Kona

Open Now

Now Closed

Item: Kona
Rating: 4
Author: clarasy

4.5

69 Reviews

Taste

Decor

Service

Hygiene

Value

12857

Tai Hang

$401-800

Japanese

clarasy

Level4

118

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KONA is a new izakaya in Tai Hang serving a variety of modern Japanese fare. We tried a number of dishes and most were well-designed and of high quality. The sea urchin lobster jelly was a delightful start to the meal, with the egg sabayon adding extra butter goodness. Portion was however a bit small, given that it was $168 each. The mizuna salad with yuzu dressing that followed was refreshing, and with blueberries and feta it isn't your typical salad. The Japanese eggplant wrapped in Serrano ham was also good, with the soft and juicy flesh of the eggplant nicely balancing the savouriness of the ham. The monaka wafer was filled with foie gras pate and cheese - cute and innovative, but the liver pate could be creamier. And the Aji tartare was a tad too salty for my liking, but the sashimi was fresh and squeezing the lime juice did make it better. The grilled winter melon was a good one, again with soft and juicy flesh and the pink salt played a subtle elevating role. Then came the kushiyaki grilled meats. The gun-smoked chicken neck was tender and juicy, though the smoky flavour could be more pronounced. The Australian wagyu harami was was well-flavoured, but would have been even better if cooked to medium (it was almost well-done). Also wasn't sure about the cheese yolk on top as I thought the combination was a bit odd and didn't really enhance taste or texture the beef. Our final dish was the highly popular wagyu sukiyaki don. The wagyu here was more tender and fattier than the harami, and I'd say also sweeter. The truffle got lost when mixed in with the sukiyaki sauce though. Personally I would have preferred a milder/less salty sukiyaki and stronger truffle flavour. Lastly we asked for desserts to end our meal - turned out they only had 3 flavours of ice cream on the dessert menu: wasabi, brown sugar, and yuzu sorbet. We opted for the brown sugar. It was a pleasant one with a hint of caramel and a subtle nuttiness. Wish they had more special/sophisticated offerings for desserts though. Overall this was a nice meal, with excellent and attentive service. We sat at the bar table facing the window as those were the last available seats when we booked a few days in advance, but it was actually quite nice looking out to the street in this cosy neighbourhood. Would love to come back to try their other dishes and maybe encore a couple!