Tuesday 22 January 2019

Pre Chinese New Year Pigout : Kampachi@Plaza 33


Last Sunday, my brother and I went for our first epic makan session for 2019. On my brother's suggestion, we went to Kampachi@Plaza 33.

It has been years since we went for a buffet. Besides, we heard from my other brother that the buffet at Kampachi (only on Sundays) is excellent. So of course we were eager to try.

We were there just before 12pm and there were already many diners waiting to enter the restaurant. It was a good thing that we made reservations.


After we were shown to our table, the server approached us for our drinks order. As we were not familiar, she recommended the pot of green tea for sharing.

I think there were 5 or 6 buffet stations. The selections were quite limited. Nothing like Shogun which used to be at 1 Utama.

My first round. So dainty. I reminded myself not to binge. Don't eat so much!

Round #!
Yeah, like it worked. I found my way to the next station and ate carbs.

Round #2
Garlic fried rice, fried udon, tofu with mushrooms, pumpkin croquette and fried oyster. I'm afraid what was on my plate did not taste very exciting. The oyster had seen better days and had a funny taste. Disappointed.

Next!

Round #3
Okra with goma sauce, smoked duck with mustard, tuna salad, macaroni salad, potato salad and salmon in some sort of sauce.

This is my brother's first round.

The octopus sushi did a kamikaze.
Also very dainty.


Then he went to get us some prawns .........


...and beef from the tepanyaki station to share.


The beef was a bit too rare for me. It was well seasoned and very tender.


Then my brother went to get some unagi and I will have to say that this unagi is the best that I have tasted. So tender and moist. And it was the only food that I enjoyed at this buffet.


My brother also got himself a chawanmushi. As he ate his first mouthful, he remarked that "Connie's is better", in reference to the since closed Hokano

After my third round, I went to get us some desserts.


Dorayaki (chocolate and peanut butter filling) and rice balls coated with crushed peanuts.


The rice balls with peanuts was not bad.


The dorayaki was very dry. Maybe because it was made ahead and left standing. My brother ate only one. So I had to eat 3 so as not to waste.

My brother ventured to the dessert station and came back with these.


Matcha pudding and matcha and vanilla ice cream. I saw the matcha pudding earlier but anything matcha, no thank you. But my brother told me that the match pudding is good, the matcha taste is very mild. So ......


I had to get one for myself (especially the ice cream).


Very true. The matcha pudding was very nice. It was very creamy and not too sweet. And the matcha flavor was so mild that I did not mind it at all. Since it was so good, my brother got himself another one.


This time with red bean topping.

What I would say about this buffet is that it was an underwhelming experience for both of us. We had big expectations since our brother raved about it and also from very glowing reviews online. 

The variety of food is quite limited and quality wise, there were hits and misses. But it seems very popular as the restaurant was fully packed. When it was time to leave, the server asked us why we were leaving so early. I noted that the other diners were still lingering, taking their time to savor the food.

I doubt if we would be back, simply because this buffet did not fulfill our expectations. But still I am glad for the experience and many thanks to my brother for his treat.

25 comments:

  1. Too bad that this buffet was a disappointment to you and your brother. Let me find out about the price. if not too expensive I may eat there just for the unagi and matcha pudding. One good thing from this is you find matcha taste acceptable. I suspect that this is the authentic matcha taste. those matcha flavour that you deemed too strong are all fake artificially enhanced matcha taste so that was why you didn't like it before. perhaps now you will be more open to try other authentic matcha flavours elsewhere. too bad nana is no longer here.

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    1. I am still wary about matcha flavored desserts unless if someone has tried it and can vouch it is OK hah..hah... If you do go for this buffet, the best bet would be the grilled food station where they have the unagi. It is near the restaurant entrance. I should have ventured to that station earlier.

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    2. Has your brother tasted the matcha desserts at Tsujiri, Uptown? If not, you can bring him there and he can tell you whether he thinks you will be ok with the taste or not since you trust your brother's judgement. :)

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    3. I don't think he has. Maybe I will suggest that he go and try.

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  2. Just getting in training right - gotta warm up the tummy ;-)

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    1. That's right! Training for the big feast to come LOL!

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  3. Pre? But CNY is still a long way to go!!! Oooooo...I love their teapot and tea cup. So very nice!

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    1. Anytime before is pre LOL! CNY is just some 2 weeks away and that is petty close to me!

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  4. A pity that the buffet did not meet your expectations, been quite a while since i last had buffet with my buddy, my 2019 horoscope asks me to avoid cold drinks, oily food and excessive eating this year, so how? Lol

    I like matcha so i can have my matcha fix at nana

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    1. Then no buffet for you this year. LOL!

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  5. the pictures look good, especially the beef and unagi. I would like to try their unagi since u mentioned it is the best tasted. Yummmmmzzz…..thinking of it already made me drooling~~~~

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    1. Yup, if you go there, eat unagi and the grilled salmon head. The rest of the items are just ordinary.

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  6. The beef did look rather rare for my taste too.

    But the food sure look good!

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    1. I felt overall, the food could have been better.

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  7. Kampachi is a respectable name in Japanese food (didn't know they offer buffet) and I'm surprised you didn't enjoy it as much. Maybe because it's a buffet. If the buffet includes good unagi, then I think it's quite worth it (not many Japanese buffets offer unagi!). Eating just the unagi alone, you'll "recover" your money already...hahaha! :D For me, I don't need a great variety, I just need a few things done well and I'll be satisfied.

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    1. I have been there once for dinner and yes, very classy stuff. Since this was a buffet at Kampachi, I expected lots of food to be done well but only a small selection achieved that. Perhaps the unagi and grilled seafood would have been the best bet. So if you ever venture to this buffet, you know where to focus hee..hee...

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  8. I want to laugh at your "the octopus sushi did a Kamikaze", now then I saw it

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    1. LOL! When my brother took, it fell off.

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  9. I've been eyeing to this buffet for ages because I read & heard so many good reviews about it but after reading yours, I think I will forget my plan to visit this place >_<

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    1. I think you should still go and try. Target the unagi and grilled seafood. I may have made wrong choices in my selection. But I still find the choices too limited and not all were well executed.

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  10. This place really rings the bell. This Kampachi used to be the best Japanese restaurant during the late 80s till 90s at KL's Equatorial Hotel. We all had to book tables for Sunday buffets like 4-5 days ahead!! Mo kidding! I didn't know that they have downsized there. What happened dei????

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    1. Yes, they started off at Equatorial. I dunno, the food did not seem so happening to me, except for a select few.

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  11. Too bad it turned out to be a disappointment but at least you get to enjoy the unagi and matcha pudding and ice cream.

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  12. ITS CRAP HERE....BANGKOK AND SINGAPORE IS GOOD....WHAT TO EXPECT FROM THIS COUNTRY

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