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Nobu should be a familiar name with its Japanese fusion cuisine in restaurants worldwide crafted by Nobuyuki (Nobu) Matsuhisa. Blending traditional Japanese dishes with South American (Peruvian) ingredients, Nobu InterContinental Hong Kong features not only innovative culinary skills but also imagery of the Japanese countryside where Nobuyuki grew up. Having moved to Peru at 24 years of age, it played an instrumental moulding influence on Nobuyuki's cuisine as he began weaving Peruvian influence
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Nobu should be a familiar name with its Japanese fusion cuisine in restaurants worldwide crafted by Nobuyuki (Nobu) Matsuhisa. Blending traditional Japanese dishes with South American (Peruvian) ingredients, Nobu InterContinental Hong Kong features not only innovative culinary skills but also imagery of the Japanese countryside where Nobuyuki grew up. Having moved to Peru at 24 years of age, it played an instrumental moulding influence on Nobuyuki's cuisine as he began weaving Peruvian influences into his dishes as seen in his signature dishes.
For the wine-lovers, Nobu will not disappoint with 4,500 bottles and 550 labels in their collection, with 35% white wine and 55% red wine and a focus on wines from Burgundy, California and Australia. The remaining 10% consists of champagne and Nobu's list includes some rare vintages recommended in the Hugh Johnson pocket wine book and the various pairing options are designed to create an exceptional dining experience. In addition to the selective wines, there are also 12 different labels of sake, including Nobu's private label, all produced by one of Japan's most renowned breweries - Hokuesetsu, the Hazu family, who began brewing sake in 1871 and had won various Japan's most coveted beverage creation prizes. Reservations are a must prior to dining at Nobu and it would be advised to make bookings early especially if you intend to visit on the weekends. With a beautiful setting and spotlights casting the backdrop of the restaurant, it is about time to put the taste buds to work!
Considered to be an aphrodisiac by the Japanese, uni is commonly eaten for its healthful properties for it is rich with protein, fiber, Vitamin C and a source of Vitamins A&E, iodine and calcium, helping to warm and energize the body and last but not least, promoting good blood circulation. Uni is however not the sea urchin roe, but rather the organs that produce the roe, in other words, the gonads.
Served very elegantly on spoons, the firm custard looking uni had a soft, buttery texture that melted gently in our mouths, leaving a delicately mild sweet after taste that was surprisingly pleasant. It was as fresh as we could possibly asked for and certainly one of the best renditions tried thus far. This little delicacy however has a love or hate relationship with most diners so do exercise discretion with our verdict!
Baby spinach salad with dried miso paired with grilled scallops ($260/-)
The scallops had beautiful grill lines and most importantly retained the much desired moisture to taste juicy and succulent with each bite. The dried miso over the baby spinach was key in providing the savoury salinity to the dish which gave it a natural and clean feel. The flavour was cleverly balanced with a dash of acidity from the lemon slice provided on the side. This was definitely one of the highlight dishes of the evening.
The sashimi was sliced to the perfect thickness and uniform across each and every slice. The jalapeno dressing was a classic example of Nobuyuki's touch of Peruvian influence on the traditional Japanese cuisine, which carried a tinge of heat unlike the familiar wasabi. The yellowtail sashimi was fresh and slightly firm in texture, which was not quite the desired 'melt-in-your-mouth' quality but the freshness was definitely up to standard.
Unagi, foie gras and cream cheese avocado roll ($210/-)
This was a beautiful rendition and twist to the usual traditional sushi roll with cream cheese avocado and foie gras giving a luscious and mildly saccharrine punch with the savoury unagi (eel) and a beautiful soy dressing to complement the overall flavour of the dish. The balance in sweetness and savouriness made the dish pleasing but that being said, it was not a treat which I would have more than 2 servings for the richness of each bite was rather overwhelming.
Thinly wrapped in Daikon sheet, this simple looking sushi roll exhibited some fine techniques by the chef. The soft-shell crab on the inside was deep fried to a crispy crunchy finish coating the firm crab meat on the inside. The accompanying fish roe and avocado condiments made the balance in texture cohesive and complete.
