Ore, Damansara Perdana

Oden and okonomiyaki, grilled fish and gyoza: For devotees of Japanese soul food that stems from the streets, Ore is an under-the-radar destination to discover, set up like an alleyway stand with one man cooking up a smoky storm - true to this stall's moniker, a masculine singular pronoun.

The oden is a soul-warmer, with achingly tender, fleshy daikon, konnyaku, chikuwa, satsuma age and other fish cakes, steamy in a delicate broth, more naturally nuanced than the commercialised oden of convenience stores, as nourishing and nursing as a home-simmered stew (RM18 for oden with all six available ingredients, with the fish cakes impressively own-made by Ore).

If you scorn stodgy, greasy okonomiyaki that lumbers overbearingly on the taste buds and weighs heavily on the waistline, Ore’s is a refreshingly airier change, stuffed wholesomely with a larger proportion of plump prawns and crunchy cabbage for more-killer, less-filler pleasure, aflutter with katsuobushi - we wiped this plate clean with ease (RM18).

The selection of grilled fish is ever-evolving - saba will likely be offered, but request the salmon, marinated for two nights in saikyo miso; it's flaky-moist, smooth and sultry-sweet, decadently fatty, capped with a crisp skin for the final satisfying flourish (RM30). A should-order for salmon fans.

With neither pork nor beef on the menu, chicken is the cornerstone of the gyoza (RM10) and hambagu (RM18), relatively less robust-tasting than typical but still nicely textured, very capably executed for a Malaysian chef who has his hands full cooking for three or four tables simultaneously.

Meat-free but mouthwatering: Creamy Japanese curry rice comes with crisp pumpkin and potato korokke, plus pickles and a chilled, carrot-laced potato salad, for a one-plate meal (more or less) to please (RM18).