The eatery is sophisticated and edgy yet retains a quirky nod to the past. — K
Perched on the 37th floor of Kuala Lumpur’s Ilham Tower is 圭 K. The eatery encompasses a cosmopolitan sheen juxtaposed against old-world nuances, backed by sweeping, panoramic views of the city skyline.
The interior features strategically positioned art pieces and antique curios, all bolstered by the sleek open kitchen, which is large and expansive.
Working very quietly in this large kitchen is chef Hidemichi Seki from Japan, whose pedigree is nothing if not star-studded. Seki grew up in the womb of a restaurant himself as his father ran a Cantonese eatery in Japan.
“My father was a chef in Cantonese cuisine, so I learnt some things from him as well,” says the soft-spoken, self-effacing Seki.
Seki worked in top restaurants like Tokyo’s three Michelin-starred RyuGin before eventually becoming the executive chef at Hong Kong’s Tenku Ryugin, which earned two Michelin stars under his auspices.
Seki is taking kaiseki to whole new levels with his melding of Japanese sensibilities and Malaysian ingredients. — Photos: 圭 K
After over seven years there, Seki is now in Malaysia. He says the decision to move was a few years in the making as the owners and investors behind 圭 K had persisted in their endeavour to get him to open a restaurant in KL.
At 圭 K, Seki serves a multi-course kaiseki menu that is unique in that it fuses Malaysian ingredients into its traditional Japanese configuration.
This is partly because Seki has travelled around Malaysia, including parts of Sabah, Sarawak, Penang and Melaka, and now understands the diversity, beauty and abundance of what is available in this part of the world.
“I want to offer an experience that belongs here, to this land. And I realised there are so many ingredients here compared to Tokyo and Hong Kong,” says Seki.
To accomplish his vision, Seki works with a dedicated Malaysian forager who travels all over the country sourcing the best and most unique Malaysian produce, from turmeric buds to wild figs.
The vegetables and chicken liver dish took six months to perfect.
“Kaiseki” is a style of Japanese cuisine where a series of small, intricate dishes are prepared, normally based on what’s in season or what’s available. Seki’s menu at 圭 K draws from this and changes based on what he – and his forager – can get their hands on.
The menu is priced at RM800++ per person and features about 15 to 20 small courses, so patrons should always come with a large appetite.
Highlights from the menu include the Turmeric Buds Porridge, which as its name implies incorporates foraged turmeric buds alongside Bario rice from Sarawak and is cooked in the traditional Japanese way where heat and timing are crucial. The result is a sating, soothing meal opener that highlights the herbaceous undercurrents of the buds while channeling the lean, supple qualities of the rice as a vessel.
Then there is the Vegetables and Herbs, Chicken Liver, Goose-berries which is a dish that took Seki six months to nail.
The oyster ice-cream is a briny, aquatic sleeper hit. — ABIRAMI DURAI/The Star
This is a true celebration of the bounty of the land, gleaned from the copious natural resources pooled into the meal, including bell peppers, chayote, thyme, dill, sweet corn sprout, heirloom carrots with a miso gooseberry dressing and chicken liver to tie it all together.
It’s a lively, vivacious dish that has no walls or boundaries and really lets diners enjoy the rich amalgamation of natural flavours that Seki has put together, tided by the unctuous richness of the chicken liver.
Another triumph on the menu is the disarmingly simple-sounding Coral Lobster. The Borneo lobster is lightly grilled and paired with a roselle flower stuffed with ume (Japanese plum), jellyfish, wasabi and bonito flakes.
The lobster is the star of the show here and has been cooked to a masterchef level of perfection, retaining a spring in its step and a slight bounce while still yielding tenderly when bitten into. The roselle meanwhile is divine, offering a dichotomous textural experience, bursting with pungency, potency and rich umami notes.
The lobster is a textural triumph.
Grouper is one of Seki’s favourite Malaysian produce, so you can expect the Tiger Grouper course to be given extra care and attention. In this course, the fish is served in a dashi broth alongside a Thai-influenced som tum sauce, which is awash in acidity and the briny undertones of fish sauce.
Together, this dynamic duo is pure magic and definitely one of the more robustly-flavoured offerings of the night. The fish is very fresh and this freshness is given an energetic perk-me-up via the sauce, which is effervescent with tangy, lightly spicy nuances.
Perhaps the biggest unexpected element of the entire kaiseki meal is the ambitious Oyster Cracker, which is essentially French oyster that has been transformed into a cold ice-cream. Topping this assemblage is seaweed powder while a rice cracker holds the ice-cream together.
Eat the whole tiny meal in one mouthful and sit back and let the flavours digest.
The overwhelming sensation is of the mineral-esque, briny notes that lace the ice cream. This sea-faring quality is given a brittle undercoat courtesy of the cracker and overall, it’s a surprise hit whose goodness creeps up on you slowly.
The nasi ulam with duck jibuni is an ode to natural bounty and the beauty of simple, clean flavours. — ABIRAMI DURAI/The Star
The Squid Attack underscores the natural beauty of this cephalopod and features Japanese squid done six different ways. The best iteration is the first one, which sees a tiny piece of squid served sashimi-style alongside sesame soy sauce and Japanese chilli powder, and another tiny piece with calamansi juice and wasabi.
The squid is the superhero here. You’ve probably never tasted squid so velvety and squishy and yet so gently yielding on the palate that almost zero chewing is required. What Seki has accomplished texturally is nothing short of a culinary miracle.
The Nasi Ulam, Duck Jibuni is the most filling meal here and features rice awash in shisho leaves, coriander, shallots, ginger and ulam raja leaves and flowers. This is paired with a duck jibuni, which features duck slices in a light broth.
At this point, you might be very full but please persevere because this is a combination you won’t want to miss. The rice has floral, grassy notes and this is well balanced against the rich and meaty duck jibuni. It’s a very elevated take on rice and soup.
No matter how stuffed you are, be sure to sample the Gula Kabung, Pine Nuts, Shoyu Syrup, Soy Milk Bubbles.
The gula kabung dessert may look simple, but it’s an undercover knockout!
The dish is made up of bunga kabung custard, brown butter pine nuts, lime-scented banana and homemade soy milk bubbles.
By gosh, this is fabulous! The bunga kabung is a sweet, caramel blob of goodness and this is rounded off the nutty accents of the pine nuts and the light froth of soy milk bubbles in what proves to be a ridiculously fantastic ending to the meal.
A meal at 圭 K is tethered by the art of careful, deliberate cooking. Restraint is a tool that is employed numerous times here and as a result, the flavours are clean, light and very focused on what’s at heart: the ingredients.
In Seki’s hands, each ingredient seems to succumb willingly to his charms and as a result, a meal here will take you on an odyssey through the heartland of Japanese flavours and techniques, while highlighting the natural beauty of Malaysian produce.
