Ajitomi    味 + 味  

And I left out about one item in the whatever organic vegetable mix: - one asparagus.

Well, to be fair, other than that grossly priced vegi dish and the compulsary starter (1/4 piece of brocolli on a bed of cold angel hair with olive oil), there are some good dishes, e.g.:

- the Osaka meatball ('tsukume') is very good - big and juicy. I think they mixed some sort of 'taro jelly' in it as well;

- The chicken wing stuffed with fish roe (mei tai ko) is very delicious;

- Kama-meshi: steamed rice with chicken stock, chicken meat and assorted vegetables (similar to the Korean bibimbap but with practically no oil and a refreshingly light taste). This is very good - having said that, you can certainly buy a packet of the mixture (五目"")at Jusco or City Super and then pour it over your rice as you switch on the rice cooker - the effect is pretty much the same but the one at the restaurant probably used a bit less soy sauce and thus more healthy.

The quality of the skewers are fine but on the expensive side (about 25-35 for each skewer).

Do not order the organic vegi mix.

There are many interesting options on the 'western' menu with relatively reasonable price - haven't tried any of those though.

Comfortable modern decor with good spacing between tables.

Good service.

Good sake selection

An impromptu weekday lunch prompted by KC, we gathered @ 味+味(あじとみ,Aji-to-mi). Our target was clear: their famous釜めし(Kama-meshi,釜飯) which was made to order and took 30 minutes. KC always does his homework, so he already pre-ordered two sets of 鶏釜めし during reservation.

Unlike most of the Japanese restaurants which try to place the wide net and put everything from sushi, tempura, yakitori, to soba, ramen, tonkasu on to the menu, Ajitomi focuses on homemade styled cooking with options of yakitori. I personally prefer one thing done right rather than many things done on average level, so their focus on home cooking provided me with some confidence and reassurance to be honest. Specialization in one genre of cooking (like sushiya, sobaya, yakitoriya) is such a common practice in Japan, I just hope that this culture can be more widespread in Hong Kong.

Of course just 鶏釜めし was not going to satisfy these group of gluttons, so we also ordered some set lunches:

とん豚丼定食 (grilled pork on rice lunch set, 燒豬肉飯)
- withプチサラダ (salad), 漬物(つけもの, Tsukemono), 味十味みそ汁 (miso soup), ご飯 (rice).

I liked the fact that they included hijiki in their 漬物 which isn’t commonly found in local Japanese restaurants. The appearance of the pork belly was irresistible with alternating meat and fat layers glazed with a coating of grill sauce and then chargrilled to achieve a crispy surfaces. However, when tasted I personally found the slices a bit too dry and stringy especially the lean meat part. Fortunately the pork drippings (ok, pork fat) and the tare (燒汁) penetrated to the rice and made the pearl gems delicious and satisfying. Overall the set was tasted fine but I didn’t find any surprises from it.

串焼き盛り合わせ (yakitori moriawase, 雜錦串燒)
- with ねぎま nekima（たれ）, ハツ hatsu （塩）, 肝 reba（たれ）, ズリzuri（塩）,つくねkutsune（たれ）

This yakitori platter was quite disappointing in my opinion. While I did not taste all 6 skewers, which included chicken with scallion (with sauce, 汁燒), chicken heart (salt), liver (sauce), and chicken meatball (sauced), most of what I tasted was over-grilled and very dry. The organs were not moist and meat was not juicy at all. The only better one was the つくね(meatball) which was soft but certainly nothing to rave about. Because of this order I am now suspicious on how well they execute their yakitori at night.
　
温泉卵のせぶっかけ冷やしうどん (Bukkake Hiyashi Udon with Onsen Tamago, 溫泉蛋冷烏冬) with みそ汁小食

The udon was indeed cold and refreshing in hot weather. I have always loved noodles mixed with onsen tamago and this egg was cooked adequately to achieve the right semi fluid consistency. Unfortunately the udon was a bit too soft and turned a bit mushy. When mixed with the eggs and the toppings with was also wet, the mouthfeel was not optimized. The flavor with all the toppings was fine, but again, the overall dish was not perfected.

