志魂 Sushi Shikon

Wanted to try out Sushi Shikon for a long time. Been keeping an eye on it when it's still called Sushi Yoshitake. But the steep price tag makes it a place reserved for special occasions.

Called Sushi Shikon to book for a new year dinner and found out that they will be closed from December 29 to January 7, 2014. Later found out from their facebook page that's because the Tsukiji fish market in Tokyo is closed during that time. So booked the first Friday night after they resume business in 2014.

Was a bit worried when a sudden trip come up and have to reschedule the dinner in very short notice. Luckily someone else cancelled on the proposed night I wanted to change to and managed to finished the quest of trying out all Michelin three stars restaurants in Hong Kong.

The have changed their menu from three different price sets to only one omakase menu, which is the same as the three-star served in Tokyo. There's a page about Sushi Etiquette on their website which is quite interesting.

The restaurant is tucked away in a hotel in Sheung Wan. The small place accommodates maximum 8 and we were quite comfortable seated as there's only 6 during the first seating (6pm).


The wood bench made from a single piece of wood.


Chawanmushi (茶碗蒸し)with Shirako (白子), which is steamed savory egg custard with cod milt. This is the first time I tried Shirako after hearing and reading about it for a long time. It's very light, cream and with a delicate taste. But guess it not for everyone as my fellow diner was not too sure about it after finding out it is "fish sperm".


The slow poached octopus or Tako Yawarakani (?) is so tender is not like octopus at all. Chef Yoshiharu said he is very good at massaging the octopus to make it tender.


Flounder (Hirame平目) sashimi

The fish is super fresh and sweet, changing my impression about white fish. We were suggest to eat the little piece of fin at the top last, as it's a bit more oily and chewy.


Special made soy sauce cooked with flounder bones


Execute Chef Yoshiharu Kakinuma


Abalone (Awabi 鮑), with abalone liver sauce

This is their signature dish and the two big piece of abalone is very tasty, especially with the liver sauce. After finished the Abalone, the Chef put a little bit of sushi rice to go with the remaining sauce. It's almost like a risotto.




While eating abalone, the chef prepared the next charcoal grilled fish using Bincho Charcoal. The fish is only slightly grilled and served with scallion. But despite I've rack my brain for hours I could only remember it' delicious but not the name of the fish. It's either a mackerel or a skipjack.






After the appetizers, starts the ten piece of sushi


Squid(Ika いか)


Seabream(Tai 鯛)


Medium tuna belly (Chūtoro中とろ)


Fatty tuna belly (Ōtoro大とろ)


Japanese gizzard shad (Kohada 小鰭)


Barracuda カマス with Shiso


Smoked yellowtail (Hiramasa 平政) instead of (Akagai赤貝)


Sea urchin (Uni雲丹)


Giant tiger prawn (Kuruma-ebi車海老)


Sea eel or Conger eel (Anago穴子):
grilled in between two piece of bamboo(?) leaves

The sushi are just heavenly delicious, very fresh, the seafood with their own distinctive flavor and sweetness.  Never like squid sushi but was pleasantly surprised.  It's also the first time I had Barracuda.  It's a bit funny that I've seen so many while diving and never consider them edible. Needless to say my favorite fatty tuna, sea urchin and conger eel are just perfect.  


Egg castella


Miso soup with crab and spring onion


Strawberry and pear with maple jelly

There's two chefs and two waiters for the 6 patrons in the shop front. Service is attentive and Chef always wait till the conversation paused and cut in at the perfect moment to introduce the dish. Our tea cups were change at least 7-8 times during the evening. Upon leaving the restaurant, had a surreal feeling that we've just stepped out of a restaurant in Tokyo directly onto the street in Hong Kong.

Nobu again

Anago sushi. tender, delicious and melt in your mouth.

Salad that came with the set lunch.Black Cod Saikyo yaki. If my Mom said it's good, then it's really good.

Australia Wagyu steak with Terriyaki sauce. Well, maybe should just get a piece of Japan Wagyu steak from the supermarket next time. Nothing wrong with the steak, it's juicy and tasty, just nothing special either...
Of course, the perfect view.

Also had Green tea cake with sesame paste and lime sorbet. Uhm...the combination is surprisingly pleasing.

The price for the lunch is enough for a decent dinner, but then again, the view at night is going to be a lot more expensive...

Nobu

Heard mixed comment about Nobu, some good and some think it doesn't live up to the fame.

It opens for lunch since April and it's a good way to try out an expensive place and see what the food is like.

The lunch Omikase is $588, and here it goes:
Yellow tail sashimi - the fish was very fresh and the tangy dressing helped to bring out the sweetness of the fresh flash.
Seared tuna with pepper sauce - the tuna was again of very good quality, and the pepper sauce gave it an interesting twist. Pity it's a bit spicy for me.

