Local fusion Japanese fare from Tsuruya

It is always hard to decide on what to eat, especially when you have no craving (okay, maybe a little) or no particular interest in anything and are pretty much in the mode of 'anything goes'.
Somehow the concept of 'going with the flow' is just making things difficult when it comes to making decisions.
I am never one to decide on where or what to eat, because, I just hate it. I am just not much for choice on food, though I am such a picky eater and that makes it the more annoying.

We were just driving around when we noticed some new restaurants in E-Gate; maybe they are not that new anymore but we have been out of the food hunting for some time.
We found this Japanese restaurant, Tsuruya, which seemed familiar to me, as I recalled their other outlet which I originally tried (a few years ago) in I-Avenue, Bukit Jambul.
Since the mood somehow turned towards Japanese cuisine, we settled on Tsuruya (hooray?)

This is a relatively smaller outlet compared to its well-spaced sibling outlet in Bukit Jambul, and the venue seemed to be packed with the local weekend crowd during the lunch hour that day.








Service was rather prompt as we were ushered to our seats and had our orders taken once we were settled. The menu offered quite an extensive variety of the Japanese selection, with quite a number of interesting dishes which were probably creations of their own chefs.

The colorful lamps decorated the ceiling of the restaurant, providing that entrancing ambiance with its dimly lit tones.


Green tea to go with the usual Japanese meal



Buttered enoki mushrooms with scallops (rotate) (MYR12.00) (Hotate Shimeiji bata) was a rather interesting dish which sounded and looked like Japanese, but yet just reminds me of the typical Chinese style cooking flavors, sans the buttery base.





Salmon Teriyaki (MYR16.00)  (Sake Teriyaki) was another unique deviation from the usual thick and sweetened sauce where this was a slightly diluted version.
Tastewise, the sauce was still not quite the usual teriyaki sauce, and was rather a special sweet sauce which was created by the chef with a little local flavor in it.

A Combo bento of Unagi and Teppanyaki Seafood (MYR46.00)
This is a good choice for those who cannot decide on what to eat, as there is a mix of teppanyaki and grilled unagi and also vegetables all in a box and is the usual go-to for the typical Japanese lunch.











Overall the food was not as bad and the prices were probably the most reasonably priced for Japanese food that I have seen.
Expect a wide variety of choices from Tsuruya, and personally I find the tastes here are unique with that local fusion style adopted into the cooking to create that identity for the restaurant.

That is always the key for businesses; setting a key differentiator and apart from the others in the same industry and in other words, branding.

I think I should pay a visit to their other outlet; the one which I originally visited and liked sometime soon...