When the two much awaited 鶏釜めし arrived, no one could hold their patience! KC immediately helped us to mix and split the rice, and I must say that this kamameshi was what made this trip. The rice was cooked to excellent consistency – soft enough to swallow yet retain a slight chew. The pearl rice was like gems coated with subtle earthy seasoning from the vegetables and the chicken. With each bite you felt the immense sooth and warmth that you normally experienced at home. This is indeed what I called homestyle cuisine!

While not everything of the lunch was great, I think just the 鶏釜めしalone is worth a revisit. I also found a lot of Western styled fusion dishes (what they called Original cooking) on their menu which seem to have a lot of potential, and may return just to try them out.


You can also read KC’s review on:
http://gourmetkc.blogspot.com/2009/08/blog-post.html

Heard lots of good reviews about this restaurant. So, came to test it out with a dear girl friend. We ordered the Osaka Meatball, famous chicken wing, clams with saki and the famous onsen egg cold udon.

Osaka Meatball was great. Big and juicy. The clams was not bad too. At lease, it was clean and meaty. Cooked right and soaked all the flavour from the saki. The saki used in the cooking was strong. A bit too overpowering the sweetness of the clam meat.

The overrated part was on the famous items. Let's start with the chicken wing. The skin was grill to crispy with a coat of their special sauce on it. It was nice until you bit into the meat of the chicken wing. The meat was bland and tasted like frozen chicken. It was a bit disappointing.

The onsen egg cold udon was the second disappointments of the night. The five sides ingredients that was added to the udon didn't go that well together. The fusion taste of the udon was just odd. It was so unattractive that we didn't even finished the udon (with only two of us).

Overall, I really felt the 3.8 rating is overrated. Maybe the kamameshi that are high recommended by other commentaries will worth a second visit.

I enjoy Western styled dinners cooked by Japanese Chefs - despite them being not too authentic, they somehow manage to make them more appealable than Chinese chefs attempting the same dishes. AJITOMI is quite unique in a way and probably the only one of its kind in Hong Kong!! The main Japanese Lady chef cooks and understands food well and they carry 2 styles of cuisines on the singular menu. Half of it is Westernised mainly French items with a slight but probably unintended Japanese 'accent', the other half of the menu authentically Japanese based!

Personally, this approach should NOT be classified as Fusion Styled Food - put simply, it carries 2 separate food styles in one location, without merging them together. Perhaps the clue has always existed if one questions the Origin of the shop's name: 味 + 味 is the possible result of a 'word play' which the same 漢字, ’味’, is doubly pronounced in 2 different '讀音's' deliberately: one in normal Japanese 'Aji', and one is foreign based 'Mi'. The '+' pronounced as 'To' in the middle carefully separates the two words and styles to form Aji.To.Mi as a Dining Concept! To me, it defers slightly from the likes of 酒處 & 八海山 or Nobu, which all carry some newly invented items that combine ideas or ingredients from both Japanese and Western or Peruvian cuisines. Perhaps San San Trois comes closer but that's more Japanese oriented, whereas Sodeyama remains predominantly Japanese except their meat items.

