Kenjo    見城日本料理  

My boyfriend and I came here on a Saturday afternoon around 12:00pm. It was already packed when we got there. We didn't reserve, and we waited for about 30 mins. We each got the self-selected 8 pcs sushi + 1 roll sushi set. They first served us a Japanese steamed egg custard, and it was very smooth and light. We sat at the bar, so the chef just put the sushi on a "leaf" (which acted as a plate) in front of us. The most delicious and memorable sushi was the unagi sushi. It was the best unagi sushi I ever had and it melted in my mouth. All the other ones were very fresh as well. I also ordered an egg sushi for the sushi set. The egg tasted a little different (in a good way) from the ones you get in other local restaurants.The texture of the sushi rice was very good and it had the right balance of vinegar flavor. We kept eating the ginger, too. The chefs were very attentive and kept refilling our ginger when we finished them. We ended our meal with some good, not too sweet, red bean ice cream. Overall, it was an authentic Japanese meal. Their service was great even though they were so busy.

It's my second time visting Kenjo. Before C left the town, I promised to bring her to the best Japanese sushi bar in TST (so far the best I'm awared of). Early bookings are required unless you don't mind waiting for at least 45 minutes or longer, which a lot of people including us were willing to wait just for the taste of some great authentic Japanese sushi. It took us a while to decide our order. The MENU was simple and straight forward, no fancy food but only basic and traditional food that could only be found in a Sushi Bar, which was absolutely great in my point of view.

As part of the lunch set, our starters were a nice little cup of steamed egg . It was already appealing to look at, not to mention the actual taste when we came about to try it out. As expected, the steamed egg was perfect. Soft, delicate and smooth. No air bubbles or any faults. The spring onions were some good ingredients to enhance the texture on the whole. Both of us loved it! Next came the Cold Tofu. Again, great on the visual impact to begin with. The temperature was just cool enough for an immediate bite of the tofu. In particularly I was impressed with the excessive spring onions and katsuobushi. It was rare for one to see such an amount of katsuobushi served on top of the cold tofu..My Sashimi Set Lunch arrived first before C's. In no way could I emphasis enough the absolute stunning appearance of the dishes were in Kenjo..the way how each particular item was placed on the table, along with the particular style/pattern of the bowls or plates that held the food in the best looking manner. All of which were efforts put forward by the great Sushi Bar chefs (Salute!)! As always, the sashimi served in Kenjo were satisfying and different from the ones you could get out there in sushi chain stores - they were fresh and served in thick pieces - absolutely worthed the price! Don't forget the side dishes as well! The miso soup and preserved radish were great to go along with the main dish too! C's Assorted Sushi Set Lunch didn't take long to arrive. Though the quantity seemed to serve lesser than mine, the set was done in a fine quality that one could ask for! The sushi were freshly made by the chefs from the Sushi Bar - a 100% gurantee to serve you the most authentic and best sushi possible! A pity that the list of selection for the assorted sushi was limited to one for each type of sushi.A side point worth of mentioning, sometimes you just had to appreciate the details that Japanese looked into. When they served you soft drinks, they not only cared about the drinks being absolutely chilled to refreshen your throat, but also the presentation that came with it - look closely the "thick ring" provided for the soft drinks to avoid water spilling to the table and the coaster provided.

The experiences to Kenjo are always worth-remembering. Their spirit of serving you the finest quality of food (especially sushi), good service and a nice presentation are greatly appreciated. Something that the Japanese culture has brought up and worth learning. Though I must admit that for a restaurant like Kenjo, I only dare to come for lunch once in a while... not too affordable in a student's perspective!

The only good thing i like about this restaurant is the service, hokkaido sea urchin (uni) and salmon belly (toro)

Other than that, it was too expensive for the food that was prepared (very generic)

1. Sea urchin
sweet, and fresh. (8/10)

2. Salmon belly (9/10)
Very nice texture and very oily. also very fresh

3. Mixed sashimi rice (5/10)
Nothing great about it except that it was fresh.

4. Tempura Soba noodle soup (3/10)
Soup tasted like soy sauce mixed with water
Noodles was dead
Tempura was not crispy and looked unattractive (probably the water was not cold enough when they mixed it into the tempura batter powder mix)

5. Wasabi
Very good and fresh. No idea if it's from the plant itself or if its an instant powder mix.

We spent about $800 for 2 person
Environment was not the best I would say.
You get much better food down at Rakuen and very price affordable
I'd be very surprised if this restaurant is owned by Japanese.

