Eat Drink Hong Kong

The name Busy Suzie pinched from the term Lazy Susan, the name for that revolving table top that we find in Chinese restaurants. The main dining area of Busy Suzie is also circular but the table doesn’t move.

Traditionally robatayaki, or Japanese barbecue, would be cooked in a large charcoal pit. The diners would sit in a circle around the pit and the chefs would pass the orders to customers on the oar of a fishing boat.

There is no charcoal pit but diners still sit in a circle where they can watch the chefs prepare their food and who will be deliver it to them on a wooden paddle. To add authenticity the wait staff shout the orders to the chefs and all staff, chefs included, bellow greetings whenever a customer enters.

The interior is sleek and circular with wooden floor and fixtures finished off with bamboo and round paper lanterns. There are private dining areas and small booths for those who prefer not to sit at the main table.

There were no major surprises on the menu. I have to confess, I eat so much supermarket sushi and sashimi that I tend to skip it in restaurants. The major benefit of that is that it does help keep the cost down. And since Busy Suzie is one of the more expensive places that, for me at least, is an important consideration.

The drinks list did offer Ozeno Yukidoke Brown ($90), a German style Dunkelweizen so I ordered a bottle of that to get proceedings underway. To go with it I ordered some dry piled sardine ($78). Both arrived promptly. The sardine was pressed into cracker like slivers and were very tasty indeed. A good appetite sharpener but an even better snack to go with a beer.

The beer had a spicy sweetness, think cinnamon, that went down rather too well. It wasn’t long before I was ordering my second. I also put in an order for a chicken and a pork skewer ($75 each) and some vegetable tempura ($128).

By this time quite a few people were arriving and there was a lot of shouting going on. The shouting itself wasn’t unpleasant, it was all good natured. But when added to the rather loud disco music that was playing it made having a conversation difficult.

The skewers were very good as was the tempura, which consisted of pumpkin, mushroom, lotus root and sweet potato and I added to that a Robatayaki rice ball with miso ($50).

I finished off with umeshu and lime jelly ($78), which mad a pleasant change. Both sesame and green tea ice cream were available but I always have one or the other so it was nice to find something a little different. Umeshu is a kind of liqueur made by steeping unripe green plums in Shochu and sugar. Used as a delicious sweet sauce it went went well with the tangy lime jelly.

Shop 209, 1881 Heritage
2A Canton Road
(entrance on Salisbury Road)
Tsim Sha Tsui
Tel. 2369 0077

This is an attractive little restaurant, one of the newer ones in Elgin Street. Cherry blossoms hang over the bar bringing a splash of colour to a more traditional style decor. Opposite the bar there is a line of small tables. There are more at the back, and there is seating for large groups upstairs, but there is only one of me and I like to watch the chefs at work so I take a small table.

I could sit at the bar for an even closer look but I like the table, it gives me a view of the whole restaurant which, since it is still early, is not very busy yet.

The word Taku means home and whilst it might be a bit of a stretch for me to call the alleyways of old Kyoto ‘home’, I was pleasantly surprised to find a waitress who used to work in a restaurant I frequented previously. After catching up on some small talk she lead me through the menu.

The tofu is made fresh every morning and I could have a choice of three types of preparation. Chilled, steamed or fried. I opted for chilled with diced maguro ($60). I also ordered a basket of Edamame, or steamed soy beans ($35) and a bottle of Yebisu beer ($42).

They arrived at almost the same time. The tofu was in a very light soy sauce, with the tuna on top and topped off with finely grated radish. Simple but very flavourful. The tofu firm and smooth.

To follow this I had ordered a mixed yakitori platter ($138). This includes Angus beef, chicken and asparagus wrapped in pork. There are two skewers of each making them good to share.

After a respectable pause and a replenishment of beer came the mixed vegetable and prawn tempura ($130). Like the other dishes it is a generous serving and there is plenty to share. To follow it I had ordered cold green tea soba noodles ($58). These are served with a quail egg, some shredded seaweed and some radish and spring onion. These are to be mixed into the soup to taste.

Japanese cuisine is not famous for it’s wide range of desserts but as long as they have black sesame ice cream ($28) I’ll be more than happy.