The Saikyo-yaki is a delicious and distinctively sweet miso, made with more rice and less soybeans with a short fermentation period. With a salt content of no more than 10%, it is a favourite miso used to marinate fish. The black cod was beautifully cooked to perfection, retaining the moisture and natural sea flavour. The Saikyo yaki sauce was mildly sweet and fragrant but we felt that it was slightly overdone with the sweetness being the dominating flavour on our palate.
Look elsewhere if you are looking for the traditional version of shrimp tempura for this rendition carried an interesting twist with the usage of ponzu, a citrus-based sauce. The flour for the tempura and the batter was not the expected norm but rather a thin layer of crispness coating the juicy crunchy prawns. The texture was sublime with the flavour coordinating harmoniously with a right balance of sweetness and acidity from the ponzu. The rich creamy sauce had a delicate amount of heat from the chilli which made this main an appetizing course.
Steamed mussel and crispy pork belly, Aji Amarillo ($198/-)
The usage of 'Aji Amarillo' (yellow chili pepper) is an inherited characteristic of Peruvian cuisine as it is one of the most commonly used condiment. The mussels presented a rather unforgiving experience with its fishy smell. We felt that the mussels should have been treated with greater care prior to serving for there was detectable sand grains. As much as the flavours compensated for the letdown, these were but some fundamental flaws in preparing mussels, especially at fine-dining levels.
The fish collar is in fact one of the fattiest, lushest and most flavourful parts of the fish. This was a different technique from the other dishes with the wood oven roast to give the enhanced flavours of the fish. It had a crisp surface and you could still hear the crackling of the skin yet the moisture of the flesh on the inside was not compromised. The flesh of the fish collar was firm yet tender to the bite and the smoothness was better explained by the rich levels of omega-3 fish oil.
Quite frankly, Nobu's version of fish and chips are nowhere close to what we had in mind, and we meant it in a good fashion. The cod fish fillets were coated in a tempura batter and deep fried to give a crispy coating over the moist and fresh fish. The cooking of the fish fillets was clean and neat but the thick and fat potato chunks which supposedly serve as the 'chips' which were also deep fried to a golden brown failed to capture our visual delight nor palate. It was served with glistening oil on the surface, exposing a rather undesired greasy side to the dish. What we enjoyed most about the dish was the interesting green tea and curry-infused salt crystallines that delivered an unexpected strong punch of flavours with each dab. Overall, the presentation of the dish felt clumsy and the platter looked too cluttered for comfort.
Uji-Kintoki (Cacao white, vodka, green tea, coconut puree, red bean caviar)
This was one of their signature drinks which involved the use of molecular gastronomy technique in creating the red bean 'caviar'. With this cocktail being make to order, we waited almost 30 minutes before it was being served!
Do refer to our blog for full set of pictures as we are unable to publish all on openrice due to limitations.
Other Info. :
The overall dining experience was great, with a view of the Victoria Harbour. The ambiance is perfect for a romantic dinner or even formal dining with clients or business partners. The waiting staffs were meticulous in their service and attentive. When asked about the dishes, they were knowledgeable and managed to elaborate at length on the types of techniques involved and ingredients used. It was a shame that we were rushing off for a movie and had to bail before we had time for desserts!
(The above review is the personal opinion of a user which does not represent OpenRice's point of view.)
