Hajime Tokyo Japanese Cuisine Restaurant

After 10 long months, I finally have the opportunity to step again into the grey building of Hajime Tokyo Japanese Cuisine Restaurant situated at Jalan Damai. The last time I was there with my cousin and siblings for 'last lunch' as my sister was leaving for Singapore. Time sure flies since then.

Here's a picture of me, posing at the front entrance, to show you the signboard that you'll have to look out for when you are driving down Jalan Damai. There are a lot of other restaurants around there with bigger signboards. So just in case you are looking for something bigger than this, remember that Hajime is represented by that cute little fish picture. Then you won't miss the place.

Here's a snapshot of how it looks like inside the restaurant. Surrounded by patches of grey walls nicely engraved with small details of artistic patterns, customers can either try the Japanese seatings or the normal ones (tables and chairs). Japanese seatings are like the above picture, legs into the ground so that you can play footsie with your lover under the table. Hehehe!

Introducing the first dish: Lidako Salad. Freshly put together with vegetables, tomatoes, bread crumbs and deep fried prawns. Toasted with the special salad sauce made by Hajime experts itself, this is one great appetizer to start the meal with.

When I was much younger, cold noodles was definitely a no-no because it tasted like slippery ice-cream pasta. But as I grew up, I fell in love with certain cold noodles. For example, this special one known as Cold Chasoba (green tea soba noodles). Served on ice, the noodles are cold and solid when dipped into the green tea sauce for a slurpy time.

When we first told my brother that he must try this dish, it's called Black Spider, he freaked out. He thought it was real spiders. The innocence of a child. In actual fact, Black Spider is a simple dish of soft shell crabs accompanied with black caviar. Pretty good combo, I've gotta say.

Next one up is the Taco Belt Maki. I don't see the belt, except for delicious crispy looking seaweed wrapping around the ingredients. The unique point is... there is no rice in this dish. Purely seafood ingredients wrapped together neatly with seaweed and deep fried till crisp. Must have if you guys happen to be there.

Oh no, this is not your favourite smooth pudding. It's Chawan Mushi, a pudding-like recipe that is smooth on the inside out. On the surface, it looks plain but once you dig your spoon into it, you will find lots of ingredients that would never fail to surprise you. I think it lacks a bit of taste, but not too bad since we had lots of heavy-loaded dishes earlier.

Up next is my brother's favourite Hajime Potato Mentai. He probably likes it cause it looks like a pizza. My brother does not fancy Japanese food, don't think I'll bring him for sushi ever again. On the other hand, at least this simple dish managed to win his heart. Baked potatoes with loads of cheese, what else can anyone crave for?

Here's my favourite so far: Avacado Lover. Who ever thought that avacado slices would go so well with those baby octopus was brilliant because it is good. It's the best Japanese thing I've ever had. Check out the melted cheese on top of each piece. Yes, those are not mayonise. Those are melted cheese, strong and rich melted cheese. Yummy!

While every Japanese restaurant you go recommends their significant Green Tea ice-cream, Hajime presents you with a wide range of other flavours. One of their must-try is the Wasabi Ice-Cream. First taste will keep you smiling, second spoon will make you grin, by the time you reach the third spoon, you're so high in the strong taste that Wasabi suddenly seems like the best thing served as part of Japanese cuisine. Remember to try out their Black Sesame Ice-Cream too - Simply to superb to resist!

For all the girls out there, the photos above may make your mouth water because they are simply foodilicious. But here's another tip: If you are with only a few of your girlfriends, choose to sit at the counter bar. There is quite a handful of handsome mata sepet guys in aprons preparing your sushi behind the counter. Some of them look pretty hot and sexy when they put their delicate hand into crafting that artpiece of food to be served to customers. Food for the stomach, food for the heart - that's Hajime for you. Have a foodilicious Japanese time there!