Restaurant | Azuma Japanese Restaurant, Queensbay Mall
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We were taken by surprise when oyster in baked cheese (Gaki Cheese Yaki - RM18.00) was served. Honestly, cheese with oyster is not something we expected from a Japanese cuisine. We have seen both oyster and cheese being used separately in Japanese cuisine but not together. Thus, it looks pretty “new” to us.
Unlike the Baked Oyster in Bravo Italiana that comes with additional ingredients on the oyster, the cheese baked oyster at Azuma is purely cheese and oyster. The cheese sauce that is put on the oyster is in fact, the very own recipe from Azuma itself and mixed with spring onions.
As expected, the baked oyster in cheese taste salty but the saltiness is somewhat above our expectations. There is a strong saltiness taste in the cheese yet the smell of the cheese is moderate. Also, there is slight butter taste from the cheese sauce used for this baked oysters. This is recommended for those who prefer mild cheese flavours in the baked oysters.
The lamb is prepared with Azuma’s special sauce called amiyaki sauce which is according to the supervisor is their own secret recipe.
The portion looks rather small but the lamb does pack a punch. The meat is quite tender and juicy which is much to our liking too. Even Fei Fei who seldom takes lamb because of its pungent smell seems to be enjoying the dish too.
But of course, if you happen to take the portion with the fat, the strong lamb smell will still prevail too. This dish has combination of sweet and salty taste. A nice dish to take with rice.
The soup that comes in a claypot is Hokkai Miso Nabe (RM25.00) which is Hokkaido style salmon head bean past soup. The first glance itself looks just like ordinarty Japanese soup but the main ingredient used for this dish is its salmon head.
This is quite a sought after dish based on the supervisor’s explanation. The salmon head has been marinated to make it less salty yet at the same time the use of salmon head gives a nice combination smell to the soup that we find refreshing.
The soup has sweet and sour taste although we do experience some saltiness but on lesser scale. Of course, no MSG used as we almost finish the soup by the end of the meal without feeling thirsty at all. Only salmon fish head is used for the soup as this is the part that can help to bring out the flavour of Hokkai Miso Nabe.
Another specialty dish at Azuma is the sliced beef in amiyaki style (Gyu Amiyaki - RM18.00). There is also a version that comes with rice for the same price. Again, the amiyaki sauce is a special sauce by Azuma which is a secret sauce 
For beef lovers, this is a highly recommended beef by Azuma for the fact that the beef used in chilled beef and not frozen beef. The chilled beef as we were told is fresher compared to frozen one. The sliced beef thickness is not that thick either and topped with garlic, ginger and sesame.
The beef melts in our mouth, literally, as we take each sliced to chew. The beef is quite soft, tender and juicy as well which we happily use our chopsticks to take more. Again, the strong beef smell is not present here but rather mild beef taste. We believe this dish is more to showcase the sauce as well as the beef texture rather than beef taste.
Chicken Teriyaki (RM18.00) is another dish recommended by Azuma. This chicken teriyaki is different from others in the sense that the teriyaki sauce is marinated into the inside of the chicken that you can taste the sauce not only on the outside but also the inside.
We believe the claim is true as we did taste the teriyaki sauce even to the extent of the inner part of each piece we had. The nice, delicious and fragrant aroma of chicken teriyaki seems to be a favourite among the customers. The only let down if wished we could have more in a single plate.
The Japanese Pizza at Azuma is another eye opener that we have compared to other Japanese Pizza. Instead of having the base or crust made of flour dough, they use sushi rice to form the base. Once the shape of the base is completed, the sushi rice is then fried till crispy, golden brown.
Once the frying is done, the pizza is sent over to another section where toppings are included. You can have a choice of raw salmon pizza (Shake Zushi Pizza), grilled eel pizza (Unagi Zushi Pizza) or combination of both raw salmon and grilled eel pizza (Azuma Zushi Pizza). Each of the pizza cost RM28 and cut into 8 portions.
It feels like eating sushi naturally because of the sushi rice used but with a twist for the pizza we have. The crispiness of the sushi rice base and salmon on top of the pizza gives a familiar taste when we eat them yet the combination of ingredients inside our mouths seems to be exciting.
A note of reminder though, this pizza must be eaten while it is still piping hot or it can be quite oily when you eat it later. We took first bite and seems to be enjoying it and another bite towards the end of the meal. The taste remains the same but the second piece we had a later time feel much oily compared to the first.
