 Shabu Shabu is conveniently located opposite of Celcom Blue Cube or a short walking distance from Starbucks.

 

798 Shabu-Shabu

OB.K6-0B.K7, Oasis Boulevard,
Sunway Pyramid Shopping Mall,
3, Jalan PJS 11/15,
Bandar Sunway,
46150 Petaling Jaya
Business Hours
Opened daily.

Opening hours and price details- please refer to the photo at the beginning of the post

Contact Number
Tel: 03-56322798
 HP: 016-4149900