Monday, April 20, 2009

Japanese Karee Rice - Agefuku

Despite having more and more new Japanese restaurants and outlets opening, Japanese curry rice in Malaysia still wasn’t that popular. I’ve been to a few outlets and ordered curry rice, but the taste and quality disappoints me. Maybe Malaysians don’t really enjoy having curry rice that are not spicy compared to the local nasi kandar. Or maybe curry rice just sound like food that you will have it in jail.

So behold, Agefuku Japanese restaurant, which has been sitting near my workplace (Taipan USJ 10) for years without me noticing it. There are two sections; the top floor serves ala cart and buffet, while the ground floor serves the so call ‘Japanese Fried Delight’, or Japanese Fast food. While many would fancy the buffet on the top floor (due to the Japanese Buffet trend in Klang Valley), I find the fast food section more interesting. For some reason, we were happy to see the word ‘non-halal’. In Malaysia, very few Japanese restaurant would dare take the risk to serve pork in their menu, so kudos to Agefuku. And yes, pork plays an important role in Japanese food.

We tried the Japanese curry (Karee) rice with fried pork cutlet, and I can tell you that this is the best Japanese curry rice I have ever had in Malaysia. The meat is tender and juicy, the portion of rice is just nice, and the best part is the curry sauce, which is the exact taste I had in Japan (thick, sweet and a little spicy). It satisfies my taste bud every time I pay a visit.

Lately there is a promotion on certain items which cost only RM 3 for a main course. I am a little worried because such promotion could hint that the business is not doing very well. RM 3 for ramen or teriyaki chicken rice is certainly a loss making move, as the average meal there cost about RM 10. I have experience in a restaurant where they are doing RM 2 breakfast buffet. What we get is bread, butter, fried rice and some fried noodles. The restaurant closed after 1 week… So the lesson here is not to undervalue your product.

I hope this bold move will not jeopardize the restaurant. I believe there’s an opportunity to grow and to build up their reputation. They already have good food, good location, and they are the only Japanese fast food player in the region. So please gambateh and 生き続ける! (stay alive…)

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