樂宴 (已結業)

Okinawa, a place that mixing the culture of Chinese and Japanese, is quite different from the Honshu as they keen on using the local food ingredient to cook. Bittermelon, pork, sea grape , etc, are those representative ingredient in Okinawa.I haven’t been there before but Okinawa is such a nice place to visit, thanks Rakuen invited us to taste the authentic Okinawan cuisine, we’ve chosen almost 20 dishes including peanut tofu, sea grapes, wagyu and chicken, etc. There are few dishes that most impressed me as it was yum and with a good texture and combination. Peanut Tofu is kind of bean curd liked cold dishes, actually it made of sweet potato flour mixing with the peanut juice, so it is chewy and full of peanut flavor but no soy bean inside. And the Jewel leaf is another unique food ingredient originated from Okinawa, an interesting appearance and texture is really special that you never found in other vegetables.The fried rice with squid ink served with a sunny-side up egg, mixed the egg yolk into the rice, its sticky and chewy, also the seasoning is great for the dish as you know squid ink is tasteless at all actually. I would like to recommend the Okinawa style deep-fried chicken drums, dipped with the Oki salt is the best combo with beer. Last but not least the salt ice cream is milky with a salty after taste, it was really great to have one especially for those who ordered deep-fried food with beer.The Sake bottle are all put on aside and there is a outdoor or indoor area to choose with, the interior design is great but surprisingly the English song was playing, I know here is LKF but I guess playing the Japanese songs would be much better in this place as all the guests included local people, Japanese or foreigners would expect a greater Japanese atmosphere here. Thanks for the invitation and it was really a nice night with my friends. 继续阅读

说起冲绳, 记得当年知道妹妹打算去的是这个地方, 宅女的回应就只能套用成X大哥一句: . 皆因阳光与海滩一向不是宅女杯茶, 所以真的担心去到会好闷. 不过原来体验过后, 发觉那里不只景点有趣, 原来美食亦甚多!! 回来后一直念念不忘, 每当得知香港有餐厅做冲绳料理, 就总是蠢蠢欲动的想去试. 正好最近来到这家乐宴, 原来也是提供一系列的冲绳美食, 宅女当然又要冲去试试了.乐宴其实在铜锣湾都有店, 风评一直都不错. 这晚来到的是中环店, 地点位处于兰桂芳那条斜路的商厦内, 地面虽然没有什么特别明显的招牌, 但如果按著GOOGLE MAP走找起来又不算很难. 而这家中环店环境更来得宽敞, 除了一边是BAR枱跟半梳化卡座之外, 这里也有一边是半露天用餐区, 方便吸烟人仕. 只见这晚来的八成都是日本人, 吃起饭来更有风味.未上菜前当然先来一杯啤酒吧虽然宅女是ASAHI粉丝, 不过既然来到吃的是冲绳料理, 当然还是点个当地出品的ORION啤酒喝喝了. 其实总觉得ORION啤入口比较淡身, 不过感觉清爽及易入口的确是事实.海葡萄 (HK$68)要数冲绳料理中最著名的几种菜色其实不难, 当中这个海葡萄几乎在冲绳每间餐厅或超市都会找到. 但来到香港就真的难寻, 或是卖价奇高得来又不新鲜. 这里一碟上来份量竟然十分多而且又大串, 色泽翠绿鲜明, 没有出现阴沉暗淡的状态, 当中连著的小颗粒亦粒粒涨卜卜十分饱满.海葡萄属海藻类, 所以入口其实味道有点像昆布, 不过质感脆卜卜的吃起来十分过瘾, 配上少许豉油或醋味道更突出.自家制花生豆腐 (HK$65)曾在冲绳吃过花生豆腐后疯狂得在超市买了半打急冻的回港, 甚至到机场最后一刻都仍在扫多几盒才罢休. 不过这款花生豆腐不是人人喜爱, 宅女就曾经在香港某家冲绳料理店眼看过一对点了这款豆腐的情侣吃了一口就大骂质感太黏太古怪把整碟都放弃. 其实这个花生豆腐质感跟我们平常吃的豆腐完全是两码子的事, 内里加了红薯粉入口黏稠得来又带有弹性, 当中亦能吃到阵阵花生的微香. 个人喜欢加点甜酱油来吃, 味道更富层次感.冲绳冰叶 (HK$65)这款冰叶虽然巳经不是第一次吃, 但每一次看到这个冰叶上那一点点的水珠跟翠绿的色泽, 实在非常吸引! 入口冰叶非常薄脆亦带著鲜甜清爽的感觉, 平时常听人说菜蔬怎样新鲜, 但吃过这个冰叶就真的确确实实能吃到那份'鲜'的感觉了!苦瓜炒猪肉 (HK$78)这个算是冲绳的家常菜吧, 简简单单的以苦瓜片, 加入蛋, 豆腐和猪肉就能完成. 不过宅女本身不吃苦瓜, 但那时在冲绳竟然天天都有吃, 全因那里的苦瓜入口甘而不苦. 这里上来的看似鸡蛋少了点, 苦瓜炒得尚算脆口, 不过吃起来是有点苦, 跟在当地吃的有点差距, 但也可以接受. 猪肉炒得软淋不干. 整体来说水准普通, 但也不错吃的.仙台风味厚烧牛舌 (HK$88)要吃串烧就必定要来个厚烧牛舌才是皇道吧! 不过这里的未算好厚, 但烧得刚刚好, 咬下去有弹性之余肉质也十分软棉, 加上点点黑椒粒作伴, 味道当然不错了! 算是一道惊喜度不大, 但稳打稳扎的菜色. 用来送啤酒实在不错.墨鱼汁炒面 (HK$82)冲绳炒面也算是另一道不能缺的主食. 这里用了墨鱼汁来作底, 再加入墨鱼和韭菜炒成. 入口面条未如预期中烟韧, 而且味道亦偏淡一点, 幸好炒出来不算很油, 如果加多一点韭菜会更有口感. 宅女自己觉得这款水准同样亦只算是普通水准.冲绳AGU猪肉沙律 (HK$88)对于食肉兽来说去冲绳绝对不能不吃石垣牛跟AGU猪, 吃过保证番寻味! 这晚虽然不是即席SHABU SHABU AGU猪, 但也来个沙律过过瘾. 把灼熟了的AGU猪肉片混在加有芝麻酱的沙律内冷吃, 入口依然非常柔软可口, 连著少连肥脂口感丰厚, 加上芝麻酱又不会好腻, 配著沙律菜吃原来亦能擦出火花. 实在是个意想不到的配搭.冲绳和牛串烧 (HK$165)这款比牛舌来得更有份量! 只见那一旧旧非常厚身的和牛粒烧得带点焦香, 咬开来中间仍是粉嫩多汁, 肉质丰香得来又够软棉, 虽然卖价的确不便宜, 但正所谓多吃会坏肚皮, 其实吃上两旧或顶多一串巳够非常满足了.冲绳雪盐伴香酥炸冲绳鸡膇 (HK$88)从来都不能抗拒冲绳的盐, 这款炸鸡膇小小的一枝炸得表面金黄亮丽, 更是油份不多. 本来以为这道菜没什么特别, 但其实亮点在于旁边那一小碟的雪盐. 把鸡膇沾一沾盐巴 (注意不要沾太多), 小咬一口, 香脆的表面加上微咸的盐味产生出十分香口惹味的味道, 中间的鸡肉就较干了一点, 如果可以JUICY多一点的话, 这道菜便完美了!感谢店方跟公关之邀令宅女再次回味到冲绳的美食.食物方面某些的确是不错, 像海葡萄跟花生豆腐巳能到跟在冲绳的九成风味, 而且那个AGU猪沙律更是能开脾胃的回味之作. 但有些就有待改进.不过餐厅环境实在不错, 布置也富有冲绳风格, 而且食客不算非常多, 坐起来十分舒适.看到餐牌也有很多其他不同款式的冲绳菜, 例如冲绳腐乳, 冲绳炆猪肉, 厚炸冲绳豆腐等, 下次再来试试!! 继续阅读

