PETALING JAYA, Nov 1 — Happy Mansion in Section 17 has become a familiar landmark for office workers and PJ residents alike, having long outgrown its early heyday and, in the last decade, turned into a hub for cafes and restaurants.
Block B leans towards cosy cafes and lively pizza spots, while Block A offers an easy spread of Thai, Vietnamese, Indonesian and Japanese food.
Among them is Torinana, a pork-free Japanese restaurant known for its tori paitan ramen (RM19.90), their signature bowl of long-simmered (up to 12 hours) creamy chicken broth with chicken roulade chashu, seaweed, fermented bamboo shoots and corn.
Aside from their signature ‘tori paitan’, Torinana also offers a shoyu ramen with torched slices of beef. — Picture by Choo Choy May
For something still rich but cleaner on the palate, the shoyu beef slice ramen (RM25.90) offers a clearer, soy sauce-based broth with a savoury edge, topped with thin slices of torched beef instead of the chashu.
Beyond ramen, Torinana has recently expanded its offerings to include sushi, sashimi, and maki rolls, bridging the gap between the splurge of omakase and the quick convenience of conveyor belts.
Nanashu Moriawase offers the widest spread of sashimi on the menu (left). The salmon ‘oyako don’ is a play on the common chicken-and-egg ‘oyakodon’ (right). — Pictures by Choo Choy May
For the most variety, the Nanashu Moriawase (RM120) offers seven types of sashimi, including salmon, salmon belly, tuna, amberjack, scallops, prawns and octopus.
The salmon belly is unsurprisingly the most satisfying, all fat and flavour in a single bite.
Can’t get enough of salmon? The salmon oyako don (RM28.90) plays on the usual chicken-and-egg rice bowl, and comes piled with fresh salmon and salmon belly, plus ikura for that parent-and-child punch. It’s served with miso soup.
The more adventurous diners among us might be tempted by the maguro natto don (RM25.90), a mix of diced tuna and nattō, the slimy, pungent and ferociously nutty fermented soybeans that are very much an acquired taste.
How about some special maki rolls? As its name implies, the rainbow maki (RM20.90) has a little bit of everything: slices of salmon, tuna and avocado draped over a roll filled with cucumber and crabstick.
‘Maki’ rolls at Torinana are as colourful as they are flavourful. — Picture by Choo Choy May
Fans of crispy prawns will enjoy the dragon maki (RM28) which packs fried ebi inside and layers avocado over the top.
And though not strictly a roll or oshizushi, the Osaka-style salmon sushi (RM19.90) is a colourful plate of half-cooked salmon nigiri dressed with wasabi mayo and tobiko.
Osaka-style salmon sushi comes covered in wasabi mayo and ‘tobiko’. — Picture by Choo Choy May
With the introduction of their new lunch sets available on weekdays from 11am to 3pm, a midday meal at Torinana has never felt like better value.
Each set comes with an appetiser, salad, soup and a free drink (green tea, honey lemon or lime juice), with options ranging from a tsukune don (RM16.90) with grilled chicken meatballs over rice to a tanin beef udon set (RM21.90), with thinly sliced beef and egg in a gyudon-esque sauce over thick udon noodles.
The loco moco set is a spin on the Hawaiian favourite, with a ‘hamburg’ steak, a fried egg and lots of gravy. — Picture by Choo Choy May
My personal favourite is the loco moco set (RM21.90 for beef), Torinana’s take on the Hawaiian staple: a hamburg steak topped with a fried egg and brown gravy, served with rice. Simple and satisfying.
The new grilled beef stick and ‘tsukune’ come with a sweet-smoky flavour and are ideal for dipping in raw egg. — Picture by Choo Choy May
Come dinner time, the temptation of all you can eat hotpot for RM38.80 may just be too compelling to resist — especially when children from five to eleven years old get half off!
There are sukiyaki, shabu-shabu, miso, kimchi and mala broths to choose from, though I like to stick to the sweet, rich sukiyaki.
Thinly sliced beef swished through the flavourful broth and then dipped into raw egg is the very definition of texturally luxurious, and the new grilled beef stick (RM12) takes that pleasure even further.
Strips of thinly sliced beef, glazed in a sweet tare and grilled so they press up and wedge against each other in a ribbed tangle, which catches even more of that silky egg in every bite.
The tsukune (RM9), grilled chicken meatballs with a faint smoky aroma, are just as good when dipped in the raw egg, a morbidly delicious way to enjoy parent-and-child.
And don’t miss the chicken dumplings made from scratch, packed with cabbage, ginger, scallions and white onion for a surprisingly meaty, flavourful bite.
Torinana can be found in Block A of Happy Mansion. — Picture by Choo Choy May
Torinana
AG-04, Happy Mansion, Block A, Jalan 17/13, Seksyen 17, Petaling Jaya.
Open daily, 11am-10pm
Tel: 018-271 1120
Instagram: @torinana.my
* Follow us on Instagram @eatdrinkmm for more food gems.
Dining and Cooking