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2019-05-03
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This Japanese restaurant is located on the fringe of Causeway Bay, near St. Paul's Hospital. With a blue curtain in front of the traditional sliding door, we arrived early in the evening and were the first group of customers seated. The sushi bar can accommodate 11 people, and I saw a couple entering shortly after us with no reservation which the staff had to turn away because the restaurant was fully booked in the evening.The decoration is decent and similar to many such Japanese restaurants,
This Japanese restaurant is located on the fringe of Causeway Bay, near St. Paul's Hospital. With a blue curtain in front of the traditional sliding door, we arrived early in the evening and were the first group of customers seated. The sushi bar can accommodate 11 people, and I saw a couple entering shortly after us with no reservation which the staff had to turn away because the restaurant was fully booked in the evening.
The decoration is decent and similar to many such Japanese restaurants, but the wooden counter was not made of solid wood as many of the premium sushi places do. Nevertheless this does not reduce our interest to the restaurant.
The restaurant is only serving omakase ($1500), and after ordering a nice sake from Miyagi, the first course arrived: a deep-fried asparagus wrapped in spring roll sheet, with some asparagus puree on top. Quite an innovative way to start, the taste of the asparagus is delicate but has been enhanced because of the sauce.
The second course is one of my favorites in the evening. The fresh oyster is rich in taste, creamy and very fresh. On top there are the vinegar made jelly which provided a great complement to the oyster, making everything so harmonized and great. A real treat.
The third course is marinated firefly squid. The squid has been chopped up and marinated with miso, which successfully created a nice blend of intense flavours from the squid with the supplement of the miso savory. An interesting combination which certainly delivered the promise.
The fourth course is another of my favorites in the evening. It was smoked largehead hairtail. The chef carefully took out the whole strip of the flesh and cut out the pieces, then put on the bowl, with a special sauce brushed on top. With a tiny bit of wasabi to enhance the taste, it is a truly amazing feast of splendor.
The fifth course is anglerfish liver. Very rich and flavourful, there are some sushi rice on top, and this created a special experience similar to having a anglerfish liver sushi when you scoop the rice and liver together to eat.
The sixth course was the marinated bonito. Seeing the chef took out the pieces of fish from the urn, which he had meticulously controlled the amount of time to ensure the right level of marination, he then put some chopped yam and mashed ginger on top. Eaten together, the crunchy texture of the yam gives a nice contrast to the tender flesh and again impeccable.
The seventh course is another of tonight's special: creamy cheese is mixed with some shark's soft bones. The crunchy texture of the soft bones reminded us of the shark's fin, and I guess it might be it (the chef is Japanese and talking to us in Cantonese so I guess there might be some translation gaps). Though interesting it is too rich and intense for me, which is a bit awkward in my opinion on the flow of the courses.
The eighth course is a egg wrapped with bamboo shoot, with the sakura shrimps and a broad bean. The chef again skilfully take in some nice contrast of the texture of the ingredients to make this dish, while the good flavours of the sauce is able to permeate into. A good finale before we start the sushi.
The first sushi served is shima aji, or striped jack. This type of fish is more suitable for a thick cut, and offered tremendous pleasure of great taste and crunchy texture. This one for sure gave me all that, and I became increasingly impressed by this restaurant on the innovation of the dishes and the attention to the quality. A great start.
The second sushi is wild seabream. The texture is a total contrast to the earlier shima aji, with this one very soft and fluffy, which reminded me somewhat of cotton in turn. While the flavour is not as intense, this one I can relate to the experience on texture. Another great one.
The third sushi is what the chef called baby seabream. I could not find what exactly that is, and no luck from my internet search too. But the texture of this one was nothing like the prior sushi, with a more firm mouthfeel and a slightly more intense taste too. Very good again.
The fourth sushi is aji, or horse mackerel. This one might not be 'special' as it is quite commonly available in other sushi restaurant but in terms of quality the fish is great.
I am not very sure on the fifth sushi as I did not hear it well and also forgot to double check with the chef, which I believe is the marinated akami, or lean tuna. Personally I also like this part of the tuna more than the fatty one, as I was not particularly fond of the fatty and oily sensation when chewing the meat. So this one is just perfect for my liking.
The sixth sushi is kinmedai, or splendid alfonsino. Having just visited Izu Peninsula a couple of months ago, we have experienced cuisine made from this fish in many restaurants. This one is nothing short of that quality level, fresh and intense in its flavours, another nice sushi on the night.
The seventh sushi is akamutsu, or rosy seabass, this fish is not so commonly found in the Japanese restaurants in HK, with a more fatty body. The chef used the torch gun to burn the flesh for a short time to invigorate the fish oil, getting a highly fragrant while having the tender texture.
The eighth sushi is otoro, or fatty tuna belly. Seeing the peculiar shape I believe this cut was from a special part of the fish but I did not ask the chef, who had used the torch gun again to melt some of the oil to give the vibrancy. Even though I generally is not a big fan of otoro I like this one a lot.
The ninth and last sushi is uni or sea urchin. It is supposed to be the grand finale of the meal before dessert and certainly I had high expectations. Unfortunately among all the dish this one was the least I like. The sea urchin was large in size but compared with some of the best I had experienced it lacked the sweetness, but rather showing some bitter taste. A disappointment.
Before dessert we were served a miso soup with pickles. The pickles were marinated by the restaurant, with both the yam and kohlrabi crunchy, wonderfully balanced on the level of saltiness, which at a point I want to ask for some rice since they are so appetizing. The miso soup is also nice made from fish broth and red miso.
The dessert has two options and I chose the panna cotta. Sweet but not excessively so, the silky pudding basically slides down your throat when swallowing. A happy conclusion for our wonderful meal in the evening.The chef was very busy throughout the night as he was serving all the customers by himself. Except for only a few dishes he had to prepare all the rest, so making his availability for interacting with customers minimal. This is a bit unfortunate.
With two servings of sake, the bill on the night was $3960. I would say it is quite good value for money, considering the different dishes we had and the quality. Overall this restaurant is one I strongly recommend for a nice omakase experience, and I would certainly come again.
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