Fresh-est sashimi~ @ Sushi Ketsu

Being back in Sydney, I have been missing sashimi flown in from Japan so much. So coming back to Hong Kong albeit for a short time, I made sure I tucked in enough sashimi to tide me over till I return and first time at Sushi Ketsu more than fulfilled my needs.

We were lucky to get a last minute booking on a Saturday night and when we walked in, all tables were full. Seated at the counter, we got front seats watching the sushi chefs prepare numerous cuts of sashimi and shape neat handfuls of rice into sushi.

Let’s start~

Red snapper- I prefer this thinly sliced, but the chunky cut was still smooth and not too fishy

Salmon belly- always a favourite cut. So luscious and fatty~

Toro- light marbling that just melted in the mouth

Scallop two ways- the one served as sushi had a more firm texture, while the sashimi was velvety

Botan shrimp- light sweetness exuding from the firm crisp flesh

Kingfish- chunky, sweet and a solid mouthful of fish

Sea urchin hand roll- handed straight over the counter to us ensuring the seaweed sheet was crisp and snapped nicely when bitten into. And the uni, light brushed with soy and so creamy~

And all too soon, we were served our hot items.

Chicken skin wrapped prawns- grilled to a lovely crunch covering juicy pieces of prawns

Beef tongue- here it is served as thin slices which lend to a more chewy texture

Japanese greenhouse tomatoes- juicy, refreshing always perfect with the sesame dressing

Japanese sweet corn- oh my god, this was so good! Yes it was served raw, but mother nature already did all the hard work. Crisp, sweet and juicy with none of that raw ‘green’ taste.

Our botan prawn head returned to us fried to a crisp. Like a delectable prawn cracker, just with eyes and legs still attached…

Tsukune- unlike others I’ve had this was held together loosely with a pleasing mixture of gooey cream cheese and what I think were prawn innards. Nice.

With all the fish scraps they accumulate, they stew it into the most gorgeous soup. Milky and creamy, infused with enough ginger so there was barely any fishiness, I could have had two big bowls of this 🙂

And for dessert, complimentary ice-cream, but it wasn’t really photo worthy. Sesame for me and a funny tasting sweet potato flavour for him.

I am counting the days till I return to Hong Kong just so I can indulge in all this again~

Don’t chicken out @ Yardbird

No reservations allowed at this hot robatayaki eatery, but rocking up at 9.15pm on a Thursday evening we were hoping there would not be a wait. Peering through the entrance we could see the restaurant was packed, but upon asking for a table for two we were immediately directed to a table downstairs. No wait~!

Yardbird specialises in chicken robatayaki where a large part of the chicken is dissected and grilled for customer’s enjoyment. Besides from skewered chicken, they also offer a variety of appetisers and salads, larger plates for sharing are also available and don’t forget to look at the board for specials of the night.

To start we ordered sea salt sprinkled edamame and their recommended corn tempura which they kindly served as a half portion of two pieces. The edamame was nicely boiled where it was not too mushy, but the corn was definitely a standout! Arriving as two pom pom balls the outside was lightly battered and biting into it revealed an abundance of loose corn kernels. So good~

For robatayaki we only ordered a few to share since we had some larger dishes coming. The chicken breast was surprisingly succulent, the liver nicely juicy, while the hearts were typically bouncy in texture. I had also wanted to order the chicken oysters ( two circles of dark meat at the back), but unfortunately being so late in the evening they had sold out 😦

Spying mussels on the menu piqued our interest and asking the server for more details we were informed they were blue mussels from Canada. Served in a piping hot iron bowl there were lovely and tender bathing in the most aromatic tart sake soup. So delicious we could barely keep from spooning the hot soup into our mouths~ Highly recommended!

Wanting something more meaty other than poultry, we settled for ox tongue. A mountain of mixed greens arranged on top of grilled ox tongue slices. The ox tongue although flavourful was more chewy than I expected, but it was still decent.

To finish up we ended with the mixed mushroom risotto. This was amazing~ Again served in an iron pot, it was a small mountain of slightly cheesy rice infused with the most mouthwatering aroma of earthy mushrooms. If only this was served earlier, I would have eaten more than my share :p

Yum Yum Yum~ Yardbird is definitely worth trying!

Robatayaki~@ San Wu Ting

Grilled things on sticks seems to have taken Hong Kong by storm, as many little robatayaki places have been popping up. I have to admit I was one of those people who never really appreciated this type of cooking method as in my mind everything seemed to taste the same, smokey with a char-grilled flavour. Then again I guess that was because I never really went to a place that did robatayaki very well until I was introduced to San Wu Ting.