LikeOrHate 香芒．槤芳 ($130)是新加不久的甜品，相片中長卷狀的是咖哩芒果糯米糍，入口先是芒果甜，接著咖哩味越發濃郁。糯米糍下面放了一片薄薄榴槤威化，不過只有淡淡榴槤甜味，並未至其名Like or Hate一樣叫討厭榴槤的朋友反感。配上了鮮酸開胃的乳酪雪葩，各部分不算很搭配，但能集結咖哩和榴槤兩種迥異的口味於一起，亦相當有創意。要注意的是又是不能放太久，不然下頭的蘋果甜湯會把糯米皮和威化泡濕軟。
在尖沙咀晚飯過後，又想起吃甜品，知道Lobby Lounge已經沒有了喜愛吃的甜品，朋友最近也提起過Chocolate Bento，是我一直也想吃的甜品之一，於是便來了。點了一客Chocolate Bento Box with Green Tea Ice Cream，$130。朱古力蛋糕內充滿大量的熱融朱古力漿，質感濃稠，味道十分甘醇香濃，又不會過甜，伴上一球綠茶雪糕，茶味帶點回甘，口感挺滑，真是不錯。另外朋友也點了一杯桃味飲品，味道挺甜，都適合女士喝的。還有朋友吃過其他的甜品款式，有些也還好，有機會也可以一試。
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在尖沙咀晚飯過後，又想起吃甜品，知道Lobby Lounge已經沒有了喜愛吃的甜品，朋友最近也提起過Chocolate Bento，是我一直也想吃的甜品之一，於是便來了。點了一客Chocolate Bento Box with Green Tea Ice Cream，$130。
When my friend suggest dining at Nobu I must admit I was actually super excited to go there as it would be my first time and I have heard some wonderful things about their food! We didn't make a reservation, but were still able to get a table. Despite being seated at the entrance, my friend actually said it was a good thing since it would be very noisy further inside the restaurant. Since it wasn't my friends first time dining there, he was able to suggest a number of dishes for me to try and we
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When my friend suggest dining at Nobu I must admit I was actually super excited to go there as it would be my first time and I have heard some wonderful things about their food! We didn't make a reservation, but were still able to get a table. Despite being seated at the entrance, my friend actually said it was a good thing since it would be very noisy further inside the restaurant. Since it wasn't my friends first time dining there, he was able to suggest a number of dishes for me to try and we ended up ordering a LOT of food~~
We were served appetisers of fried crispy baby whitebait and marinated baby green peppers. The whitebait tasted like crisps and were quite addicting, while the green peppers marinated in a sour dressing were very effective in whetting the appetite.
We ordered three types of carpaccio: the hamachi with jalapenos, white fish and octopus. The hamachi was smooth and oily in it's natural state and coupled with the flavour of the sour soy sauce dressing and jalapeno, it really woke the tastebuds. The white fish was lighter in flavour, with a hint of citrus in the dressing. The texture of the meat was chewier than the hamachi, but there was no fishy smell which both my friend and I dislike. He preferred the white fish while I was more keen on the hamachi. The octopus was quite good too, tender yet slightly chewy with the flavour coming from the dried miso sprinkled on top.
The kobe beef tataki was amazing~. Silkily tender, the thinly cut pieces of kobe beef showing generous ribbons of fat were tossed in a forest of mixed greens. The sharp tang of the dressing was an excellent foil in cutting the heaviness of the succulent beef. Absolute love~
The eel and fois gras was pretty show stopping as well. Three generous pieces of roasted eel alternated with slices of pan-fried fois gras. This was all basted in the thick sweet soy sauce used to marinate the eel and topped with thin sticks of fresh apple. Who knew the combination of eel and fois gras could go so well! I love foods that are soft and mushy and every bite I took of the soft eel and melt-in-mouth fois gras was just eye-closingly good.
Next to arrive was their signature dish, the Black Cod Saikyo Yaki. It really did live up to the hype. The buttery cod, flaked off delicately with a soft prod of the chopsticks and the slightly firm and waxy texture of the fish melded perfectly with the sweetness of the miso.What surprised me was how good the cod tasted both warm and cold, so it gave you time to savour the dish.
The Kobe beef was our last main of the night. After the tataki setting such a high standard, I was looking forward to a spectacular encore. It didn't disappoint. We had two different cuts of beef, sirloin (L) and tenderloin (R). Both were seared to a beautiful medium rare, blushing pink in the middle. The sirloin had evident ribbons of marbling which made it very juicy as well as tender, while the tenderloin was more meaty in texture and had more beef flavour. This was served with three different types of sauces, wasabi, chilli and sesame. I wasn't a fan of the wasabi, with my preference leaning towards the chilli and sesame. The chilli helped lessen the heaviness of the beef, while the very fragrant sesame sauce gave the beef a more creamy and heady flavour.
And of course we had dessert. We ordered a few different ones to share, and what I loved about Nobu's desserts was the fact that they weren't too sweet. So even after such a heavy meal, I was still able to indugle my sweet tooth
The chocolate fondant was very generous in size, a soft cakey outside with a slightly molten centre. The chocolate flavour was quite bold and the chocolate covered pop rocks scattered on top proved to be an interesting fizzing sensation.
The soy mixed berry panacotta was extremely enjoyable and delightfully light. The panacotta was perfectly set so it wasn't too runny or firm and the sweet vinegar used to dress the panacotta helped bring out the subtle nuttiness of the soy flavour as well as toning down the tartness of the berries.
