Seki Tei Japanese Restaurant    石亭居酒屋  

When talking about dinner, I would prefer small and boutique ones, a homey feeling.

Today we chose this petite Japanese in a small alley. First we ordered sea urchins, crab paste and spring onion tuna sushi to start with. Sea Urchin is very sweet and crab paste is very fresh. When I put the tuna sushi to my mouth, it melts right away. Yum Yum

Then come the grilled beef spare ribs and beef tongue. They are cooked to the right degree, medium rare, right texture for chewing.

Last but not least, a curry udon to finish the meal. Udon is al dente and curry soup is thick enough to accompany the noodle.

Both of us are very satisfied and went for a after meal jog at Kowloon Park.

Good variety and portion of fish. Love sea urchin. Delicious sushi rice. Not the best cut of fish offered, but not a bad deal at all.

This was a belated birthday dinner but it was still very special. My friend suggested we go to seki tei as she's been befre and recommended it for a quiet evening out for us 3 girls. The facade gave the impression of a discreet izakaya tucked between loud bars and overbearing neon lights. The restaurant was quite small but did not feel claustrophobic, with about 6-7 seats at the counter and about 8 or 9 tables, so roughly able to seat 26 or 27 people. The daily specials were up on a blackboard, as were other staples from the menu. The toilet was small but clean, and they tried to imitate Japanese bathroom amenities by putting out some hair wax and gel for those who need a touch up.

We ordered a lot of food, and everything was beautifully presented and very fresh. Our selection of sashimi was impressive, particulary the uni which looked like thick tongues piled on each other, and there was crispy seaweed to wrap it in to be consumed in one big, melt-in-your-mouth lump. The seaweed gave it a contrasting crispiness which made the uni taste even more briny and delicious. I'm not a big uni fan but even I have to admit it was pretty damn tasty. The botan ebi was fat and succulent, and the chef put the contents of the head onto a gunkan-maki. The whelk was super fresh and sliced extra thin (kudos to the chef) and retained its crunchy texture (as we say in Chinese - sok-sok-sang). The oyster was very fatty and juicy too, and there was a vinegar sauce to go with it.

Next up was the much coveted horse sashimi, which I happend to come across in a certain Good Eating mag today, and was anticipating my first taste of raw horse meat. The half portion of 8 pieces was absolute HEAVEN. The thin slices were cold at first, but once you dip it lightly into the garlicky vinegar and put it in your mouth, it just melts and disappears. The well marbled meat did not taste greasy at all, and I was so surprised that there was not a shred of fibre left after the meat dissolved on my tongue, just like that, and it was gone. (Google basashi and you'll find a website that reports a place in Tokyo's icecream city which sells basashi flavoured icecream. You really have to give it to the Japanese for being innovative.)

Next up was the squid in ink on a bed of julienne cucumbers, which was an interesting dish, but a little too salty for me. Then came a bunch of grilled stuff - hamachi head, fugu slices, eel, chicken cartilage, scallops, pumpkin cakes (pipping hot and lightly crispy on the outside, finely mashed and soft on the inside) and a very crispy onigiri with daikon condiments on the side. We dug into the hamachi head which was very tasty and moist even with the skin done to a perfect crispiness, and everything else was well executed and seasoned just right. We then added had a cold tofu (served on a plate, and not swimming in a bowl of ice water as done in other restaurants I've been to, which means the tofu isn't soggy and dripping and the water diluting the sauce that comes with it), and an Inaniwa udon that was super chilled and cooked al dente. The clams were large pieces of goodness but I found the soup a little overpowering with too much chives and parsley.

The waitresses were friendly and knowledgeable, and able to give us recommendations and suggested us to eat the food in a certain orde so as not to confuse the palate. The one thing they could improve on is getting the orders right - they gave us 2 onigiri in the same flavour when we asked for 2 flavours but 1 each, and they forgot our sardine sashimi but we were too full by the time realised that we cancelled the order.

Woke up this morning, still unforgettable taste of yesterday's dinner
No more food photos shot down? Pictured with a friend is also brought up the purpose machine. Delicious Japanese tomatoes, good sweet; Coupled with a sour vinegar with a touch of crushed sesame seeds but the sauce? Is a meal a good start. ? Sashimi is very fresh and plump, in particular, those big shrimp. Sea urchin is also very fresh, but then some of the really sweet and perfect. In addition to tempura to eat fresh food material selection, size, cutting method should pay attention to outside? The most important of course, that slip and the furnace control. ? Here really struck the right balance at every point, especially those fried Fenpi color slightly golden,? Thin crisp, and dip it tempura Jialuo Bo Rong juice? 'Taste' felt it. We ate a lot of Yakitori (chicken cartilage, tongue, etc.). Because I love to eat grilled food (especially the use of Charcoal-Broiled and seasoned with coarse salt), so Yakitori is my best Choice." But one thing Please note: Yakitori is to wait for quite a long time, so a little early to place orders.? , we also ate Clam soup, pumpkin pie ... ... they are all Traditional Japanese restaurant. To sum up, I am satisfied with the food here.

Use to work in TST and have came here before,but the food was only so so we usually go for the sake only, but went again yesterday (my friend insisted, otherwise i would not have came again) and have found that the whole shop has been make-over, and all the staff has changed.
Was greatly impress with the food

Have ordered the following and were so impress
Lobster Salad: Yummy, i think they have some mustard with bite size lobster meat and it was great

Sashimi: Uni, Scallop, Salmon, Botan Shrimp
: Fresh & Sweet

Roll: Soft shell crab Roll

Skewers: Beef Tongue and duck tongue (Must try) Chicken Gizzard

Would definately come again