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2023-06-26
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Sushi Kawa is located at 17/F Aura on Pennington in Causeway Bay, with also a few other sushi restaurants in the same building. On the eve before Father’s Day, it is surprisingly quiet, with only four customers including us sitting at the counter. As a result, on the night Chef Kit has his full focus looking after us. The restaurant has a U-shaped stone sushi counter, with some curvy partition walls and ceiling decorations, offering a more contemporary ambience. There are also a few tables on th
Sushi Kawa is located at 17/F Aura on Pennington in Causeway Bay, with also a few other sushi restaurants in the same building. On the eve before Father’s Day, it is surprisingly quiet, with only four customers including us sitting at the counter. As a result, on the night Chef Kit has his full focus looking after us.
The restaurant has a U-shaped stone sushi counter, with some curvy partition walls and ceiling decorations, offering a more contemporary ambience. There are also a few tables on the side as well as some VIP rooms.
We have ordered the Kawa Set ($1,880 each) and the first course is the appetizers, including Mozuku 水雲 from Okinawa, with the sea moss marinated in a refreshing peach vinegar; Kurumi Kounago 胡桃 小女子, with the deep-fried young sand lance cooked in sweet savoury sauce along with walnut, a perfect snack for beer or sake; and Mame-Aji 豆あじ, where the deep-fried baby horse mackerels are tender, edible for the whole from head to tail, and very delicious in taste.
The second course is Hiramasa 平政. In fact, it is yellowtail amberjack, but the name denotes those caught in Jun and having a leaner texture. With a touch of wasabi and shoyu, the firm flesh has a nice umami and sweetness, very tasty.
The third course is Magaki 真牡蠣, coming from Iwate Yonesakicho. The plump oyster has a crunchy texture on the skirt, which is pleasant and sweet in taste, and the chef has added a bit of red wine jelly which gives a hint of acidity as condiment.
The fourth course is Mirugai 海松貝 from Aichi. The white geoduck has very sweet and umami flavours, crunchy texture, and paired with shiso flowers and homemade vinegar jelly to give additional fragrance and freshness to enhance the overall enjoyment.
The fifth course is live Murasaki-Uni 紫海胆 from Hokkaido. After opening and cleaning the sea urchin, the chef also put Shiro-Ebi 白海老 inside with Ikura 筋子 on top. The sea urchin apparently is very fresh, complemented with the sweet baby white shrimp from Toyama, with the marinated salmon roes further enriching the taste with savoury flavours. The mix of all the components is a feast of delights.
The sixth course is Chu-Toro 中とろ, with the chef having smoked it briefly. Scattered with some deep-fried leek on top, including a bit of caviar to decorate. Underneath is a special yuzu miso paste which added a bit of sweetness and savoury to combine with the rich taste of the medium fatty tuna, and I also like the smoky note, which is delicate and not overpowering.
The seventh course is Hotategai 帆立貝, and the chef has coated the large scallop with breadcrumbs before deep-frying, and then wrapped in a nori sheet with some homemade tartar sauce to season. The sweetness is phenomenal, and it is a good example often the cooked seafood tastes even better than raw.
The eighth course is Ankimo 鮟肝. The monkfish liver is huge in size and seeing the chef cutting out thick pieces my mouth started watering. Cooked well with a pinkish red inside, the texture is silky soft and melting in the mouth, with a bit of sesame and scallions on top to season.
The ninth course is the seasonal 白いトウモロコシ from Hokkaido. This breed of white corn, called ‘Pure White’ can be edible raw and is very sweet and juicy, crunchy on texture, helping to cleanse and freshen up the palate before the next dish.
The tenth course features Isa-Ebi 伊勢海老, with the chef using the shell of the lobster to make the soup in western style, which has intense flavours, and then deep-frying the pieces of lobster meat to serve on the side. The soup is flavourful, with a bit of cream added to make it velvet on texture.
Transitioning to the sushi part of the dinner, the first is Kinmedai 金目鯛 from Chiba. The splendid alfonsino has a nice smooth silky mouthfeel, with good amount of fish oil and umami taste.
The second piece is Same-karei 鮫鰈. The shark flounder has amazing texture, with the chef cutting the skirt, or engawa, and torching it to burst with fish oil before placing on top of the flesh, infusing the fragrance and flavours to the sushi. Amazing.
The third piece is Kegani 毛蟹. The chef has meticulously removed the meat from the horsehair crab before mixing with some sauce to make the sushi. Sweet and delicious, what is more appealing is that he takes a live small crab to deep-fry, and then putting it on the side as an edible garnish. Very IG-able.
The fourth piece is Akagai 赤貝 from Ehime. The ark shell is one of my favourites in the evening, very large in size and with a wonderful umami taste, crunchy on the texture, season with a bit of yuzu salt and yuzu juice.
The fifth piece is Akami Zuke 赤身. The chef has marinated the lean tuna in a special garlic shoyu for a brief while, to add a hint of garlic note to the tuna. With a bit of yuzu shavings to freshen the palate, I applaud the chef for daring to make this creative twist on the choice of shoyu to good effect.
The sixth piece is Akamutsu 赤鯥. The rosy seabass has a lot of fish oil, which glistens brightly after the chef has torched it. The high fragrance and soft texture is certainly appealing, but it is also heavy and cannot have too many pieces.
The seventh piece is O-Toro 大とろ. Having aged for one week, the chef cuts the surface to break the sinews, then uses a piece of charcoal to lightly burn the surface of the fatty tuna, with the soft and melting in mouth texture memorable.
The eighth piece is Uni 海胆, and the chef again shows his creativity, using a cod fish cracker that has been made to a ice-cream cone, stuffing the shari and then the sea urchin on top. The more creamy texture and richer flavours indicate the higher quality of the sea urchin compared with what we tasted earlier.
The ninth and last piece is Awabi 鮑. The abalone comes from South Africa and has been steamed and braised beautifully, before serving with the liver sauce. The shari is able to scoop up the remaining of the sauce, with the taste of abalone really delicious.
The Fish Soup is very hot, which is what I like, with intense flavours apparently coming from the large amounts of fish head and bones used to prepare the soup, providing a comfortable warmth to the stomach to wrap up the meal.
Dessert is Fresh Melon, with the fruit juicy and sweet. Delicious. Service is good, and as the chef only serves us this evening, we get his full attention throughout. The bill is $3,196 which is surprisingly cheap because the restaurant is actually doing a special discount to celebrate their fifth year in business, offering the second customer a 50% off. Definitely good deal and worth coming.
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