Azuma (Penang)

We have been to many Japanese restaurants in Penang, range from chain restaurants to fine dining. However, this is the first time I post about my dining out experience in Penang after living here for more than six months. Since John came around, I hardly bring my DSLR camera when going out. Instead, my handbag always filled with diaper, spare clothes, toys and some snacks for him. By the way, all photos in this post was taken with T's Casio Exilim.

When I first heard about Azuma, it brought back some sweet memories we had in Sydney. There was a Japanese restaurant in Sydney CBD named Azuma too. Azuma (Penang) is located in the Queens Bay Mall. It was quite crowded on the public holiday, T made a reservation in advance so we was able to get a table with sea view.

One thing I like about this restaurant is their table arrangement. They have tables next to fish tank, with Penang Bridge view, at the sushi counter with conveyor belt, and tables for two. Food serving time was reasonable despite of the busy evening on public holiday. However, we had to asked three times for T's hot sake.

We ordered many dishes, two dishes were new to me - Tatami Iwashi and Zushi Pizza. Tatami Iwashi tasted like crispy fish cracker, four small pieces cost RM10. The base of zushi pizza is made with deep-fried compressed rice coated with bread crumb.

Shake Zushi Pizza with Salmon topping

Unagi Zushi Pizza with Eel Topping

Here are some other dishes we ordered...

Sake No Tataki - Seared Salmon

Shake Tataki Maki

Grilled Shishamo

Sanma Shioyaki - Grilled mackarel with salt

Gindara Baisen Gomayaki - Grilled cod fillet with sesame sauce

Take Sashimi

Katsu Don, served with miso soup and pickle - something cooked for John, was expecting pork but it was chicken.

After meal, we were served with complimentary green tea ice cream. Nothing fancy, just a tiny scoop of ice cream in a bowl. At that time, I was too busy to take photo. John met new friends there and they were chasing around. I tried to divert his attention and brought him to the fish tank.

Generally, the quality of food was satisfactory and I like the grilled cod most. But (always but!), I really disappointed with their food presentation. As you can see from the photos, they simply garnish each dish with something green and yellow. If you look closely, the lettuce had brownish on edges. Perhaps, I should lower my expectation of Japanese food presentation in Malaysia?

One last thing, pizza serving bowls were both have obvious chirp marks on the edge, which I think it should not be used anymore even at home. Purposely I talked about it loudly when it was served and am pretty sure the manager (from her outfit) heard about it. I can be a nasty customer sometimes.

Price? VIP members enjoy 10% discount of the bill. We had all the above dishes plus one Japanese beer, two hot sake, one soft drink and one green tea, after discount and included taxes the bill came up to RM375.