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COMPULSORY STARTER -
Like most Jap or Chinese restaurants, they charge you for this. Here I was given a Cold Spaghetti appetiser with scallops, black olives, zucchini, carrots and onion slices. OK I guess. Probably costed around $20-30, can't remember.
OSAKA PORK TSUKUNE BALL -
This is suppose to be one of their signature Japanese Kushiyaki's. Its combined with some Onions and diced Konnyaku jelly cubes to give it a special texture! The sauce was very good, the grilling was perfect. I liked this a lot, especially the slightly fruity, sweet teriyaki sauce.
CHICKEN TSUKUNE SKEWER WITH CHEESE -
If there was anything Fusion that night, this was it! I've hardly had cheesy tsukune items before so was curious. The cheese wasn't great though and not gratinated as I'd expected. The sauce within however was authentically Japanese, definitely. Not aware of soft chicken bones within.
CHICKEN WITH CHEESE -
Similar but not minced unlike the above, I remember I ordered this deliberately as a comparison with the Chinese-chefs run Yakitori Houses' offers, where they always carry this item! This was aromatic and great with my beer. Its a bit different from the ones I have tried before too!
SEA URCHIN SPAGHETTI -
This is an Italian Dish but which sits equally well in a Japanese restaurant's menu in a sense, since both countries love Urchins. Real Italian ones are minerally and quite bitterly fishy, the one infront of me was more approachable and the sauce smooth creamy. I think the urchins were great but the sauce lacked the core ingredient's oceanic taste - there wasn't enough urchin essense to penetrate into the al dente but commercial pasta strands.... But having said that, most Japanese cooked urchin pastas taste like this. This is better than the SML version which I ate many weeks after this meal.
SLOW COOKED OX TONGUE -
Unlike the ubiquitous yakitori-grilled Ox Tongues which I love to death, its much rarer to find Japanese slow-cooked Ox Tongues locally, but in my past experiences with Jap cuisines they are always experts with this part of the cow, whereas Western or even Chinese cuisines slow cooked Beef Cheeks or Tails more. The only other shop I've eaten this at so far was 炭姫, since that shop offers Sendai cuisine, famous for Ox Tongue dishes. I remember eating this in Osaka as well somewhere? Note: I can't remember if the menu said this was slightly cooked in a French manner or not, or if the sauce on top was Miso based - since this was a while ago. I just remember it was cooked really well and I enjoyed it !
雞釜飯 (25 Min Wait) -
This is another dish that I haven't seen much elsewhere so I ordered this dish, considering its cooked-to-order I guess its suppose to be pretty edible! Interestingly, in lots of touristy HK 煲仔飯 restaurants, the Japanese translation is written as 釜めし(釜飯), so they're close relatives!! Where they differ is obviously the Claypot vs Cast Iron Pot, also Japanese 釜飯 is cooked in 'stock' with ingredients mixed into the rice already. Its just a higher end (五目)炊き込みご飯 in disguise I guess? The chicken stock based rice came with carrots, chicken, shiitake mushrooms and burdock roots (牛蒡), a typical combination. I found this version to be slightly salty that night, probably with MSG, but otherwise highly enjoyable for $75!

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SUMMARY - Really liked this restaurant and I liked the slightly feminine touch by the chef here, if anything, next time I eat here I will order Red or White Wine with my meal rather than Beers or Shochu's! Equally, you can visit here just for their Japanese Yakitori's and Onigiri's and some Sashimi's and completely disregard the Western '味-Mi' part of the 味 + 味 equation, I saw a Japanese gentleman doing just that and kept hogging the toilet after too many beers!

Ranging from around high '3' to low 5', depends what you order!

This is no epitomic representation of a good Japanese homestyle fusion restaurant, but you don't find many of these in Hong Kong anyway and to be fair, some dishes were quite good. The stewed-pork meatballs for one were juicy, grilled with a flavourful teriyaki sauce and tasted like shanghainese "lion heads". Other grilled dishes were also decent but non-grilled meats were slightly disappointing. The pork chop was extremely tough, dry and tasteless, as was the orange duck which was only slightly better because it had a sauce. The fried gobou was also lacking in flavour, which was extra wasteful because of its overly large portion. Grilled nigiri was...well, not bad but not good - on the dry side. In conclusion you're probably better off ordering only grilled dishes, I'd expect the japanese style hamburg steaks to be alright too if that tickles your fancy, but otherwise don't come at all if you want other snacks to go with your japanese beer.