We also had their signature item the Suntory Whisky Iced Cappuccino. This was quite interesting, a small coffee cup with four separate layers which consisted of coffee cream, cocoa crumble, milk gelato and whisky foam. The whisky added depth to the intense flavour of the coffee, but although I liked the taste, I found the texture of the crumble to be a little too sandy.
We were also served two scoops of sorbet, fuji apple and raspberry. I found the apple sorbet to be a little grainy and it wasn't cold enough, but the flavour was pleasant. The raspberry was quite normal, a little too icy, but was refreshing on the palate.
By the time we got to the ice-cream mochi, it was already semi-melted. I suspect we had the walnut flavour and it was quite different, but in a good way. The skin was a little thicker and denser than the normal ice-cream mochi skins you find in supermarkets, but it provided a nice chewy texture.
I must say it was an epic dinner. I enjoyed every bit of it and would definitely return. Highly recommended~!
(The above review is the personal opinion of a user which does not represent OpenRice's point of view.)
Those who know me already knows that I am not a big fan of NOBU in general. I have already been eating at Nobu for 10 years or so at different locations, and the menus don't ever seem to change. Peruvian-Japanese fusion with American accent just doesn't give me much excitement anymore! Plus, a lot of the NOBU'S actually aren't very good on the executional side either.The Hong Kong branch of Nobu is Special. The menu not only carries the normal signature Nobu Matsuhisa dishes that are fo
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Those who know me already knows that I am not a big fan of NOBU in general. I have already been eating at Nobu for 10 years or so at different locations, and the menus don't ever seem to change. Peruvian-Japanese fusion with American accent just doesn't give me much excitement anymore! Plus, a lot of the NOBU'S actually aren't very good on the executional side either.
The Hong Kong branch of Nobu is Special. The menu not only carries the normal signature Nobu Matsuhisa dishes that are found everywhere else, but perhaps knowing that HK Customers might have more resistance to the overly fusionized dishes, the Hong Kong Nobu chefs have created quite a few HK Only Specials that aren't found anywhere else at the other global branches. These creations are actually quite sensible and suits the HK clientelle more. But the other 2nd part of the equation which made me like the HK Nobu, is about the much better execution on average here... *But truth be told, I don't think raw fish and nigiri sushi are their strongest point here. But the hot food and the desserts are easily a notch above the other Nobu's.
Dried Miso and Spinach Salad, with Grilled Scallops - $250 This was bigger than we initially envisaged, it was generous in portion and surprising very tasty. The dried miso powder worked well with the very fresh and plump spinach leaves, but somehow we detected some truffle influence in the background vinaigrette. The Scallops were grilled perfectly, topped with some fried onions. A very appetizing Salad for summer months. ~ 9/10
Fried Pork Cheeks with Apple and Wasabi Zuke – $198 Simply sublime! The pork cheek had a right balance of strong meat and fat flavour, but the grease is cut down by the presence of both pickled wasabi, as well as apple slices. Add a dash of squeezed lemon juice and it was sensational. A Hong Kong only dish. ~ 10/10
House Special Maki Roll - $150 This is wrapped with a thin Daikon sheet. The roll is filled with various fishes, crab, tobikko roes and avocado. It is quite refreshing, and the grated Wasabi is totally addictive. ~ 8/10
Creamy Spicy Crab – $255 This was interesting, but part of the crab meats were better than others. The spicy mayonnaise based sauce just screams new style fusion, but the tobikko roes gave it an interesting crunch factor! This would probably work with some plain rice. ~ 6.5/10
Charcoal Grilled Authentic A5 Kobe Sirloin, ordered Medium – $1050 The grilling was very well done, with a crispy crust on the outside and carrying the rare charcoal aroma! Nom Nom! The Kobe Sirloin was quite fatty and therefore is ordered Medium as is recommended by the chefs. It is quite oily but may be we expected more of a melt-in-your-mouth experience, but nevertheless this was quite nice indeed! ~ 8/10
Nobu Chocolate Bento – $130 When this arrived I was actually quite shocked and in a positive way! I have had this same dessert in London and Melbourne before numerous times and never once did I find it impressive. But the Hong Kong Nobu’s version was easily the prettiest and looking neat, topped with some popping candy and the maccha ice cream looking so prettily quenelled. Both of these also tasted fantastic and well done! Although I haven’t visited the Nobu’s in the States, I am still surprised at how much better these tasted and as presented in the HK Intercontinental Hotel’s Nobu branch. Very Lovely dessert ! Wouldn’t say the same when ordering at other Nobu’s though ~ 10/10
(The above review is the personal opinion of a user which does not represent OpenRice's point of view.)
