Sagano Restaurant & Japanese Cuisine at Renaissance Hotel Kuala Lumpur
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My visit to Renaissance Hotel also features a dinner at the Japanese restaurant, Sagano and an introduction to the famed Chef Yasutoshi Ito. It was a privileged to have him assembling an exquisite progression of dishes: appetizers, sashimi and lobster roll.
It was an excellent start. The chef had arranged a salad of vegetables with fried salmon skin. The salad with the crunchy salmon skin, onions, capsicum offered an interesting contrast of textures.
The tea cup is always replenished with hot tea while we waited for the food. First up was our appetizers which were presented with a selection of steamed rolled chicken, salmon canape with fresh wasabi, slow boiled saury fish in sweetened soy sauce and steamed mushroom egg custard in a tea cup with sea urchin.
At the start, we had cold sake and beer and followed by warm sake during the later part of the meal. For the warm sake, it was a slightly unique drinking experience as we were invited to choose our sake cup. The sake went well with the array of food.
Sipping cold and warm sake plus beer
Followed up was the sashimi serving, with eight different range of fish beautifully decorated in a Japanese tableware. The large wooden boat was filled with thick cuts of salmon, hamachi (yellowtail tuna), tai (sea bream), amaebi, tako, maguro akami (red tuna), toro (fatty tuna) and uni (sea urchin). We started with the lighter fish, beginning with tai and moving on with the maguro and the stronger taste of the uni.
Everything was sublimely delicious, particularly enjoyable was the fatty and tender hamachi and the sweet soft uni.
Next came the exquisite New Renaissance Roll, put together in one beautiful plate. The roll was heavenly with deep-fried lobster rolled with seaweed and rice, coated with avacado and mango. I took the visually colorful piece of roll and savored in one mouthful. It was indeed filled with great combination of lip-smacking flavors.
Chef Ito with his creation – New Renaissance Roll
If one wishes to order a beef dish, it is recommended to ask for the Chef’s creations. Chef Ito is known for coming out with a dishes on the spot. He quickly jazzed up tender pieces of beef with some gravy and served on crispy strips of potatoes. The server brought out the pot and placed in on the stove in the center of the table. This simple creation might just become one of your favorites.
The chicken, mushroom, shrimp broth came by in a terracotta teapot and matching cup. Fresh lime juice was added to enhance the soup. It was poured a little at a time into the teacup, while the remaining soup was kept warm.
Dessert was finally served after a great main course. We had the Tempura Mango and it was light and crispy without being too oily! It was a marriage of Japanese basic cuisines; a fruit being fried tempura style. There was also sesame ice-cream and green tea ice-cream, both topped with red bean.
The service was top class and Chef Ito creations were excellent from the start.
Sagano is located on the first floor of the West Wing. The interior is quite interesting with the place decorated with plentiful wooden bamboo, a common sight in Sagano, which is located to the northwest in Kyoto Basin, Japan.
Sagano Restaurant
Renaissance Kuala Lumpur Hotel
Level 1 West Wing
Corner of Jalan Sultan Ismail & Jalan Ampang
50450 Kuala Lumpur
Tel : 03-2162 2233
Website: www.klrenaissance.com