This sushi restaurant has been one of the iconic Japanese eatery in town, first opening in 2002, and now having a number of outlets in the group. Having visited their tempura restaurant a month ago, this time I came to their main outlet at Henry House in Causeway Bay. The setting is decent with a sushi bar having 12 seats, plus a number of tables. We were the first customers arriving, and seated in the middle of the sushi bar, tonight it was Chef Lai who catered for us.
We ordered the omakase menu ($1300 each). The three appetizers included Tofu with Salmon Roes, Tuna Cube with Glass Noodles and Green House Tomatoes. All of them were delicious, full of flavours and served as great starter of the meal. Among them I particularly like the tomato as I found the chef had smartly sprinkled some yuzu salt to give an extra fragrance to the tomato while also creating a mixture of different taste of sour, sweet and salty. Very interesting yet tasty at the same time.
There were a total of six different sashimi. The first was the seasonal Female Snow Crab. I recalled the first time I had this crab was during my visit to Kanazawa and the taste was truly exceptional. While this one was also good, with plenty of crab roes and yolk, it was still not as good as the ones I had in Japan from my memory. Probably not a fair comparison, I still applauded the restaurant for bringing them in, and allowing HK customers a glimpse of this wonderful delicacy.
The second sashimi was File Fish, or 'skinned fish'. The texture was great with a good bite and chewiness, and the chef had provided some chives which added a nice complement to the light flavor of the fish. In addition, the liver of the fish was used to prepare a sauce which greatly enhanced the overall enjoyment of the fish. A great way to eat this fish.
The third sashimi was Japanese Amberjack and Yellowtail. The amberjack was rich with fatty oil, intense on flavors. To reduce the fattiness, the chef had added some radish mashes. The yellowtail was equally impressive.
The fourth sashimi was the Arkshell and Geoduck. Seeing the junior chef busy opening the arkshell and cleaning the meat, they could not be any fresher. There was a sweetness and crunchy texture which honestly outshone the geoduck, which was also good, fresh and sweet, but for us probably we were more familiar, as frequently we had good ones prepared raw while having hotpot.
The fifth sashimi was something new for us. The chef first prepared the Japanese Yam to mash, creating that mucous substance. Then it was added to the marinated tuna cubes, which had been dipped in soy sauce for a while (but not too long) to season. The whole experience was very interesting, as well as tasty. One of our favorites in the meal.
The sixth sashimi was Kinki and Rosy Sea Bass. The two pieces of fish were both torched on the skin, to give a slight char. The burning of the fatty oil making the aromas powerful and mouthwatering. While the flavors were certainly great, I found both being a bit too rubbery on texture. Probably because of the cut being too thick?
Transitioning now to sushi, the first we had was the Hokkaido Sea Urchin. It was so creamy and fresh that obviously they were of the highest quality, and there were also a generous portion of the sea urchin. My only comment was that the dried seaweed wrap did stole away some of the enjoyment as it was not crispy enough in my opinion.
The second sushi was one that I had never eaten before. Made from Small White Shrimps, the chef had skillfully prepared the sushi using the shiso leaf, as the small shrimps were too tiny. The shrimps were very sweet and had a soft texture, and when we asked the chef showed us some of those, and I could not stop awestruck by how much effort the team would need to work on to remove the shell and prepare them. It was the most memorable of the food I had on the evening.
The third sushi was Fresh Scallop, and it was truly the freshest you could get, seeing the chef breaking open the shell and getting the scallops out, cleaning it and removing the sides before wrapping it to the sushi. And it was also wonderfully tasty, with the rich flavors permeating on every bite. Another of my favorite in the evening.
The fourth sushi was Shimaagi, prepared with a thick cut. This fish is a premium type, famous for the mild taste but having a great crunchy texture and sweetness. This one also delivered the promise and we all enjoyed it very much.
The fifth sushi was Salmon Roes, with the roes marinated beautifully with soy sauce to give the saltiness to highlight the flavours, while not over doing that. Nice!
The sixth sushi was Grilled Eel, with the eel still hot in temperature, freshly prepared from the oven. The dipping sauce was nice in taste too. The only reminder was that the eel was just a bit too burning if you opted to eat in one bite, and the chef might be better off letting the eel cooled down a bit before preparing the sushi.
The seventh sushi was also the last one, the Toro sushi was rich in fish oil, and biting down you could feel the sense of eating a highly flavored, soft and tender, piece of the prized tuna. Swallowing it was like an explosion of taste in my mouth and it was beautiful. I also ate the same from my wife who was not a big fan of the fatty tuna so I got the fortune to finish hers too.
Concluding the meal I had the Miso Clam Soup. It had a great taste, with the sea kelp, spring onion, mushroom and clam also contributing to the intense aromas and flavors, and by now we were full and the soup served as a good wrap up to the evening.
For dessert we had the Melon, juicy and sweet, and also served to cleanse our palate. I thought the fruit might be a bit too chilled which affected the texture quite a bit.
The last dessert was Sesame Ice-cream, and this one was specially prepared for us, with the chef asking us a few times whether we had enough food. When telling him we were full, he again offered the ice-cream and so I opted for the sesame. Nothing extraordinary but this was a good way to finish our evening.
The services were fairly good, with the staff attentive and came frequently to change our plates or refill our tea. The chef was also proficient in creating small talks to arouse the atmosphere with the diners.
The bill on the night was $2970, quite a bit on the high side but considering the quality of food, service and other elements I would say it was not extravagant.
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