銀鱈魚西京燒可推介。壽司則不濟。服務相當好。環境一流。價錢以NOBU的名氣來說算合理。Great View, Excellent Services.Average food quality. Super filling fine dining at HK$938Avoid sushi, especially maguro.But black cod is very good.Mainly for wooing purposes.>>>Fusion:Chef Nobu worked in Tokyo before he moved to Lima, Peru, where he opened his own Japanese restaurant. Fusing Peruvian tastes with his Japanese cuisines. He then relocated to Beverley Hills and eventually partnered with Robert De Niro, one of my favorite actors.
Great View, Excellent Services. Average food quality. Super filling fine dining at HK$938 Avoid sushi, especially maguro. But black cod is very good. Mainly for wooing purposes.
>>>
Fusion:
Chef Nobu worked in Tokyo before he moved to Lima, Peru, where he opened his own Japanese restaurant. Fusing Peruvian tastes with his Japanese cuisines. He then relocated to Beverley Hills and eventually partnered with Robert De Niro, one of my favorite actors. NOBU then expanded around around the world.
As my dear readers would know already, a fusion restaurant that is "bling bling", up-market and classy could only mean that somebody else had chosen it.
Indeed, my wife had chosen it as we were there for her birthday. I was offered some "options", namely, Nadaman, NOBU or SPOON - between the devil and the sea. I counter-offered Nadaman, NOBU, Tomi, Michi or Kenjo. My wife chose NOBU. (I escaped SPOON by the skin of my teeth this time *phew* ) NOBU seemed OK as they had some non-fusion stuff like Blackcod and Rock Shrimp Tempura on offer. So I should be able to get through dinner without too much agony.
Decor:
The interior was lovely. After you walk through the chic bar area, you'll arrive at the dining area. There are bar tables, normal dining tables as well as some sofa seats. The whole place was dimly lit with a lot of brown coloured wood and dark brown leather. It's almost as dim as "Aqua Tokyo". Most of the seats could see the excellent view of the Victoria Harbour, which by the was way one of the "Top three skylines in the World"!
We saw quite a lot of couples - or soon to be couples - when we arrived. Interestingly, there were quite a lot of lone diners enjoying their meals too.
One quibble about the environment was that ceiling was not high enough. It can get quite noisy after 8:30p.m. so perhaps I'd suggest tables nearer to the bar area. Those seemed to be more widely spaced out.
We booked beforehand and were allocated a table for two. It was quite near the large panelled windows showing the Victoria Harbour. Unfortunately, it was rather cramped. One Japanese couple was on our left and a Hong Kong couple was on our right - not good for everyone. We asked whether we could take a sofa seat instead, even if it was further away from the view. The friendly waitress checked and confirmed that we could do so. Good service!
The sofa seats near the end of the restaurant were very comfortable. This, combined with the very friendly, efficient and, most importantly, customer oriented service made even yours truly felt very at ease. (I usually don't feel that way if I don't have high expectations for the food and know the bill will be a hefty one.)
We were first served with the drink list. To my (very pleasant) surprise, the wine list did not contain hugely expensive wines. By that I mean most of the red and white wine were ranged between HK$300 and HK$1,400. Certainly a bottle of Dom Pérignon is a different matter. Anyway, it's not too intimidating.
NOBU Hong Kong Menu:
The food menu came. That's where I got the information about the journey of Chef Nobu and that Robert De Niro was a partner of NOBU.
Another interesting point was that they had a "NOBU Hong Kong" special menu. It's NOBU style cooking, itself a fusion, fused with some more ideas from Hong Kong Chinese cooking like "Foie Gras and Wagyu Beef Gyoza", "Steamed Mussel and Crispy Pork Belly", "Salt and Pepper Hokkaido Squid", "Crispy Pork Cheek and Apple Wasabi Zuke", "Duck Hobayaki Moro Miso" and "Spicy Miso Barbecued Quail". We weren't too interested in those as we're more interested in trying their standard signature dishes.
