Wineshark HK Restaurant Review - Fukuro

Izakaya is a type of Japanese bar that serves alcoholic beverages and snacks. Many years ago, when I first visited Japan, I was surprised at how expensive it could be to visit one for dinner. Today we come to FUKURO, an izakaya on Elgin Street, to try out.

With dim lighting and strong music, the whole ambience is more towards the Western-style bar. There are some booth seats but those are reserved for groups of four. We are assigned to sit on the counter, on the side, so not exactly seeing much in action.

The staff is helpful in introducing the menu, recommending us to pick 6-7 dishes for sharing. Obviously, I also choose a sake to go with the food, opting for Harada Gengetsu Junmai Ginjo Muroka ($458 for carafe).

In no time we are served the first course. The Drunken Clams ($148) have been marinated with umeshu, or plum wine, and then sprinkled with some shichimi salt on top. The sweetness of the plum wine reinforced the umami taste of the clams, and the light spicy note from the shichimi is appealing too. I also like the pieces of shiso which bring in a nice fragrance.

Next is the raw dish, with the Kingfish Sashimi ($158) very fresh and tasty, having a good portion with 6 thick slices. The soy sauce is a special seaweed version to enhance the umami notes of the buri. I also like the restaurant serving it on ice to keep the sashimi cold, as here customers might not be eating them straight away.

The Crispy Caramel Butter Corn ($128) is our favourite dish in the evening. The corn itself is tender and sweet, with a crispy, thin batter on the outside after deep-frying. The chef also brushes them with caramel butter to enhance the flavours, sprinkled with some aonori seaweed too on the surface.

The Grilled Scallops ($168) is presented theatrically, with the chef lighting up flames underneath the shell, cooking the scallops with a rich and tasty oyster butter, with some parsley paste. It is not my pick as the flavours of the sauce completely dominated the scallops, rendering them tasteless, and making me wonder about the quality of the scallops.

Fortunately, the Crab Tart ($88) helps to rescue some marks. On top of the crunchy gyoza skin is a thin layer of crab meat, quite nicely seasoned. On the menu it shows there are pakuchi, or coriander, but I am not sure the garnishes on top are those. Nevertheless, still quite tasty.

The Prawn Tempura ($158) has five large prawns, with the chef added some seaweed in the batter before deep-frying. The tempura coating is not thick and there is no oily feeling in eating them. Quite nicely done. The dipping sauce is a bit of a let-down though, as I would prefer the traditional version with better flavours.

Coming towards the end we have the Kimchi Udon ($268), with the udon having a nice texture, and cooked with a uni miso and kimchi. On top there are some snow crab meats which are quite sweet in taste. A fulfilling dish to finish the meal so that we do not feel hungry.

For dessert we pick Monaka Ice Cream Sandwich ($68) and Hokkaido Mochi ($68). The mochi has a chewy skin wrapping a vanilla ice-cream, and in fact I prefer this than the signature monaka. While the crispy wafer is good, the strawberry puree is a bit too sweet for me.

Service is good, with the staff friendly and coming regularly to check in. But the speed of serving is really too fast and we end up finishing the whole dinner in just 45 minutes. I guess we should remind the staff to slow it down. The total bill is $1,956 and again, proving to me that in both Japan and HK, coming to an izakaya for dinner is quite expensive.