Iketeru - 池輝 Japanese Fine Dining at Hilton Hotel Kuala Lumpur

Iketeru or 池輝, located opposite KL Sentral Station, is among the few restaurants in the Hilton Hotel Kuala Lumpur, that offers an exquisite dining experience. This restaurant is frequented by Japanese themselves for the food served are undoubtedly of the highest quality.



You will find yourself stepping into a refreshing and relaxed setting, with water running down walls to greet you, as the platform leads you towards the simple and humble interior. There's a variety of seating options including teppanyaki tables, a sushi counter and tatami rooms.



We ordered the Unagi Kabayaki, Chicken Teriyaki, Soft Shell Crab and Tofu Steak to go with garlic rice. The garlic rice is a simple dish but its actually quite aromatic in flavour.



Goshina, the sashimi set costs MYR150 (USD 40+) per plate, serves four types of fish and squid. Sashimi at Iketeru is one of the freshest you can find in city.



Iketeru is open everyday between 12:00PM to 10:30PM. Highly recommended for its quality of food.

Food & Tea @ Tropicana City Mall

Does Tropicana City Mall ring a bell? It's a new shopping mall along the Sprint Expressway, situated right at the corner before the exit to LDP Expressway, opened some time in December 2008.

It is my first time to this mall to dine with my girlfriends and I find that the interior of the mall, is too spacious, just felt rather empty. We met up for dinner at Food & Tea restaurant restaurant, located on the 2nd level. I was optimistic as the Menu looked interesting. As usual, I go for the chef's recommendation.

The fried rice my girlfriends ordered is still acceptable, though a bit on the oily side. But I warn you not to go for the Butter-Fried Chicken with Rice. It is a definite NO-NO-NO!!! It does look promising doesn't it (see image below).



I thought it odd that I couldn't smell anything when the dish arrived, but gave it the benefit of the doubt and starting digging in. After all, when one is hungry, everything seem to taste good right?To my horror, I was disgusted by the taste, or should I say, lack of taste!! Food are still edible if its tasteless, but if its horrible, I'd say the taste bud would scream NO ENTRY! Even my brother who never cook can come up with a dish that tastes better.

One dish is all it takes for me to conclude that I will never step into this shop ever. The chef obviously placed no effort at all in ensuring the quality of the food being prepared.

I LOVE YOO! 老油鬼鬼

Do you recall some breakfast scenes in a Hong Kong drama? A common meal to start the day of a Hongkee is rice congee with "You Tiao". You Tiao is actually a salted strip of dough fried till golden brown. Its appetizing by itself, but equally good when dipped in the congee.



I LOVE YOO! @ The Gardens, MidValley serves just that, except they have choice of congee with Dry Scallop or Dry Oyster Peanut. This simple combination of a meal may sound bland and unappealing to some, but for rice congee lovers, this one of the many ways to savour the best of congees.



The two times that I've been there during the weekends, the crowd just continuously flow to this tiny stall at the Lower Ground of The Gardens. The many helpers there worked unanimously together serving the plentiful patrons hours after hours, and I can't imagine if they even have time for a breather until the day is finally over.



Also on the menu is Sesame Ball, Yam Ball & Sweet Potato Ball, Tau Foo Far (Soy Bean Curd), buns and for drinks, soya bean and coffee.

Well, you'll just have to try it yourself to understand what attracts people to such a simple meal.

Uncle Lim's

Nasi Lemak lovers, this is one shop to savour the authentic flavours of sambal with sotong and curry chicken. This is one dish that's well worth the price. The other commendable item is Uncle Lim's Laksa. Also on the menu are chicken chop, variety of toasts, half boiled eggs, etc., typically those that you can get from the chinese kopitiam.


They still use the all-time classic tea cups (though not stained) which kind of brings you back to memory lane of the coffee-shops our grandparents used to frequent back in those days. Though now, you can enjoy the "kopi"(coffee) and "teh"(tea) all in the comforts of an air-conditioning.

