Butagumi Tonkatsu

7/F The Goldmark, 502 Hennessy Rd, Causeway Bay
Visited 17th April 2010
Causeway Bay on a Friday night; what was I thinking? Why was I here? I didn't want to go to Sogo or Uniglo or any-other-bloody-shopping-O. I wanted to breathe, then eat, then leave. We split from the crowds and headed up onto the 7th floor of the Goldmark Tower; a rather shabby building across Hennessy Rd from Sogo. Inside it's your typical Japanese style decor, though we were lucky enough to be seated in a kind of cool hanging booth (I of course got told of for swinging it too much). My first true tonkatsu experience was last year in Kyoto where my brother and I happened to be seated next to a couple of stunning girls who showed us the ropes; it's perhaps not that strange but ever since I've been a fan of this dish.

The menu at Butagumi Tonkatsu was obviously focused on breaded pork chops or tonkatsu, but they also had a selection of sushi and sashimi as well as a few different deep fried options. We went with a standard pork loin tonkatsu and a mixed set for which we selected scallops, wagyu beef and rolled chicken with cheese and asparagus. Both dishes came accompanied by surprisingly tasty miso soup, fresh shredded cabbage, rice and the 'crush-the-sesame-seeds-yourself sauce. The mixed plate came with four decent chunks of deliciously tender beef, two awesome fat and succulent scallops and a pair of rolled, stuffed chicken pieces. The chunky pork loin was delicious and I was impressed with how moist and juicy it was: actually all the ingredients were top-notch: the pork, scallops and beef were outstanding. For deep fried food it wasn't too oily either.
Tonkatsu is honestly pretty simple stuff, but it's tasty and when prepared to the standard of Butagumi Tonkatsu offers a satisfying and delicious meal. Our dining experience was pleasant; the staff were friendly and efficient and the restaurant itself was a tranquil oasis compared to the consumer chaos outside. Considering the quality I thought the prices were very fair; $128 for the pork loin and $155 for the mixed goodies. While you can certainly get cheaper Japanese food in Causeway Bay, Butagumi Tonkatsu gets my vote for quality.

Visit winery website.

Hachiouji

22 Ashley Rd, Tsim Sha Tsui
Visited 26th January 2010 I've got a pretty standard pro-forma for writing up restaurants and if you look closely you’ll usually find half a sentence that mentions the setting/design/atmosphere at the bottom of the first paragraph. Hachiouji, a little Japanese place on Ashley Road, however deserves a little more than that, as honestly it resembles a toyshop more than a restaurant. The big elephant at the door gives a hint of things to come and inside the walls are chocked full of Japanese nostalgia. It’s stuffed with models, toys, games, posters and adverts from yesteryear; all very cool.

The menu is really just your generic Japanese with selections of everything ranging from teriyaki and tempura to soba and sushi. We decided to share a bowl of udon, mixed tempura, grilled chicken wings, and a sushi roll with pork. We also had a last minute order of barbecued ox tongue after watching our neighbours devour a serve. The small bowl of udon came simply served with a seaweed garnish, but they were well cooked and tasty. The tempura consisted of a single prawn, mushroom, chilli and piece of sweet potato; it was OK, but could have been a tad crisper. The four tiny chicken wings were pretty average and lacked flavour, both from the marinade and the grilling. Stuffed with plenty of grilled pork and lettuce the sushi was pretty good, as was the well seasoned, tasty ox-tongue. To drink I made the most of happy hour and enjoyed a big bottles of Asahi, while Joey stuck to tea.
I enjoyed most of the food at Hachiouji, especially the udon and ox-tongue, however the dishes were tiny and I left feeling a bit ripped off. Just because the walls are covered in toys it doesn't mean that you should be given children's sized serves. Our bill was $286 and I thought $55 especially expensive for four pieces of tempura and the tiny bowl of udon a joke at $62. The service was OK, though when paying I had to remind them that my drink should have been at the happy hour price. For those with nostalgic memories of a Japanese childhood Hachiouji is worth it for a walk down memory lane, but for you average Aussie kid who dreams of fishing and footy there's better value to be had elsewhere.

Tokoro

Level 3, Langham Place, 555 Shanghai St, Mong Kok
Visited 4th December 2009
Friday night and a mate organised dinner for a group of us at Tokoro. I normally avoid restaurants in hotels, but was pretty impressed when we strolled into the third floor of the Langham Place hotel. This robatayaki style Japanese joint is working hard at being hip and the rotating ‘cage’ where we were seated was all rather cool. There seems to be a definite emphasis on quality ingredients with plenty of fresh vegetables and seafood on display around the kitchen counter. They also have a separate bar area for those who simply want to look cool and drink, rather than look cool, drink and eat.

