This sushi restaurant has two outlets and we went to the one located in Lan Fong Road Causeway Bay. With the typhoon signal number 8 only lowered a few hours before dinner service, I was glad that they decided to open for customers, so we also braved the storm and drove here on-time to honour our reservation.
The environment is pleasant, with a L-shaped sushi counter served by two chefs, able to accommodate 10 customers. A special thing of note was the large number of ceramics in front of us, holding different sauces and condiments.
The Omakase Menu ($1,888) began shortly with the first course, Isaki 伊佐木 from Nagasaki, and Ishigarei 石鰈 from Sanriku. The chicken grunt had some sake sauce jelly on top to replace soy sauce, dusted with some Japanese pepper. A bit too fishy in taste unfortunately. The stone flounder was thinly sliced, wrapping some purple sea urchin, decent in flavour. The chef also added a piece of the engawa, or fin muscle of the flounder, which had a good bite.
Then to my surprise the chef already started the first sushi. The Ainame 愛魚女 came from Akashi, with the chef added a bit of wheat soy sauce and yuzu salt to season. The fat greenling had a very light taste with a bit chewy bite.
The second sushi was Kuromutsu 黒鯥 from Kanagawa. The bluefish got a soft texture but not as fat as I would expect, perhaps because it was currently not the best season.
The third sushi was Shiro-Ebi from Toyama Bay, marinated in kombu to increase the umami of the taste. The baby white shrimps were soft on the bite and had a delicate sweetness. Among the three so far this was the better one.
Next the chef took out the Shako 蝦蛄 from Miyaki and Hanasaki-Gani 花咲蟹 from Hokkaido. The chef had added some egg yolk sauce and decorated with a bit of salmon roes. The mantis shrimp was quite nice but did not have roes. The crab meat was delicious, with a good mix of white and brown meat to give extra flavours, and the egg yolk an interesting condiment with a bit of creamy texture.
Cutting a big piece of Hatsu Katsuo 初鰹 from Kochi, the chef asked the staff to smoke it in the kitchen. Slicing into thick cuts, he added some finely chopped Japanese ginger on the bottom, together with some onion vinaigrette sauce. The skipjack tuna was quite heavily smoked so unfortunately that completely masked the flavours of the fish. But the Japanese ginger did help to balance the taste a bit.
Then it was ‘Maguro time’. The chef cut out different parts of the bluefin tuna from Okinawa, with the first serve being a part between the Chu-toro and O-toro, but I could not get the name. The appearance resembles that of akami, but it did have a softer texture. Quite good.
Next was Chu-toro, with the medium fatty tuna having richer flavours and a soft, appealing texture. My favourite cut of the tuna.
The third piece was Kama-Toro, the collar of the tuna. It was one of the fattest parts of the fish, but having quite a large number of sinews. As a result, the chef thinly cut a few small pieces to put together, making the sushi easier to bite and chew.
The last one in the maguro quartet was Akami Zuke, with the lean tuna being marinated in soy sauce to bring forward the umami flavours, with a bit of mustard added to season. Decent in taste.
As a transition the chef served us Hamo 鱧, the pike conger, in a bowl with broth. With a bit of plum sauce and kinome leaves to season, it had a soft and melt-in-the-mouth texture, but I found it having a rather strong taste which I did not like. Also, the broth was totally without any flavour. This one was quite disappointing.
Moving on to shellfish, the chef prepared three different types for us, including Torigai 鳥貝 from Mie, Namigai 波貝 from Aomori, and Tsubugai 螺貝 from Hokkaido. The Japanese cockle was very fishy on the taste, despite the chef already having a piece of lime underneath. The geoduck and whelk were better, with the former quite sweet and crunchy on the bite, while the latter had more bite on texture but still easy to chew. To season, there were the sake sauce and kombu salt provided.
After a short break we continued with a sea urchin trio. The first one was Murasaki-Uni 紫雲丹. The same type as the one served in the first course, this purple sea urchin however was kept in brine, with a softer texture. The chef put the sea urchin and shari in a bowl, adding a white condiment like snowflakes, made with rice and salt. Not bad.
The second piece was Bafun-Uni 馬糞雲丹 from Uchiura Bay in Hokkaido, with the chef making a gunkan roll to hold the sea urchin. This one had a sweeter taste and while not as intense in the flavours, personally it was my favourite among the three.
The final one was Ezo Bafun-Uni 蝦夷馬糞雲丹 from Rebun Island. The chef had generously scooped a large amount of the sea urchin on the nori sheet, before folding to serve to us. The experience was like eating an ice-cream sandwich, with the creamy and soft sea urchin nice in taste. It would score higher marks if the nori sheet could be crispier.
Unlike how his partner handled the Ezo Awabi 蝦夷鮑, our chef decided to cut the abalone in thin slices, and then served together with some fish noodles, in a clear thickening made from the liver of abalone, other types of shellfish and dashi. The texture of the abalone was a bit rubbery, while the thickening did not have sufficient flavours for the noodles. This one I believed could be executed better.
Continuing with sushi, the chef had prepared Himemasu 姫鱒 from Lake Shikotsu in Hokkaido. The seasonal kokanee salmon had a very soft texture, with a nice fat content. Adding with a bit of grated ginger, this one was quite good.
Then it was Aji 鯵 from Hamada, with the Japanese horse mackerel having a nice pinkish sheen, with the chef removing the silvery skin only before serving. Added with a bit of menegi to reduce the fishy note, it was a decent piece with good fat level and freshness.
Following was Shima Aji 縞鯵 from Kochi, and despite its name it had nothing to do with the last piece. The striped jack mackerel had comparatively less intense fishy note, with a better bite and not as fat. Quite good too.
Next came Iwashi 鰯 from Shimokita Peninsula, with the chef meticulously clearing the bones from the sardine before cutting it on the surface lightly. The stronger taste was balanced with a bit of grated ginger, and while it might be a bit fishy for some, it was exhibiting nice flavours for me.
From the kitchen the chef brought out the Grilled Ayu 香魚, but instead of the traditional way to present the whole fish, it had been filleted before grilling with salt, removing the bones and the innards. The chef had used the innards to make a paste to brush back on the fish afterwards, infusing with a nice umami taste. The interesting element was the vegetable underneath, called Tade, coming from the area where the fish was caught, which had got a peppery taste. The chef also used it to make a green sauce with vinegar, Tade-su, to pair with the fish and the vegetable.
The final piece was Goma-Saba 胡麻鯖 from Saga, with the chef cutting three thin slices of the fresh mackerel to make the sushi. This one was my favourite in the evening, with nice taste of umami and sweetness, and wonderful balance of fat.
Instead of the normal miso soup, the chef had prepared one made from the yeast and rice, together with some fermented 10-year drinkable mirin and milk. It was light in taste but having a soothing warming effect on stomach.
The dessert contained some Melon from Yubari, Warabimochi, and Sudachi Jelly. The jelly had sour lime flavours, refreshing, and helped to cleanse the palate. The mochi had a good chewy bite and not too sweet, while the melon was juicy and very sweet. A good completion for the meal.
The bill was $4,195 which are reasonable considering the amount of food and varieties. However, the overall dining experience brought to me repeatedly the belief that it is lacking something. Whether it is how the chef interact, the food, or the service, it is lacking a bit of warmth, a bit of flavours and freshness, and a bit of attention to details. I hope they could evaluate and find improvement, which would help bring them to the next level.
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