I visited Okinawa for the first time 2 years ago and when I came back to HK, I missed the food there and searched for Okinawan restaurants, which was how I stumbled upon Rakuen in CWB. I love the food there so I was excited when I received a tasting invitation for their branch in LKF! Located on D'aguilar Street, the restaurant was located in a building right smack in the middle of the pubs and bars area. The decor was similar to the CWB branch in that it looked like a traditional Japanese izakaya with wooden furnitures and bottles of sakes lining the walls. It was bigger and more spacious than the CWB branch. The menu choices were vast from traditional Okinawan cuisine to wagyu beef to fresh sashimi. The menus in LKF and CWB were mostly similar, though I think there were some items that were only available in LKF and vice versa. Thanks to the restaurant, we were given a budget and got to picked whatever we wanted from their menu. Home Made Peanut Flavored Tofu ($65) - this is one of my favorite Okinawan snack! The texture of the tofu was not typical at all as it was more chewy like mochi. It had a strong tofu taste with a hint of peanut flavor, which was enhanced perfectly by the soy sauce. Sea Grapes ($68) - also known as green caviar, sea grapes are another Okinawan specialty. The sea grapes were lovely to eat as each grape burst in my mouth when I munch on them. The accompanying vinegar sauce was great for dipping the sea grapes in to eat. Jewel Leaf ($65) - surprisingly very good! I've never tried this before because I thought it would be a bit bland just to eat leaf so I never order it. Lined with tiny droplets of water on the surface, the leaf was very snappy and crunchy to eat! It tasted very fresh and moist at the same time. Stir Fried Bitter Gourd with Pork ($78) - another must-have Okinawan dish. I must confess that I'm not a big bitter gourd fan at all. The Okinawan bitter gourd tends to be firmer and crisper in texture. While the texture of the gourd was great, I thought it could have used more egg and tofu to balance out the dish. Okinawa Agu Pork Salad ($88) - I thought the pork would be too heavy in taste to work with a salad, but they actually went together pretty well! The pork was thinly sliced which was flavorful to eat. Tossed with Japanese sesame dressing, the entire salad tasted light and appetizing to eat. Snapper Carpaccio ($138) - the sashimi in the CWB branch was always a delight and the same goes for this branch as well. The snapper carpaccio here was very fresh and delicious to eat! Drizzled with a tart lemon sauce, the carpaccio was flavorful and refreshing. Fried Squid Ink Okinawan Noodles ($82) - apparently this is one of the more popular dish, but I could not really taste the squid ink in the noodles. Actually there wasn't much flavor in the noodles at all. Fried Rice with Squid Ink ($82) - the fried rice was much better than the noodles in my opinion. The rice was flavorful and slightly salty, albeit the egg on top was a tad overcooked to mix with the rice.Deep Fried Okinawa Chicken Drums ($88) - they had a whole special menu dedicated to Okinawa chicken at the LKF branch. The chicken drumsticks were deep-fried so they were nice and crunchy to eat! It also came with Okinawa powder salt, which enhanced the flavors as well. Grilled Okinawa Beef ($230) - the beef was very very yummy! Nicely grilled, the beef was soft and tender while the fat just melted in my mouth. Would be even better if the temperature was hotter when it arrived.Okinawa Beef Skewers ($165) - the beef skewers were scrumptious as well as the beef used was just very nice! Again, it was soft, tender, fatty and juicy all at the same time. Okinawa Sea Salt Ice Cream ($40) - the ice cream was alright as the salty flavor was not that strong. I could only taste it as an aftertaste on my tongue. Overall, I