Firstly a word about Cyberjaya. Basically a science park with a few residential areas dotted among the offices, half an hour’s drive from Kuala Lumpur city centre.
When we first arrived there back in 2016, my husband, Bryn was quite happy with the value for money he was getting in his accommodation; brand new condo, giant swimming pool with lovely green areas, gym, kids’ playground.
The streets outside however were deserted. Where would he get his durians from? How would he survive without night markets? Where would he get his nasi lemak in the morning? As a matter of fact, would Cyberjaya have any food in it at all?
Well rest assured that Bryn did survive our 2-year stay, and in fact not only did he “survive” but it turns out that the place is jam packed full of interesting eateries offering the entire range of culinary experiences easily on a par with anything you can find in Kuala Lumpur!
Who would have thought that Malaysia’s Silicon Valley would contain such high quality restaurants? Some of our favorites were Sebulek (nasi campur) at Shaftsbury, A&K Kitchen (nasi campur) at Cybersquare, Al Qasr at D’Pulze (arabic) and Jaipur Mahal (Indian).
But arguably the jewel in the crown was Kiraku, the Japanese restaurant at Shaftsbury. You will find Kiraku on the corner of the 2nd floor, at the opposite end to the Redtick supermarket. Kiraku has great lunch sets and dinner menus, but the stand-out feature surely has to be the amazing buffet.
Yes I know, there are dozens and dozens of cheap Japanese buffets in KL and surrounding areas and they’re mostly all the same. Once you’ve tried one, you’ve tried them all, right?
Lowest-quality-but-still-ok- frozen sashimi, standard commercial sushi, a few basic hot dishes, maybe some tempura, and ice cream to finish off.
Not Kiraku! Kiraku is ridiculous! For some mysterious reason, the owners managed to serve up unlimited, perfectly fresh and ridiculously well-presented portions of top quality deliciousness, of the sort that would normally set you back RM60+ for each one, all for a one-time buffet charge of RM68!(*currently the price is slightly higher at RM72++).
And, importantly, we can order an unlimited number of various items from the menu with more than 60 kinds, but if we don’t finish the food, we have to pay the original price of the leftover food.
And the buffet time limit is 2 hours after marking the first order and giving it to the staff.
Even if some customers might be satisfied with only sampling a few of the items on the menu, we used to wonder how it was possible for Kiraku to break even, let alone make a profit on this buffet.
Bryn used to say that he was thinking about offering them some advice on their business model.
Our best guess is that the owners have managed to take advantage of cheaper rental costs in Cyberjaya as compared with KL, and they have passed on these savings to the customer.
Still, Bryn claims that he would actually rather pay a bit more than the asking price so that he wouldn’t feel as guilty!
Undoubtedly, Kiraku is worth the trip from KL, even if you are not coming to Cyberjaya for any other reason.
Bryn’s absolute favorite is the salmon belly, though I’m sure he’d agree that the majority of the items are excellent.
Personally I fell in love with the eel sushi(unakyu) as well as their signature “carbless roll” made with salmon, salmon roe, no rice but a secret crispy-crunchy ingredient (we suspect it is crunchy tempura skin) that combines with the sashimi to produce a result that is out of this world!
Apart from the use of obviously high quality ingredients, especially for a buffet in this price range, we also appreciated the fact that dishes are ordered off the menu, which gives the whole experience an a-la-carte feel.
All dishes are halal, although the restaurant does sell alcoholic beverages such as Sake and Japanese beer.
The ambience is somewhat upmarket yet not overwhelmingly luxurious; the service is excellent and Japanese green tea (hot or cold) is included.
We got to know the lovely Chinese manager auntie quite well (well, hardly surprising as we were there all the time!) and she was really good to us. She would even arrange for the chefs to serve us our favorite cuts of fish.
Try not to tick off too many all at once on the first round! Even if you are on Bryn’s level in terms of eating ability (he has only ever been full once in his life in Japan), we both agreed that it is much more rewarding to have only a small number of dishes arrive at once.
This allows us to savor each dish and prolong the excitement! For obvious reasons, this is however easier said than done. Usually I tend to be the one who breaks the rule.
Bryn does his best to remind me to pace myself, but I have to admit I don’t always listen, and sure enough I’m normally done when Bryn is only just finishing his warm up.
The problem with that is that Bryn gets a bit embarrassed when he’s left to continue on his own so I keep ordering dishes for him, which he obviously appreciates, but only on the condition that I at least pretend to be sharing some of it with him.
Oh, I almost forgot to mention the green tea crème brulee. Now I should point out that Bryn is pretty fussy when it comes to desserts, especially at buffets where desserts aren’t usually the reason you’re there.
When you’re gorging on fresh seafood and as much salmon belly as you could wish for there is hardly time for cheap cakes and ice cream is there? Certainly not at any ordinary Japanese buffet under RM150. But Kiraku is no ordinary Japanese buffet. Take a look at these little hand-made pleasure pots.
The first time we went, we had a couple of these at the end to finish off and were pleasantly surprised. The second time, we had more than a couple and from the third time onwards, we started strategically ordering them after every 2-3 dishes for optimal effectiveness.
Salmon belly and crème brulee – what a wonderful combination!
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