燒物有無敵之處。但拉麵 不敵! We didn't know what to expect from the shop since the reviews of Mutekiya (Sheung Wan) were pretty mixed. The photos of the new branch seemed to indicate that it's not exactly the dimly-lit, dark, smokey and shady izakayas - which i really like - but instead bright with tables without partitions. The only point which seemed clear from the previous reviews was that the ramen appeared to have much room for improvement. We decided to give it a go since we just recently had "Koshu" 湖
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燒物有無敵之處。但拉麵 不敵! We didn't know what to expect from the shop since the reviews of Mutekiya (Sheung Wan) were pretty mixed. The photos of the new branch seemed to indicate that it's not exactly the dimly-lit, dark, smokey and shady izakayas - which i really like - but instead bright with tables without partitions.
The only point which seemed clear from the previous reviews was that the ramen appeared to have much room for improvement.
We decided to give it a go since we just recently had "Koshu" 湖舟 already (seafood was very good btw ) and were feeling more adventurous than usual. It was relatively near the Wan Chai MTR station and wasn't too hard to find.
We arrived at about 8:30 p.m. and got in without any difficulties. We sat at a table right at the corner.
After fumbling through the numerous menus - and they were quite numerous indeed as there were at least 7 or 8 of those - which might seemed like we're playing a card game to onlookers, we decided to go all in! (i.e. placed our orders.)
Unfortunately, they did not have draught beer when we went there. They only had one type of bottled beer - "Sapporo Premium Malt". As the name suggests, it was a bit malty but the general taste was on the light side. I'd say it's a bit like a Sapporo (only a bit milder and with a little bit more hops). It's a good quality beer worth trying.
Despite the whole pillar decorated with sake bottles, the sake list was still quite limited since the shop was quite new. They had about two types of small sake and only one type of Sochu. Sochu "Kuro kiri shima" 黑霧島 at HK$48 per glass.
Talking about the alcohol, it looked as if i was the first guy who ordered Sochu! By the looks of it, probably for the sake too. It certainly took them a while to figure out how to give me a glass of Sochu on the rocks. Also, they appeared to be fumbling for the correct sake bottle. We didn't mind that too much because those eventually came and all the staff were very sincere and tried their best to help. The staff took their work very seriously, no doubt significantly "motivated" by the Japanese and Cantonese speaking manageress, who was polite to the customers but provided a lot of "on-the-job training (and strict supervision)" to her staff!
Back to the sake: The sake was very good! We were told that they're the sole distributor of this brand of sake, "Mimasake GozenShu 美竹". Furthermore, we were also told that this particular brand was very popular in...... England !?
Well, I'm not sure whether being told that a Japanese sake is very popular in England increases its appeal or constituted a quality assurance or not (probably not... I prefer my pint of Guinness or Greene King "IPA" instead). Anyway, we were pleased that the sake was actually quite good! It's even similar to the really good sake "kuboda (haku siu) 久保田 (百壽)". Recommended (even if you're not from England! )
Advocado salad: One of my wife's all-time favorite. The salad consisted of very fresh avocados and chopped tomato bits. Quite simple really but it's fresh. Some Japanese salad dressing, which, no doubt to for the sake of clarity, is simply called "Dressing" in Japanese - were placed on the salad. It's taste a bit like a ponzu to me. It's vinegar based, with a bit of very light soy-sauce and even a little bit of Mustard seed . Don't worry, it's not spicy at all. Very fresh veggies, very crisp lettuce & avocado.
But really expensive for the size - which was about a normal small salad bowl (or two small rice bowls) for HK$78!
Then came the grilled pork neck. Those were very good! It looked a bit dry at first sight but was actually quite nice. Very tender and crispy on the outside and pretty aromatic. It was grilled with some sea salt. The sea salt really brought out the meat taste. The price was reasonable (about ~HK$23) Recommended!
Then came the shishitou, which we invariably order every time we go to a yakitori shop to clear "internal heat". The two shishitou skewers were quite fresh with a lot of shredded bonito . The size of the shishito were quite big. The quality was above average. Good stuff!
