My first experience with Sakae Sushi was at their outlet in 1Utama Shopping Mall, when I was still a college student in 2009. My (ex) boyfriend and I had some of their sashimi… and spent three days vomiting and puking our guts out from food poisoning. Although the manager there was very kind and offered us a complimentary voucher after my complaint, needless to say, I never went back there again.
Until recently.
It was the Awal Muharram holidays in Malaysia, but my colleagues and I were stuck at work. We decided to treat ourselves to a nice lunch at The Mines Shopping Center, and since they had some vouchers, we went to the Sakae Sushi there. The restaurant is hidden in a quiet corner on the 3rd floor.
Salmon sashimi. Some people might not like the idea of eating raw stuff, but I took to it like a fish to water (pardon the pun!). I like how the meat has a melt-in-the-mouth texture, and it’s especially good when dipped in soy sauce. The version here was fresh and thick-cut, with a nice layer of fat.
H’s eggy Chawan Mushi, topped with artificial ‘shark’s fin’ (it was actually vermicilli) and mushrooms.
Salmon piri-piri (fried skin). The batter almost tasted like KFC fried chicken! It was so addictive to munch on, we polished off two bowls.
Ebi(prawn) tempura sushi. Crunchy batter enveloped a springy shrimp on the inside, wrapped around with nori (seaweed) on a bed of firm, vinegar-infused Japanese rice. It was okay, but nothing special.
Soft-shell crab temaki. The crab sticking out of the roll looked limp and sad when it arrived, but tastewise, it was pretty good! The serving was also generous for the temaki; so many places put in a tiny piece of crab and yet still charge you exorbitant prices.
Tamago Inari, a sweet beancurd stuffed with sushi rice and topped with egg and mayonnaise. I found the beancurd to be too sugary, to the point that it overpowered the taste of egg.
One of my favourites of the afternoon was a new item on the menu, smoked duck sushi with sesame dressing. The dressing had that smooth, aromatic flavour of sesame oil, and the duck meat was so tender and chewy it felt like bacon. Double thumbs up!
We were craving for something sweet to end the meal, so we ended up ordering Warabi Mochi. While it was beautifully presented, the texture was hard and flour-like on the inside. There were two flavours – green tea and some sort of sweet caramel. The outside was dusted with sweet toasted soybean flour and drizzled over with honey. It wasn’t very tasty, as all I could taste was the sweetness from the honey and it felt like munching on a hardened sponge.
Overall, there were a couple of hits-and-misses, but the food quality is decent. I like how they provide iPads at each table so you simply have to press on them to place your order, aside from the usual sushi conveyor belt.
SAKAE SUSHI (The Mines)
Lot L3-19B, Level 3, The Mines
Jalan Dulang, Mines Resort City
43300 Seri Kembangan
Selangor Darul Ehsan, Malaysia
Phone: +60 3-8944 1163
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