You'd be surprise how many uncle(s) and aunty(s) spend their time there, catching up on times and sipping their hot cuppa with toast or a half boiled egg.


The outlet at Ikano lower ground floor is really really good. Its almost always packed to the brim. You just need to have some patience to queue up and self-service your favourites.

The branch at Berjaya Times Square is really lacking. My whole family agreed that the Nasi Lemak and Uncle Lim's Laksa wasn't as good. We didn't bother trying other dishes since the signature ones were hopeless.

Who's the Chef?

After having a sumptous meal at a restaurant, have you ever wondered about the chef who prepared the dishes with such exquisite touches that you just cannot resist ?

This site gives you a sneak peak of the chefs behind the kitchen of some fine dining restaurants -- http://www.visionkl.com/2007-11/today3.asp

Among the restaurants in hotels that are featured on this site are:

Avanti Italian-American Ristorante @ Sunway Resort Hotel & Spa
Bossa Nova @ Parkroyal KL
Chalet @ Hotel Equatorial KL
Chynna@ Hilton KL
The Emperor @ Sheraton Subang Hotel and Towers
Genji Japanese Restaurant @ Hilton PJ Hotel
GOBO Upstairs Lounge and Grill @ Traders Hotel
Iketeru @ Hilton KL
ISHQ @ Crowne Plaza Mutiara KL
KURA @ One World Hotel
Lafite @ Shangri-La Hotel KL
Lai Po Heen @ Mandarin Oriental KL
MED. @Marchehé @ Renaissance KL Hotel
Ming Ren @ Highlands Hotel, Pahang
The Olive @ Genting Hotel, Pahang
Pacifica Grill & Bar @ Mandarin Oriental KL
QBA Lating Grill @ Westin KL
Qing Zhen @ Novotel Hydro Majestic KL
Sagar @ Hotel Istana KL
Senses @ Hilton KL
Tai Zi Heen @ Prince Hotel & Residence KL
Tuscany Italian Restaurant @ Putrajaya Marriott Hotel, Putrajaya
West Lake Garden @ Sunway Resort Hotel & Spa, Sunway
Zuan Yuan @ One World Hotel, PJ

Other mentioned independent restaurants are:

China Treasures @ Sime Darby Convention Centre, KL
The Dining Room @ La Bodega, Bangsar
Enak KL @ Starhill Gallery, KL
IL TEMPIO @ Taman Tun Abdul Razak, Ampang
Le Français @ One Bangsar
Tamarind Spings, Taman Tun Abdul Razak, Ampang

Ikan Bakar anyone?

I'm sure you've heard of the famous "Ikan Bakar" (Grilled Fish) at Bukit Aman. No? You should really go give it a try. Everyone will tell you: once you've tried this "Ikan Bakar", there wouldn't be another one that you'd want to have.

Was it really that good ??

Went there for the first time yesterday for lunch. It was packed, and you see lines of fish on the grill, and people all over.

The grilled catfish (Ikan Keli) is a must try, you wouldn't want to miss that. The sauce that goes with the grilled fish was superb! It's slightly brownish like sauce with raw onions and chilli, slightly sour and tad bit spicy. Couldn't exactly figure what sauce that was but it was good. It complements the fish nicely. Your grilled fish would not be the same without it.

You can just have the fish alone or with rice and other dishes that you can get from the food court beside it.

On some days, it will be so packed that the catfish will be sold out.

We did try the grilled string ray as well, but it wasn't as good as the grilled catfish.

Price ?
Average: MYR6-15 (USD2-5)

How to Get There ?
On Jalan Parlimen from city centre, turn left at the traffic light before Lake Club into Jalan Cendrawasih.

Then take a left turn into Jalan Tanglin. Go straight until T-junction and turn right. Take another left into Jalan Cenderasari and follow the road to the right passing Tanglin Hospital.

Its located just beside Methodist Girls School, you wouldn't miss it.

You can park your car at the large parking area on your right and walk towards the food court like building. The "Ikan Bakar" is next to it.