For such a large Japanese meal I felt the bill was very reasonable indeed. I said good-bye and promised to return again soon. To ensure I made good on my promise the waitress furnished with two generous coupons to be redeemed upon my next visit. It ill be soon

Taku
35 Elgin Street
SoHo
Tel. 2545 9966

Shop 36-38 G/F City Garden Shopping Centre
North Point
Hong Kong
Tel 2508 0862

3/F Stanley 11
11 Stanley Street
Central
Hong Kong
Tel 2834 7223

U G/F Central Park Hotel
263 Hollywood Road
Sheung Wan
Hong Kong
Tel 2851 2820

G1004-B Tien Sing Mansion
Taikoo Shing
Hong Kong
Tel 2967 9219

35 Elgin Street
Soho
Central
Hong Kong
Tel 2545 9966

5/F QRE Plaza
202 Queen’s Road East
Wanchai
Hong Kong
Tel 2834 8328

‘Private address’ in Star Street - call for details
Tel 2521 8121

8/F 11 Stanley Street
Central
Hong Kong
Tel 3622 1817

110-114 Tun Lo Wan Road
Causeway Bay
Hong Kong
Tel 2398 8000

1/F Jusco Kornhill Store
Kornhill Plaza South
2 Kornhill Road
Quarry Bay
Hong Kong
Tel 2967 4044

G/F 2 Shin Hing Street
Central
Hong Kong
Tel 3485 1850

Shop SLG8-9a, Westlands Gardens
2-10 Westlands Road
Quarry Bay
Hong Kong
Tel 2565 1001

1/F 11 Stanley Street
Central
Hong Kong
Tel 2868 3738

3-4/F Soho Square
21 Lynchurst Terrace
Central
Hong Kong
Tel 2543 0505

11/F Times Square
Causeway Bay
Hong Kong
Tel 3102 9363

34 Leighton Road
Causeway Bay
Hong Kong
Tel 203 4009

To be honest I thought I was coming here for a fairly simple set dinner but I wound up in the wrong place. From the lift I turned right into the Robatayaki restaurant. The simple set dinners are available in the bar. For those you must turn left out of the lift.

The problem was that once the idea of robatayaki had been planted in my mind nothing else was going to do. I took a place at the counter where I could watch the chefs go about their art.

Robatayaki is Japanese barbecue. Traditionally the cooking would be done on an open hearth in the middle of the room with the prepared dishes being distributed to the guests by means of a paddle. In rural Japan it would have been the same paddles that powered the boats that brought back many of the ingredients.

At Tokoro the paddles are purpose made for the job but it is good to see the traditions being acknowledged. The atmosphere is lively and fun with the head chef receiving the orders and barking out instructions to his team. It wasn’t long before my own orders were being paddled across to me.

The first plate included two items Australian strip-loin beef ($97) and Japanese sweet potatoes ($57). I do like a nice dry saki, especially chilled, but it was mid-week and I was alone so I decided to give it a miss. I compensated extra dishes instead.

I’d been having a hard time choosing between Norwegian salmon ($77) and Japanese silver cod ($117) so I ordered both. Eringi mushrooms ($57) and chicken with leeks ($37) completed the list of robatayaki orders. All of them were quite delicious. If I had to choose a favourite perhaps the salmon would win by a whisker.

I had been hoping for the sea eel but the market that morning had presumably delivered but they were able to offer a tempura eel ($167). I rounded off with a simple bowl of inaniwa noodles ($117).

I’d eaten well but I still managed to find room for some green tea ice cream with blueberries. The great thing about robatayaki is that all the dishes are quite small so you can order as many or as few as you like.

Sushi and sashimi is, of course, available for those that want it.

17 Morrison Hill Road
Wanchai
Hong Kong
Tel 2892 2661

15-16 Queen Victoria Street
Central
Hong Kong
Tel 2115 9774

3/F Century Square
1-13 D’Aguilar Street
Central
Hong Kong
Tel 2537 9393

18/F Henry House
42 Yung Ping Road
Causeway Bay
Hong Kong
Tel 2890 2913

Shop 1, 17-23 Minden Avenue
Tsimshatsui
Kowloon
Tel 2312 1919

Shop SLG8-9A, Westlands Gardens
2-10 Westlands Road
Quarry Bay
Hong Kong
Tel 2565 1001

Rm 2, 2/F Percival House
83 Percival Street
Causeway Bay
Hong Kong
Tel 2808 0789

6/F Wellington Place
2-8 Wellington Street
Central
Hong Kong
Tel 2868 5657

8 Hart Avenue
Tsimshatsui
Kowloon
Tel 2369 1260

Shop 2-3, Imperial Terrace
356 Queen’s Road West
Sai Ying Pun
Hong Kong
Tel 2540 0880

42-44 Cameron Road
Tsimshatsui
Kowloon
Tel 2311 9198

Regal Riverside Hotel
34-36 Tai Chung Kiu Road
Shatin
New Territories
Tel 2649 7878

I rarely write about noodles because… well there are just so many of them around. But there are some that stand out and are well worth a mention, I found one in Quarry Bay the other lunchtime. Miso Cool is one though they actually spell it Miso Coollll. You need to see the logo to understand why. The for ‘l’s look like strands of noodle held by two horizontal lines (chopsticks) above the word ‘cool’.

The decor is plain but functional. Two large canteen-like tables occupy the centre of the restaurant with smaller tables around the edges. The staff are young the service is friendly and efficient.

