Once again, this was another unplanned expedition at CausewayBay on a Friday evening. We took a potshot at Sakaegawa ( 榮川）just to have a look at the interesting interior. No booking, no table- of course so we just alighted from the lift at a random level. Luckily, we were able to get a table here even without a booking. The size and renovation of Gokayama was similar to most restaurants in that building. They have quite a number of table seats and counter seats. The tables were reasonably spaced
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Once again, this was another unplanned expedition at CausewayBay on a Friday evening. We took a potshot at Sakaegawa ( 榮川）just to have a look at the interesting interior. No booking, no table- of course so we just alighted from the lift at a random level. Luckily, we were able to get a table here even without a booking.
The size and renovation of Gokayama was similar to most restaurants in that building. They have quite a number of table seats and counter seats. The tables were reasonably spaced apart and separated with partitions. The restaurant did make an effort to allow the creation of personal space for customers. There were even some window seats (I couldn't see anything outside other than the building next to us those).
It was initially a bit hard for my wife and me to identify the strength of this restaurant. I thought this should be another rather standard sushi/ sashimi place because of the big sushi counter - which I find quite boring as I'm not a big fan of sushi. The menu had a combination of sushi, sashimi, beef dishes, kushi (skewers) and even yakitori.
We noticed, on a separate menu, that quite a number of the chef's recommendations were beef and a few dishes revolving around octopus. So we eventually ordered a mixture of dishes which included beef and octopus.
First came the Hida ('飛驒') Maki with advocado ($180):
According to my wife, the beef was very good. They actually had quite a lot of beef sushi rolls on their menu so should be one of their signature dishes. I couldn't comment further as I don't eat beef. The colour of the beef and the avocado looked nice however. My Japanese wife finished it rather quickly, and she liked it a lot; so that'd be one reason why I might recommend this to you.
Ebi (Scrimp): Those were quite fresh and of decent size. No complaints.
Toro (not sure whether it's medium or big toro): Toro was nice.Nothing spectacular but nothing to complaint about either.
Scallop and the two "white bodied fish" (hamachi and another which I couldn't remember): Again, not bad.
As you could see from my lacklustre comments above, I wasn't extremely excited about the dinner at this stage. That was until I tried the Tako, i.e. Octopus, sashimi. It was Oishii ! Very fresh and crisp. As a display of skill, they actually served the suction by itself !?!! The suction was also good. It was the first time I tried it in this manner. I was very pleasantly surprised
Then came the assorted Kushi (skewers - $90 per set). They were pretty warm when they arrived. It's a good start:
Certainly, those weren't anything special when compared to other yakitori places, like "Ippeiya" in the same building, "Nishiki" in TST East that specialized in chicken yakitori, and especially "Jun" - they have the best chicken heart and kidney in town . But after the shock from the liver, these looked very good.
At this point, it was about 10:00 p.m. and we were asked whether we'd order more since the last order was, I think 10:30 p.m. That certainly seemed a bit early for a shop located at CWB, especially on a Friday. We asked for the bill. Having said that, the service was good throughout the evening. All the staff were quite professional. They dressed professionally, talked politely and were friendly too.
Before the bill arrived, we were given complimentary ice creams. Both were very delicious and perhaps home made (or at least home processed). The Kiwi ice cream had a very fresh kiwi taste to it and the texture was a bit like a sorbet. The same goes for my sesame ice cream.
Drinks-wise: We ordered one Sapporo Draught Beer and three glasses of Red Wine. A quibble about the red wine was that it was refrigerated, which should be a fatal point for red wine connoisseurs. (Nevertheless, I still had two glasses just to go with the meat dishes.)
The bill came down to $1,232 in total. I can't remember what we had for appetizers but were charged $30 each.
My wife drew this after she saw my reaction at the end of the dinner:
My wife was very happy with the Hida beef, which is most likely Gokayama's signature dish. I find the octopus very interesting. I could recommend this to you as well as the fried chicken.
Otherwise, the kushi and yakitori were just average quality. The sashimi was fine but not a crowd-drawer.
Service was good and the restaurant was not too crowded (compared with other restaurant in the same building - such as Sakaegawa)
Value for money? No. There isn't one dish that's super expensive but they charge a bit more here and a bit more there... then it adds up. I'd say it's a bit expensive for what we had over dinner. You could definitely find better places for yakitori or sashimi at a more reasonable price.
All in all, not a first choice in that building filled with Japanese restaurants but perhaps worthy of being the 2/3rd choice.
题外话/补充资料：
(1) Gokayama is a UNESCO site in Japan. I later realized that Hida (where the famous beef came from), is near Gokayama. Hence the name of the restaurant, I believe.
(2) I eventually did go to Sakaegawa with my friend but other than the yakitori it was just OK, and was overpriced. (Please see separate review.)
星期五放工很想食餐好的，很快便想到這間日本料理。在同一憧大廈我都試過好幾間中位價的餐廳不過這店的魚生和熟食是我最𢜛賞的。魚生像在日本吃到的水準。在 sushi counter 的 head chef 好有心機向客人講解當天不同魚生的款色，它們的口感和濃味。當晚有超級肥美的 Fatty Tuna Belly ，忍唔到便叫了一件，不雖要多講大家都可以看得出它的入口即溶程度。喜歡吃 angler fish liver 的識食人仕，這店的一定令你滿意。 圖為半份order。這兒日本人大廚主理的炸吃也很值得推薦。喜歡吃炸豬扒的就一定要來這店試試。圖為炸大蔥豬肉串和天婦羅蝦。價錢以件數計。本來都已覺得很滿足，不過很好的Sushi head chef送上了一份清香的甜品令我十分回味。這份steamed pumpkin custard with brown sugar syrup帶有日式和果子風味。 _
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