What made it really easy to order was that they had "NOBU signature dish menu" (or words to that effect) and another deluxe version which consisted of the Chef's daily recommendation not focusing on NOBU's signature dishes. Both had 8 dishes which composed of 2-3 cold dishes, other hot dishes, 1 soup and 1 dessert.
One of the really great thing about the menu was that it's actually customizable for the same price. This is crucial as I'd suggest skipping the sashimi altogether. It really isn't their strong point. (See below, near the end of the meal).
The NOBU signature dish was recommended by the staff if it's your first - and hopefully not last - visit.
Anyway, we ordered two NOBU signature sets, one set dinner with beef and another set dinner without beef. We also ordered a bottle of red wine made of the type of grape "Zinfandel", which is one of my favorite types of grapes together with Primitivo. It's usually quite intense, sweet and had a very strong oak and berry aftertaste.
They had two on offer, one HK$6XX and a " Z's blend" from Duckhorn, USA. It's about HK$1,340.
I ordered the latter to "compensate" for the good value set meal - i.e. to make it literally more expensive for the occasion.
The taste was, however, quite bland. Not aromatic enough. Quite dry and didn't have much aftertaste. Generally quite bland and definitely not worth the price. The Zinfandel provided by many steak houses like "Ruth Chris" is of better quality.
My Kirin beer, which I've ordered while were were looking at the menu, at HK$75 per bottle, tasted much better. By the way, the Kirin beer seemed socially acceptable as I saw some couples doing that too.
The still water we ordered was from the Fiji Islands. Intercontinental used this brand for their hotel guests as well. HK$98 per bottle.
Again, the whole place had an air of friendly casualness. But with a team of smooth, friendly and professional team of staff of the highest quality which matched NOBU's international reputation. If it's too cold for the ladies, they also had scarfs available. We felt comfortable the whole time. Even more comfortable than at Hugo's. This positive feeling hasn't been affected by the inconsistent quality of the food.
After each dish was served, the waiter or waitress would explain what the name and the components of each dish was. You'd be surprised at how few hotel restaurants actually do that. Anyway, the explanation was a bit fast but we don't mind that. We're used to analyzing food anyway, it's like a puzzle game for me.
Basically, it's salmon tartar with shredded garlic and onions with green coloured caviar on top. The whole tartar was inside a soy sauce mixture. The salmon was fresh. It's quite lean. I enjoyed the garlic and onions inside. Imagine ordering salmon sashimi, then chop it up, mixed it with freshly peeled and diced onions and garlic, compress it with a spoon and there you go.
I didn't really appreciate the caviar though, it taste like sea water. A bit like "Umi Budou", i.e. Sea Grapes from Okinawa. (My wife just corrected me as I was typing - Umi Budou tastes better.)
The sauce with the tartar seemed to taste like Chinese light soy sauce mixed with Japanese ponzu, i.e. citrus vinegar. I don't mind that, taste just like dipping salmon into my Hong Kong hotpot sauce sauce. But my wife thought the taste was a bit overwhelming.
Good start for me but average start for my wife.
The small round red object on the bed of ice was a "Yama Momo", literally mountain cherry. It's used to clean one's palate. Taste like a lighter version of a raspberry. It did it's job well.
About three Yellowtail slices (Hamachi) of decent size (slightly thicker than a normal slice of Hamachi sashimi) with parsley and Jalapeño chili plus red chili. Perhaps this dish had the most Peruvian influence than other dishes because of the liberal use of hot chilies. It's quite hot if you eat the Jalapeño and red chili together with the Hamachi. If you think it's too hot, just take the Jalapeño away. The taste didn't enter the Hamachi so you don't need to worry about it.
The sauce surrounding it was a lighter version of the sauce used in the salmon tartar. This time with more pronounced ponzu taste.
According to my wife, the Hamachi was relatively fresh but not top sashimi grade. Furthermore, the tendons weren't picked out.
So it's fine for this style as the jalepeno masked the taste successfully. Again, average according to Japanese standards (quite good for Hong Kong standards! )
3. Rock Shrimp Tempura
I was looking forward to this as this looked nice from the photos uploaded by other reviewers:
You could choose from chili mayonnaise sauce and another non-spicy option. The staff might have forgotten to ask for our preferences. Anyway, it came with chili mayonnaise sauce which I didn't mind at all.