To top it up to our meal, we had green tea ice cream as our mouth wash. The texture of the green tea ice cream is simply amazing, with its hardness of an ice cream and softness that melts in our mouth as we taste each scoop, the taste of green tea is just right as well, giving a good balance between ice cream and green tea without much bitterness.
At Azuma Japanese Restaurant, each order is freshly made only upon request to maintain the freshness and quality of the food. No food is prepared upfront and hence the waiting time can be slightly longer compared to other Japanese Restaurants. Also, each chef has a specialization area; the cooking, the frying and the sushi has their own experts who focus on their own area of expertise.
The dining experience at Azuma is comfortable with its all usual Japanese setting and its unique cube seatings as well. The food that we taste during this session tends to be saltier to our acceptance and we strongly recommend the dishes to be taken with rice. You can also opt for less salty dishes but you need to notify the waiter upfront of your requests.
Pricing wise, is is towards high end which is comparable to Sobayoshi or even Nippon Yataimura. We would like to extend our gratitude to Mr. Chong for arranging the session as well as Ms Lai Chi, the supervisor for spending the time to explain the dishes to us.
A note of Thank You to Albert Yap from Camo Studio as well for the great shots~!
Azuma Japanese Restaurant
2F-87 (South Zone), Queensbay Mall
100, Persiaran Bayan Indah, 11900, Bayan Lepas
Tel: 04-641 3118
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[...] Nowal wrote an interesting post today onHere’s a quick excerpt[ad#ads2] Let us see, how many Japanese Restaurants do we have at Queesnbay Mall? Sushi King, Sakae Sushi, Nippon Yataimura, Japin, Shimaya Teppanyaki. Now. [...]
Wow…so many more dishes to try out. It’s time for a revisit to Azuma.
ck lams last blog post..Penang Food - Pork Innards Porridge
ck lam,
yes, most of the foods we tried were recommendation from the supervisor and the manager…
I heard about this pizza from my friend and wanted to try it out. But RM28 for such a small pizza is kinda expensive huh? Too bad that it tasted oily huh…
allies last blog post..Penang Food | Ah Keat Bah Kut Teh
i sat at the L-shaped seats cos at first i thought it was cute. but after a while feel a bit ‘kok’ and claustrophobic! lol. the bf and me too ‘tai chek’ already! haha
i love the lamb amiyaki! very tasty!
lingzies last blog post..OXO Cafelab @ Queensbay, Penang
wow….the photos looked tempting again//.
what type of camera u used this time? =)
allie,
28 for a pizza is rather expensive but perhaps it’s their specialty. Of course, it would be nice if the pizza cost cheaper… *hint* hehehe
I tasted its MARCH special “set of the month” , really worthy and nice! Gonna post up soon.
carisos last blog post..Coffee Island ei khi meh?!
lingzie,
The L-shaped definitely not for us too.. hahahaha
Yea, the lamb is excellent and so is the beef too
Intel,
it’s SLR camera
cariso,
Great! can’t wait to see that
Penangtuapui,
Great piece of information which I truly enjoy.
Keep up the great work.
Personal experience, I had a great time at Azuma though the price is a bit too expensive for me.
FrostyCoke,
Thanks and we hope you will continue to enjoy our site contents…
Agree the price at Azuma is steeper towards higher end compared to other Japanese restaurants at QBM but the higher price comes with quality and freshness as claimed by Azuma themselves
your photo shooting skill is supreme… great food review though..
we will go and have another round of makan-makan there soon…. Thanks…
any special offer for your reader a?
classy-like the phrase by the window “sunbathing”
foodbins last blog post..DAMANSARA VILLAGE STEAMBOAT RESTAURANT
HT,
yes, we’ll have an offer soon… stay tuned~!
foodbin,
when you sit there, you’ll experience it too
I had been to the restaurant and i like their fried dumnpling.. just nice. Love it.
Ann Soo,
oh really.. too bad we didn’t have the dumpling then….
Yeap, Queensbay is already bursting with Japanese restaurants! maybe it should be a Japanese mall soon:p
seriously, the soft shell crabs really looks very very ‘kemek’ …LOL!
But the dining environment is nice:)
Christys last blog post..Fuzing Fusion Food @ Louis Cafe
This place looks really posh and expensive! Of course the food is really expensive! For the portion served, I mean. But I guess quality comes with a price
iamthewitchs last blog post..Traditional toasted bread at Toh Soon Cafe
[...] thanks to PenangTuaPui.com for allowing me to tag along to the recently operated dining place in Queensbay Mall, Penang. Azuma [...]
