This sushi restaurant is located in Baskerville House, Central, beside the Duddell Street Steps, and was named after Executive Chef Sase Satoshi who came from Hokkaido. Building on his success after coming to HK, in 2018 Sushi Sase moved to this current location, at the same time opening a section which is served by Chef Sase himself, naming it Sushi Sase Hanare.
The restaurant is quite small, seating only 6 customers, but it has a good cozy and welcoming ambience, with nice touches on details, from the painting and the art pieces, to the beautiful woven ceiling.
There is only one Omakase Menu ($2,280), and the Starter got a nice, sweet Hokkai Ebi on top of some sea urchin with caviar, a piece of lightly grilled scallop, together with some edible flowers, tiny cherry tomatoes and corn, with a bit of yuzu jelly to complement. Refreshing and light, the slight acidity from the yuzu jelly also stimulated the appetite.
After cleaning the Magaki, which came from Akkeshi in Hokkaido, it was put back on the shell to serve, seasoned with a bit of ponzu sauce with a touch of momoji-oroshi and spring onion. The oyster was very fresh, nice in size and got a tasty sweetness while also having a slight crunchy bite. Very good.
Chef Sase brought out a large bowl and inside was the Zuwa-Gani. The chef took out a long piece of crab leg meat to cut in half, and then putting some more crab meat on the plate, before adding the brown meat paste on top and drizzled with a bit of vinegar. The delicate sweetness of the crab was fantastic, with the brown meat paste enhancing the flavours even further.
Then the chef took out the Torigai and Mirugai. He first smashed the Japanese cockle on the chopping board and immediately the muscle of the cockle contracted, testimony to the freshness of the ingredient. The geoduck got nice thickness but not chewy at all. In fact, both the cockle and geoduck had nice crunchy texture, but in terms of sweetness and taste, I would prefer the Japanese cockle more.
As a snack the chef had prepared some Edamame for us. The soybean in pods had been cooked with brine to give a nice salty taste but not excessive. A good pairing with sake or beer.
Chef Sase then took out a box of sea urchin and some small glass containers. He scooped in some beautifully orangish Bafun Uni in one, and then some paler Murasaki Uni in the other. The former came from Rishiri and had a stronger sweet taste but the purple sea urchin from Yoichi had a nicer, more creamy texture, with a more refined and less briny flavour. Both were very good but I would rate the latter better on the night.
Seeing the chef took out a large piece of Katsuo, he began to trim the edges and then cut out a few slices, before asking the staff to smoke them, as well as torching the skin. The hay smoky aromas were highly appealing, with the Miyazaki skipjack tuna wonderfully delicious, having the grated ginger and shallot to balance the stronger flavours to good effect.
The staff took out a large bowl and from it the chef removed a large piece of Ankimo. Cutting two pieces of the monkfish liver for each of us, they were very soft on the bite, yet very rich and wonderful on the taste. In particular I was impressed that the simmering broth did not overshadow the monkfish liver on its flavours.
The chef then took a piece of Karasumi and cut a slice for us. Together with a slice of radish, the salted mullet roe was savoury but not too salty and was another great companion to enjoy with beer or sake.
The next piece was one of my favourites in the evening. Spreading a strip of nori on the mat, the chef put a strip of tuna on top, adding shiso leaf, menegi, takuan, but without shari, to make a Maguro Roll. Cutting into bite sizes, the contrast of the crunchy takuan, velvety tuna flesh, and the crisp seaweed sheet was amazing. Delicious and made me crave for more.
Chef Sase has always featured seasonal ingredients from his home prefecture, and another good example was Tokishirazu. This wild salmon is only available during May/Jun, with a beautiful shining reddish orange sheen. On the palate it did not have any of the fishy note nor heavy, oily mouthfeel common for salmon, instead having more delicate flavours and a better texture. The chef arranged a special soy sauce to pair as well. A must-try if available.
Another of the specialty from Hokkaido, the chef lightly torched the skin of the channel rockfish, before making a sushi. The Kinki had a wonderful soft texture, full of fragrant fish oil on the bite, with the chef dusted some rock salt and added a bit of the liver paste on top to complement the flavours.
