A Japanese & Western Twist at La Yosh

La Yosh, what a unique name, I thought to myself, as I walked towards the restaurant that night in Plaza Hartamas. Courtesy of Sidney from BigBoysOven, I was given the privilege to sample the unique dishes from La Yosh, blending the eastern and western style cuisines.

La Yosh

The restaurant was modest and cozy, with dim lighting and a bar top. One could even see the chef cooking from behind the bar, giving it an unpretentious and warm ambiance.

Bar top dining?

There were some quirky and antique items found to be used as decoration in the restaurants, such as some saucepans hanging on the wall and the ancient gramaphone as shown below. I do wonder if it still works.

Gramaphone

Once we’re seated, we were all served with glasses of icy cold and refreshing iced lemon tea. A good way to cool down one’s body after shopping for a whole day! *LOL*

Iced lemon tea (RM5.50)

We were served a variety of dishes, ranging from fish, chicken, pasta to risotto! The first dish we had was Salmon Steak with Teriyaki Sauce. The fish was amazingly fresh and delicious, albeit a little small. There was no hint of fishy smell, and the teriyaki sauce complemented the fish very well. The side of potato salad was a hit among us too!

Salmon steak in Teriyaki sauce (RM17.90)

Following that, we had the eye candy of Salmon Au Gratin, which was a piece of “oven-baked Norwegian salmon steak with a crust of melted cheddar” on top. Granted, the cheese was not exactly melted, but it really did melt in my mouth. This was again fabulous, more so because the salmon was top notch. No mash-like fish in La Yosh! Fish plus cheese, need I say more?

Salmon Au Gratin (RM18.90)

The third dish of fish we had was the Oven – Baked Seabass with Pesto Alla Genovese. Seabass, my favourite fish! Being baked to perfection, this was a healthier option to the health-conscious. The pesto sauce had a hint of basil, with tomato puree as the base. Not too bad, really. Again, the fish was flaky and fresh.

Oven – Baked Seabass with Pesto Alla Genovese (RM16.90)

After so many dishes of fish, we moved on to chicken. The Nagoya Fried Chicken was apparently marinated with selected fragrant Japanese spices before they were being fried. No wonder the chicken was not only crispy on the outside, but deliciously yummy on the inside too! Mix it with the chef’s special blended sauce on top and it was indeed a perfect match.

Nagoya Fried Chicken (RM16.90)

The second chicken dish was the Garlic XO Chicken. Oooh, XO huh? I always think whenever XO sauce is used in a dish, it won’t go wrong. And sure enough, I was right! The chicken thigh was made to look like chicken chop, hence, it was boneless. The garlic XO sauce was really a unique way of cooking chicken chop, contrary to the usual fried chicken chop, grilled chicken chop or chicken maryland whatsoever. Infinitely healthier option too, I must say.

Garlic XO Chicken (RM17.90)

Done with seafood and meat dishes, we moved on to the noodles and spaghetti, which seem to be the main focus on La Yosh, judging from the fact that they are placed on the first page of the menu and have a whole page to themselves! Introducing the Cold Cha Soba, which was generously covered with Japanese goma dressing, turkey ham, eggs and cucumber. Looks very similar to spaghetti, don’t you think?  The goma/sesame seed dressing was unique and done just right without overpowering the whole dish. Plus, the addition of fried eggs on the side certainly gave it a more eastern feel, true to its concept.

Cold cha soba (RM9.80)

Next up was my favourite spaghetti of that day, the Mentaiko! It was spaghetti with some baby prawns, clams and mushroom, done perfectly, al dente style. I loved the simplicity of the dish and how it could end up being so delicious! The prawns were fresh and succulent, and the spaghetti was just done oh-so-right. One thing that sets La Yosh apart from the typical Italian pasta is that they place chopped nori (seaweed) on every spaghetti dish in their menu! Unique and not to mention tasty. I would definitely pick this item again on my return visit.

Mentaiko (RM19.80)

Then, we were presented with something more unconventional, Squid ink spaghetti! Now I have heard of squid ink spaghetti before and how it was very difficult to cook it because of the strong fishy ink smell. In fact, I was in a classy restaurant once where I tried to order Squid ink pasta to try out, only to be warned by the waiter that it would have a strong fishy smell. That of course scared me off, until the day I was at La Yosh. It marked my maiden experience trying squid ink pasta! *LOL* And it was not fishy! I mean, there was a very slight ink smell, just to confirm that it was really squid ink, but that was almost unnoticeable, and the chef covered the smell so well. The spaghetti ended up being very delicious and I started to like it more and more. Impressive!

Squid ink spaghetti (RM19.80)

The last spaghetti dish that night was Japanese garlic spaghetti, which was tossed with sliced garlic, button mushrooms, bacon, eggs, onions and clams. The mixture of bacon with spaghetti always worked so well, with the savoury bacon complementing the otherwise bland spaghetti. The fragrant of garlic also made the dish turned out tasting better than it looked.

Japanese Garlic Spaghetti (RM13.80)

Moving on, we had one of the most popular dishes that night, the Curry omu rice. This was certainly something new to me, as I had never even seen one like it before. I initially thought it was risotto, but it turned to be Japanese rice! What an uncanny resemblance! This dish was actually fried Japanese rice with chicken dices, onions and mushrooms wrapped in a thick omelette and served with Japanese curry. The rice was simply fabulous! Soft without being squashy, and the curry was so fragrant. The curry actually tasted very similar to those curry you can find from indian/mamak stalls. The rice was such a hit with us that we gave it a repeat order.

Curry Omu Rice (RM15.80)

Finally, something truly Japanese was served, the Teriyaki chicken don. This was pretty good, with the chicken well-marinated and the sauce complementing the rice well. But my advice, when you’re at La Yosh, try to order something more special like the spaghetti dishes or the fish, instead of the common Teriyaki chicken don that is available in every Japanese restaurant. Those spaghetti dishes are truly one of a kind!

Chicken teriyaki don (RM13.50)

I enjoyed my experience in La Yosh very much. Most importantly, their prices are not cut-throat, given that their location is in the prime Sri Hartamas area. I wouldn’t mind stopping by for a visit again whenever I’m shopping at the Plaza Hartamas mall.

La Yosh Japanese Western
F-0-2 Plaza Damas
No. 60, Jln Sri Hartamas 1
50480 KL
Malaysia

Tel: 03 6201 8648
Fax: 03 6201 4648

Popularity: 13%