In my mind, few things in life are better than sharing a good meal with your friend, and to have a nice chat in a quiet and homely place. And that is exactly what I did today ! My friend and I came to this nice little Japanese restaurant for lunch and the result was totally heart warming to say the least The place was only half full when we arrived at around 12:50pm. We were promptly given a seat and greeted by the friendly and helpful wait staff. The place was quite small (only around 10-15 tables at most) and the minimalistic decor gave it a "homely" feel. Tables were adequately spaced out, and hence although the place was quite small, it did not have a "crampy" feeling. A quick survey of the surroundings also convinced me that this place must be authentic - coz we were literally "surrounded" by Japanese patrons !

We glanced over the menu and decided to have 2 set lunches. Mine was the chicken skewers set which came with a salad (very fresh and crispy cabbage shreds with a light sour dressing, which was very refreshing), miso soup (good but not particularly impressive), a bowl of rice (genuine Japanese rice used here - very nice), and 5 skewers featuring different parts of the chicken. Although I could not be sure, I think there was chicken liver (good), minced chicken meat (good), chicken meat balls (good), chicken skin ? with onion (good), and chicken knuckles marinated with honey (very good, I really liked this one !). All the skewers were cooked just right and the standard was high - at least on the same level, if not better than most other yakitori joints I have visited so far Likewise, my friend ordered a deep fried pork chop with rice set, which also came with fresh vegetables and rice. He was generous enough to share a piece of the fried pork with me, and it was also very good - I mean, perhaps not as good as the tonkasu shop at WTC, but still of very high standard. In contrary to what others think, we do not find the food portions to be particularly small. At the end I also ordered a cup of coffee, which was freshly brewed and very nice. The price was perfectly reasonable in my opinion. We had a most enjoyable experience at this joint, and I will definitely come back to try their other stuff like 釜飯 and 溫泉蛋 later. And for those who complain about the price and the food portion, maybe they really should go somewhere else to have their local -styled "jap food". This place is for real Jap food lovers only and hence I think there should not be a shortage of customers anyway.

Ajitomi has definitely become one of my favorite Japanese restaurants! It was an awesome meal and my boyfriend and I had a great time.

I totally love the quiet environment and the attentiveness of the waitresses. It's quite a small place with few tables, so it might be a good idea to reserve a table.

The following are our orders, all of which were delicious and each was better than the previous!

麵豉湯: one of the best I have had in HK, none of those just-add-hot-water crap
雜錦串燒: they came in 醬燒 and 鹽燒, both delicious
溫泉蛋冷烏冬: good quality udon and egg, highly recommended
明太子意粉: best dish of the night, just try it, it's worth it!

Very satisfying meal, indeed. Will definitely go back!

went to this restaurant for a friend's birthday last night, and had diarrhea this morning. i think it's because of the stale tuna we had last night. they accepted our return but told us that "Japanese sashimi was supposed to taste like that!" couldn't beliebe it. i mean i have been to japan for so many times before, don't kid me!
dinner was $315 per person but no one was full.
$150 surcharge for bringing our own cake in, so think through it first if you intend to celebrate someone's birthday here.
pastas were of mini sizes, around $120 per plate.

went here with my best friend for dinner today .... we want to eat something good...

for tonight we ordered:
Mix Chicken 串$100
this includes 6 串of 雞的串燒, chicken heart skewer, chicken liver skewer, chicken meat, chicken meat ball etc

1 bacon tomato skewer
1 牛舌　skewer
2x chicken wing skewer

2x Beef Sashimi ($110)
this taste so good.. so therefore we order a second serve

white wine with calms
good.. the calms was soooo sweet

Deep Fried potato cake
wow.. this was delicious, the potato cake have sweet corns in it... taste nice.. and also you can taste cream taste. very smooth and good

1 fried rice dumpling

1 bottle of hot sake ($45)
so nice, alcholo not too strong.. and it goes well with the 串燒

It is a very enjoyable evening.. and the waiter are so nice.. the shop is nice .. not noisy... not crowded at all...

when we leave, the cook comes out to talk to us... she's japanese...we are so surprise, coz' is the first time that we've been here.. she's nice... she wants to thank and know how customer feel...

we will come back here agin... coz' both the atmosphere and food are nice.. and the is not expensive.. good for value..