Daikanyama

The best Japanese bistro in town to have Japanese inspired cocktails.


choya cocktail - japanese plum








They also served really nice snacks to pair with your cocktails on a winding-down evening with your girlfriends after work.




I was invited to try the food there few months ago and I was immensely impressed by the selections of cocktails there. And how delicious each one of them were! (except for one particular green one which tasted weird)




The evening started with my typical favourite: Lychee Martini.




Then moved onto Pink Geisha.




Both of which were divine drinks. Sweeter than normal cocktails but that's how I liked them.

The alcohol helped get the conversation going and before we knew it, other invited guests were swarming in and it was almost time for dinner.




We started with Beef Teri Salad, a very sweet decadent dish that's awesome as starters to get your bites going. Tender and nice.




To which by now I was moving onto my third drink: Choya cocktail.




Now Choya cocktail is basically Daikanyama's signature drink, a mixture of choya (widely used Japanese plum in Japanese dishes), yumeishu and vodka. It's sour, paired with tongue-clapping vodka, made it a drink that you either love or hate. My baby hated it, I loved it.

Here's a list of drinks I loved that night:

There were the lychee martini (98% love), pink geisha (100% love), choya (70% love)...




Also...


Kimosan - 101% love



Apricoto Suppai - 120% love!!!!


And the list of drinks I didn't like that night... (actually, just two)


from left: some green drink I didn't bother to remember the name and grasshoper (I think).


The green cocktail was especially... odd. I couldn't have more than 3 sips. It was recommended by the waitress so maybe it's one of their named Japanese cocktails.




By the time the second dish Soba with Prawn Salad came, I realised a fault in the bistro. Food were slow. Possibly due to the large quantity of people they were serving that night. The good news was drinks were fast, and nice. There's nothing better than free delicious cocktails to keep us busy on a hungry tummy (no sacarsm intended). I have dangerously moved onto my fourth cocktail of the night by now. *warning*




Since I neither liked prawns or soba, I passed this one on.



Nasu Dengaku. Basically grilled eggplant topped with special miso paste. Smallest portion of all but a wonder as an appertiser, delicious.




I would order this chawanmushi just for the two thin slices of smoked duck draped on top if not. Powering taste and very tender and smooth, however it paled the chawanmushi in the process. Really nice served individually, but not together.





Mini Scallop Pizza. Possibly my favourite tit-bits in Daikanyama. It's like crispy nachos with toppings but creamier and sweeter. YUM!

Another close up photo.







Lamb Yaki - grilled teriyaki lamb on a stick. I love anything teriyaki so this was such a pleasure to eat. The chef cooked it to medium, just the way I like it, juicy and tender. So good that I had the waitress brought us another serving. *greedy*




Salmon Truffle Oil Tataki. Pale in comparison with the others but the fact it's salmon, served in truffle oil, made the dish a treat for the night. Who would pass up fresh salmon eh? I wouldn't order this if I had to pay, but would wallop it whole if someone's getting the bill.




Soft Shell Crab with Salmon Maki. Mango was a big no no for me, not in this dish, not in any dish other than dessert.




Fried Unagi Tofu. Couldn't taste the unagi. Took one bite and threw it to someone else.




California Cheese Maki. Anything with Unagi adds points to my ratings. The cheese didn't make any impact but the sweetness of the unagi did. Not the best Unagi sushi maki I had, not bad either.





Saikoro Steak. Sweet tender bite-size beef. Yes, yes and yes. I'm especially particular with beef normally but this hit my palate right on the spot. Bing!





I ended the night with another glass of Apricoto Suppai. Best sweet cocktail EVER!




Daikanyama
42, Changkat Bukit Bintang,
50200 Kuala Lumpur.

Mon-Thurs: 5:30pm - 12:30am
Fri-Sat: 5:30pm - 3am

Tel: 03-2141 0323 (Takes reservations)