Wineshark HK Restaurant Review - Bicho

This Japanese restaurant is located in Causeway Bay and now already in its 11 year anniversary, and throughout the years remained one of the more popular yakitori place in town. With a simplistic decor, tables which are small with virtually no space in between, one would not call it comfortable but it did recreate the same atmosphere of everyone crowding together for some good food and beer like similar restaurants in Japan.

We ordered a few yakitori to start, first was the signature Homemade Minced Chicken Stick with Onsen Egg ($42 x2). Beautifully seasoned with the tasty sauce on top, the minced chicken had a nice mix of meat and soft bones which made it having a slight crunchy bite, and paired with the onsen egg as dipping sauce there was a creamy and silky texture. A really nice yakitori indeed.

Then we had the Chicken Wings ($32 x2), grilled nicely and seasoned with sea salt to highlight the original and authentic flavors of the chicken. Again a good yakitori.

Finishing my first round we had the Chicken Kidney ($32 x2). The kidney got a nice chewy bite but was just a tiny bit too salty for me. And because I was driving on the day those could not be paired with some icy cold beer which would reduce that salty note and made it a great snack.

We also took the recommendation of the staff and ordered a Grilled Abalone ($168). The size was reasonable with the price, and was grilled nicely, with a buttery note and seasoned with sauce so there was no need to use any dipping sauce. The texture of the abalone was tender, not rubbery at all. Another good one.

Our second flight included some pork skewers, starting with Oyster Wrapped with Bacon ($42 x2). This was maybe the one I liked most on the night, with the juicy oyster full of flavors, which was so perfectly complementary to the savory of the bacon that enhanced the overall taste tremendously.

The other pork skewer was one that the restaurant invented and so famous for, Lychee Wrapped with Pork ($33 x2). The fragrance of the lychee and sweetness, along with the savory of the pork, again offered a nice match but if comparing with the earlier oyster wrapped with bacon this one was not as strong on the flavors contrast. Still good nevertheless.

The quality of the Smelt Fish ($22 x2) was however not satisfactory. Though grilled beautifully with a slightly crispy bite, the seasoning was really too salty, even if you had some beer to wash it down. A slip probably by the chef during food preparation.

Then came the Grilled Squid with Homemade Sauce ($85). Medium in size, the squid was tender and moist, with the sauce rich in flavors. While it was decent in taste, this one I would say was also too 'mediocre' and you would find something similar in a lot of other restaurants. Unless you really like squid this one I would skip next time.

The last skewer was Japanese Mini Sweet Potatoes ($25 x2). Each stick got three pieces, and they were sweet in taste, and you could tell the sweet potatoes were of good quality. By the time we finished this we were quite full already.

To wrap up we ordered the Hot Soup Rice with Dried Seaweed ($44). The soup was good, flavorful with the dried seaweed which made the soup even more tasty. The rice was filling to the stomach, and with the steaming soup it was the ideal conclusion, also helping to make us full and content.

Overall the service was good and friendly, and the bill was $859. Fairly reasonable in price, considering the location, food quality and service, no wonder the restaurant could still survive in this heated and highly competitive environment for 11 years.