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2010-01-26
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I've been to quite a few Japanese places in Hong Kong. Cheap ones, expensive ones, tiny hole in the walls, chains. It really is difficult to find a favourite, but I think I might have finally done it.Irori is located on Yiu Wa Street, in the same building as my beloved B.A.R whiskey bar. I had been meaning to try it, and have heard promising recommendations from others, but only got around to it on this night. A friend was in town, and I had received good news, so we decided to splurge a little
Irori is located on Yiu Wa Street, in the same building as my beloved B.A.R whiskey bar. I had been meaning to try it, and have heard promising recommendations from others, but only got around to it on this night. A friend was in town, and I had received good news, so we decided to splurge a little on some (supposedly) good Japanese food.
First thing I ordered was a draft beer. They had Sapporo on draft, which made me extremely happy, and perhaps was a good omen for things to come. My friend is allergic to beer, so to continue we ordered some shochu that came recommended by our Japanese waitress. I don't remember the name of what we drank..... we had a lot.
I do remember what we ate though, and wow we ate a lot. I am not kidding when I said everything was extremely memorable. For sashimi, we ordered ikura (fish roe), aburi toro (seared chu-toro), chu-toro (raw toro) and uni (sea urchin). While prices are not cheap, the portions they give are great (six pieces for both toro dishes, quite a sizable bowl of ikura and a heap of uni) and the quality amazing. The uni I had has been undoubtedly some of the best I have had in HK. It lacks the pungency of cheap uni, but is wickedly rich and creamy. The raw toro was difficult to grab because it was so tender that it fell of the chopsticks, and the texture was heavenly as it melted in your mouth. The ikura was also beautiful and had a great taste (my friend ate most of it). The only disappointment was the seared toro, which is usually a sure-fire crowd pleaser. The toro they used was inconsistent with that of raw toro, it was too chewy. They seared the sides instead of the main part, which emphasized the rawness, and in this case the chewiness.
For cooked food we ordered the deep-fried chicken cartilage, grilled ox tongue, "mochi pizza", and grilled tuna jaw. The ox tongue was solid, mixed in with some sauce (probably some kind of soy sauce) and a healthy amount of spring onions. The grilled tuna jaw was a very generous portion, but suffered in quality. It was a little overcooked, and did not have the tenderness that I come to expect from ordering it, but it was by no means bad. The mochi pizza was original, and is often mentioned as a must try if visiting here. It is definitely quite a take on pizza, and the taste was good, definitely worth a taste. The chicken cartilage was so good we ordered one more portion. It is *the* perfect beer chaser, or whatever-alcohol-you-are-drinking chaser. It has a great salty taste, just the right crispiness, and is as addictive as anything I've had.
For me though, what stole the whole dinner was the fish roe potato salad (metaimo). It was divine... ethereal... almost perfect. Okay, perhaps I am playing the dish up a bit, but if you love potato salad as much as I do, it is amazing when you find one that absolutely delights your taste buds like this one. The potato salad by itself is already good and well, but fine fish eggs (metaiko) are mixed in with it, so some scoops will contain an extra zing of the salty, spicy flavor of the eggs. They also provide fresh crispy seaweed to wrap around the salad, providing a wonderful contrast of the soft creamy texture of the potato and the crunchiness of the seaweed. We ordered another dish of this two because one simply was not enough.
Before we knew it, we were stuffed to the neck and pretty out of it from all the shochu (but it did not stop us from heading up to the bar). It was truly an amazing meal, and I have absolutely no reservations recommending this to anyone. I actually wanted to return here for at least one more meal before I had to leave Hong Kong again... but couldn't find the time. Service was timely, and the new smoking ban is much welcomed, as I can imagine it smoke-filled from the cigarettes of Japanese businessmen.
The bill came out to be quite steep, but without any reservations, I recommend this place for anyone who would like to have a great Japanese meal. The atmosphere, service and most importantly food here just clicks. I will be returning when I get the chance!
张贴
