Whenever I need a quick Japanese cuisine fix, I would always pop into Yoshinoya Hanamaru if there is any. Just when I thought this place is one of the recent trends of Japanese fast food scene, Yoshinoya has actually come a long way, dating back to 1899.
Famous for their Gyudon (beef bowl), Mr. Eikichi Matsuda's humble business started out at a small shop in Nihonbashi Fish Market selling Gyudon with one aim - to provide healthy but delicious meal option to the fishermen and fishmongers back in the days. Till date, gyudon remains as their best selling food on the menu. Tender and juicy imported Australia beef simmered in their special broth, which by the way its recipe still remains a mystery, seasoned with savoury herbs and spices laced with large sweet onions to bring out the sweetness, it goes perfectly well with the fluffy Japanese rice, underneath. I would eat them all day, every day, if I could!
Today, Yoshinoya is the oldest and largest restaurant beef bowl food chain in the world, and has expanded to over 1800 outlets globally in various countries including Japan, USA, Hong Kong, China, Taiwan, Singapore and of course Malaysia! Great news to all Malaysian because now everyone can get a bowl of the hearty beef bowl at a fraction of the price in Japan!
Hanamaru is fairly new in the food industry in comparison to Yoshinoya. Founded in 2001, Hanamaru is originated from Japan's famous home of Udon-Takamatsu, Kagawa Prefecture. Square shaped and flat edges Sanuki udon are freshly made in-house daily and not kept for longer than 30 minutes after cooked. This is to ensure that with each bite, customers are guaranteed with chewy and bouncy udon!
I know many are confused by now as to why am I talking about two different places in a post?
Yoshinoya and Hanamaru Udon are two different brands under the same company. They always occupy the same space or located next to each other. Though sharing the same space, they are well separated into two distinct sections. Hanamaru specializes in sanuki udon and it adopts the self-service model whereas Yoshinoya is the expert of the beef bowl (duh) and it runs on the usual fast food chain ordering method.
The Mighty Eight!
KAKE UDON (RM7.80 R / RM10.80 L)
Fresh Sanuki Udon served with Udon Sauce.
It is the basic Udon. This portion is for those who seek to enjoy the pure freshness of Hanamaru's Sanuki Udon.
ONTAMA BEEF BUKKAKE (RM14.80 R / RM17.80 L)
Fresh Sanuki Udon served with Udon Sauce, topped with 100% imported Australian beef slice and half-boiled egg. It comes with the choices of either hot or cold serving.
TORI DASHI UDON (RM10.80 R / RM 13.80 L)
Fresh Sanuki Udon served in chicken soup, topped with fresh shredded chicken and a soft-boiled egg. The soup has an Umami taste for those who has a keen tongue. Simple yet hearty traditional Japanese soup-based Udon for those who prefers it light.
SALAD UDON (RM12.80 R / RM15.80 L)
Fresh Sanuki Udon served together with fresh salad and fresh chicken shred, garnished with Japanese roasted sesame sauce. This is definitely the one for those who are looking for healthier alternatives. But seriously, though, ditch the dressing if you're on a strict diet.
SPICY MISO UDON (RM12.80 R / RM 15.80 L)
Fresh Sanuki Udon served in chicken soup, topped with spicy miso paste and a
soft-boiled egg. This was one of our favourites! Spicy miso added some excitement to the rather light soup-based Udon.
MENTAI MAYO KAMATAMA (RM10.80 R / RM13.80 L)
Fresh Sanuki Udon served in Udon Sauce, topped with Mentai Mayonnaise. Available in both hot or cold! I have never expected the Udon to go so well with Mayo.
It is kind of a guilty pleasure because mayo is pretty high in calories,
but I just couldn't resist how delicious this tasted!
ONTAMA SPICY BEEF BUKKAKE (RM16.80 R / RM19.80 L)
Fresh Sanuki udon served in Udon Sauce, topped with beef slice, half-boiled egg, and spicy chili paste. With a choice of hot or cold serving! This chili paste is made with chili-padi. Yoshinoya decided to add a little bit of local flavor into their Udon to suit Malaysian taste buds. Currently, this sells like hot cake!
ONTAMA CURRY UDON (RM 14.80 R / RM 17.80 L)
Fresh Sanuki Udon served in Japanese Curry sauce with chicken shreds.
I am a huge fan of Japanese curry, and Hanamaru is my go-to!
