Review: Kitaro Japanese Restaurant, Brunei

Good morning all!

Here comes my review on Kitaro Japanese Restaurant as promised. Kitaro Japanese Restaurant is not a newly opened Japanese restaurant in town. As a matter of fact, it had been opened several years ago but it was my first visit to Kitaro yesterday evening. Whenever I think of Japanese cuisine, Excapade Sushi and Kaizen Sushi were usually the first to strike my brain. Hence, it took me quite a long time to acknowledge the existence of Kitaro Japanese Restaurant. Anyways, Kitaro Japanese Restaurant is located behind Centrepoint Hotel in Gadong. There used to be another Japanese restaurant located in the building of Centrepoint Hotel – Takara Japanese Restaurant. But I think it had been closed down for quite some time.

Let’s start, shall we?

1. Chuka Wakame (B$3.50)

An appetizer that Sister ordered – seaweed salad. I used to fancy this a lot but started to lose appetite on it after some time. No idea why. The leaf lookalike green paste by the side of the dish is wasabi. I think this was just normal, nothing special to rave about.

2. Edamame (B$2.70)

I guess it’s pretty obvious of what this is just by looking at the picture. This is something that Sister ordered as well.

3. Gyoza (B$4.50)

Gyoza is a kind Japanese dumpling (just in case if you don’t know). Different races have  different kinds of dumplings. In China, dumplings are called 水胶, Korean has their own dumplings called Mandu. Kitaro’s Gyoza is rather dry a bit and it’s not that juicy on the inside. Good thing is that, it’s not that oily on the outside as compared to the Gyoza that I had at Kaizen Sushi Waterfront few months ago. But still, they could have done it better.

4. Shitake Tempura (B$6.00)

They used a huge plate to place these five pieces of Shitake Tempura! *sweat* The plate looked nice but they could have used a smaller plate instead coz it takes up a lot of space on the table. The Shitake Tempura were nice but they were not as juicy as the ones from Kaizen Sushi Waterfront.

5. Unagi Kabayaki (B$9.00)

Sorry to be frank, but this was a complete failure. First, they overcooked the Unagi. The flesh were a bit dry and they don’t melt in your mouth. Second, the teriyaki sauce was too salty. I still prefer the Jangeo Gui from Kimchi Restaurant. And the price was much more affordable for a big slice of Unagi! *drools*

6. Nibu Sushi (B$12.60)

A platter with a combination of different types of sushi. Okay, this is completely not worth the price that we paid for. Why? We expected fresh salmon sashimi. But the moment put the salmon sashimi slices into our mouth, we instantly knew that they weren’t fresh at all. As for the sushi, the rice were slightly wet. No idea why. One reason could be they put too much vinegar when they made the rice, or the rice aren’t fresh anymore. And the color of the salmon maki was weird at the bottom. Slightly brown to grey kind of color. Not sure if that’s the color of the part where they made our salmon maki or they aren’t fresh anymore hence the color changed?

7. Salmon Cheese Avocado Temaki (B$3.60)

Sister’s all time favorite food at any Japanese restaurant. You must be wondering why there is no sight of cheese at all when the title said Salmon Cheese Avocado Temaki? Sister specially requested the waitress not to have cheese on her SCA Temaki. Seaweed wasn’t crispy, she said.

8. Ramen (B$5.80)

Had been craving for ramen lately. Hence, I ordered one. Nothing special, but it was good enough. But it could have been better though. Used miso as the soup base. Ramen noodles were cooked just fine.

9. Okonomiyaki (B$6.00)

My favorite dish of the night – Okonomiyaki. It’s is a kind of Japanese pancake. If you watch Japanese dramas or movies a lot, you would know what this is. In most cases, Japanese people mix and stir their own ingredients. There will be a hot plate on every tables in the restaurant. Once you are done mixing your ingredients, you can cook your own Okonomiyaki. But in Kitaro, they cooked it for you. Their Okonomiyaki is made out of cabbage and carrots topped with cheese, katsuobushi (bonito flakes) and seaweed. And they lose control with their pepper powder in their ingredients, which makes their Okonomiyaki a little bit spicy. This dish is best served hot!

Total damage: B$52.30

Overall Rating: 6 out of 10

Verdict: Customer services were good and the staff were friendly. Good ambiance and it fits the theme of the restaurant. Food presentation wise, I think they need to brush up on that part. Big plate for a small portion of food is a waste of table space especially for customers who ordered a table full of food. Majorly disappointed with their salmon sashimi and unagi. Salmon sashimi weren’t fresh and they overcooked their unagi. No bottomless supply of wasabi and picked ginger like what Excapade Sushi and Kaizen Sushi had. Not that I am a wasabi person, but these two ingredients should come in well prepared on all tables.

Kitaro Japanese Restaurant
Unit 5-7, Ground Floor,
The Centrepoint, Gadong,
Bandar Seri Begawan, BE3519,
Brunei Darussalam.
Tel: +673-2457373