Very pricey for the type of food that was presented to us. However, the service was very attentive which I'm very impressed. Keep up the good work girls (waitresses)

Went for lunch at 1:30pm on a Sunday. We made reservations but unfortunately our table wasn't ready when we got there so we had to wait about 10 minutes. But it was definately worth the wait!!! We ordered 3 lunch sets: the sushi box set, the grill cod (black cod/sablefish which I presume) and the uni/cuttlefish rice set. Set came with miso soup and a lovely egg custard. The egg custard was wonderful, it came hot and the custard was beautifully set, nice and soft and just melted in my mouth. The cod was quite nice but not much different from most places that serve it. The uni and cuttlefish was absolutely fresh and the sushi box hit us by surprise. I figured the portions would be small but the box set came with pieces of tempura, a nice box of sushi, and even a small piece of the cod we had already ordered!!! The sushi was beautifully prepared and everything was served at the right temperature.

Service was quite attentive and not rushed at all. The meal cost $450 for the both of us, mind you we did not order any alcohol or drinks and opted to just have green tea but the set lunch also ends with a choice of ice cream or coffee!!! I've been waiting to go to this restaurant for a while and have heard a lot of good responses on it so I thought I might have been hyping it up a bit but I definately have to say that it beat my expectations and I will be going again whenever I get the chance!!!!

We went lunched at Kenjo on a Sunday; arrived at 12.20pm. The two of us sat by the sushi bar and ordered omakase - i.e. chef's choice (not any of their Set Lunches) - and the waitress told us that the chef would "prepare what he thinks best and check during the course of our meal whether to serve additional sushi".

Problem 1 - SLOW
The first 5 sushi's came at a good pace one after another and the fish were all very fresh. Thereafter, fifteen minutes had passed and neither the chef nor any of his apprentices served us; albeit right behind the sushi bar, facing us, they were preparing sushi for other customers' Set Lunch meals.

I had to ask the apprentice chef in front of me whether any other sushi was being prepared for us; he answered yes, but continued preparing sushi for the Set Lunch meals. He then asked, and I had to tell him, what to serve us - quite contrary to the omakase concept in other just as expensive Japanese restaurants.

And so, the cycle for the latter 90 mins of our meal was:
- wait 10 mins;
- exchange glances with chef and apprentice;
- ask if any omakase sushi was being prepared;
- be informed of a yes;
- prod them after another 2 - 5 mins;
- only to be asked what we would like to eat (at which point we just ordered, defeating the purpose of omakase);
- and wait another 5 mins for OUR CHOICE (not chef's choice) to befall our plates;
- wait 5 - 10 mins again........ (hope behold; you'd think they would acknowledge their sloppiness and initiate to serve us chef's choice sushi, but to our disappointment, the cycle continued);
- and so on.

90 mins into our meal, two set of diners had already sat on the very seat next to me, finished their Set Lunches, and left the restaurant.

Problem 2 - UNAPOLOGETIC; BAD SERVICE
At no time after my prods did the chef nor his apprentice chef whom served us apologise for being so slow; despite us chasing for food no less than 10 times and no longer hiding our annoyances.

Our bill for two totaled HK$1,600 . For sushi most of which was on the Set Lunch (which costs at most HK$200 for one, so HK$400 for two). The staff and waitress did not offer to (regardless of their slow service, but made even more unbelievable in light of it) deduct our meal cost due to fact that the sushi we ordered had included every single piece of sushi on the Set Lunches (we spent so much time waiting that we knew what other customers were being served).

Ignoring this technicality, the staff and waitress did not offer to give anything complimentary to show their regret (apart from the standard ice cream which every customer has; Set Lunch, omakase, or not) - we later figured why; because they were not apologetic. The waitress did apologise once as we got up to leave after 2 hours since we sat down.

Conclusion
Fresh fish; extremely poor service for the money; felt conned; do not order omakase, especially during lunch hours.

Staff failed to deliver what waitress offered.

Will never go back.

Go to Sushi Shin instead - for omakase: same price, same quality sushi, much better service.

Disappointing.