I’m not a massive eater so was hesitant when my mate suggested we go for an extensive set menu, but got talked into as carb-loading for the Macau Marathon. First off was a simple lettuce salad with row and croutons and an appetizer of tasty marinated eggplant sprinkled with bonito flakes. The salmon, tuna and sea bream sashimi that came next was beautifully presented as well as fresh and tasty. Then it was the first robatayaki round; velvety textured, grilled tofu and fish balls. Next stop was miso soup, enriched with tiny claims; it was satisfying stuff. Then it was time for more stuff on sticks; this time Kobe beef and minced chicken, accompanied by grilled corn and asparagus. The simple char grilling allowed the flavour and quality of the ingredients to shine. Tempura time next with a crisp fried oyster, prawn and a couple of sweet potato slices. The food fiesta continued with mushroom topped chawanmushi, a bowl of chewy homemade udon and finally sesame ice-cream to finish an epic eating adventure.
Being saner (or perhaps less susceptible to peer pressure) Joey wasn’t interested in a set, but instead ordered homemade udon and a couple of robatayaki items; a grilled pork chop and sausages. The noodles came with plenty of tender beef, onions, and an egg and were floating in a lovely soup base. The grilled pork chop was decent and the little frankfurter style sausages were tasty, but not remotely Japanese. With the samples she had of my meal she walked away happy.OK, so I’ve listed off a whole parade of dishes above, but what did I think? Was it good? Was it worth it? Would I do it again? Well I certainly enjoyed the food; it was beautifully presented, well prepared and genuinely tasty. However while delicious it’s worth noting that it wasn't particularly innovative or overly interesting. If my meal was worth it is a whole other discussion. The quality of the ingredients was obvious, but was I getting $650 worth of these ingredients? There were only two slices of each type of sashimi, a couple of cubes of Kobe beef, a single prawn and a single oyster. The cool setting and professional service however helped make the experience memorable; so would I do it again? I don’t have a big appetite so can’t really see how gorging myself to excesses is meant to be pleasant. Joey’s food was good and more reasonable at $37 and $47 for the grilled meat and $97 for the tasty udon. I definitely liked Tokoro enough to visit again, but wouldn’t bother shelling out the coin for the multiple fat boy courses.Visit restaurant website.

Iroue Japanese Restaurant

10 Sai Ching Street, Yuen Long
Visited 31st November 2009
I've heard mixed reviews about this little Yuen Long Japanese restaurant. It's located right next to where we play tennis, but the tennis crew don't rate it, yet on the other hand Joey's boss is a big fan. Inside it's all you imagine of a small, local Japanese joint; crowded, tiny wooden stools and a few flags fluttering lonely away on the walls.

Joey’s boss loves this place because of their miso hotpot, but unfortunately the night we went they were sold out. Instead we decided on a beef hotpot, giant salmon sushi, gyoza and a friend prawn sushi roll. Filled with mushrooms, udon, beef and an egg the hotpot was tasty, especially the flavoursome, slightly sweet soup. Handmade from pork rib the dumplings were really satisfying, though oily. Both sushi dishes were decent; though I preferred the massive sushi roll over the OK the salmon. Stuffed with tuna, a big fired prawn, lettuce and mayo, the sushi roll came sprinkled with crunchy crab row and was so large that it was difficult to eat. Big isn’t always better, but this guy was tasty in a somewhat untraditional manner.

I enjoyed my visit to Iroue Japanese Restaurant. The service and environment were nothing special, but that’s not what this kind of place is about; what matters is the value and the quality of the food. Our meal was $146 for the two of us which I thought was fair. The food? Well it was pretty good; I think I’ll come back and try the miso hotpot and maybe bring along that pack of scoundrels I play tennis with.

Sushi One

29 Leighton Rd, Causeway Bay
Visited 10th October 2009 Saturday night and somehow I found myself shopping in Causeway Bay; this, it must be said, is the stuff of nightmares. Luckily though the only thing in Hong Kong that takes priority over shopping is eating and so dinner offered an escape from the crowded corners of the fourth level of hell. Sushi One has a few branches around splattered across Hong Kong and the one in Causeway Bay is a pretty large setup. A massive saltwater fish tank dominates one wall and a long sushi train the other. There's normally a line queuing out front, but we got a seat at the counter pretty quickly.

I’m always a bit suspect of ordering premade sushi, so we chose snacks off a pretty standard menu. We went with miso soup; fried chicken gristle; salmon, octopus, grilled squid, inari and seared beef sushi; a soft-shell crab hand roll and a shrimp tempura roll. The quality was generally pretty good and I enjoyed the shrimp roll, salmon sushi and miso soup, while the squid and octopus where meltingly tender and some of the best I've had in Hong Kong. On the other hand the seared beef sushi was touted as a house 'deluxe' special, but the tiny serve was certainly nothing special.

