Yama & J Fusion Sushi Buffet @ Jaya One PJ - Too Much Sauce!

Normally, I’m quite ambitious when it comes to food-tasting.

Fortunately or not, the masses seemed to have subconciously agreed that traditional flavours are always the best, be it Western or Asian cuisine. Anything apart from the usuals would be a challenge to the taste buds - I meant, unusually interesting.

Are you a fan of fusion food?

Yama & J

Opened about a year back, by a partnership of three, Yama & J welcomes you to a foray of Japanese fusion cuisine. Head Chef, Chef Yama San have been living a cross-cultured lifestyle, from New York to Japan, dabbling extensively in the F&B industry before returning back to homeland.

While the food served aren't always authentically Japanese nor always served as a sushi roll, what I sampled that night was decent and distinctly mismatched, without being overly confusing - that's how fusion food is to me, really.

The restaurant was closed-off for invited patrons only for the night, for Joe's birthday celebration and also for this dining event.

Priced at RM48++ (Lunch) and RM88++ (Dinner), this is one of the more affordable Japanese buffet lunch I've come across in town. Like most buffets, unfinished food will be charged RM10 for every 100g wastage. You may make-order from their a la carte menu and there are also special deals for VIP card members.

There were loads of sashimi going around that night. It was replenished as soon a it dissapeared. We were definitely stuffed towards the end.

Sashimi Boat 1.

  

Sashimi Boat 2.

Complimentary Finger Food.

Salmon Belly Kudu. Rm68.

 

When this dish was served, I happily dig-in and exclaimed - this is really good! 

A slice of smooth salmon belly kudu, sitting on a pool of soy sauce and garnished with chopped garlic, shallots and ebiko. Their signature wasabi is made in-house, it was fragrant and had a nice course texture to it. 

Salmon Belly Osaka. Rm68.

In a totally different presentation, the salmon belly Osaka was sliced thinly and served, drenched in sauce, that had a distinct sour taste to it.

There are 2 salmon belly dishes in the menu - this version and the Kudu version. If I were to pick between this and the former, my vote would go to the former. 

Fresh Oysters (12pieces). Rm48.  

A rack of fresh oysters meant to be slurp from its shell. 

Baked Salmon Sushi. Rm39. Japanese Lasagna.

I figured there were a bit too much going on in there. I could barely taste what lies beneath.

Fuji Volcano Roll. Rm43.

Fried shrimp, scallop sautéed with spicy garlic sauce, garnished with green onions, soy sauce and eel sauce.

For a dish like this, you have to eat the ingredients separately. I started with the fried shrimps on top first, before moving on to the sushi. The overall dish was tasty and leaned towards the savoury side, probably from the ebiko, soy and eel sauce.

Art of Maki.

A simple dish which consists of hammered tuna. It really didn't need the extra sauces.

Eiffel Tower. Rm58.

We ate the spicy tuna tartare with a tea-spoon!

I didn't really enjoy this. The rice was all mushy and sour from the sauce. In fact, I thought the sauce overpowered the rest of the dish, like few of the other dishes I had that night. On a side note, tartare isn't for everyone.

Seafood Martini. Rm43.

 

Like the former, this dish was on the verge of being too saucy and sour. Tuna, white tuna and salmon slices, layed on a martini glass with a dash of yuzu and wasabi.

To be fair, the slices of sashimi had great textures and had a nice bounce to it when I popped it into my mouth - after diligently wiping off the sauces with my chopsticks.

Happy Sumo. Rm43.

Happy Sumo made me slightly happier. It had shrimp tempura, cream cheese and snow crab inside, topped with signature yuzu, eel sauce and strawberry sauce.

Yuzu has citrusy flavours, eel sauce is savoury in nature and obviously, strawberry sauce is sweet-sour. A myriad of sauces and flavours going on in this dish. Though it tasted quite identical to the former, I was glad that the rice neutralised the bold sauces slightly, making much more edible.

Tokyo Smoked Duck. Rm6/each.

 

Here comes the darling of my meal - smoked duck sushi!

A slice of smoked duck meat, made juicy and flavourful. I had dire urge to grab another from the plate, but there wasn't enough to go around. It was that good!

The meal started off fantastic - salmon belly, sashimi and my pick of the night, Tokyo smoked duck. As the night progressed, I noticed that there were far too much sauces going around. At one point, I was really missing my conventional soy sauce and wasabi.

Overall Rating: 5.5/10. If you're a huge fan of sashimi, you'll not be disappointed. They have loads of sashimi made available on their buffet spread. But - yes there's a but - but, if you're in for the sushi and side dishes, this is not your typical Japanese buffet where sushi are slathered with mayo to be dip in soy sauce only. What you'll get - sushi with garlic sauce and yuzu dressing, with rice mashed fine and a myriad of other condiments in it. Given that you're adventurous and willing to give fusion food a go, by all means, head over to Yama & J for an affordable and decent dose of Japanese fusion cuisine. If I were to summarise my meal in a few words - too much sauce!

For online reservations via TABLEAPP: Click Here.
For reservations via SMS: 016-381 8896 (SMS 11.30am – 10pm daily)
For phone reservations: 03-7931 7372 (Call 11.30am - 10pm daily)

Yama & J is located at:
Lot M-6-1, Palm Square, 72A Jaya One, Jalan 13/6, Petaling Jaya, 46200 Selangor.