I've heard about this restaurant for some time, and I had the opportunity to come here two weeks ago.
I ordered the sushi and tempura, . At about $150, it's definitely a bargain. The only problem with this combination is that by the time I'm done with the sushi, the tempura has cooled down somewhat. Tempera was of good standard, only barely visible traces of oil were found on the absorbent paper, the only comment being the batter could be made crispier. Like many other Japenses restaurants, there is no non-smoking area. Hope that the Bill on smoke free enviroment will be passed asap.

I love this place and the good memories associated with it.

Ok I know I said "fine dining" below, and the prices would certainly place this place in a fine dining bracket, but the wooden snap-off chopsticks, the service etc would put this establishment back down to a normal sushi bar. But don't let that put you off going to this place!

With fresh ingredients, I think its always hard to maintain the same degree of high standards everytime. After all, every fish is different, every cow is different, get what I mean? Therefore when I read someone's post that the Ikkura was "alright", I have to disagree. It was the most flavourful Ikkura I have ever had. If someone knows better Ikkura than this place, please tell me.

I didn't try the sea urchin in its shell...that looks bloody awesome. Will have to get that next time I go back. Sea-urchin sushi was alright. My lunch companion thought it the next thing to heavenliness.

I, on the other hand, thought that the price was next to heavenliness! For lunch, this place drums you up an 8-block-sushi set for less than HKD200, which they normally sell for in excess of HKD800 (I am told). I would normally assume that the prices are lower because they utilise last night's leftover fish...didn't feel that way here...maybe they were SO fresh last night, they were still alive the next day.

Sounds awesome, yes? Well, the answer is yes and no. For all the fantastic prices and fresh ingredients, the portions are portions FOR GIRLS!!! If they didn't take (another quibble) an hour to get our food on the table (sushi? you need to cook sushi?), would've ordered another one. Would have HAD to order another one.

just normal 2009-06-21 00:11203.186.x.x
the name is more than it's food

better than normal chain store sushi. but as a famous jap sushi restaurant in HK
it's just fine

the toro is good, u ni is good
but other just normal...
wont go again.

I came here a few weeks back for lunch. It was amazing.. I ordered a set which came with steamed egg, grilled fish (mackerel and black cod), prawn / sweet potato / aubegine tempura, slow braised pork, tuna / yellow tail / squid sashimi, rice, miso soup and ice-cream for dessert. It was amazing.. It's the best lunch set I have had in Hong Kong.

This is definitely the best out of around 6 Japanese places within the same price range that I have tried. I like both Kenjos, but I thought the tempura at this one is better. Both have excellent service and to-die-for sashimi though... I would recommend sitting at the bar because the chefs are so nice and professional. You wouldn't find them chatting amongst themselves like in Sushi Hiro.

This has always been a regular Sushi restaurant for me, although due to the growing number of customers that walk through the door, it was inevitable that quality has dropped slightly.

Sitting at the counter, ordered the 8 pieces of self-selected sushis. The fish available at lunch time has been nearly 95% the same for many years, although its still a great balance of variety. Certainly the range is not as good as at Sushi Hiro, although even Sushi Hiro has more limited fishes choices at lunch, compared to dinner time.

From observing the food - it seems like the sushi nigiris I had were prepared slightly too rushed, and some of the edges of the fish were torn, also the rice 手握 quality was only average, although still better than Sushi Hiro TST's by far (which had slightly better rice quality in that shop though, funnily enough)! However, the sushi sets served to the Table customers not on the counter looked much well prepared and prettier, the knife work was cleaner. The counter customers received rushed service.

The fish quality was very high here as usual - none of the BS fishy and dried up variety given to customers at lunch at Sushi Hiro TST. The Sea Urchin at Kenjo was much better than the Sushi Hiro one (they have 2 varieties there but give u crapper one for lunch, which is slightly bitter yet tasteless). The wasabi quality at lunch is better than Sushi Hiro as well, although at night time, they're the same.

The Chawan-mushi steamed eggs quality however was not up to standard on this occasion, having hardly any broth taste nor egg taste, no signs of mushrooms or much chicken or ginko in mine one either.

All in all, the quality certainly has declined, and the quality of the Shellfishes and the selection of White fishes here aren't as extensive as Sushi Hiro - but still, the general quality is still better than Sushi Hiro - especially for lunch. BOTH PLACES HAVE THEIR OWN FLAWS.

A very low 4, and no smiles for being in decline.

