Nippori Cafe, Empire Damansara, PJ

Tucked away on the first floor of Empire Damansara's Heritage Lane is Nippori, a charming Japanese restaurant with a cosy, relaxed ambiance. This hidden gem is run by the Fukuzato family, with a menu focusing on lovingly prepared Japanese home-style food.

We were warmly greeted by the service staff and led into the cosy, quaint restaurant. There are tatami seats with round tables at the front of the restaurant, with lots of natural lighting flowing in through the large windows or tables through the back of the restaurant to cater for larger groups.

The food is freshly prepared everyday using quality ingredients, with no MSG or artificial flavouring added. From the a la carte menu, diners can choose from various appetizers, salads, sashimi, makimono, sushi, handroll, Japanese sandwich, wafu pizza, grill, deep fried, rice and noodles. Nippori also offer great value for money set menus, with prices starting from RM30.

To start, we had the Thick cut trout sashimi (RM38) which came with five impressively thick slices of salmon sashimi. The salmon trout is air-flown in from Norway three times a week to guarantee freshness of the produce. Absolutely luscious!

Nippori-style Caesar salad with homemade dressing (RM28)

The set menus are highly popular with their guests as they offer a complete meal with main(s), chawanmushi, miso soup, rice, salad, nimono, tsukemono and fresh fruits.

One of the recommended sets is the Grilled salmon and chicken karaage set (RM48). This came with two pieces of salmon fillet, which was nicely grilled so it was still moist with crispy skin. I love chicken karaage, and this is possibly one of the best I've tried in KL - the chicken was so juicy and the skin was deliciously crisp.

Another bestseller here is the Deep fried fish tartar and salmon sashimi set (RM48). The batter was nice and crisp, and the fish was topped with Nippori's special Japanese tartar sauce. This set also comes with five thick slices of salmon sashimi.

We also had the Unagi hitsumabushi and salmon sashimi set (RM65) which arrived in a two tier bento wooden box. The staff kindly explained how to enjoy this dish - we were to remove some of the unagi and rice to the empty serving bowl and pour hot tea over and eat it chazuke-style. Baby D loved this and proceeded to finish the whole portion of the unagi rice. This set also comes with salmon sashimi.

Nippori is also doing a Hambagu promotion currently. Hambagu is Japanese-style hamburger, usually eaten with white rice. We had the Original Japanese hamburger rice set (RM38), a juicy chicken burger with Nippori's homemade Japanese-style BBQ sauce and a sunny side egg on top. Nippori is also offering hambagu with cheddar cheese sauce, white cheese garlic sauce and cheese lava red sauce (tomato).

Honey peach soda (RM13), Kyoho grape soda (RM12), Yuzu soda (RM12), Strawberry frozen (RM13)

Reservations recommended, book your table online here:

Don't forget to check out the Instaworthy spots around Empire Damansara after your meal.


Operating hours: Lunch 12pm - 2.30pm; Dinner 6pm - 10pm.

Pork-free.

Service: Good.

Location: Nippori, F-02(102), Heritage Lane, Empire Damansara, Jalan PJU8/8, Damansara Perdana

Petaling Jaya, Malaysia. (Parking rate RM2 for first hour, RM1 for subsequent hour on weekdays, RM2 per entry on weekends).

Tel: 03-7733 8592

If you enjoyed reading my posts, LIKE me on Facebook! You can also follow me on Instagram (@babysumo) for more photo updates or subscribe to our YouTube channel. Thanks :)

Royal Canton, DC Mall: Dim Sum Platter & More!

Over the weekend, we visited Royal Canton in DC Mall, KL to check out their latest promotions as well as refreshed dim sum selections.

We started off our meal with the 3x3 dim sum platter, which features nine different types of dim sum  items nicely presented in a wooden box. Perfect for those who want to try a variety of dim sum here without having to order a full portion everytime. The dim sum varieties may vary on a daily basis but rest assured that they will always be of similar quality, made with high quality ingredients.  Royal Canton prides themselves with serving their customers only freshly made dim sum (never frozen), with no preservatives or artificial colouring used in their dim sum.

During our visit, we had the Ma lai gao, Siew mai, Steamed char siew bao, Har gao, Baked Portuguese egg tart, Wu kok (taro dumpling with pork), Salad prawn dumpling, Dried scallop, spinach and shrimp dumpling and Lao sa bao (salted egg custard bun). Every component was well-made and served hot, we thoroughly enjoyed it.  Available daily for lunch, now priced at RM23 (normal price RM33).

Other than dim sum, Royal Canton also offers an amazing selection of a la carte Chinese dishes. Our Lala King aka Baby D was delighted when the Steamed lala steam in superior soup (RM18/500g) arrived at our table. The lala clams were fresh and sweet, cooked in a deliciously spicy superior stock with ginger and cili padi. Both the kids had two bowls of this.. yum!

BabySumoKids also shared a basket of siew mai (pork and shrimp dumpling with fish roe) (RM9.50) as well as the Stir fried Australian Black Angus beef with Cambodian kampot pepper served on a hotplate (RM48 for small). Superb dish - the beef was tender and loved the peppery, fragrant Cambodian kampot pepper.

Meanwhile, the adults tackled one of their signature dishes, the German-style Crispy pork knuckle (RM38 for medium, RM76 for large). WOW was the first word that came out of our mouths as we took our first bite - super crispy crackling with juicy, tender meat. Even better than the ones we previously tried in Germany. We were told that it is first marinated, steamed and then deep fried before serving. The pork knuckle is served with a spicy, tangy dipping sauce. Great with a glass of cold German beer (they serve Weihenstephan here). Hubby is a happy man!

Not to be missed here are their flaky, buttery Baked egg tarts too! We also love their Deep fried fresh prawn and beancurd roll (RM9.50), Ginger soup sesame tong yuen (RM8) and Mango sago with pomelo (RM10).

Enjoy 6% cashback everytime you dine in any restaurants managed by Globalfoods and RM5 off on your first bill. Recommend a friend and enjoy 3% cash back when they dine here too.

Download free app UDS by following this link, register and press the link again to get the membership.
https://promo.uds.app/apps/?code=uhxc0548

You can enjoy the cash back at
1- Hanare, their Japanese fine dining at Intermark KL (pork-free)
2- Royal Canton, their Chinese restaurant serving dim sum and HK style roasts at DC Mall, Damansara Heights
3- Golden Valley, their halal seafood restaurant at Melawati Mall
4- Harley's, their no-frills all natural Burger and fried chicken cafe at DC Mall, Damansara Heights and Third Avenue, Cyberjaya


Opening times: Lunch: Mon-Fri 12:00PM - 3:00PM, Sat & Sun 10:30AM - 3:00PM, Dinner: 6:00PM - 10:00PM

Location: Royal Canton, Lot L2-03A - L2-2-07, 2nd floor, DC Mall, Damansara City, 6 Jalan Damanlela, Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia. (Parking RM3 for first 2 hours, RM3 for subsequent hour)

Tel: 03-2731 4628

Website: https://www.facebook.com/RoyalCantonKL/

If you enjoyed reading my posts, LIKE me on Facebook! You can also follow me on Instagram (@babysumo) for more photo updates or subscribe to our YouTube channel. Thanks :)