Japanese BBQ @ Daidomon

Some weeks ago, i went to food tasting @ Daidomon @ Great Eastern Mall... It started when out of the blues, Ken of foodpoi msn-ed me, "NEXT FRIDAY MAKE SURE YOU ARE FREE!!" and as usual everytime saw his msg, it definitely goes to food.... "WAGYU!!" he continues.. so..the rest are history...



The outlet is situated at Great Eastern Mall, which is nearby the "Korean village". We always heard of Korean BBQ, but Japanese BBQ? Yeah, whats the different? As Mr.Stanley the Managing Director explained, the meat in Japanese BBQ normally not marinated as opposed to Korean, and it serves with a unique yakiniku sauce. As different outlet have their own recipe for the sauce, so it's a kind of unique element in here. So, i guess in Japan, when you have many Japanese BBQ around, the sauce will be the judging points?



One thing I like for the environment is...what i call err.. casual-cosyness? That kind of ambiance normally in japanese restaurant where people having casual dinner, small crowd, chat, laughs, sakes and dozens of geishas (ok, lets not get too far, minus the last one)....and as for Daidomon, plus BBQ together. So you can have this kind of "bonding" with your friends and family. I think maybe can bring some client there for "business-bonding" as well.





Lets continue for the food..

"We are very particular when it comes to food quality. All ingredients are air flown directly from japan to ensure the freshness and quality of our servings"


Cold Appetizers - Jelly Fish Tofu, Lemon Grass Skewered Salmon with Green-Tea Noodles, Soft Shell Spring Roll with Mango Salsa - Nothing to shout about on this, but the spring roll is nice.


Chawanmushi - Although slightly salty, but very rich heavy taste of egg and mushroom. Thumbs up because of the aftertaste that still lingers for a while.


Chef Dino P'ng with a 30 years of experience in Japanese cuisine and now an executive chef in Daidomon. Giving an introduction of the food that day. One interesting note to learn :- he has been travelling around the world such as Australia and Egypt to understand the different tastebuds and how to tantalize your tastebuds for the best.

Note: People been asking me, is the girl fall asleep, aiyo. No lah. She's from Food Journey magazine and very hardworking taking notes... Maybe i will photoshop the eye open big big with sparkling stars.


Assorted Nigri Sushi & Daidomon Special Roll - The Daidomon Special Roll is hugee... what makes it special is a rich combination of softshell crab, unagi and crab meat. At first when Chef Dino explained about the combination in one, I was thinking "ok.. so everything wrapped in one piece doesnt mean its good, right.." and I was wrong. I think it takes time and experience to come out with a combination dish like this eh. Definitely a recommended order when you are there. A Daidomon Special Roll should be enough for 4 person.


Assorted Fresh Sashimi - Yeap, its fresh. You see the prawn heads over there? Yeap, one of the best. It's fresh seawater prawn, very succulent indeed.




Assorted beef + the prized wagyu beef - Mr.Stanley explained there are basically 3 types of cattle grade in industry - starting from the lowest grade which is grass fed (i thought some chemical-fed at first), then is grain-fed and the highest which is corn fed (wagyu or sometimes known as kobe beef as well). Interestingly, even the cheaper version in Daidomon is grain fed. So for the quality la... The wagyu is around RM140/100g.. so it's very reasonably priced for the quality they serve.

More info : They don't serve grass fed cattle as mentioned. The wagyu comes from cattle that are bred in Australia and USA that follows the rearing process of cattle found in well known Kobe town and exported back to Japan and then come to Malaysia. So basically you are eating a beef grade that exported for Japanese market / tastebuds in Japan. Original huh..


The signature sauce which is a combination of 15 ingredients, brewed and cooked for 2 days. A special dip for your BBQ. Actually i prefer without dipping the meat lor especially for the wagyu.


The bbq-ed wagyu, which is so nicee.. When you are having bbq with new friends, try to tell the one who bbq-ing the meat, you eat 42 and half% raw only, and what you get is a priceless expression..

Ok, so in an airconditioned place in a shopping mall, sure stuffy right? Because of the smoke around and then when you outta that place, you become a smoked-version of you, right? Introducing the latest technology in BBQ, the S.F.R.T.A.T. system (ok.. it stands for Smoke Free Roasters featuring Thermo Aerodynamic Technology) Basically it sucked out the smoke before it even reach your face... Less oily face, great bbq environment.

Let me recap, "Less oily face, Great BBQ environment, Thats what you get, At Daidomon....cut." Let me try and pitch this tagline to Daidomon..


Lamb - very nice as its in bite-sized and the meat with a just nice amount layer of fats... And you can get this in their buffet too! If i not mistaken, the dinner buffet is only around RM65 and you get assorted sushi's, and variety of bbq meat. Judging from the quality, i think the buffet definitely worth it. You can see from here, Daidomon really emphasized on the quality instead of quantity with a reasonable price. (Sounds like they paid me to say like this.. lol, yes, indeed.. they paid me few millions.. doh~)


At the end, dessert time! Homemade Black Sesame Icecream - Mr.Stanley explained, even the black sesame is imported and it's not an easy task to scout for the right sesame with the quality. And you know what, when Alice & I interviewed Ms.Lim Meng Lu from Din Tai Fung, she said exactly the same thing for the sesame! The imported sesame brings out a huge difference in your dish. O-M-G. I salute them for their dedication for quality in food, i mean price asides (which again ,its really reasonable lor, around RM6 for icecream).. Ok go and try it yo!


Media & Bloggers. I'm over here another table with FoodJourney and KLUE.


At the end of the session, Mr.Stanley explained the variety of Sake they served and a few unique Sake found in Daidomon.


The very-hard-to-find-expensive sake in town or even Malaysia!





Overall, although it's my first time there, I can see its a great place to have a casual buffet dinner with group of friends, drink sake together and have fun bbq-ing. One of the most important point is, the quality of food and its reasonable price.

Thanks the PR team & the MD of Daidomon, Mr.Stanley Yeoh.. it was a great dining experience. Will definitely back for more with friends and family.

Extra #1 : Daidomon started in Singapore since 1982 (26 years of history!).
Extra #2 : The outlet in KL is over 7,200sf with 7 VIP rooms. With a total capacity of 300 people, they can host for corporate events as well. Name them a budget, and they will tailor-made an event set for you.
Extra #3 : The dining table each costs around USD2-3k. Yeap the one with that smokeless technology, can you remember the full name? :D
Extra #4 : Don't drink too fast for Sake as the effect comes much later.

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DAIDOMON
Charcoal Barbeque Japanese Restaurant

TYPE : PORK FREE
OPENING HOURS : 11:30AM - 2:30PM / 6PM - 10:30PM

LOT 4, LEVEL 3, GREAT EASTERN MALL
303, JALAN AMPANG,
50450 KUALA LUMPUR
MALAYSIA
TEL : 03-42528155
FAX : 03-42528166
WEBSITE : WWW.DAIDOMON.COM.MY
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Note to myself : I will update this blog more often!