We arrived here at about 8:30 p.m. But by 9:00p.m, most customers had already left.
At this point we noticed that there seemed to be a very professional foodie next to me! A smart-looking lady who was having dinner alone and sitting in the middle of the restaurant. She was having some yakitori, thought for a while and then dropped some notes on her I-phone. She repeated the same procedure until she left. She did not order any alcohol. Perhaps we'll see her review later? (OR? Michelin? Magazines?)
Anyway, then came the grilled prawn wrapped on chicken skin. It's HK$45 per skewer which had two of those per skewer so definitely not cheap:
But luckily those were very delicious! The prawns were of reasonable size. Juicy. The skin helped preserved the seafood taste and prevented the prawn from being dried up. Also, the chicken skin combined to create a very interesting flavour. I'm pretty sure they sprinkled some sea salt and pepper on top so it also helped bring out the taste. This was stated to be a signature yakitori in Mutekiya. I can recommend this too.
Then came the tsukune which completely took us by surprise:
It's very good! The size is similar to the very good one at "Nishiki (TST)". It was crispy on the outside (just a tad over-grilled) but the chicken meat was very tender and had pretty good chicken taste. Of course Nishiki TST is still the best but HK$45 for this quality and size is definitely worthwhile!
The egg which came with it was fresh too. It should be imported from Japan, which really could make a big difference in size, the colour of the egg yoke and the taste of the egg.
It's $28 for one skewer. Pretty crispy and aromatic. A little bit bigger than those served at "Insen" (very good yakitori at Tai Hang but more expensive than here).
After 9:30p.m. the place became very busy again! Some Japanese customers arrived. The moment they sat down, they said "Nama Beiru 生ビール" x 3 (i.e. literally "Raw" Beer - which meant Draught Beer) - they were told by the manageress not yet, but not when.
I wasn't quite full enough so I was a bit tempted to order more. I was quite curious about their "infamous" ramen.
We eventually ordered a "miso ramen" and a portion of kimchi.
I remembered we ordered Miso ramen. However, the broth here seemed to be a mixture of tonkotsu (Pork bone) and miso. Although mixing broths is common and, in fact, an essential point in a good bowl of ramen, I have to say the effect here was a bit strange. I could barely taste any miso taste in the ramen!
The tonkotsu taste wasn't pronounced anyway. The result was a slightly below average. The broth was definitely nothing to be excited about and felt a bit artificial.
The Noodle was the best part of the ramen. It's Sapporo style. I understand that Mutekiya apparently got their noodle cakes from Hokkaido. It's really quite chewy and had some egg taste in it. I'd say it's better than "Hachiyo" and "Yukitei". Not as good as "Hakodate" or "Inari".. A bit better than average. Generally quite good. Quite generous portion.
The two pieces of Char Siu were not bad: I'd say it was average. With about 80% lean and 20% fat. Nothing remarkable but nothing much to complaint about either.
The black fungi, "kuraage", were good too. Those were nice and crisp.
The Boss/Manageress who spoke almost perfect Japanese boldly asked for our opinions on the ramen. I just told her directly, but - I hope - politely, that there weren't miso taste in the miso ramen. She thus stated that the "Tsukemen" was their signature dish.
All in all, HK$68 for the ramen with a broth similar to those which you could prepare at home (from the expensive instant packets: the price should be a bit similar too). Not something I'd recommend you. Tsukemen might be a different matter as the noodles themselves were good. I was even tempted to try it out at Sheung Wan, but that's another story (or another review: "Ryo Tei".)
In conclusion:
Although the ramen was really nothing special,the yakitori dishes were pretty good.
The price for most of those skewers were not excessive.
The quality of the tsukune was surprisingly good! The prawns wrapped in chicken skins were equally good.
Very good and attentive service.
Pretty spacious. Seemed pretty crowded before 9:00p.m. so booking is recommended.
All in all, I wouldn't worry about the ramen too much but the yakitori is worth a try.
