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2021-06-16
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This sushi restaurant is located on the 27/F of Zing! at Yiu Wah Street Causeway Bay. Arriving early, the chefs were still preparing the food, so the staff politely showed us to sit at the other side while waiting and introduced to us the menu in the process.When it was ready, we were then shown to sit at the sushi counter. There is a nice window view as backdrop for the chefs, so customers can admire the skills of the chef while also savor the skyline during the meal. The counter is long and th
This sushi restaurant is located on the 27/F of Zing! at Yiu Wah Street Causeway Bay. Arriving early, the chefs were still preparing the food, so the staff politely showed us to sit at the other side while waiting and introduced to us the menu in the process.
When it was ready, we were then shown to sit at the sushi counter. There is a nice window view as backdrop for the chefs, so customers can admire the skills of the chef while also savor the skyline during the meal. The counter is long and there were three chefs serving at the same time.
I decided to go for Omakase Set ‘Gin’ ($2,280) while my wife picked the ‘Shou’ ($1,880). We were first served with some Cod Crackers, which is my wife’s favorite snacks. Toasted so it was warm and crispy, together with mayonnaise it is perfect with beer or sake.
Starting with the first appetizer, the appearance certainly was interesting. On the plate was a Red Lantern Fruit, and the chef then asked us to pick up on the stem and shake a bit, with some scallop pieces falling out. The scallops were very tasty, with the chef adding a bit of yuzu shavings and vinegar to bring out the freshness even further. A clever way to engage the customers in the dining experience.
Next course features shrimp, with Salmon Roes on White Shrimp, and Sweet Shrimp. The white shrimps are sweet and has a creamy texture, and the salmon roes giving a contrasting popping mouthfeel. The sweet shrimp is not the usual type we are familiar, but with larger size and even sweeter. The chef had introduced its name, but we forgot. Paired with the homemade vinegar jelly, the sweet and sour contrast is highly appetizing. The chef also thoughtfully provided pickled turnip to cleanse the palate afterwards.
The third course continued with Sea Urchin and Squid, as well as Oyster. The Bafun sea urchin was very sweet, one of the best I had in town. Putting them on top of the seasonal squid, with its tender and soft texture, is a good complement. The oyster had a slightly crunchy mouthfeel, while exhibiting a mild briny note. The Tosazu radish and chives were signature condiments for the oyster.
The fourth course brought a wow from us, with Purple Sea Urchin on shell. Beautifully presented, the chef had removed the sea urchin and cleaned before putting them back at the shell, with some minced tuna and salmon roes in the middle. There were some seaweed strips for us to put them in, and while not as sweet as Bafun, the purple sea urchin had a better texture and mixing with the other ingredients was nice in taste.
The fifth course was again an assortment, with Shima Aji and Yellowtail sashimi, Kinmedai, and Whelk. The shima aji was thinly sliced and then rolled, with a piece of liver inserted to add richness and flavors to the sashimi. The yellowtail has a stronger flavor, and the chef added some peppery paste to give a bit of spicy kick to it. The kinmedai was torched to bring alive the fish oil to enhance the aroma and taste, while the whelk got a nice bite, infused with the taste of the broth used to cook it. Wrapping up is a piece of plum to cleanse the palate.
The sixth course was Otoro, with a thick slice of the fatty tuna in which the chef had dusted with some rock salt, before wrapping in seaweed sheet together with shiso leaf. The soft and tender tuna had great taste, with the fish oil seeping on the bite, coating the mouth with the wonderful flavors, and the magic of the shiso leaf surprisingly giving a good match overall.
Next was another unique experience. The chef brought out a hedgehog utensil and after opening, a fragrant wood smoke came out. The chef had burnt some twigs and then put it underneath, allowing the smoke to infuse the bonito inside. The Smoked Bonito, along with onion puree and some deep-fried garlic pieces, offered a nice aroma together with the sweetness of the onion puree provided additional flavors, with the crunchy garlic piece giving extra texture.
The eighth course was another assortment, with Sea Urchin on Bean Curd Skin, Conch, Grilled fish (I forgot the name of this deep-water fish) and Edamame Tempura. While the sea urchin was good, I found there were too many dishes featuring them (there was another sea urchin sushi). The conch was decent with a good bite, and the grilled fish was probably one of the best ingredients on the night. It was very tender and essentially melting, with a nice taste. The edamame was also a nice choice to showcase the restaurant doing different styles of Japanese cooking techniques.
