鮨佐瀬 (已結業)

This sushi restaurant is located in Baskerville House, Central, beside the Duddell Street Steps, and was named after Executive Chef Sase Satoshi who came from Hokkaido. Building on his success after coming to HK, in 2018 Sushi Sase moved to this current location, at the same time opening a section which is served by Chef Sase himself, naming it Sushi Sase Hanare.The restaurant is quite small, seating only 6 customers, but it has a good cozy and welcoming ambience, with nice touches on details, from the painting and the art pieces, to the beautiful woven ceiling.There is only one Omakase Menu ($2,280), and the Starter got a nice, sweet Hokkai Ebi on top of some sea urchin with caviar, a piece of lightly grilled scallop, together with some edible flowers, tiny cherry tomatoes and corn, with a bit of yuzu jelly to complement. Refreshing and light, the slight acidity from the yuzu jelly also stimulated the appetite.After cleaning the Magaki, which came from Akkeshi in Hokkaido, it was put back on the shell to serve, seasoned with a bit of ponzu sauce with a touch of momoji-oroshi and spring onion. The oyster was very fresh, nice in size and got a tasty sweetness while also having a slight crunchy bite. Very good.Chef Sase brought out a large bowl and inside was the Zuwa-Gani. The chef took out a long piece of crab leg meat to cut in half, and then putting some more crab meat on the plate, before adding the brown meat paste on top and drizzled with a bit of vinegar. The delicate sweetness of the crab was fantastic, with the brown meat paste enhancing the flavours even further.Then the chef took out the Torigai and Mirugai. He first smashed the Japanese cockle on the chopping board and immediately the muscle of the cockle contracted, testimony to the freshness of the ingredient. The geoduck got nice thickness but not chewy at all. In fact, both the cockle and geoduck had nice crunchy texture, but in terms of sweetness and taste, I would prefer the Japanese cockle more.As a snack the chef had prepared some Edamame for us. The soybean in pods had been cooked with brine to give a nice salty taste but not excessive. A good pairing with sake or beer.Chef Sase then took out a box of sea urchin and some small glass containers. He scooped in some beautifully orangish Bafun Uni in one, and then some paler Murasaki Uni in the other. The former came from Rishiri and had a stronger sweet taste but the purple sea urchin from Yoichi had a nicer, more creamy texture, with a more refined and less briny flavour. Both were very good but I would rate the latter better on the night.Seeing the chef took out a large piece of Katsuo, he began to trim the edges and then cut out a few slices, before asking the staff to smoke them, as well as torching the skin. The hay smoky aromas were highly appealing, with the Miyazaki skipjack tuna wonderfully delicious, having the grated ginger and shallot to balance the stronger flavours to good effect.The staff took out a large bowl and from it the chef removed a large piece of Ankimo. Cutting two pieces of the monkfish liver for each of us, they were very soft on the bite, yet very rich and wonderful on the taste. In particular I was impressed that the simmering broth did not overshadow the monkfish liver on its flavours.The chef then took a piece of Karasumi and cut a slice for us. Together with a slice of radish, the salted mullet roe was savoury but not too salty and was another great companion to enjoy with beer or sake.The next piece was one of my favourites in the evening. Spreading