While Sushi One certainly isn’t the best Japanese food I’ve had in Hong Kong it does a pretty good job of dishing up decent food at fair prices. Apart from the single piece of beef sushi that was a rip-off at $35 the rest of the dishes ranged from $9 to $26. We were both stuffed at the end of our meal and paid a very reasonable $85 each. I was surprised with how efficient and friendly the staff were for such a busy place. In many ways Sushi One is just your standard Hong Kong style sushi joint, but it does a pretty good of offering some tasty food, and in my opinion it’s worth visiting just to look at the fish.

Yokozuna Japanese Noodle Shop

466 Nathan Rd, Yau Ma Tei, Kowloon
Visited 7th July 2009
Yokozuna is a tiny place with a big reputation and even though we arrived at 2.30 on a Wednesday afternoon we still had to wait half an hour for a table. Situated just off Nathan Rd in a side street near the Salvation Army, Yokozuna is all about authenticity and even the tiny, crowded interior was pretty much like ramen places I've visited in Japan. Having been around for more than twenty years these guys are serious about ramen with the owner even going as far as to import most of his ingredients from Japan.

The menu at Yokozuna has a selection of the usual ramen dishes, a few sides and a couple of offerings with rice (though why anyone would ever order rice here is beyond me). I was being a tad indecisive until my mate just told me to "hurry-up and order No. 3"; a 'classic' ramen with egg and pork. The big bowl of noodles that was places in front of me looked good. First I tried the soup base; truly delicious, it was well seasoned with white pepper and would have been a satisfying meal on its own. The fresh vegetable, succulent cubes of roast pork and a fantastic slow cooked egg were all outstanding, but it was the noodles that won my heart. The thick, tasty ramen were chewy and maintained their texture without going soggy. We also got a side of pan-fried dumplings and these little treats were also good; filled with succulent pork they were crisp yet not the slightest bit oily.

I was taken to Yokozuna by a mate and as we left he cackled evilly and said that I'd be craving those noodles again soon. He was right; I think about Yokozuna ramen quite often and need another hit as soon as possible. Absolutely divine food at $42 a bowl ha, what could be better? I can't even complain about having to wait for a table as the staff were efficient and organised the line well (and a convenient 7/11 next door meant a sly beer was found). Yokozuna comes utterly recommended not just because it's the best ramen I've had in Hong Kong, but because it's actually better than most ramen I've eaten in Japan. Visit restaurant website.

Sushi Tei

6/F Yuen Long Landmark, 123 Castle Peak Rd, YL
Visited 13th September

Naomi and I visited the Yuen Long branch of this international chain for dinner Thursday night. Hidden on the 6th floor of a building off Castle Peak Rd Sushi Tei can be a bit difficult to find, but is worth the effort. The atmosphere is good, with comfortable, modern decor, a great open kitchen and some interesting views of Castle Peak Rd out the window. The only downsides were unflattering short-skirts worn as uniforms by the waitresses and the unashamedly disgusting belching by the woman on the next table.

We ordered an assortment of dishes: tuna, salmon and rolled pork chop sushi accompanied by a serve of grilled prawn and tofu balls for me, while Naomi chose fried chicken and an omelette stuffed with noodles. I was impressed with the sushi; the fish hunks were thick, fresh and tasty, while the pork chop sushi was rolled with crisp iceberg lettuce which was a great combination of textures. Naomi was less impressed with her meal. Though hot and crispy the chicken was a little fatty for her liking and I'd agree that the sauce dribbled over the noodle omelette was just plain weird and off putting. Another positive for Sushi Tei is that it seems to be the only Japanese restaurant in the New Territories which sells wine, though I was happy with a cold can of Asahi. Our bill came to $209 which isn't bad value.

Our experience of Sushi Tei was a positive one. The service was fine, the food decent and the atmosphere good (minus the belching woman); if you're looking for a feed of Japanese in Yuen Long Sushi Tei probably isn't a bad option.
Visit restaurant website

Genki Sushi

3/F, Yuen Long Plaza, 249 Castle Peak Rd, Yuen Long
Visited 6th July

The Japanese chain Genki Sushi is amazingly popular in Hong Kong. Despite the massive queues I've seen in other branches Naomi and I easily managed to get a seat Friday lunchtime. We were tucked away in a corner next to the huge winding conveyor belt that dominates the restaurant.

