With a week to go before Christmas, today I started my non-stop holiday feast. The first stop of this two-week eating spree started with this sushi restaurant located at Aura on Pennington in Causeway Bay.
Pushing open the noren curtain, the two chefs busy in preparation behind the L-shaped sushi counter of beechwood greeted us warmly. About to accommodate 12 customers, there are also a few tables at the side. We were served by Chef Leo on the day.
We ordered the Omakase menu ($1,780 each), with also a bottle of 酒々井の夜明け 純米大吟釀 生酒 ($750). From Linuma Honke 飯沼本家 in Chiba, this sake had a nice floral character, fresh and smooth, and was good in food pairing.
The first course was Tsubugai 粒貝 from Hokkaido. Paired with a bit of coarse rock salt and lime juice, together with a bit of wasabi, the crunchy texture of the whelk was very appealing, rich in umami.
The second course was Shirako 白子. The cod milt had been poached and then lightly grilled over charcoal, creamy and soft on the bite. With a touch of lime juice, it exhibited wonderful richness in taste.
Transitioning to sushi, the first piece was Sumi-Ika 墨烏賊 from Kagoshima. The cuttlefish had a tender texture, with subtle sweetness. After carving on the surface to make it easy to chew, a bit of seaweed salt was added to season the sushi for best effect.
The second sushi featured Kawahagi 本皮剥. After cutting a thin slice of the thread-sail filefish, with the meat semi-transparent to allow one to see through to the scallions inside, the chef also added a large piece of its liver on top, rich in fish oil and flavours.
The third sushi was 鯵 Aji from Kyoto. Seeing the chef meticulously prepared the Japanese horse mackerel, removing the small bones and taking the tough skin off, the fatty flesh was fantastic in taste, perfect with a bit of scallions on top. One of my favourites tonight.
The fourth sushi was Chu-Toro 中とろ, with the tuna caught in Aomori Ohata, weighing 210kg. The medium fatty tuna had a rich fish oil, having the right balance of lean and fatty meat which was always my preference over the more pricey O-Toro.
Taking a break from the sushi, we were served the seasonal Kobako-gani 香箱蟹. The chef prepared a deep-fried crab cake, with a thick crab shell sauce, together with crab meat, miso and roes, plus some seasonal shungiku. Amazing taste.
The fifth sushi was Kuromutsu 黒鯥. The bluefish was a deep-water fish, renowned for its fattiness, and this one, after grilling on the surface, was bursting with delicious fish oil and very flavourful.
The sixth sushi was Hokkigai 北寄貝. The surf clam was very large in size, completely covering the shari, with the crunchy texture of the clam, its appealing sweetness in taste, made this another top-notch sushi.
Coming to the fourth sakesakana, it was Ankimo 鮟肝. The monkfish liver was slow-cooked in the homemade special sauce, with great softness and essentially melting in the mouth. Flavourful without the greasiness of foie gras, it was very delicious.
The seventh sushi was Katsuo 鰹. The skipjack tuna had a nicely layered texture, showing the increasing deeper shade of red from the skin down, having good fattiness, rich in flavours and umami.
The eighth sushi was Shima-Ebi 縞海老 from Hokkaido. The prized striped shrimps had a great sweetness and succulent texture. The chef also removed the shrimp roes during the process and then put them back on top of the sushi for slight poppy texture.
The ninth sushi was Buri 鰤. The matured Japanese yellowtail had been briefly grilled over binchotan, to infuse the flesh with a light smoky note while also vitalizing the fish oil to enhance the flavours. Another very nice one.
The tenth sushi featured Bafun-Uni 馬糞雲丹 from Hokkaido. Prepared in a gunkan roll, the Bafun sea urchin had nice sweetness in taste, without any weird notes, and Chef Leo had also generously scooped a large portion for my piece.
The fifth and final sakesakana was Karasumi 唐墨. The salted mullet roes had a soft and gluey texture, and after grilling over charcoal, were served on a piece of Shogoin daikon, with the delicate light taste of the turnip helping to balance the salty taste to good effect.
The eleventh sushi was Akami 赤身. The lean meat of the tuna had been briefly marinated in shoyu to infuse the meat with savoury flavours and made them silky smooth on the texture. While often being overlooked it could be phenomenal.
The twelfth and last sushi was Anago 穴子. The conger eel had wonderful softness, dissolving in the mouth even without biting. I liked the homemade sauce used for this one, not too thick or too strong in flavours to mask the great taste of the conger eel.
Feeling still a bit of room to enable me to go for a couple more, we both had an extra piece of Oomizogai 大溝貝 ($70), and I also had another Aji ($60) to encore. The Dall’s razor clam was very large, meaty with a sweet refreshing taste. Very good.
The Tamagoyaki 玉子焼 was being reheated at a toasting oven before serving, to ensure it was warm in temperature. With a sponge cake texture, the egg omelet had caramelized surface, rich in egg and seafood flavours.
The dessert included a piece of Daifuku 大福, with the soft mochi wrapping the red bean paste, with a fresh strawberry inside. The other one was a Tiramisu Mochi, with the chocolate powder coating the soft mochi with mascarpone. Very nice.
Service was good, with the chef friendly but not too talkative. However, seeing him doing his job in care and attention in front of us was a treat on its own. The bill on the night was $4,961. Very good value for money considering the overall experience.
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