Christy,
yes, we know.. the soft shell crabs need some touching up to make it really look like soft shell crabs…. hehehe
welcome to the “Japanese Queensbay Mall”
iamthewitch,
Japanese pride on the freshness and quality of the food and the restaurants that charge premium price, we expect the money to be worth paying.. so far we’re satisfied
Albert,
thanks for the wonderful photos too!
I do like restaurants with ample of natural lighting too. Some how its just more relaxing…
teckiees last blog post..Jackson Burger
The Smoked Salmon Roll looks nice leh. Btw, there are too many japanese restaurants in Qbay dee. I really haven’t tried out this one. Btw, you got the kang tao to review this restaurant woo? We go there to walap the whole restaurant. hahaha….
StevenaGoh.coms last blog post..Splendid Penang Indian Food @ Karaikudi Restaurant, Market Street
Oooohhhh…that Salmon Roll is making me drool… =)
teckiee,
yes, the natural lighting is an attraction indeed, but don’t seat too near the window especially during high noon
Steven,
Like we said earlier… “japanese queensbay mall” …hehehehe
[...] The latest goodie we have is from Azuma Japanese Restaurant. Yes, it one of the recent reviews that we have done with the write up can be found here. [...]
[...] The latest goodie we have is from Azuma Japanese Restaurant. Yes, it one of the recent reviews that we have done with the write up can be found here. [...]
hi! Nice food photographs there! Query, is there such a thing as “6 star hotel”? & from what i heard AZUMA’s Kuala Lumpur outlet has been closed down or is there a new AZUMA outlet in KL?
[...] is a multi page post: Page 1 Page 2 Summary: Nice environment with ample natural lighting, seatings by the window can be quite [...]
everything here looks so good!!! lovely shots too…
[...] our fellow readers such as discounts from Bravo Italiana, Penang’s Coconut Jelly as well as Azuma Japanese Restaurant. (Pssst… More goodies on the way). As for ourselves … well, given the hard work and [...]
[...] of that, we have another promotion which launch about a week ago for RM18 for Japanese Pizza at Azuma Restaurant. We bet you must have over look it or forget about it, here you are the coupon to refresh you [...]
i never go to azuma before….surfing penangtuapui saw a coupon and print it bring to azuma ,order 1 azuma pizza tasted its fantastic .good food its good so at last i decide tapau 1 go home to gave my mum eat hehe.rm28 its high rm18 at negiotiable price go try ..no regret
goggo for that no regret coz i go try before eat and tapau
The food taste terrible and it’s quite exp… Not worth it.
Why nowadays AZUMA bcum malay restaurant?and the service is very bad and rude,i feel dissapointed of it
AT LAST SUNDAY I HAVE GO AZUMA EATING, THE FOOD STILL VERY DELICIOUS AND NICE BUT THE SERVICE WAS VERY BAD.. ALL THE MALAY STAFF NO USE, SO LAZY.I ASK THEM TO HELP ME REFIL TEA , THEN JUST MAKE FACE TO ME.. I DON THINK I WILL BACK AZUMA EAT AGAIN…
i go to this restaurant near merdeka, forget which day ler…! me and my girlfren was queue up for nearly 15 minute and finally we get into a L shape small table! when walk to my place, i can see many dirty table was not clear. we have been waiting for another 5 minute to get the menu. we direct order with the staff, is a malay girl, the girl was cool, no smiling at all, we ask her to recommend, she just simply show me 2-3 things.fine, we order a teriyaki chicken set, and a spicy ramen and the famous pizza here. The only good things i can say is the food serve very fast. within 10 minute, all my food was served. and my 2 green tea nt yet serve!! i was very unhappy and ask to supervisor to come, is a malay oso, he was giving me an excuse that not enough staff. soon, we get our tea, the tea was no taste at all, like drinking hot water!! finally we finisehd our dinner, we are waiting for the ice cream that show on the flyer that free ice cream when you dine in, after waiting for 5 minute, they not yet serve the ice cream, i ask the supervisor to come again, and the supervisor say we need to ask then just will give. overall we spent on this place nearly 1 1/2 hrs on the waiting….i was very disapointed and i promise that wont come to this malay restaurant again.
ya, i also agree with u louis n japan kia, on merdeka day i go eat dinner with my husb, i can see overall the restaurant was very dirty, exp the make drink bar. i go in wash my hand, i can see so dirty and so smelly of the basin, before i go in bar wash my hand also but it was look very clean.but that bar is chinese.now sure very dirty because of malay.but at list the food still nice and maintain.huh… really so disapointed.food nice but the service was drop…
Oh dear! I was planning a corporate event there. But hearing all the recent negative reviews…..
