Wednesday, September 9, 2009

Happiness is a State of Mind... or a really great pizza at Kissaten, Jaya One

For a long time , my bud Hui and I had been a tag team of severe discontentment and apathy. We got together and drank. A LOT. We commiserated about the choices we made, the choices we didn't think we had and the choices we had but didn't know how to exercise. We were basically two very bloated, disoriented and unhappy crones.

But then in recent months, the universe shifted. Or rather, we changed. Hui made a departure from the unsettling elements in her life while I got a second wind and made a huge readjustment to my perspective on mine. We came to a full revelation, that we were actually in a good place, and that we're unequivocally HAPPY, this delightful evening at Kissaten at Jaya One.

Kissaten had personally been the source of great excitement for some time now, especially following the melodic accounts of it by Lyrical Lemongrass and Hairy Berry.

We arrived on a Saturday night to a near-full house, every table eating up a storm. The interior was understated yet comfortable, perfect for an evening when we weren't bothered with the eyelash curler or colour coordination.

We started with the Just Vege Salad. It came with a weird mayo like dressing which Hui suspected to be cheesy and asked for an alternative from the helpful waiter, who happened to speak strictly only Mandarin. Now at that point, we wondered about the virtue of having a waitperson who responded only to Mandarin at a joint like Kissaten, which surely attracted more than a purely Chinese demographic. Nevertheless, we made do and carried on, unruffled.

We had been drooling over the menu for a few days, in consideration for a meal with MS, the other member of the Merry Trinity and we were sold on the pizzas. The Garlic Mushroom Pizza arrived to raised eyebrows because let's face it, the crust looked a wee bit thicker than what was shown on the menu. Nevertheless, it didn't prove to be too disappointing.

Cheesy and cheerful, even to a schizo dairy-hater.

We had our eye set on the Onsen tamago chicken teriyaki pizza from the moment we clicked on the Slide menu. How do you say no to the pornography that is one fine wobbly, poached egg? The toppings were generous and even though I shall forever resent the sweetness of teriyaki, this one was top-drawer happy food!

We enjoyed a bottle of Chilean Santa Helena's Cabernet Sauvignon. Once upon a time, we would have needed at least two, three bottles of this between the two of us to seal the evening but moderation, it seems, is by-product of Happiness and begets even more!

Things are only as bad as they seem and most of us are fortunate enough to always have choices that we can use, exploit even. The only thing stopping us from being happy is our irresolute selves! So Happy being Happy Folks!

18 comments:

GlassCube said...

To answer your question, it's pronounced 'McCloud Gunch', named after Sir David McLeod, a Lieutenant Governor of Punjab.

Kissaten will always be remembered as the place where two previously oblivious souls toasted to the start of their happy lives.

Selba said...

Fusion pizza? Looks great though :)

ai wei said...

this is at JAya one??? the pizza is looking fabulous!

is this place pricey???

NyonyaChef said...

Hi I came across your blog through bsg,...i say,u must be a good drinker !

Kenny Mah said...

I need to have the Onsen tamago chicken teriyaki pizza. Now.

Food pornography indeed. ;)

Sean said...

food for thought indeed. how many of us resort to food or drink in order to avoid thinking...
arrgh don't wanna think about it!!!

Big Boys Oven said...

wow, should have twitter me, I will definitely will join you! :)

backStreetGluttons said...

Your crescendoing highish of late had us shudhav couldhav wouldhav remorsing deep.

We must never forgit round 4

J said...

Good wine + good pizza is definately good food for the soul... :)

-j- said...

would have loved to try the garlic mushroom pizza!!

"Joe" who is constantly craving said...

2-3 bottles between the 2 of u..

life must have really sucked then..

Steven Goh said...

the pizza look gorgeous, is at Jaya one? If got pass by sure wanna drop by to try out

HairyBerry said...

this is a good place to chill, especially on weekends. the menu's really appetising, isn't it? haha! u must check out the mentaiko+olive pasta. darn refreshing!

Bangsar-bAbE said...

Now that I read your review, I'm definitely going to try the chicken teriyaki pizza! ;)

minchow said...

GlassCube, thank you for your kind guidance and friendship. Happy Happy!

Selba, I have a real bad affinity with the word Fusion coz I associate it with kitchen experiments gone wrong! I like the term Tokyo dining, or Jap contemporary better! :-D

Ai Wei, pizzas range in the mid RM20s; OK by Jaya One's standards I think.

NyonyaChef, thank you for visiting! I probably am more comfortable with alcohol than I should be but all that is changing now! :-)

LFB, yes I could use some about right now too. Wobbly egg.... *shudder*

Sean, it hurts to think right!? Let's not go crazy now and overhaul our eating & drinking habits... we still have to live a little!

minchow said...

BBO, ok, next time, I'll tweet you if I'm heading in that direction, K?

BSG, no remorse necessary! I certainly do not regret any of the liberal doses of yesterday... they were good times!

J, you said it! ;-) The soul is appeased!

Duckie, I personally preferred the chicken pizza; the mushroom got a bit too cheesy for me towards the end :-P

Joe, hahaha! Yes we did a whole lotta damage to ourselves.. and to our wallets! Good times though!

Steven, yes you must you must!

Nic, mentaiko pasta is to die for. I actually still have a lot of the ready made ones that I lugged back fr Japan, they're so good to eat!!

Bangsar Babe, it is a real winner! Dying to try out the rest of the menu too though!

Anonymous said...

its been so long since ive visited kissaten. the flavour of the char siew pizza still lingers in my mind.
the cheese... oh lovely cheese ... *_*

Babe_KL said...

we walked out after they cant comprehend what we asked, so we never went back. then we went to brussels then only we realised majority of the wait staff working in this area are from China, hence most of them can't understand English