The Best Restaurant in the World: Kirishima in Penang, Malaysia

Hey Steemers,

First thing's first: Kirishima probably isn't the best restaurant in the world. This is the first post in my new series, The Best Restaurant in the World. I love restaurants, reviewing things, and ranking things, and this is going to combine all three!

Each post will review a restaurant, tell you what you need to know to decide whether you'd want to eat there, and then rank it in the GLOBAL list of restaurants.

And hey, I've got to tell you – a pretty big part of this is me loling at the premise that I could actually visit every restaurant in the world. But after all, I have been to quite a few over the course of my travels!

Now, on to the review. As the first restaurant in the series, Kirishima automatically gets the coveted #1 spot – but how long can it keep it?

Kirishima Japanese Restaurant in Pengang, Malaysia

I first learned about Kirishima through Lonely Planet, which gives it a really glowing review. I love Japanese food, and I hadn't had any during the month I was in Bali, so I was really jonesing for some. And my husband has never been known to say "No" to "I hear this restaurant is good, want to go?" so off we went!

When we arrived at the restaurant and discovered it was inside a hotel, I had my doubts. Hotel + restaurant generally doesn't go that well. Luckily, it got better when we went inside the restaurant. I had some criticisms of the atmosphere (chairs were massive and uncomfortable, playing Bob Marley covers was a weird aesthetic choice), but it was promising overall.

The menu was a bit disappointing, in that I had been told that their set menus were a very good value and saw them on their website, yet they were nowhere to be found. As you could tell from the picture, I ordered the chirashi.

My husband ordered a hot pot.

Uh, turns out that was meant for two people. Luckily, we were both very hungry. He enjoyed his hot pot, although I prefer the version we make at home. My chirashi was fresh and tasty, though not refined and delicious enough to compete with the best I've had in America, let alone Japan. Still, I enjoyed it quite a lot – a worthy end to my involuntary break from Japanese food.

To sum up:
Atmosphere: 3/5
Food: 4/5
To go or not to go: Go, it's a nice place for some Japanese food.
Price: $$$ for Malaysia, $$ by global standards
Global rank at time of review: #1

The Best Restaurant in the World

1. Kirishima Japanese Restaurant in Penang, Malaysia

Hope you enjoyed reading The Best Restaurant in the World! Will the next challenger be able to kick Kirishima out of the number one slot?