Any other dining places in Queensbay Mall that is worth going?
[...] http://camostudio.com/blogs/2009/03/23/azuma_ptp/ http://www.penangtuapui.com/?p=6509 http://www.foodlah.com/2009/04/16/azuma-japanese-restaurant/ [...]
not all malay people like that…come back,i promise the service become k oledi…
hi all,
during the last visit of this place which is couple of days ago, the supervisor who suppose to recognize us had given us a bad impression where the usual smile on the face no longer there.
I am quite disappointed and I hope they can remain as friendly as possible, I didn’t expect perfect all the time, but when you stand on the service line, you have to act pro. That’s my take.
Huat Koay
OH NOOOOO!!!so many negative news bout azuma!!i tot tat period is merdeka day so they are in bz onli…. if i not mistaken wad penang tua pui said the supervisor is name ‘ ALEX ‘.i still remember i went ther for 2 times and oso serve by him,he will suggest us wad is 2day fresh and feel serve. the last time i went was served by malay, OHHHHH SHIT…….reli dunno how to describe
Huh??? Azuma bad service!!! I was there 3 times in sept 1 time in oct 09…service is good very attendtive.
food is delicious but sometime got wait bit longer cause its good business. To me its worth waiting for loh..
Are you sure you went to the right Azuma??? I was there diner time on 13th Oct.. the table beside me..i heard him say food is very nice also the service is good. if i not wrong he left a good tip too.
Are you sure you got the right Azuma???
Hmm… food king and Kenji,
I would believe the experience I had might be one single incident. She is the supervisor who serve us previous visit is good. Wonder what had happen that day… The face as black as charcoal.
Hope she is better now.
Huat Koay
I ve been to worst places at queensbaymall..just dun wanna mention which rest..even chinese waiter/tress also sometime no good ma.. i think you guys are being racist.
Actually, Azuma should be a good Japanese Restaurant (Pls allow me to explain).
As I know, Azuma is having a nice sea view (especially night), some good taste foods and the previous stuff is still okay.
However..What causes most of the stuff running away?
I guess it’s related to the management.
I’m very up sad with Azuma,
hopefully the lazy staffs willing to change their attitude!
I feel sorry for what had happen to Azuma! I really hope they are able to change the bad impression.
Azuma, please DON’T disappointing the Japanese Food’s Lovers anymore!
I feel sorry for what had happen to Azuma!
I really hope they are able to change the bad impression.
Azuma, please DON’T disappointing the Japanese Food’s Lovers anymore!
Im from KL, we have hundred over jap rest in KL alone..my friend from penang bring me to Azuma for dinner.
First impressionn of the whole rest in evening is so warm and nice view. we were recommended by the manager to have shake belly sashimi and other assorted sashimi and gyuza to start, it was so delicious never had tat before.. follow by ebi tempura, beef teppanyaki, gindara teriyaki, nameko chahan which is mushroom fried rice, cwan mushi and dobi mushi - little pot soup..nice. im dun normally go to any web on food but got some time and just wanna check out where to eat, came across azuma web..im really suprised to read this. to set thing right for azuma penang i will say thank you for serving good food and service. Next time i visit penang again will makan there. do keep us updated if azuma is opening in KL
I went to Azuma again this month, wah sake sashimi on promotion only RM10 so many will say cheap sure no good. its is very fresh and worth it 2 people can order 1 portion. Azuma pizza my favourite. Same people loh good food and good service. I think the new one better than old one …maybe sasa you should contact azuma manager and tell her your problem.
Most of our restaurants was changed to Bangladesh restaurant already nowadays.. Did u guys notice it ??
Japaneses foods, Chinese foods, Indian foods……etc. all made in Bangladesh…. Hahaha….. unbelievable !!
i like to eat japanese food…but,i dont know azuma japanese restorant halal or not!!!!please anybody explain for me…
Hi rafidah yes azuma is halal food served certificate by agama islam
Rafidah,
Azuma is pork free, no halal sign as they sell sake.
i like the salmon,tasty and juicy…but need to agreed some of the meal price soo expensive(i ate 3pax but my bill almost 200)
correction for jason wong statement actually they have the halal cert but it only for the sauce that been use for their dish..you can go there and see at their glass window that show the halal cert..its mean their food not included alcohol even they sale sake