Wineshark HK Restaurant Review - Okra Kitchen

This Japanese izakaya is located in Sai Ying Pun, a casual eatery specializing in grilled small plates and sashimi, as well as some natural, unpasteurized sake. The restaurant is an extension of Okra 1949 in Beijing. 

Arriving early at noon, we were seated on stools at a small table, but for those who want to see how the chef prepares the dishes, a better choice would be to reserve the seats at the counter. The decor is chic with some interesting arts painted on the wall, in an overall industrial tone setting.

I ordered a bottle of sake to start, Gozenshu 9 Junmai from Okayama ($400). The sake is decent, but unfortunately it was not cold. The staff apologized and told me that the fridge was out of order, and helped to ice it using a bucket, but honestly it was not until near the end of the meal that it was at the right temperature, and so it was quite a bad experience. 

To start off, we had the Tsukemono ($75). It was the homemade pickles and fermented vegetables, including carrot, cucumber, celery, cabbage, okra and a few others. It was rather mediocre, not something to be missed. 

Next was something on the menu board. The Tuna Platter ($530) had three different cuts of the tuna, including Akami, the lean part of the fish; Chutoro, the middle part; and Otoro, the fatty belly. The sashimi had been aged too in order to bring forward a more intense taste, and paired with different types of salt. Not bad, but probably the more interesting piece is the deep-fried tuna blood, something new for me. Even though a bit oily, it is still worth trying it out.

We ordered a number of dishes on the menu board, as recommended by the staff, and this one was another, a piece of Tamago with Uni and Truffle ($500). It was quite a big surprise when later on I found how much it cost, as we had ordered two pieces per the suggestion from the staff. Yes, there are plenty of uni and truffle, and the egg roll is also good in taste. But still it was disproportionate on price and I would recommend that you check when ordering things on the menu board here. 

Another item on the menu board, the Fish Maw ($260) was baked in a clay tray with sauce, with plenty of leek added. The taste is quite nice, and there are some purple sweet potato toast provided to allow us to scoop up the sauce too. A creative and interesting dish. 

Then it was the Duck Breast ($220), another thing on the menu board, which are slices of duck with Sichuan peppers and marinate, giving a spicy kick while the duck meat is marinated nicely with mirin and other seasonings. This is one of my favorites of the meal.

Finally something on the menu, Chicken Fried Kurokampachi ($250) is the wild-caught fish with a crystal hot sauce and daikon. The taste is nice, with the fish meat firm and on first sight I thought it was a piece of tofu. The daikon also added a nice balance on the palate.

Wrapping up with dessert, we had the Koji Rice Pudding ($80), which added aged tangerine peel, condensed hon mirin and seasonal smoked pear. Rather special, the rice pudding is quite light and delicate which benefits, and a bit short of sweetness for me. 

The other dessert was Roasted Custard Banana ($60), and the banana is added with soya sauce nougat. Comparatively this dessert is much sweeter, and quite nice in taste. The only thing is that the nougat is too sticky to the teeth and I found it a bit annoying unfortunately. 

Service is decent, with the chef coming over to explain a bit on a number of the dishes. The bill was $2,943 and I would say it was quite unbelievably expensive, mainly because of the egg roll. While we did not raise it on the spot, I hope the restaurant would consider putting the price on the menu board too to avoid unnecessary issue with customers in future.