Grilled yellow tail collar with teriyaki sauce. This was wonderful, the fish was juicy and the sweet teriyaki souse with lemon was just lovely. The huge piece was reduced to a few pieces of bones in no time.

Tenderloin with chili sauce - not sure whether they've marinated the beef for too long, the texture of it was strange. An anti-climax after the three wonderful fish dishes. We told the waiter that we what we thought about the beef and the manager quickly offered to prepare an replacement.
Grilled shrimp with OX sauce and mushroom tempura. The shrimp with the fried dried scallops shreds and thinly sliced chillies was done just right, the shrimp was crisp and fresh and the OX sauce not too strong so it compliments the shrimp.

An separate order of Cod fish Saikyoyaki lunch set. It came with rice, pickles and miso soup. The serving is very generous and though the cod was a very thick piece, the miso could be tasted in every bite of the succulent fish.

Back to the last dish from Omikase, salmon, white fish(?), yellow tail and toro sushi. The toro simply melt in the mouth and each of the white fish sushi were prepared with a little twist, either with Shiso or with ginger and spring onion. Though the sushi rice is a bit sweet, think it's at least as good as the best ones I've had in town.

The four layered dessert - milk foam, Whisky ice cream, chocolate crunch cake and coffee moose. Lovely dessert if you don't mind a bit of alcohol.

Was very impressed as I don't usually like fish, yet love all the fish dishes that day. Great food plus attentive service always make a lovely dining experience. No wonder the place was full during lunch time.

Lunch at Harakan

Yes, it's probably high cholesterol and fat but also extremely delicious. The grilled good liver rice from the lunch menu is a big bowl of rice generously covered with four big pieces of goose liver. Sinfully yummy...

Ichikawa, Taikoo

Haven't been to the this one for a while and picked it as an alternative to the original Korean restaurant. All decided on ordering the $135 dinner set, which you can choose a starter, a soup, a main, noodles/rice and dessert.

When everything arrived:
There were: 4 fried dumplings and one cold spinach; 2 miso soup, 2 pumpkin soup & 1 mushroom soup; 3 teriyaki beef, 1 grilled cod, 1 seafood hot pot; 2 rice, 1 rice with soup(茶漬飯), 1 soba & 1 Udon.
The Cod was nice with a hint of sweetness from the miso. Though it sounds like a strange combination, it also went very well with the sesame dressing left over from the spinach. Also tried the teriyaki beef, it's a bit too salty for me and a bit too much onion...

The food in general was better than I remembered, or maybe just because spend most of the time talking instead of focusing on the food?

Yuzu,柚子

Went to Yuzu when I was in Shanghai last time. They serve "all you can eat" set at dinner time. It's only been a few months time and there are several other shops already.

Visited the one in Holiday Inn in Pu dong for their set lunch.
This is the Sukiyaki set.
This is the daily grill fish set.
And guess what - the most expensive set(sukiyaki) is only 48RMB. It comes with starter, soup, salad, pickle, rice and steam egg custard. But of course, the most important thing is the food was very nicely cooked and carefully flavoured, much better than some of the ones you get in Hong Kong charging close/or over HK$100.

March Mini-Kaiseki

Had an excellent Kaiseki meal at Nadaman. As usual, forgot about taking pictures until halfway through the meal. The first dish was their home-made Tofu with Uni, served with spring onion, wasabi and sauce. The tofu was very soft and silky, almost like the Chinese dessert "Douhua"(豆腐花), with some yoba(soy milk skin). The Uni was very fresh and had a flowery taste.

Next was a salad with Sea beam sashimi, tomato, mozzarella and pickled cabbage with seaweed dressing. Surprised to see an almost Italian style salad. But the ingredients mixed well together and they are delicious by themselves and when mixed together.

Next came the Sushi. First time to try sushi with Whitebait (Chinese usually fry them with eggs) and is very yummy. The most surprising one should be the spring onion (or chive?) with bonito. It's so full of flavour and as tasty as the others.

The soup with sea beam and seasonal vegetables arrived with a small stove to keep it warm. The dashi is light yet very sweet.

Fried sakura shrimps and peas. It's not oily and the sakura shrimps are very fresh.
Was very full by the time the Yakimono arrived. Foie Gras with beef and daikon! Managed to ate most of the foie gras and beef but have to leave the daikon...

There's also congee with seaweed(mozuku/水雲).

Sakura sorbet with sweet red bean paste with fruit and jelly. Couldn't quite figure out the sakura taste but the sweet red bean paste goes well with the fruit and jelly.

Think it's called "mini" kaiseki because it didn't have all the usual dishes in a kaiseki meal, but think the portion they serve is enough for two. And as the waitress said, a kaiseki meal will take at least 1 hour, if not more...

Miso, Gateway

Had a quick dinner at Miso in TST. Didn't expect much but the food turned out to be quite delicious. Vegetable Tempura

Inaniwa Udon with beef - very yummy.

Assorted Sushi-fresh and delicious