IOI City Mall’s Phase 2 has been filling up with tenants since it opened to the public in August last year, with myriad offerings such as clothing, furniture, and gaming stores, as well as food options aplenty.

Among the latter is Sen Sen Sushi, a mid-scale sushi restaurant that’s part of popular Japanese discount store chain Don Don Donki. As luck would have it, we saw otoro (fatty tuna belly) on the menu while walking past the shop. Otoro is my favourite part of tuna, and since the price seemed affordable, we stopped by for a quick bite.

The restaurant’s interior looks upscale, with lots of light-hued wood reminiscent of Japanese cypress, paired with warm lighting that masterfully interplays light and shadow to create an intimate vibe. There are booths on one side of the space offering diners more privacy, but we chose to be seated at the open air sushi counter instead, so we could see our orders being prepared.

Despite its beautiful interior, this is still a ‘casual’ Japanese restaurant, so be sure to temper expectations. For one, you won’t see the chef actually slicing fish on the block; rather, the kitchen staff opened a container filled with pre-sliced items, shaped the rice, and simply placed the seafood on top. Points for making it look fancy though! Above is our order of 2 pieces of otoro and chutoro (medium fatty tuna).

The colouration of the chutoro was more akin to akami (lean tuna), but it still had a nice texture. The slight sweetness of the seafood went well with the acidity from the vinegar in the rice. While not comparable in terms of quality to the chutoro we tried at Yatai, I thought it was decent for the price.

I was excited for the Hubs to try the otoro. Unfortunately, it was quite different from my previous experiences. While it still had that umami fattiness to it, this version had a chewy texture, which is quite unlike the otoro I’ve tried before, which usually has a melt-on-the-tongue texture that simply dissolves when in contact with the heat in your mouth. Although this wasn’t unpleasant, it wasn’t the flavour I was hoping for. Of course, I have to note: otoro in other establishments can reach RM60+ per piece, whereas the one at Sen Sen Sushi is less than RM20. Sooo can’t really complain lol.

We were still feeling peckish, so we got some aburi (seared) salmon items to share. These were prepared in different styles, one was covered in a sweet sauce, while another had mentaiko on top. I actually enjoyed the salmon items the most, as they were done perfectly, their textures hovering in that perfect space between the tenderness of raw salmon and the juiciness brought out from the searing.

Sen Sen Sushi offers a charming experience with decent sushi. Aside from tuna and salmon, you can also get items like scallop, baby octopus, inari, and tempura. The interiors give you the feeling of dining in a high-end place, but at wallet-friendly prices. Nigiri sushi items start from as low as RM4.80.

SEN SEN SUSHI by JONETZ, DON DON DONKI, IOI CITY MALL PUTRAJAYA

Lot No. L1-241, First Floor, East Zone, IOI City Mall, 2, Lbh IRC, Ioi Resort, 62502 Putrajaya, Selangor

Opening hours: 11AM – 10PM (Daily)

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PS2: All food reviews are paid out of my own pocket unless otherwise stated. Views here are my own and are based on my personal experience. They are not meant to endorse or disparage businesses in any way.