The Hiroshima oyster is plump and silken soft with sea-faring nuances peppered throughout. Photos: AZMAN GHANI/The Star
Tucked in a quiet, unassuming corner of Bandar Puteri Puchong in Selangor is Ishin Fine Dine. If the name sounds familiar, that’s because it is.
The eatery is the second outpost of the famed Ishin Japanese Dining, ensconced just off Old Klang Road that has become a neighbourhood stalwart in the nearly two decades since it opened.
Much like its predecessor, Ishin Fine Dine is the brainchild of Victor Lim, a seasoned property developer who opened the original restaurant over 15 years ago with his business partner.
“So what happened is, the two of us started our first outlet in Old Klang Road. Initially, it was more like a hobby because the both of us love Japanese culture a lot.
Lim is an experienced property developer who opened Ishin in tribute to his love for Japanese culinary culture.
“And in my partner’s business (in the steel industry), he deals with a lot of Japanese suppliers and customers. So that’s why we thought since we need to entertain a lot we might as well open our own restaurant. So that is how we got into the F&B business.
“It started as a hobby but progressively, we got more serious about the business,” says Lim.
In fact, they got so serious that last year, they opened their second eatery Ishin Fine Dine, at the behest of the IOI Group, who were developing a new township and looking for a high-quality Japanese restaurant to enter the fray.
Lim and his partner agreed on the condition that they were allowed to buy the lots the restaurant operates on instead of leasing the space. Subsequently, they spent over RM7mil on renovations, outfitting the sprawling space to their taste and style.
The eatery boasts high ceilings, large windows, wireless phone chargers, state-of-the-art air-conditioning units, a host of soundproof private rooms and rare Japanese champagnes priced at RM30,000 a bottle!
Lim spent over RM7mil on renovations and consequently, the eatery has a natural, instant charm.
The food has a focus on Japanese omakase dining, although you could also opt for set meals or a la carte options. Lim flies regularly to Japan to gain inspiration and has developed a powerful palate, which he uses to motivate the chefs at his restaurant.
For the omakase meals, prices range from RM488 for a nine-course omakase to RM1,288 for the chef’s special omakase.
The Japanese word “omakase” directly translates to “I leave it up to you”, which means the entire meal is decided by the chef and there is no menu to predicate what you’ll be eating.
The concept gained popularity in the 1990s and in Japan, omakase often means the freshest meat, seafood and produce of the season. In Malaysia, a Japanese omakase menu is also designed around the seasons in Japan, so expect a revolving cast of ingredients, depending on what’s flown in at the moment.
The sashimi selection features the freshest bounty of the season, including octopus, amberjack and puffer fish.
The current omakase menu at Ishin Fine Dine begins with a huge, voluptuous Hiroshima oyster topped with ikura (salmon roe) and junsai (watershield, a kind of plant-based jelly substance). The star of this offering is the oyster, which is silken soft with a sluicing of brine reverberating through its core. This supple plumpness is topped by the pearlescent bursts of umami from the ikura and the slight crunch of the watershield in what proves to be an effervescent meal opener.
The next course is deep-fried monkfish liver, topped with radish and soy sauce. It’s an earthy, rustic dish that taps into the au naturel attributes of the liver and highlights it to fullest effect.
On the sashimi front, you might be presented with a selection that includes red snapper, amberjack, octopus and the notorious fugu or puffer fish. The red snapper has a firm, almost meaty countenance while the amberjack is a fleshy fella whose freshness is undisputed. The octopus’ innate charm is in its tender disposition while the puffer fish has a cushiony-soft texture and an inherent sweetness.
Puffer fish sperm sacs are one of the unique delicacies on the omakase menu.
Puffer fish has gained some degree of notoriety around the world as it is extremely poisonous when eaten as is. The toxins contained in the fish’ ovaries and liver called tetrodotoxin, have to removed manually before the fish is cooked. At Ishin, the toxins have already been removed before the fish even arrives in Malaysia, so you can rest easy when you savour this aquatic treasure.
Enjoy another extremely rare component of the puffer fish in the form of the puffer fish shirako (sperm sacs). Shirako isn’t often seen on restaurant menus, which is why it has earned a reputation for being a one-of-a-kind delicacy. On Ishin’s omakase menu, the shirako is fried so its outer core is crisp with a glass-like shatter and this then melds into the cloudy countenance of the sperm sacs, which taste a lot of like tofu – except with creamier, more aquatic leanings.
The mains are made up of different kinds of sushi crafted using sushi rice flown in from Japan. You could indulge in offerings that include tuna loin topped with yellow mustard; golden eye snapper with yuzu koshu; scallop with salmon toe atop; then flounder fish fin marinated in soy sauce; and finally sea urchin sushi.
An array of nigiri sushi featuring the freshest produce from Japan, including sea urchin, scallop, flounder and tuna.
Everything in this sushi assembly is designed with hedonism in mind because that’s how you’ll feel after indulging in this smorgasbord. Highlights from the platter include the tuna loin with yellow mustard which pits the sleek sumptuous tuna against a dab of punchy flavours that come together beautifully on the palate.
The scallop with salmon roe showcases the limberness and sweetness of the scallop to fullest effect but perhaps the most opulent of this diverse panoply is the sea urchin sushi, which is creamy, briny, fulsome and totally, utterly delicious from start to finish.
End your meal with a matcha-based pudding-esque dessert with red bean in what proves to be a triumphant, yet not-too-sweet denouement to a meal bookmarked by surprising favourites.
The matcha dessert is a sweet temptress that has a beguiling charm.
Moving forward, Lim says there are potential plans in the pipeline to open another iteration of Ishin – but probably not in Malaysia.
“In future, we might open in other states or other countries. In fact, we might open in Indonesia because we already own a shop there,” he says.
