Azuma

My ratings: 3 Stars

Cuisine: Japanese

Location: 2F-87 (south zone), Queensbay Mall, Penang (beside Harvey Norman)

Halal

RM20 - 35 per person

Ah......Friday lunch. 2 hours of gourmet hunt. This week, we decided to head down to Queensbay Mall. This seemed like the prefered place to go on Friday lunch coz it's air conditioned, there's lots of things and people to see and one of the nearest place to the office. Hence we can maximise the time spent there

We decided to head down to a newly opened Japanese restaurant/sushi bar named Azuma. Exterior and interior of the restaurant looks much better than the other commercial sushi bar kings namely Sushi King and Sake Sushi. Judging by the crowd there, I won't be surprised if one day Azuma will be considered another major commercialised sushi bar.

The restaurant has all....sushi bar, tatami seating, fish aquarium, private function room and what a view from the window tables. But one thing stands out. It has by my standard, the smallest table cubicle for couple dining. Two persons sit at right angle at each other. I quess it must be a smart way to save space and generate as much income as possible from the confined space of the restaurant. Now I can understand how this restaurant can fit the sushi bar and all those dining tables to one corner of the mall. Only thing missing is a tepanyaki grill.

I ordered their recommendations....chicken teriyaki set lunch at RM18++ which comes which rice, miso soup, cawanmushi and a mouthful of salad. I heard from my friend that the garlic fried rice is good, so I upgarde my steamed rice to garlic fried rice. My friend is not wrong. My friend however had another of the restaurant recommendations, the chicken curry rice (also at RM18++). We also orderd a couple of sushi plates to share (prices from RM4.00++ per plate).

The waitress recommended us raw sea urchin sushi. From all the food and travel shows that I have seen on Astro from Tony Bourdain to Andrew Zimmern the Bizarre food chef, all had tried the raw sea urchin. All of them said it has a sweet after taste. Well I think I will give this lil spikey urchin - a miss this time. I could bear to think of the poor sea urchin having their guts scooped out and being slurped. Sea urchin, your precious life is saved this time. Next time I guess I might have to try it. I guess you can call it "The 1001 things you must eat before you die"

Overall, the chicken teriyaki and the chicken curry is good. The sweetness of the teriyaki sauce is just nice while the curry has a strong flavour. But unlike the Indian curry, it is pretty mild and a hint of sweetness. The color is different too. Unlike the red curries we are used to, Japanese curry is darker more towards the brownish color

During the opening promotion, every diner received a tiny scope of green tea ice cream.

In summary, the food is more tasty than Sakae Sushi and Sushi King. Azuma VIP diners get 10% off.

For reservation, call +604 6413118 or email: azumaqueensbay@yahoo.com