think the main classic Okinawa dishes were nicely executed at the same level as the CWB branch. The yakitori have room to improve though as some of the dishes were a bit overseasoned. Their ambiance was also a bit mixed as they were playing Katy Perry and other pop songs which didn't really match the decor. I guess they are trying to cater to the LKF crowd but it's neither here or there now. There was a table full of Japanese men sitting in the booth next to us who were really enjoying themselves. Perhaps they should stick to a more traditional Japanese environment like the CWB branch. 继续阅读

the first warning sign: last minute booking available on friday night;second warning sign: lots of empty tables at 8pm;most food we ordered were either salty, thought it was okinawa style to have salty food, or very salty, so much that we had to return an order of wasabi squidbeer was about $60 a bottle, well, we were in lkf afterall so i thought there's no complain.the problem came when we found in the bill an item listed as "open food", which was supposed to be an order of a $55 fried leaf (冲绳冰叶), instead it was a $160 dish.checked with the english speaking waitress, who took our orders including this dish, and she explained to us that the leaf had sea urchin added and so it's pricier. when we disputed about the order, she just smiled and took off.to be honest, if we had in mind that we ordered this more pricier dish, it's only fair for us to pay or beat ourself for not having asked for the price when ordering. but when we placed our order we had simply pointed at the picture of the $55 dish on the separate menu card and never thought she was "mistaking" us for ordering the one with sea urchin, which was not shown on the menu anyway. and we hadn't even noticed or tasted any sea urchin in it thinking back.and since the dish was not listed on the menu, they could have charged us $1,600 or so!my advice is, in case you are there and ordering anything off menu, check the price so that you can avoid running into this "misunderstanding" that we had. we can't help but felt like being cheated. the extra cost is one thing, our friday evening ruined is even more upsetting. 继续阅读

Okinawa is a place that I long to go but have not got the chance yet. I was very excited when I received the tasting invitation from Ku-Suya Rakuen, a Japanese Izakaya offering Okinawa cuisine. I invited Shogun Van Gogh and Gastronomerr to join my tasting tonight.Rakuen's ambiance is pretty causal in dim lighting. The decorations are awesome with racks of sakes and other Japanese elements. There is also an alfresco area where Japanese Red Lanterns are hanging along the edge to create an intimate but laid back scene. You can also choose to sit inside or sit side-by-side at the bar stools to enjoy a cup of sake and Okinawa delicacies. Just a note that the music playing at the background is an international mix and can go real weird. (e.g. Justin Bieber's Baby were player LOL) I personally reckon Rakuen should change their music selection completely.Sea Grapes (Green Caviar)The sea grapes is an Okinawa specialty dish and an must order item here at Rakuen! The sea grapes shocked me as I somehow presume it tastes like typical seaweed. It was very light and bubbly. It does has a texture like craviar where it pops with fluid.Hamachi CarpaccioThe carpaccio taste pretty much like sashimi to me. The hamachi was very tender and smooth with a sweet taste.Home Made Peanut Flavoured TofuThis tofu was very smooth and quite bouncy with a texture between panna cotta and pudding. It was full of tofu taste with a very subtle peanut taste. The tofu was delicious with the sweet soy sauce!Jewel LeafThe Jewel Leaf is another Okinawa specialty dish. It looks very ordinary but it has the most interesting texture you ever find on any vegetables! The Jewel leaf was very icy and extremly crisp. You will feel your palate filled