Inside a quiet street in Causeway Bay just around the corner of the popular place that sells spicy crab, San Wu Ting is not eye-catching at all, but that is not important for those already in the know and luckily for me, my friend did know 😉 Quite dim inside, it has a limited seating capacity of approximately 20 people with a small open kitchen where the chef does most of the grilling.

For a seating of two, we decided to sit along the bar table and aside from the menus handed to us by the waitress, you can also look at the chalkboard to see what kind of specials were available that day. We were really hungry that night, and as soon as the waitress came over to take our order we speedily listed everything that had caught our fancy and by the time she left, we were actually a little clueless to how much we had ended up ordering…

A portion of fresh vegetables was served between the two of us, dip the crunchy sticks of cucumber, carrot and ‘tin ma’ inside the sweet bean sauce to refresh the palate before the flow of grilled items arrive.

For appetisers we had grilled cod fish slices which were crunchy and tasted unerringly like Japanese snack food and grilled pufferfish which is one of my must orders at a Japanese restaurant. It was done really well here, with the fish still soft and sticky from its sweet marinade.

Beef tongue. I do not normally eat beef, but for beef tongue I sometimes make a small allowance… This was amazing~ Thickly cut, each piece was so juicy and succulent, with just a sprinkle of salt and pepper for seasoning it did not need anything more. This is a must-order!

Razor clam. I was a little worried that the grilling process would render this too tough, but it was cooked just right, still tender and topped with a butter and shallot mix for flavour.

Marinated cod fish. This was so good~ So juicy from the melting of the natural oils inside the cod fish and the sweet miso marinade was a perfect accompaniment. Recommended~

Oysters. This was a little fishy with a bitter after-taste. Unforunately this was the weakest dish.

Grilled green peppers. These were not spicy at all and after the char-grilled process their natural flavour become more intense.

Corn. Char-grilled corn is always a crowd-pleaser. Brushed with butter, parts of it were grilled to a beautiful golden brown releasing a wonderful aroma. It would have been even better if the corn was sweeter.

Japanese pumpkin. Sweet golden coloured chunks of pumpkin with an attractive blistered char, but some parts were still hard and not cooked to the melting softness that I like.

Shitake mushrooms. I love char-grilled mushrooms as their earthy flavour becomes so much stronger. Still quite juicy with a slight crispy tinge on the outside. 

Big brown mushroom (literal translation). This was brushed liberally with butter, but it was not juicy as I expected. There was a distinct earthy flavour, but the texture was a little chewy.

Seared sweet egg. Just the right amount of sweetness, the outside was nicely toasted with fluffy insides.

Quail eggs. What’s not to love about miniature bite-sized eggs :p The egg whites were a little chewy from the grill, but the yolk had melted nicely and literally burst inside my mouth when I chewed. Luckily it was not piping hot when it happened.

Chicken hearts. Hearts are one of my favourite offal, yes some people may find that disturbing, but I love their bouncy texture and the ones served here were quite good, simply seasoned with a slight gamey flavour.

Pork sausage on a chicken bone. I had a bite of this, not bad, the skin snapped nicely revealing a juicy filling with a hint of sweetness.

Kurobuta with kimchi. This was so fatty, but that is definitely a lure of ordering kuobuta. The grilled shallots and sourness of the kimchi was a much welcomed accompaniment to cut through the oiliness of the pork.

  
Lamb cutlets. Very generous in size, they were grilled to a blushing medium rare. Not of the tender type, the cutlets here had a meaty chew with quite a strong gamey flavour that I welcomed.

Cheese mochi. This was really yummy~ soft and oozy with a delightful melted cream cheese centre 🙂

Chicken wing stuffed with mentaiko. I did not try this since I am not a fan of chicken wings or mentaiko, but it was plump with a generous filling of mentaiko. My friend who had it said it was just ok though.

And for dessert~ Grilled sesame mochi dumplings compliments from the chef (maybe because we ordered so much) :p This was so so good! Brushed with a clear sweet and salty liquid over blistered crispy mochi hugging a fragrant sesame paste filling… Simple, but so satisfying~

Our eyes were definitely bigger than our stomachs, by the time we had finished the mochi, we were just so full! But it was definitely worth the minor discomfort and if you ever have a craving for robatayaki it is really worth giving San Wu Ting a try~