Minamoto Kitchoan, which recently unveiled its maiden Malaysian branch, bolstering a cross-continental network that spans locations from Singapore to Shanghai to San Francisco, London to Tokyo to New York.
Minamoto specializes in "wagashi," the traditional treats commonly consumed with tea. Beautifully packaged but bitingly priced; it's startlingly simple to spend a whole lunchtime's worth of money on more or less a mouthful here.
Minamoto's mochi might rank as KL's best, exceptional in taste & texture. Sweet but not cloying, with a commanding complexity of flavor, these rice cakes feel fresh & pleasurably pasty without excess stickiness.
Other items here include:
Sakura mochi (RM10 per piece), its glutinous grains wrapped with a salted cherry leaf & topped with pickled cherry blossom. Delicate & nuanced.
Also adore the kusa mochi (RM8), typically a springtime delicacy, colored with mugwort leaves & filled with red bean paste. Glutinous greatness.
Tsuyaguri, a whole, soft chestnut enveloped in mashed chestnut paste. Folks who feel like festive splurging can buy a nice 12-piece gift box of these for RM152.
Hoshigaki dried persimmon, reputedly a labor-intensive product to create by massaging the fruit over time, stuffed with white bean paste.
Not everything here's a hit though: We'd skip the surprisingly bland kasutera sponge cake (RM48) & fukuwatashisenbei vanilla cream cookie.

Ori-Udon, a newbie at The Gardens Mall's lower ground floor, where several casual eateries have launched these past few weeks.If Ori-Udon's selection seems familiar, that might be because its consultant chef appears to be Seiji Fujimoto, the founder of Taman Desa's well-respected Sanuki Udon.Have a bowl of chilled udon coupled with a smidgen of mentaiko & soft-boiled egg (RM8.90), plus side dishes of wakame seaweed (RM1), fried tofu (RM1) & warm, tender beef (RM3, no taxes). A filling, fulfilling sampler, well-executed in Sanuki's signature style.Ori-Udon's compact menu also includes hot, fresh skewers of chicken & quail eggs (RM3 each) that are breaded instead of grilled, for a surprisingly nice change.Plus, there's sake here; we're thankful that Ori-Udon's friendly manager cheerfully serves this even at 10:30 in the morning. It wakes us up better than coffee.

Manmaru at Mid Valley Megamall, a spacious restaurant with a wide-ranging menu that partners udon with the likes of pickled plums, creamy curries & even sweet corn soup.A small portion, pleasantly chewy, with smoked duck in savory gravy costs RM13.90; most other varieties here are cheaper. Side dishes include velvety eggs as well as tempura squid, tempura prawns, tempura chicken, tempura enoki mushrooms, tempura sweet potato, tempura pumpkin, tempura eggplant (the tempura compilation clearly rivals that of the udon).

Slurping our way through three udon specialists that opened in KL in recent months, starting with Yuu-jo, a fairly cozy spot on one of Mont Kiara's leafy streets.Udon & soba command the mightiest share of Yuu-jo's menu; for something that tastes pretty nutritious, order the cold udon with marinated shiso leaves & spinach, blended with olive oil & crowned with char-grilled chicken (RM17.80 before taxes).The remainder of Yuu-jo's repertoire includes light-lunch mains like fleshy cobia fish deep-fried in bread crumbs (RM12)Other menu highlights: Italian-style udon, beef bolognese or chicken carbonara-style, as well as green tea soba with salmon & raw egg, plus comfort-food rice bowls.

Take a hefty bite of the Big Apple at Brooklyn B, possibly the Klang Valley's first hipster cafe that centers on bagels.Brooklyn B's bevy of bagels is freshly baked, supplying a distinctive chew that's densely solid without being distressingly strenuous.Lunch might be the classic bagel with lox & cream cheese, plus capers & spring onions (RM15.50); Brooklyn B's salmon proves surprisingly luscious, signaling that the outlet is serious about stocking up on top-flight ingredients.Bagels are served all day long starting 10am, except on Mondays; begin with breakfast, when a warm bagel sandwich can be savored, heartily stuffed with scrambled eggs & veggies (RM8.30).For dinner, when Brooklyn B's speakers switch to the turbulent sounds of Florence and the Machine, consider the garlic-topped bagel filled with soft corned beef, Worcestershire sauce & black pepper (RM11.90).Regular bagels range from savory ones flavored with onions, poppy seeds & sesame seeds ...Excellent with creamy aioli; very simple but purely enjoyable. Bagel chips, thinly sliced & baked till golden-brown, even crunchier than potato crisps.