Aoyama The Green Room @ Sri Hartamas KL

Glorious and impeccably presented Japanese-Fusion cuisine.

How else can I spend my Saturday afternoon, if not being surrounded by scrumptious Japanese food?

Pardon the exaggerated enthusiasm, but I just got back from Taiwan and had way too much street food and snacks - stir fried and oily ones. Hence, I'm struggling to steer clear of that for now.

Do you often encounter post-holiday dish withdrawal?

Aoyama The Green Room

A food blogger's pre-requisite - being adventurous.

Western infused Japanese dishes? Bring it on! It's not easy to serve dishes that showcases the food tradition of various countries - fusion, they call it.

In Aoyama, they do just that - proudly, since 2002.


A unique menu featuring a variation of homemade dishes, that blends an array of flavours with Japanese native ingredients, catering to both the carnivores and the vegans alike. Also, the place is pork free but serves alcohol.

There are also heaps of off-the-menu specialties and seasonal produce. Do ask the friendly staff for recommendations while you're there.

I was greeted with a quaint yet cozy restaurant, featuring an indoor Japanese inspired countertop and wooden crafted architectural pieces that certainly exudes a serene welcome upon walking through its doors.

I came ready this time round - with a hearty appetite to feast of course! I twirled, clicked, gripped then re-gripped my chopsticks anxiously, greedily awaiting the feast that beholds me.

Now, a little bit of a disclaimer - I'm going to refrain from using too many Japanese terms, knowing that even I myself had problems memorising it, thus I don't think anyone would. Lets just stick to English shall we?

Four seasons. Rm15.00.

Like the name suggests, the first cold appetizer came in a quartet of dainty-looking pots, namely, baby octopus, shellfish, jellyfish and koi fish. Merely a taste-bud teaser, I love the baby octopus and shellfish that came with it. What a great way to start my meal!

Seasoned Baby Shrimp. Rm10.00.

The Japanese are fame for having notorious loads of munchies, especially when there is sake involved. I didn't have any sake this time round unfortunately, but I have to tell you about these baby shrimps.

Crispy and lukewarm outside and soft inside. I kept on going back for more - but so did everyone else at the table! We were forced to get second servings of this. It was tasty and there were actually shrimp meat inside, no lie.

Seasoned Anchovies. Rm12.00.

Another pub grub amongst the lot - seasoned anchovies. Not much to tell here, especially after those baby shrimps.

Special Salad. Rm28.00.

On one end - salmon sashimi with pine nuts and salad. On the other end - Jelly fish with Japanese sesame sauce and salad.

To begin with, I got a little confused with the salad dressings. Besides olive oil, I got lost in translation. Regardless, I would definitely order this again, simply because portions came aplenty with generously thick slices of the sashimi and jellyfish.

Seasonal Prawns. Rm58.00.

Being one of the highlights of Aoyama, you wouldn't want to miss this. Ho-Chiak even did a featured segment on this dish!

The prawns had great texture and had a tinge of smoky aftertaste to it.

As for the steamed egg custard, it was one of the posh-est steamed egg I've had. Sitting delicately on the eggs - a prawn head in a shallow pool of sauce and prawn roe. It was a little salty towards the end but I ain't complaining. Come on - prawn roe.

Wagyu Tomato Beef. Rm48.00.

I had a melt-in-the-mouth sensation, if you may.

Another one of those exquisite dishes that you can't miss - chunks of marinated wagyu beef with fresh shiitake mushrooms and foie gras!

The wagyu beef was amazing - tender, flavourful and juicy to the lots. Inside the tomato, more wagyu beef and savoury gravy - you can slurp it all up if you'd like.

I had a difficulties digging through the pile though - in search of the foie gras. It was a great dish nonetheless.

Lamb And Mutton Burger. Rm22.00.

 

I can hear the skin sizzling away.

Rippled and smashed with minced lamb and mutton served with a dash of pepper and salt and finely chopped onions. It was a wonderful idea to have an egg - cracked and pan fried right in front of us.

No doubt flavourful, I found it to be slightly on the salty side and a little too rich. Come to think of it, with a hefty price tag like that, just for a burger patty that is, I wouldn't rush to order this again.

Blue Flower Maki (Rm28.00). Volcano Maki (Rm22.00).

Enthralled by the impeccably presented Maki rolls, I had a tough time swallowing the latter. Let us see.

One of my favourite dishes that afternoon, the blue flower maki (left). It had strips of lobster, tempura prawns and salad in it. The superbly soft hand-caught lobster and prawns were amazing and the harmonious combination was an unexpected surprise.

On the other hand, with the volcano maki (right) was as a let down. Rolled with crab stick, cucumber, tempura flakes and the overpowering yellow sauce - made out of chilli paste, chilli flakes and tabasco sauce came far spicier than tolerable. With a numb-tongue, I could barely taste the sushi, what's in it again?

Kyushu Shoyu Ramen. Rm28.00. 

 

With only 10 servings dished-out per day, I knew a lot of hard work has been put into this and I was extremely eager to sample. I gave both the original and spicy versions a go.

Sizzled and boiled for more than 24 hours, the chicken broth is a rarity of its own. Aoyama's original version was quite a delight - sweet and yummy-licious.

The spicy version on the other hand, was way too much for me to handle - too spicy.

Apart from that, the noodles were springy and the rest of the condiments were fine, though the chicken roll was a little overcooked.

(Bottom-Top) Ocean Blue. Green Tea. Vanilla and Yuzu. Black Sesame.

Rm16/plate. Rm8/scoop.

When it comes to ice cream, especially on a hot and sunny day - there really isn't enough to go around.

My favourite of the lots would have to be the Blue Ocean, simply because of its originality. Made merely with vanilla ice cream, a pinch of sea salt and a touch of blue flower, I don't think I can get this anywhere else. I also had great joy nibbling on the green tea ice cream.

The vanilla and yuzu flavour was a little odd - it had a tinge of sourness, made evident from the mix of yuzu, ie. sake. I was also not a huge fan of the black sesame ice cream, it had too much going on in there - black sesame and nuts. However, I was the outlier this time round, all my friends loved it.  

Overall Rating: 8/10. Typically like the immaculately prepared Japanese food, I found Aoyama's dishes worthy of consideration if you're in for something interesting. It's not exactly all-fusion if you may, most of the dishes served here are conventionally Japanese.

My top picks would be the - wagyu tomato beef, ramen, blue flower maki, special salads and the baby shrimps.

Aoyama is located at:
Ground Floor, No. 8 Jalan 27/70A, Desa Sri Hartamas, 50480 Kuala Lumpur
03-6206 3800

Mon.-Sat. 11:30-14:30 (Lunch) Mon.-Sat. 18:00-22:30 (Dinner)

Sun. 11:30-15:00 (Lunch) Sun. 18:00-22:00 (Dinner)