Once again, the staff took out a large bowl and this time it featured the large Awabi, from Hokkaido. Still warm, the black abalone was very tender, allowing one to bite through without any difficulty. The liver was grounded to make a paste to pair with the abalone, with its richness and intensity of flavours a heavenly match.
Chef Sase then showed us the different portions of the tuna, before cutting two thin slices, one Akami and one Chutoro. While the lean tuna was very good, the medium fatty cut was much more delicious, with the perfect amount of fat in my opinion, and its taste continued to revolve around the mouth long after swallowing.
From the kitchen the staff brought us the Taichio. The largehead hairtail had been grilled perfectly, with the silvery skin shining and the flesh firm but moist. Another of my favourites in the evening. To match with the delicate taste of the fish, a broad bean puree was prepared, which had a fine flavour.
Proceeding to the sushi section, Chef Sase cut along the surface of the Ika, breaking the muscle fiber at the same time allowing the brushed soy sauce to seep inside, instead of sliding off the squid. It was good in taste and more importantly there was no residue on the bite. The shari was also of great balance, with ideal level of sourness and wetness to my liking.
Next was Iwashi, with the chef carefully removing the bones of the sardines before peeling off the skin to make the sushi. The signature flavours of the silvery fish were intense and was so wonderful that if I had to encore just one in the end this would be my pick.
Then came Shako, from Otaru, and I believed the chef had taken a lot of effort to remove the shell from the cooked mantis shrimp so that it was perfect in shape and appearance. It had been brushed with some smoked soy sauce to impart with sweetness and umami. Another piece I would definitely encore.
To provide a pause on the tempo we were served a steaming hot Osuimono, with the clear soup having a wonderful umami taste from the dashi, and the chef also added some pieces of eggplant and leaves. The flavours of this soup reminded me of the good memories traveling in Japan.
The chef then showed us Ikura, the roes of the wild salmon, which had been cleaned and marinated. Chef Sase then made a roll using this delicacy, wrapping inside a piece of nori with shari. I liked the mild seasoning, not making the salmon roes too salty. Because of the smaller size of the roes, I found there was also less residues from the membranes after chewing.
Next came Kohada, the gizzard shad had been marinated with vinegar but not having excessive sourness, and the chef had also added a piece of transparent kombu on top, which helped to bring further umami and slight sweetness flavours to the fish. Another nice piece.
Nearing the end of the meal now, the chef began to showcase some of the fattier ingredients, beginning with Same-Karei Engawa. The fin muscle of the shark flounder had been torched to vitalize the fish oil, giving a nice fragrance and rich umami flavours. Very tasty indeed.
The other piece of fatty ingredient, without surprise, was the prized Otoro (Jabara), with the fatty tuna showing beautiful layers of white and pink flesh. Its soft texture and robust flavours was pleasing even for my wife who was not a big fan of the fatty cut. The aftertaste was also nice, staying inside the mouth for a good while.
The last piece was Anago, with the conger eel nicely grilled to a golden-brown colour, brushed with tsume reduction, the special thick eel sauce to give a bit of sweetness in flavours. The texture was fantastic, essentially melting in the mouth, and the great taste was memorable.
The staff then presented the freshly prepared Tamago. While we could not see the process, I could understand the skills and patience required to pan-fry the whisked egg custard slowly to get the fluffy texture with its golden surface. A rewarding finale to the meal.
There were a few options for dessert, with my wife opting for Fresh Melon while I had Monaka. The thin crispy wafers had vanilla ice-cream and red beans fillings, with appropriate level of sweetness. For the melon, we saw the chef took out a whole melon and cutting a slice to serve, juicy and very sweet in taste.
The bill on the night was $6,182 including two half bottles of sake I ordered. While it might look expensive, with the wide range of fresh, seasonal ingredients I would rate this restaurant being good value for money. Service was decent, but unfortunately throughout the evening both Chef Sase and the staff was just too focused to serve another couple, apparently frequent customers, without much interaction with the rest of us. However, if you got the chance, I would still highly recommend to visit especially before Chef Sase returns to Japan.
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