a strip of nori on the mat, the chef put a strip of tuna on top, adding shiso leaf, menegi, takuan, but without shari, to make a Maguro Roll. Cutting into bite sizes, the contrast of the crunchy takuan, velvety tuna flesh, and the crisp seaweed sheet was amazing. Delicious and made me crave for more.Chef Sase has always featured seasonal ingredients from his home prefecture, and another good example was Tokishirazu. This wild salmon is only available during May/Jun, with a beautiful shining reddish orange sheen. On the palate it did not have any of the fishy note nor heavy, oily mouthfeel common for salmon, instead having more delicate flavours and a better texture. The chef arranged a special soy sauce to pair as well. A must-try if available.Another of the specialty from Hokkaido, the chef lightly torched the skin of the channel rockfish, before making a sushi. The Kinki had a wonderful soft texture, full of fragrant fish oil on the bite, with the chef dusted some rock salt and added a bit of the liver paste on top to complement the flavours.Once again, the staff took out a large bowl and this time it featured the large Awabi, from Hokkaido. Still warm, the black abalone was very tender, allowing one to bite through without any difficulty. The liver was grounded to make a paste to pair with the abalone, with its richness and intensity of flavours a heavenly match.Chef Sase then showed us the different portions of the tuna, before cutting two thin slices, one Akami and one Chutoro. While the lean tuna was very good, the medium fatty cut was much more delicious, with the perfect amount of fat in my opinion, and its taste continued to revolve around the mouth long after swallowing.From the kitchen the staff brought us the Taichio. The largehead hairtail had been grilled perfectly, with the silvery skin shining and the flesh firm but moist. Another of my favourites in the evening. To match with the delicate taste of the fish, a broad bean puree was prepared, which had a fine flavour.Proceeding to the sushi section, Chef Sase cut along the surface of the Ika, breaking the muscle fiber at the same time allowing the brushed soy sauce to seep inside, instead of sliding off the squid. It was good in taste and more importantly there was no residue on the bite. The shari was also of great balance, with ideal level of sourness and wetness to my liking.Next was Iwashi, with the chef carefully removing the bones of the sardines before peeling off the skin to make the sushi. The signature flavours of the silvery fish were intense and was so wonderful that if I had to encore just one in the end this would be my pick.Then came Shako, from Otaru, and I believed the chef had taken a lot of effort to remove the shell from the cooked mantis shrimp so that it was perfect in shape and appearance. It had been brushed with some smoked soy sauce to impart with sweetness and umami. Another piece I would definitely encore.To provide a pause on the tempo we were served a steaming hot Osuimono, with the clear soup having a wonderful umami taste from the dashi, and the chef also added some pieces of eggplant and leaves. The flavours of this soup reminded me of the good memories traveling in Japan.The chef then showed us Ikura, the roes of the wild salmon, which had been cleaned and marinated. Chef Sase then made a roll using this delicacy, wrapping inside a piece of nori with shari. I liked the mild seasoning, not making the salmon roes too salty. Because of the smaller size of the roes, I found there was also less residues from the