Fusion of Western and Jap Food - Kissaten

Met up with my friend on a Saturday when i was in KL for a dinner meal. One of the party wants to eat Tonkatsu and so we decided to head to a nearby Jap and western fusion restaurant near our place. Kissaten @ Jaya One.

Kissaten, 喫茶店, in Japanese means Japanese-style coffee shop, those older and smaller establishment. Though it is a coffee shop, it does not have the cosiness of those smaller establishment. It is more of a restaurant then a coffee shop. They offer al-fresco dining experience as well.

The 'coffee shop' is quite a popular place for family outing. Most of the tables were taken and there were some big families dining in the restaurant. There were quite a number of tables and in some of the locations where the tables were placed, it seemed quite out of place. Imagine putting a table with 4 chairs in a cross junction between the exit from the kitchen, the main entrance to the  restaurant and the entrance to the restaurant from the stairs from level 1. It comes across to me that they are really making full use of the space that they are neglecting the safety of the diners.

We had ordered quite a few items to fill our stomach.

1. Grilled Saba Fish Set
2. Japanese Curry Pizza
3. Caramel Pudding
4. Banana Cheesecake

Food
Grilled Saba Fish Set (RM27.80)

Presentation
The set comes with japanese rice, the grilled saba fish, some salad on the side, a ball of radish, chawamushi, and a bowl of miso soup.

Taste
Lets start with the saba fish, it is still very crispy even after its been left on the table for 15-20 minutes while i take its photo. When i pierce the skin of the fish, the oil squirt and oozed out. Wonderful. The fish is just nicely grilled, almost to perfection. The fish still retains it juiciness and the texture of the fish is good.
Some people finds that this species of Mackerel is fishy and shun the fish. What can be done is to squeeze a the lemon slice onto the fish, and the whole fish jumps out with a tangy citrus taste instead of the dreaded fish taste. The fish is prepared quite well as there is only a tinge of fishy taste on the top part of the fish.

The chawamushi is not the most fantastic that i had tried. The texture is not really that smooth but there are some traditional items in this dish, like ginko nuts, chicken, mushroom. The bowl of miso soup is a disater. It taste so bland that i am not sure if i am drinking miso soup or just seaweed mixed with plain water.

RECOMMENDED 

The main item, Saba fish, is grilled rather perfectly and retains all the juiciness and nice texture of the fish meat. Forgo the Miso Soup.


Kissaten's Service Attitude
The service that i experienced is not really fantastic. The waiter dont seem to know their menu. When asked about what one of the item in the menu contains, the staff is totally ignorant of the item. Even when we order our dishes, the waiter and waitresses have to look at our menu and copy down the item. It seems totally strange that their staff needs to do so. I would be thinking that they do not know what they are serving.
They have also served us the wrong dessert, which we rejected but came back a second time to try and get us to accept the wrong desserts.
Our tables are also not cleared after our main dish and we have to called them to help us clear before they do so.
Even though they dont take the initiative to do a number of things that I would expect service staff in a restaurant to do so, they are rather responsive to our calls.

Ratings

Food Presentation: 3/5
Food Taste: 3.5/5
Service Attitude: 2/5
Cleanliness: 3.5 /5
Value for Money: 2.5/5
This is not a place that i will be going again for their food, unless friends want to chill out there. There are other places that can do saba fishes as well as them but with better services and cheaper. The other dishes are not too great. However credit must be given to the dessert. They are good.


NOT RECOMMENDED, unless for their dessert