Their curry is thick and flavourful, without being too salty or sweet.
If you can't tell by the photos,
I was actually drooling looking at all the food on the table,
thinking when do I get to eat them....
Messy camera situation when bloggers come together. HAHAHA!
Next, we were introduced to some of the newly added menus for Yoshinoya!
Next, we were introduced to some of the newly added menus for Yoshinoya!
ABURI SALMON BOWL (RM 19.80)
Flame-grilled salmon drizzled with Japanese mayonnaise and served with wasabi paste and rice.
This was the winner of the day! Aburi salmon isn’t commonly served in Malaysia. It was served last by Sushi Tei as a seonal item last year and I ordered at least 5 times from them. If this ain’t fate, I don’t know what fate is. Aburi Salmon pop out in front of me again, and you guessed right. I didn’t even waste any of them.
I mean look at the salmon, the portion was generous, but the price still stays below RM20! AWESOME!
ONTAMA SPICY YAKITORI BOWL (RM 13.80 R, RM 15.80 L)
Fresh chicken stir fried with special spicy paste and long beans served with japanese rice and soft-boiled egg.
At this point, our tummy are too full to consume anything else. However, do feast your eyes with the savoury tasty looking food.
See what I did there?
ONTAMA BEEF BOWL (RM13.80 R / RM 15.80 L)
100% imported Australian imported beef cook with special sauce and onions served with japanese rice and half-boiled egg.
Break upon the egg prior to eating, and mix everything together.
With this, you get an extra eggy flavour to the nicely marinated beef.
ONTAMA BLACK PEPPER TERIYAKI BOWL (RM15.80 R / RM 17.80 L)
Fresh chicken grilled with teriyaki sauce served with japanese rice and soft-boiled egg.
ONTAMA BEEF YAKINIKU BOWL (RM13.80 R / RM 15.80 L)
100% imported Australian imported beef cook with yakiniku sauce, long beans and onions served with japanese rice and half-boiled egg.
ONTAMA SPICY YAKINIKU BOWL (RM 17.80 R, RM 19.80 L)
100% imported Australian premium beef cooked with yakiniku sauce, long beans, onions and added with their special spicy paste served with japanese rice and soft-boiled egg.
And for those who has a larger appetite, the considerate team from Yoshinoya Hanamaru Malaysia has also come up with some set meals, they call it Teishoku. Each set comes with a main, rice at the side, alongside with miso soup! The sets are slightly expensive than the a la carte, but they are still below the RM20 mark! Absolute bargain!
ONTAMA TARU TARU CHICKEN KATSU SET (RM18.80)
Fried chicken cutlet with japanese tar tar sauce and soft-boiled egg on the top served with salad, miso soup and japanese rice.
ONTAMA SPICY CHICKEN KATSU SET (RM18.80)
Fried chicken cutlet with japanese spicy sauce and soft-boiled egg on the top served with salad, miso soup and japanese rice.
ONTAMA CHICKEN KATSU SET (RM18.80)
Fried chicken cutlet with japanese katsu sauce and soft-boiled egg on the top served with salad, miso soup and japanese rice.
ONTAMA CHICKEN KATSU CURRY RICE (RM 15.80)
Fried chicken cutlet with japanese curry sauce served with japanese rice and soft-boiled egg.
Should you need more snacks to go with your food,
they do serve a variety of tempura!
From the relatively healthier fried vegetables to the staple of Japanese cuisine, fried prawns,
you are free to mix and add any of these to your meals!
High angle photo after our meal because we needed to hide our food babies. Hahaha!
I honestly couldn't recommend them enough!
Visit any of their outlet for satisfying and wallet friendly Japanese food!
As usual, food tasting was extra fun when we were surrounded with like-minded people,
always grateful for KetchUp Malaysia for all of these amazing events,
events are always filled with laughter and happiness with the KetchUp team!
If you haven't already known, U-mobile is running a Makan-Makan Raya campaign! By using the U-mobile App, users are entitled to a variety of bargains! Users who make payment via the aforementioned app could also stand a chance to win a 3D2N all-paid-for vacation to Penang Island!
Address: F.07 & F.08, First Floor, AEON Mall Shah Alam, 1, Jalan Akuatik 13/64, Seksyen 13, Shah Alam, Selangor 40100
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Disclaimer: This blog post was written in collaboration with KetchUp Malaysia team, a social community programme.
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