D K L E

Tokutoku

June 13, 2011


A veritable hole in the wall, but well worth investigating, thanks to its awesome array of Japanese delicacies that other outlets might be hard-pressed to match.

The menu here is like a scrapbook, providing photos of dishes with Japanese-language descriptions, but no English translations (thankfully, the staff members are reasonably helpful). Daily specials are listed on a white board, also only in Japanese.

Raw horse meat (basashi). Customers who like tuna sashimi would probably be OK with this. Richly flavorsome but not repulsively gamy, with a meaty, pleasurably chewy texture.

Katsuo tataki. Vinegar-marinated bonito (or skipjack tuna), very lightly seared. A firm, fatty fish, with a strong, sardine-like taste.

Kohada sashimi. A fish that we seldom find. Also known as "gizzard shad," apparently a close relation of herring. These slices are wrapped in a rice-free roll, catering for carb-haters. Subtly sweet, but mostly mild in flavor (reminiscent of yellowtail).

Of course, those three items are merely the tip of the warm sake carafe. More soon, we hope!

Tokutoku,
59A, Jalan Sultan Ismail, Kuala Lumpur.
Tel: 03-2143-2553