with water after some chewing. The Jewel Leaf was truly fun and refreshing to savour!Okinawa Chicken and Tofu with Potherb Mustard SaladThe dressing tasted quite spicy with the taste of wasabi in it. The Okinawa chicken was shredded so it fitted in the salad pretty well. Yhe shredded Okinawa chicken was very tender but was a bit mushy. I didn't like it too much.Stir Fried Bitter Gourd with PorkBitter Gourd is another specialty dish from Okinawa. I am never a big fan of bitter gourd, as the song from Eason suggests, you have to be at certain age to appreciate bitter gourd. (Yes I was hinting I am still young ) Okinawa's bitter gourd is less bitter and gooey than the Chinese's bitter gourd. A great tip from Shogun Van Gogh is to savour the bitter gourd with Japanese Soy Sauce. For some reason, the bitter gourd tasted very sweet and refreshing all of a sudden with the Japanese Soy Sauce! The bitterness was somehow gone! This little trick can totally makes me like bitter gourd man!Smoked Pork KnucklesI first thought this dish was chicken drumb judging from its look, so I was confused for several seconds when I was chewing it as I tasted pork knuckles! The knuckles was super succulent and tender. Yum! Must order item!Grilled Okinawa Chicken Wings with Pepper and SaltThe chicken wings were nicely grilled and savoury. It was not a wow dish though, order this if you like wings.Deep Fried Okinawa Chicken with Okinawa Tofu Tartare SauceThe highlight of this dish lied on the Okinawa tofu tartare sauce. The tartare sauce was creamy with a strong tofu taste and a mild cheese taste in it. The deep fried chicken was yummy, deep fried with crispy skin but without grease. Delicious!Deep Fried Okinawa Chicken Drumb with Powered SaltThis deep fried chicken Drumb tasted pretty much the same as the previous dish but was seasoned with powered salt instead.Fried Rice with Squid InkThe squid ink fried rice was topped with a soft boiled egg. The rice portion was too much for the egg to give an impact to the rice. The rice was too soft but the taste was good.Deep Fried lotus RootThis deep fried lotus root is a good beer snack. It was extremely crispy and lightly salted. It tasted much like crisps and was not too special.Deluxe Assorted Sashimi PlatterThe sashimi was pretty standard. I love the Ebi and Uni here. The huge Ebi tasted very fresh and was extremely smooth and fatty. The Uni was very fresh and sweet too. Shogun said restaurants usually serve Uni from Hokkaido or California, sometimes South Korea. This orangy Uni is probably from Cali, Since Uni from Hokkaido is usually in yellow colour. Hotate (scallop) was pretty nice but was not the smoothest or sweetest that I have tried. The Buri was a mature version of the Hamachi carpaccio that we had earlier and had a totally different texture. The Buri was a chewy piece. The Ikura (Salmon Roe) was pretty fresh and sweet. I didn't like salmon, so I didn't try. Lastly the Maguro (Tuna) was not very nice when compare to others on the plate.Highball & Ukon TeaBoth Highball & Ukon Tea are Okinawa drinks. Highball is basically water down Japanese whisky. I did not like it too much, it reminds me of cheap whisky mix at pubs.Ukon Tea is a kind of ginger tea which is said to smooth the alcohol effects. The ginger taste was pretty strong but was only mildly spicy. I like this.Many of the items we had tonight were awesome, especially the Okinawa specials! In between dinners, we were told all (or almost all) Okinawa restaurants are under the same group EN Group. Restaurant like BRIDGES, which is on my to try list for long, is a higher end restaurant offering Okinawa cuisines in Causeway bay, also under the same group. Oh, also if you like Rakuen facebook page, you can can a draft beer of soft drink for free (Friday exclusive though). I truly like Okinawa cuisine and I do recommend whoever that have not tried Okinawa cuisine yet, GO!  继续阅读