This Japanese restaurant is located on the 101st floor of ICC, essentially the tallest restaurant in town. With a gorgeous view looking out the window, there are different sections in the restaurant but probably the robatayaki area is the most famous. The staff led us through the cobblestone passageway to this inner part of the restaurant, and we were greeted by two chefs who sat on rattan mats and grilling the food in front of customers, and delivering to them using wooden paddles.
After the staff told us the chef's recommendations, we ordered a number of the signature dishes, starting with the Surf Clam or Hokkigai ($320). The size of the clam was really huge, and it was served on a sizzling hot stone, which was perfectly cooked at the right moment when presented in front of us. The flesh was tender, juicy and soft, bursting of freshness and sweetness, and a truly wonderful dish. Very impressive indeed.
The second dish we had was another seasonal offering, Bamboo Shoot with Firefly Squid ($380). The bamboo shoot was first prepared in the kitchen (I believe it was blanched) before grilling, and then cut into pieces, served with some bonito flakes (katsuobushi). The bamboo was tender and without any fiber chewing, emanating a slight fragrance. The firefly squids were also nice, another seasonal seafood and rich in flavours. A good match and another great dish.
The third dish was Ginkgo ($110). Carefully selected, each of them was of equal size and beautifully grilled. With a squeeze of the lemon juice to add some acidity to bring out the flavours, the ginkgo was not bitter at all, of a nice bite with great texture. It may seem simple, but from how the chef skewered them one by one and checking on when they were ready to serve, all showing the skills and attention paid in making this 'simple' dish.
The fourth dish was Skewered Minced Chicken ($90). Another commonly seen grill item, this one was prepared in-house, and I found the proportion of meat and chopped cartilage offered a great texture. The sauce was also nice and on the side there was the half-cooked egg, unlike in other restaurant where the egg was usually raw. Not sure whether it was meant as a dipping sauce, it was a bit puzzling and I also forgot to check it out with the staff. Although this one was another signature I found it less interesting than others.
The fifth dish was Grilled Live Tiger Prawn ($350). And even though we arrived early at 7 pm when we placed order there was only one prawn remaining so we had to share. Greatly seasoned with just a little bit of salt before grilling, the flesh and head was really delicate and tasty, without having to squeeze in any lemon juice. My only suggestion was that the prawn could be cut in a different way as it affected how customer could eat it.
The sixth dish was Sweet Potato ($150), one of our favorites in the evening. It was first of all very sweet, to the extent making one wonder whether they had been dipped in syrup. There was some butter cream on the side, a rather unique and creative choice, and having the effect of putting butter on the sweet potato without the greasy and heavy mouthfeel, but a light and delicate sensory enjoyment.
The seventh dish was a Fish Cake ($85). Light and delicious, this was a nice surprise on how good it was. The cake was intense in flavors and to further enhance the taste, one could add a bit of the mashed turnip and ginger. And overall it was so good that I could finish the whole cake easily. This one was another of my recommendation.
The eighth dish was Broad Bean ($170). You might ask what was so special. For one, it was the largest broad bean I had ever seen, maybe 8-10 times the usual size. After grilling the beans were taken out and then we had to remove the skin, before dipping in rock salt to eat. Certainly something interesting but from a flavour point of view it was not particularly special.
The ninth dish was another highlight on the evening, the Kinki ($1500). This deep-water fish came from Abashiri in Hokkaido, renown for its scarcity and great taste. The fish was very well grilled, seasoned well with salt on the skin to highlight the delicate taste of the fish. The two of us devoured the whole fish and quite cleanly picked every piece of flesh. It truly deserved to be the signature of the restaurant and even though quite pricey would be a must-order item here.
The last dish was Steamed Rice with Crab Meat ($480). The portion was enough for two persons, it was another of my favorite in the evening. There were plenty of crab meat, very good in taste and a natural match with the fish roes, which added some saltiness to the rice to make it even more appealing. This was yet another one I recommend and should not be missed.
Near the end of our meal there was a show where the staff showed us how to make rice cake, and the customers were allowed to also try it out. While we did not do that, we were given a dessert made from the rice cake to finish, with some red beans and sugar powder to add to the sweetness and complexity. A really nice finale for the wonderful meal.
Service was good but each seat was so close to each other I was hit a few times by the adjacent customer when he moved. But in terms of the decor and ambiance it was very good. The price for the meal was $4,087 which was not cheap but robatayaki is expensive by default and considering the location and quality of food for this restaurant, it is a restaurant I would like to come back again very soon.
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