I went to Kenjo for lunch at 1pm. The place was almost full but there were still a couple of seats available at the sushi bar. I ordered a 三色魚生飯 lunch set, which included an egg custard, a miso soup, and a dessert or coffee. It was fun to watch the three sushi chefs at work, and the chief was courteous, who politely greeted all incoming and outgoing customers. The servers were all attentive.

I was seated next to two Japanese, who ordered a variety of sushi and sashimi, which all looked quite yummy.

My 三色魚生飯 however was somewhat disappointing as there were only very little uni and salmon roe. So i was only half full when i left, but i think given the price, i would do better if i just go across the street to the other Japanese restaurant, whose menu looked far less pricey.

Already heard of this japanese restaurant from one of my friends a long time ago, and saw so many positive comments here... but didn't have the chance to try it until 2 days ago... which was for my wife's bday dinner.

we ordered a assorted sushi ($280, around 10 pcs), "3-colors" rice ($200) and a "silver snow fish" ($100). Obviously, i wasn't full at all but it already cost us more than $680 for the bill (extra $40 for compulsory appertizer) and i was like didn't have anything in my stomach!! Most important of all, we didn't think the raw fish was as fresh and tasty as we expected... and the amount was little as well... last but not the least, this place is definitely not for bringing your bf or gf, as the place was so packed and you could easily hear what other people says in the table beside you!!

We did have pretty high expectations for them, but both my wife and i don't think it really worth this much for this food quality!! this would be our first and last time for kenjo!! pretty disappointed honestly!!

but one thing was quite impressed was their service!!

I was used to think Sushi Hiro serves the best until I went to Kenjo. And because of Kenjo, I like sitting along the bar area to see the passion of the chefs and their wonderful handicraft to Japanese cuisine.

Same as Sushi Hiro, my love ordered sushi set while I always went for Sashimi rice. And I never leave a drop of rice since it is too good from the appetizer to the dessert!

The staff are very helpful and sufficient while we always give trust to the chef on the most seasonal seafood for sushi and Chef Kenjo seems not disappointing us every time.

The sushi set: just see the pics and u know how fresh the sashimi are. And the potion of rice and sashimi is appropriate to give one gulp and let the both melt into your mouth and stimulate your taste buds. The presentation and taste are both excellent. Even the rolls are above standards.

Sashimi Rice with Uni, Fish roe, Cuttle fish: they are consonance to one another together with the rice. With a bit of wasabi, the bowl is a superb! Thanks they provide the fresh seafood and the appropriate vinegar to the rice that the combination rocks!

Last but not least: the ice-cream, in particular the lemon ice cream! I like sour thing and the ice cream is not too sweet and there are even lemon dices inside. *I can really eat a lemon including the skin* The Red bean ice cream is also good, just that the lemon one is the best *if you also like lemon much*

The full set meal is a complete enjoyment.

Btw, an appraise to Chef Kenjo, he is always on the bar table together with other chefs. And you can really apparently feel his passion to his shop and customers. Once I saw a woman next to us, having tempura set along the bar table. Actually I clearly see that the tempura set is really well-made as it really dun look oily while that woman try to squeeze more oil from the tempura, all we see is Chef Kenjo's 'wide-eyes-open', looking very stunned and immediately head to his inside kitchen ... this is an insulting. I usually do not take notice of my neighboring ppl, yet that lady is obscene doing this. After paying the bill, I do not see Chef Kenjo coming out yet ...

I have been there for times and quite assured that they really cook with passion.

I went here a couple times before and i used to think its a gd place to go.... but the food quality has been greatly decrease. The Sashimi here used to be Amazingly Fresh, BUT this is no longer exists... really disappointed... and its really expensive for the sashimi boat.... The final is bill for two of us is almost $1800. I dont think im going anymore...

had lunch last Tuesday. not full. no need to book.

I had a sushi set $170. I can choose eight pieces of sushi. Had four daily speical, 海膽, 三文魚子, toro. All are quite good but not impressing. I think it is the average standard in many Japanese restaurnat in Causeway Bay.

My friend also had a sushi set, but all sushi was selected by the chef $130. It is also good but not outstanding.

Both sets include a dessert (coffee or ice-cream). Both us had ordered red bean ice-cream. It is very delicious.

Overall, the food is nice but not very good. We don't know why it is so famous. The waitress is like robert. She just read all the things very quicily. No smile at all.