題外話/補充資料：
The story of "Bak Fa Yau" 白花の物語~ There were at least two very annoying flies which could not be deterred by using high tech I-phone programs. (Interestingly, the I-phone program could get rid of the bigger flies but not the small ones). Luckily, my wife had a small bottle of "Bak Fa Yau" with her, We could only get rid of that fly by using Bak Fa Yau brought by my wife! It's made in Hong Kong, Muteki da!
It's a great honour to be the first one to write an English review of this restaurant.Already I am a big fan of Mutekiya Sheung Wan, so there is no reason not to visit the new shop in Wan Chai on its Grand Opening Day.The decor's absolutely fantastic with so much original Japanese elements in it. From the mini-roof tiles, to the display wine containers, to the lamps and lamp covers, to the kites and the salt and pepper containers, everything has been carefully selected to bring that Japanese cul
It's a great honour to be the first one to write an English review of this restaurant. Already I am a big fan of Mutekiya Sheung Wan, so there is no reason not to visit the new shop in Wan Chai on its Grand Opening Day.
to the lamps and lamp covers, to the kites and the salt and pepper containers, everything has been carefully selected to bring that Japanese culture into the shop -- so caring, so detailed, typical Japanese Kaizen philosophy embedded everywhere you look.
The scrolls hanging down the walls were also cute and joyful, creating that warm and cosy home-like feeling. There are simply too many things to keep you busy, you won't feel bored while waiting for the food to arrive.
I went there twice in two consecutive days, day 1 I went with my girlfriend and ordered their signature Shrimp Wrapped with Chicken Skin x 2 skewers, as recommended by Michael, crispy juicy prawns
Tonkotsu ramen, Shoyu Gyokai ramen, Onsen eggs and the most unique salt ice cream and Yuzu sorbet for dessert! Oiishi!!!!! Oiishi from us, Oiishi from the two Japanese guys who were sitting next to us. We had some nice chats in English (to my surprise, their English is really good).
Day 2, I went for dinner by myself. I ordered the Spicy Tonkotsu Ramen and also the Jellyfish in Yuzu. The hotness of the Spicy Tonkotsu Ramen was just nice for my taste but may be a bit spicy for the girls; the crunchy fresh fruity Jellyfish was strong in the sweet and vinegar taste, pairing up with the spicy ramen, absolutely remarkable!
I will be back, very often in fact, cos compared to Sheung Wan, Wan Chai is more convenient for me.
影片
大圓柱漆上紅色，還釘上不同的酒瓶，頗有趣！
天花頂上掛有日本風箏。
餐牌有好幾張，以不同食物獨立分類，例如拉麵、串燒、沙律等，上面附上手繪圖畫，頗可愛。
"卡卡" 挑選了味噌湯拉麵。味噌湯底沒甚麼香氣，帶著甜甜的味兒，沒有過鹹是其優點。對我來說麵條實在過腍了，質感完全不彈牙。其他蔬菜都頗新鮮，但义燒卻有點嚡口。
豚骨湯拉麵是老公的選擇。可能味蕾被濃濃的豚骨湯寵壞了，相比之下無敵家的豚骨湯變得未夠濃郁芳香，層次感較薄弱﹐始終潮流不斷在變，口味亦隨之而變。採用了味噌湯拉麵的同一款麵條，質感同樣的缺乏咬口與彈性！
我要了全麥粒粉掛麵，附有一碗熱的麵湯。
麵條是特製的粗麥麵，麵條上可看到細細的小點。粗麵條較湯麵的較厚身，牙齒會感到一丁點吸啜力，沒有特別的麥味或其他食味，一味的嚼感。
將紫菜浸在熱湯中吸收濃湯的味道，吃時介乎脆與軟香的口感，與吃港式火鍋炸魚皮富有異曲同工之妙。然後再將粗麥麵沾上濃湯進食，濃湯質感較稠，味道鹹鹹與少酸，沒有周月的那種的死鹹死濃，還算滿意。
要了一客餃子，煎得金黃香脆，但餡料質感較實密，味道只是不過不失。
最喜歡的還是這一壺芝麻。 放到麵條裡散發出香濃的芝麻味，增添不少香氣。
