For the Pops’ b’day, we decided to treat him to a meal of his choice. He settled on Japanese – and that’s how we ended up at Main Place’s Sushi Zanmai. It’s a very popular spot and long queues start to form after 6pm, so make sure you arrive early to skip the wait!

I come here every now and then whenever I crave for quality, decently-priced Japanese food, but as a creature of habit I always order the same things on my solo visits. This time around, since I was sharing with the fam, I got to try some of their other menu items. Here’s the experience!

For starters, we ordered four items to share (clockwise from top): Yasai Harumaki (vegetable spring rolls), Tempura Moriawase (deep fried assortment of seafood and vegetables), Chuuka Idako (seasoned baby octopus), and salmon belly sushi. Everything was done well – the fried items were crisp and crunchy but not greasy, while the baby octopus was marinated in a sweet and savoury teriyaki sauce with sesame. The salmon belly sushi was good too, albeit a little too fishy for my liking.

Pops also got some edamame beans. They apparently go great with beer, but since we’re not big alcohol drinkers, we enjoyed them as is.

The Moomin’s ordered grilled saba (mackerel) basted in a sweet teriyaki sauce. She did not enjoy this, however, opining that the fish had a strong odour which even the sauce was not able to mask.

The Bro had chicken teriyaki. The portions were humongous. Besides juicy, boneless grilled chicken, there was a mountain of cabbage, carrots, and beansprouts heaped onto a hotplate.

Similarly, my soba with a side of tempura was good enough for two people. The noodles are served cold, which you can then dip into a soy-sauce based broth for flavour before slurping them up from a small bowl. While it was good, I was not able to finish it due to the large portion.

Unfortunately, there seemed to be a miscommunication between the ordering and the kitchen, as the birthday boy’s chicken karaage don came only after we were all finished with our food, despite reminding them twice. I suspect they left it out while prepping the order, and only started cooking when we reminded them the first time. But what came served was freshly fried chicken cutlets on a bed of fluffy rice and onions. There was so much chicken, in fact, that the Pops had to share some with us. They were prepared well; juicy on the inside, with crispy skin. The glaze was sweet as well, and tasted quite similar to Bro’s chicken teppanyaki and Moo’s saba. So yeah; after awhile, the items do feel like they share similar flavours.

Overall, it was a decent meal for a celebration (if you exclude the part about the late order), and the price is fairly reasonable too. If you’re around the neighbourhood and looking for Japanese food, Sushi Zanmai delivers with quality, tasty food that is worth its price.

SUSHI ZANMAI (MAIN PLACE MALL USJ BRANCH)

Lot No.21, Second Floor, The Main Place, Jalan USJ 21/10, Persiaran Kewajipan, 47630 Subang Jaya, Selangor Darul Ehsan.

Opening hours: 10AM – 10PM

https://www.supersushi.com.my/mainplace.php

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