Normally I tend to order sushi off a menu, but I thought I'd see what chance threw at me and pick as I went along. I ended up with mini-squid and octopus sushi, a fried ebi roll and a rolled sushi stuffed with salmon and cream cheese. Naomi had her favourite little beancurd packages, miso soup and mini profiteroles (yes they were on the conveyor belt!). The food really was pretty average; nothing seemed particularly interesting or fresh. I'm not sure how much I was influenced by sitting next to the kitchen (a word I use lightly) were I watched the rice being prepared by machines and the fish pulled pre-cut from packaging trays. Eating sushi is about enjoying quality fresh ingredients prepared with skill and innovation, something Genki Sushi does not appear to offer. While our meal wasn't overly expensive at just over $100 for the two of us it wasn't particularly good either and there are plenty of other sushi places one can get a feed for a similar amount.

Our visit to Genki Sushi was one big conveyor belt ride; I sat next to a conveyor-belt, I watched my sushi being made by a conveyor belt and I was in a manufactured chain store were the whole experience felt like I was on a conveyor belt. Average service, average food and a plastic fast food atmosphere I can't understand why this chain is so popular - perhaps it's the cute company motif? Sushi in the style of 'Disneyland'; why bother?

Dream Maker

45 Yau San Street, Yuen Long
Visited 29th June

One of our favourite local restaurants is Dream Maker. This Japanese joint is identifiable by the big Daruma Doll out the front and is part of a group, which has another five restaurants scattered around Hong Kong. After a few cold beers at the New York Cafe, Naomi and I headed to Dream Maker for dinner Friday night.

We normally order a selection of nibbly bits and this time chose salmon, octopus and beancurd sushi, grilled chicken, miso soup, baked gyoza dumplings smothered in cheese and a chicken okonomiyaki or 'Japanese pizza'. I thought the salmon and octopus were good, while Naomi was full of praise for the beancurd sushi. The chicken tasted like it had actually been char-grilled, the gyoza were superbly cheesy and the okonomiyaki was just like we had in Japan, really very tasty. The menu also offers more traditional Japanese udon, soda and rice bowls, but on a Friday after a few drinks I was pretty satisfied with our selection of snacks. To drink alongside the obligatory cups of tea there is a small selection of sake - something I've never got into - and cans of cold Japanese beer. Though it's probably a bit too much to ask, it would be great to see an option BYO a bottle of wine.

The Dream Maker experience is about being pretty; fair enough that the food is creatively presented with lavish garnishes, but the staff also seem more committed to how they look, rather than how they serve. Several times in the past parts of our orders have been forgotten. To enter Dream Maker is to enter the world of big hair; the waiters have embraced a fashion battle that includes every combination of mullet, perm, fringe, crimp, dye and tease imaginable. Perhaps a strange generalisation, but at Dream Maker the bigger the hair style, the worse the service; so look for the one guy with short-back-and-sides. Dream Maker, despite its little quirks (which probably just makes it more "Japanese"), offers fairly priced, well presented, tasty food and I reckon it's worth a visit.

Meguro Sushi

1/F, Sun Yuen Long Centre, Yuen Long, NT
Visited 17th June

Since moving to Hong Kong I've developed a passion, perhaps even an addiction, for sushi. Attached to the Yuen Long KCR Station is a branch of the Meguro Sushi chain, as this restaurant happens to be the closest to my work it must take some of the blame for my escalating sushi cravings. Having spent the weekend moving house we were too exhausted to cook and by chance Meguro Sushi, also, just happens to be the closest restaurant to our new home.

As Naomi doesn’t eat fish, I reckon even getting her into a sushi joint is pretty impressive. She seemed totally contented with the miso soup, beancurd wrapped sushi, chicken skewers, gunkan maki sushi topped with diced duck 'salad' and crispy fried gyoza she ordered. On the opposite side of the table I repulsed her with the fishy delicacies I slurped on: jumbo salmon sushi, rolled sushi stuffed with a freshly fried prawn, tuna roll, Wagyu beef sushi and a rolled sushi topped with avocado and stuffed with soft-shell crab. The contrast of the crispy warm prawn and gluggy rice makes the ebi fry maki my absolute favourite. The rest of the dishes were good; the fresh Wagyu beef, with it's garlic garnish, is another favourite. Apart from the mandatory green tea, I also managed to sneak in a couple of cold cans of Asahi. The bill wasn’t cheap at $220 for the two for us, but the problem with sushi is that you never stick to the basics and just keep ordering all those good looking little treats.

I'm certainly not a sushi expert, but Meguro Sushi seems to offer reasonable quality sushi. The fish is always fresh and and tender and they have an clear menu with plenty of options. The service is OK and the place has a bit of a fun feel with all the wacky seasonal sushi they devise - the salmon pumpkins at Halloween were an amusing favourite. Value wise Meguro Sushi isn't the best deal in town, you can get a lot of cheaper raw salmon around Yuen Long, but I appreciate it as an easy option for tasty snacks.