The ninth course was the first time I had this in HK. Always worrying about food poisoning, this Raw Crab in Sauce was a brave try for my wife. The chef had marinated the crab with some Chinese yellow wine and other ingredients, with a sweet taste and very soft texture. Perhaps a bit challenging to eat them with chopsticks, nevertheless it is worth trying out.
Continuing with crab, the next course featured Horsehair Crab, with the chef meticulously taking out the cooked crab meat, before mixing with the crab yolk and put it back in the shell. The crab meat was very sweet and tasty even without any sauce, but adding a bit of the vinegar prepared brought further enjoyment to the experience.
The last hot dish was Abalone with Liver Sauce, and the chef told us that it had been cooked for a number of days, as they could not just directly boil the abalone in water as it would shrink in size. Slowly simmering to avoid that and to make it soft on the bite required lots of effort, but the results were good. The liver sauce was intense in taste and the chef also added some noodles to allow us to savor every last drop in the end.
Transitioning to sushi, the chef provided us with Crystalline Iceplant and Tomato to freshen up our palate. The iceplant had the unique crunchy texture while the tomato got a good balance of sour and sweetness. A fitting cleanser to the anticipated sushi.
The first sushi featured Hokkigai. Very crunchy on the texture, when the chef hit the clam, the muscle retracted to show how lively and fresh the shellfish was. Adding a bit of lime shavings further freshen up the sushi. A very good piece.
The second sushi was Chutoro. The chef had cut along the tendon, to ensure a tender mouthfeel as well as allowing the soy sauce to be retained in the groove. With a right balance of fat and lean meat, it is generally my favorite cut of the tuna and this one delivered the expectation.
The third sushi was Sea Urchin. The chef had put lots of it on the sushi, and again the Bafun sea urchin was sweet and really great quality. While I mentioned that the restaurant had made quite several sea urchin courses, I would not complain and even wanted to have another piece.
The fourth sushi featured Wagyu Beef. The chef used the torch-gun to sear the beef slightly to give a slight charred surface, further enriching the flavors with the melting of the fat. On the texture it had a wonderful tenderness and was another good piece.
The fifth sushi was Flounder Skirt. Again, the chef torched it to liven the fish oil, bringing the vibrancy of the sushi to an extra level. It was a nice piece, especially if you like the intense taste.
Coming to the sixth piece, the Otoro Tendon sushi was something unique, with the chef removing the tendon and instead of disposing, cut to break the tendon to make it easy to chew, before torching. The fish oil was fragrant, but by now it was three pieces of fatty sushi in a row and undermined the enjoyment to a certain degree.
When the seventh sushi was served, I got a weird feeling as the Akamutsu, a fish prized for its fat content, was again torched. While I understand doing so would help to intensify the flavors, simply having four such sushi in a row was a bit too much. The fish itself was good though, and I hope the chef would consider not doing torching for all the pieces.
The chef asked whether we were full, and I decided to have one more specialty suggested. First mixing some essences of prawn head with sushi rice, the chef then put in the prawn meat and finished with plenty of spring onion. I am grateful to try it out as the taste was very good, and even with the full stomach I enjoyed every bit of it.
The soup came next, and this was served in a large onion, with the inner taken out to form a cavity. The chef put some crab meat in, and then poured a nice broth made from plenty of seafood and onion. Tasty and having the seafood and onion flavors complementing each other, it warmed our stomachs with comfort.
The Egg Sponge Cake and Coffee Awamori was then served. Originally thinking the egg cake to be sweet, it was in fact savory, with the chef adding the nice seafood broth, infusing the cake with the flavors. The awamori was rich in the coffee taste, and even with the alcohol level it was not burning and quite smooth.
The seasonal fruit was Mango, sweet and without any fiber. A nice piece before transitioning to the sweeter dessert on closing.
The Pineapple Cream Brulee was of good sweetness but not excessive, and the acidity from the pineapple helped to balance and refresh the palate. The cream brulee was smooth and silky, and completed a satisfactory meal on the night.
Serving us on the night was Chef Mon, who is the more senior among the three. While not exactly very talkative, he is friendly, providing introductions to the different dishes and cater to the needs of our requests. The other staff are also attentive and quick to serve, but given the space is quite tight between seats, the frequent collection of the dishes inevitably causes some disturbance in the meal.
The bill on the night was $4,682 and while it was not cheap, there were quite a lot of courses with good quality ingredients. I think they could consider reducing the number of torched sushi as it would be too heavy and fatty for most people, but overall still a good place to enjoy a nice omakase dinner.
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