The batter was quite fun to eat and it was very crispy. However, the batter taste like those used in some salt and pepper squid used in "Ming Yuen" or "Sang Kee", i.e. the thick version. I'd used "batter" instead of the term of art "tempura" to describe it. Coupled with the not at all spicy (for me) mayonnaise sauce, I could barely taste the shrimp. The texture was fine but the taste was bland.
The black object on top of the battered shrimps was a piece of shiitake. Pretty strong shiitake taste, which is an acquired taste.
To our pleasant surprise, the lettuce leaves beneath the shrimps were very fresh and crisp. It was delicious when mixed with the vinegar and possibly olive oil ? Anyway that was better than the battered shrimps above it.
More for the fun than for the taste. It's OK.
4. Black Codfish Saikyo Yaki:
The super-duper signature dish. Indeed, this was the best dish of the meal and did not disappoint.
Nice , tender and fatty codfish marinated in very sweet Saikyo miso. Served with a piece of ginger (don't worry - the colour is natural and it tastes good).
The quality of the cod was good. The cod meat was very tender and tasty. The fish skin was grilled properly as well, which is not easy to do. Don't forget the ginger, it's a bit sweet and tangy. Good for cleaning your palate after the relatively strong miso flavor.
西京焼き: What is "Saikyo yaki"? Saikyo yaki is a type of cooking method.
Essentially, it's meat, usually fish but pork and beef are also used, marinated in Saikyo Miso and then grilled. Saikyo Miso is a type of sweet rice miso produced in the Kansai area, for example, Kyoto, Nara, Hyogo and Osaka. Mirin is usually added to the mixture. The effect is wholly different from normal fish grilled with salt, which is a lot more crispier (and obviously, saltier).
I think the black cod saikyo yaki here is better than Kikuzen (they also serve pretty good cod), ROKA, Shiki (in Admiralty) and even Nadaman.
This is very good. If I recall properly, it's about HK$3XX if you order this a la carte, which I find reasonable.
Then came the toban wagyu. I never thought much about toban beef. It seemed a bit contradictory. On the one hand, the hot plate is used for keeping to food warm so it's still sizzling when it arrives on the customer's table. On the other hand, beef is definitely one type of meat which you wouldn't want it to be overcooked. So the customer had to consume it a.s.a.p. before the hot plate overcooked the beef. I personally can't see the point of that.
Nevertheless, I think when it comes to hotplate cooking, the old school Hong Kong restaurant "Garden Restaurant", gets it right most of the time - with the aid of some soda powder of course . The hotplate dishes at "Hachirin" and "NOBU" were just average.
Luckily, the wagyu in my wife's dish looked OK. Judging for the colour of the beef, only about 10% of the beef was cooked. So there was still a bit of time to consume the beef. According to my wife, it was not bad.
I tried the sauce in hers, it's slightly different from mine. The sauce seemed to consist of soy sauce and ponzu (again). More soy sauce than ponzu. There seemed to be some butter as well. I have to say it's seemed quite oily.
5. Toban seafood:
Because I couldn't eat beef, I was offered a choice between chicken or seafood. I left it in the chef's good hands. Mainly because I'd like to see what the chef would come up with.
To my pleasant surprise, it was seafood. I don't know why but I was somehow expecting it to be chicken.
It had two pieces of scallops, one shrimp, one slice of squid, one large piece of cod fish, one even larger piece of salmon and a lot of vegetables and fungi. All these were cooked in soy sauce and ponzu (yes - again) plus what tasted like butter.
Other than the cod, which again was very tender, the others were average to slightly above average.
The salmon was half cooked inside, perhaps to let the hotplate do the job. That was fine. Not marinated yet did not have much fresh fish taste.
The piece of squid was tender. The shrimp was overcooked and quite tough. The scallops were not as fresh as those found in a good Chinese stir fry.
The vegetables were decent but too oily even for my taste. The shiitake had a very strong fungi taste, which I don't appreciate.
Perhaps because of the butter and oil,I find this super heavy and struggled to finish the dish!
I won't recommend this to you.