membranes after chewing.Next came Kohada, the gizzard shad had been marinated with vinegar but not having excessive sourness, and the chef had also added a piece of transparent kombu on top, which helped to bring further umami and slight sweetness flavours to the fish. Another nice piece.Nearing the end of the meal now, the chef began to showcase some of the fattier ingredients, beginning with Same-Karei Engawa. The fin muscle of the shark flounder had been torched to vitalize the fish oil, giving a nice fragrance and rich umami flavours. Very tasty indeed.The other piece of fatty ingredient, without surprise, was the prized Otoro (Jabara), with the fatty tuna showing beautiful layers of white and pink flesh. Its soft texture and robust flavours was pleasing even for my wife who was not a big fan of the fatty cut. The aftertaste was also nice, staying inside the mouth for a good while.The last piece was Anago, with the conger eel nicely grilled to a golden-brown colour, brushed with tsume reduction, the special thick eel sauce to give a bit of sweetness in flavours. The texture was fantastic, essentially melting in the mouth, and the great taste was memorable.The staff then presented the freshly prepared Tamago. While we could not see the process, I could understand the skills and patience required to pan-fry the whisked egg custard slowly to get the fluffy texture with its golden surface. A rewarding finale to the meal.There were a few options for dessert, with my wife opting for Fresh Melon while I had Monaka. The thin crispy wafers had vanilla ice-cream and red beans fillings, with appropriate level of sweetness. For the melon, we saw the chef took out a whole melon and cutting a slice to serve, juicy and very sweet in taste.The bill on the night was $6,182 including two half bottles of sake I ordered. While it might look expensive, with the wide range of fresh, seasonal ingredients I would rate this restaurant being good value for money. Service was decent, but unfortunately throughout the evening both Chef Sase and the staff was just too focused to serve another couple, apparently frequent customers, without much interaction with the rest of us. However, if you got the chance, I would still highly recommend to visit  especially before Chef Sase returns to Japan. 繼續閱讀

先講小妹「壽司歷程」和一點 humble 的原則。對壽司關注，源於「小時候」與朋友仔日本旅行，一天漫步 Roppongi Hills 見前面一家壽司店，小妹就話要吃壽司。沒多想二人就衝進去。那時壽司還沒有被美國人「神化」，那裡還可以 walk-in。不知何許店也，坐下來我們開始有點徬徨。不同之前去過的，那裡沒有「盛り合」。不過既來之則安之，坐下就請大將為我們做壽司。吃到一半已經覺得那裏非池中之物。第一次吃鰹炙り，驚為天人，不是丸の内商場「松竹梅」套餐可比。到櫃位埋單，竟然沒有單據，女士把一張字條放在案上，幸而上面銀碼我們還能負擔。自此愛上壽司，有些（當然也不算多）令人感動的經驗。小妹認為享受鮨除了料理質素，還奉行「気楽」主義（舒服、輕鬆），像機械操作般的完美工整，例如 —— 鮨 なんば 阿佐ケ谷 （已改名 鮨 しゅん輔），要一齊開始，serve 人數也多，除了大將靚仔（一笑）和一排《十四代》任君選擇之外，實平平無奇，恕小妹無法欣賞。在東京，雖然味道最合我心是さわ田（聽說沢田さん近年不接受港人訂位，不知是否屬實？），小妹鍾愛一家隱世小店，大將輕鬆應付不同時候光臨的客人，不但料理水準極高，也為客人做不同的壽司，小妹也成了「常連」客人了。而人在香港最愛則是佐瀬さん。佐瀬先生壽司貌似傳統，唯味道變化萬千，舍利也不太酸（小妹對「醋」酸特別敏感），也喜歡看著大將似平平無奇，其實胸有成竹在做料理。現在由本來八個座位減到七個，控制理應更佳。今天鮨お任せ，十三貫加玉子。老實說未算最好，例如イクラ（鮭魚子）沒有新鮮光彩之味，紫雲丹雪得太凍，大トロ（大拖羅）有筋。但說先生料理變化萬千，依然不錯。茶碗蒸し，有螢烏賊、桜えび，帶著煙燻之香氣，是個好的開始。さより（針魚）不最肥美（現在過了 sayori 最「旬」之期），味如忌廉，仍然鮮美不凡。烏賊灑上唐墨、鯵正合時候，已經很好。但每次吃鰹炙り，都嚐到魚豐富的魚香油潤加上火炙過的表面，如夢似幻，像兒時吃「出前一丁」那麻油芬芳加上醬油湯的旨味。一件魚片竟可如此滋味，是奇妙的表現 。午餐小飲怡情。300 ml 久保田 萬壽。深深之香，好像缺了點 crispiness。志在有點清酒點綴。ミルガイ（象拔蚌）之後，中トロ （中拖羅）肥美幼滑，香味馥郁。縱然天時地利所限，仍然是美味佳品。中段豆腐赤味噌汁，暖暖身。之後鮭魚子不夠鮮味，紫雲丹太凍，入口已嚐不出海膽的香味，是失敗之作。其他如縁側炙り、春子、キンキ（喜知次 / きちじ）都美味，唯中規中矩，沒有過失，卻沒有好似 2018 年（時 Sase Hanare 還在鴨巴甸街），那一件勘八 (kampachi) 炙り，香甜中彷如牛油曲奇，真正吃魚不是魚竟然仍是魚的終極境界。大トロ有點筋，是部位問題吧，心裡覺得還是一點缺失。穴子和玉子還是一質素，沒有不對辦。蕎麦一杯十分 soothing。菓子雖然平凡，然而相當味美。當然比較喜歡之前的金箔黑豆奶凍啊。一點暇疪，無損今天一頓滿足的午餐。小妹期望疫情過後，期望先生更上一層樓。 繼續閱讀