6. Sushi platter:
My wife and I were completely stuffed to the gills after having the toban beef/seafood and we're counting how many dishes were left. We were then served with the sushi platter, which consisted of Prawns, Sardine, Maguro and Soft shell crab.
The thing about sushi and sashimi is that those should be served before the hot food. Otherwise, you wouldn't be able to taste the fresh and delicate taste of the seafood. Perhaps that's exactly why the sushi platter here was not served before the hot dishes... Other than the prawns, the rest were bad.
From right the left, the prawns, like I said, was not bad. The sushi rice was small and not properly marinated in vinegar.
The sardine had a very strong stale "fishy" taste, as opposed to fish taste, if you know what I mean. Even my wife, who obviously likes sushi, couldn't handle that. The sushi rice suffered from the same problem.
The tuna (maguro) was the worse. I had half of it and I could not handle the rest. It's stale, soggy and a slightly irony (bloody) taste. It wasn't fresh at all. As bad as the sashimi I had at "Ihashi", if not worse. I initially thought the maguro at "Sushi Toku" was below average the time I tried it but this was much worse.
BTW, other than blowfish, which you'll die if you consume the poison, the two types of fishes which could go very wrong are Maguro and Salmon. According to some reference books on sushi, one should avoid maguro if one is suffering from flu. If not fresh enough, it is THE fish which could give you food poisoning. Salmon is less of a problem than maguro but make sure you use salmon specially caught and processed for sashimi. It's a bit like pork (parasites). I won't go into the details.
After having the maguro, I could really taste much of the soft-shell crab roll. Anyway, it's the crab was quite crispy but the taste seemed pretty light. The vegetables embedded inside it tasted bland. Perhaps it was because I had this after the maguro.
Not recommended.
Luckily, there was a bowl of warm miso soup to rescue both my taste buds and my stomach:
The miso soup was nothing special. It's yellow miso, certainly not as sweet as the Saikyo Miso. Average salty miso taste. The special point was that they added a lot of "Aosa", a type of seaweed, into the miso soup. It taste a lot lighter than normal Nori. The colour was fresh green.
There were some tofu inside the soup too. The tofu wasn't the normal silk tofu but a pretty hard version. Perhaps the tofu had been grilled beforehand. Anyway, no complaints. The soup was very welcomed after the maguro.
After the waitress took away the miso soup, the sushi platter and the cutleries, we were surprisingly glad that they did. Because that means we've reached the end of the meal. We simply couldn't eat anymore.
Well, I suppose there is still room for desserts:
8. Soy Bean Panna cotta:
This was pretty good. It tasted like a harder version of tofu faa with some light clotted cream. It had a lot of dried berries (like those you get inside some cereals) on top and a lot of what seemed to be strawberry jam. The whole combination was quite sweet.
Other Info. :
Want to see what the owner Mr. Robert De Niro [b]really[/b] thinks about sushi?
(I don't think I can publish the English version here because of the strong language used. :P)
B for Billy Crystal, the Clinical Psychologist trying to introduce Robert De Niro to a famous director so De Niro could act as a consultant on mafia affairs. They are inside a classy, up-market Japanese sushi restaurant in USA:
Director, "[i]I, I, adore this place. It has the best sushi in town.[/i]"
R, "[i]Yeah... it smells good.[/i]"
B, "[i] Try the yellowtail, Paul.[/i]"
R, "[i]You got any real food around here? I mean this is like eating f...... b... [/i]"
羅拔狄尼路對魚生的看法......Search on Youtube - "Robert De Niro - Sushi" for the English version.
It's a scene from the very funny comedy "Analyze That".
(The above review is the personal opinion of a user which does not represent OpenRice's point of view.)
Video
2011 Pinot Noir Cloudy Bay, Malboro, New Zealand
我是一個酒鬼，差不多每一次用膳，都必定要有酒相伴。這次我們花了頗多的時間去挑選合適的酒，掙扎於SAKE還是紅酒。 最後我還是選擇了紅酒，但不是我慣常點的Full Bodied類別，而是較淡口的Pinot Noir。我更選擇了近年冒起得很快的新西蘭Pinot Noir。 這瓶Cloudy Bay Pinot Noir 沒想像中淡口，我特別喜愛它有層次的 after taste，一些試便喜歡上。Inter-Continental Hotel的豐富存酒不單只在 Steak House， 原來Nobu亦很齊全！
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