The menu is mostly ramen and bento there there are plenty off side dishes to add a little variety and also a range of smoothies, drinks and even beer. But it was lunchtime and a colleague and myself had gone in search of noodles and that is what we were determined to have. She ordered the Japanese style beef ramen ($36), I went for the Pan-fried linguine with Hokkaido seafood milk soup.

At $68 this is the most expensive dish on the menu. This is made with squid ink spaghetti. The picture on the menu had already warned me that it wasn’t linguine but I considered this to be a rather small detail. The blackness of the spaghetti makes for a striking contrast against the soup.

The one that arrived at my table had rather more soup than the one in the picture. I felt a little disappointed at first because it seemed that there was not all that much seafood in it but after trawling around a little I discovered prawns, scallops, squid, clams and other goodies. The pond was quite well stocked after all.

My colleague seemed to be content with her beef ramen and nodded happily when I asked. Presently the pan-fried scallops ($24) she had ordered turned up and shortly after that a plate of dumplings ($22). There were four of each and all were decorated with a little roe that had been glued to the top of each one with a dab of mayonnaise.

By the we’d finished the noodles we were both stuffed. They are generous servings but we agreed we would see the meal to the end. She ordered a drink called a miu miu berry ($28). This is essentially a drink that tastes like a strawberry and vanilla ice cream.

I opted for sesame ice cream ($15). I would have been happy with just a scoop of ice cream but this was decorated with sugary marshmallow which I felt detracted from the flavour of the ice cream.

Shop SLGB-9A, G/F Westlands Gardens
2-10 Westlands Road
Quarry Bay
Tel 2565 1001

Shop 110 New Town Plaza
Shatin
New Territories
Tel 2602 3008

41 Wyndham Street
Central
Hong Kong
Tel 2526 9961

8 Observatory Court
Tsim Sha Tsui
Kowloon
Tel 2316 2727

3/F W Square
318 Hennessy Road
Wanchai
Hong Kong
Tel 2832 6636

G/F 145 Connaught Road
Sheung Wan
Hong Kong
Tel 3101 9786/3101 9719

G/F Hotel Miramar
118-130 Nathan Road
Tsimshatsui
Kowloon
Tel 2315 5111

7/F, 502 Hennessy Road
Causeway Bay
Hong Kong
Tel 3428 2862

L/3 Langham Place
555 Shanghai Street
Mongkok
Kowloon
Tel 3552 3330

3/F Circle Tower
28 Tang Lung Street
Causeway Bay
Hong Kong
Tel 2833 5337

18 Yuen Long Main Road
Yuen Long
New Territories
Tel 2474 7874

LG/F 41 Wyndham Street
Central
Hong Kong
Tel 2810 0803

1/F Pacific Place
88 Queensway
Admiralty
Hong Kong
Tel 2155 8066

Shop 2, LG1, Pacific Place
88 Queensway
Admiralty
Hong Kong
Tel 3960 5988

94 Tung Lo Wan Road
Causeway Bay
Hong Kong
Tel 2503 5888

2/F J Senses Building
60 Johnston Road
Wanchai
Hong Kong
Tel 2866 1010

Shop 402, Ocean Centre
Harbour City
Tsimshatsui
Kowloon
Tel 2918 9189

Shop 4 Promenade Level
Tower 2, China Hong Kong City
33 Canton Road
Tsimshatsui
Kowloon
Tel 2314 2907

9 Cheong Tat Road
Chek Lap Kok Airport
Lantau
New Territories
Tel 2286 6668

2/F Bartlock Centre
3 Yiu Wa Street
Causeway Bay
Hong Kong
Tel 2838 5939

L1-33 Festival Walk
Kowloon Tong
Kowloon
Tel 2265 7878

Shop 51-52 Houston Centre
63 Mody Road
Tsimshatsui East
Kowloon
Tel 2366 1784

Shop 1-4, G/F Po Wan Building
26-36 Prat Avenue
Tsimshatsui
Kowloon
Tel 3426 9960

4/F Ho Lee Commercial Building
38-44 D’Aguilar Street
Central
Hong Kong
Tel 3102 2255

R001, 3/F Elements Mall
1 Austin Road West
Kowloon
Tel 2196 8126

9/F World Trade Centre
280 Gloucester Road
Causeway Bay
Hong Kong
Tel 2576 6777

7/F Circle Tower
28 Tang Lung Street
Causeway Bay
Hong Kong
Tel 2836 0671

25/F Morecrown Commercial Building
108 Electric Road
Tin Hau
Hong Kong
Tel 2234 6628

Well what do you call a Japanese home-style curry house? In it’s defence it does have a large kawaii (that means cartoon-cute) panda flying across the ceiling. I’m not sure what it has to do with curry but it is, I suppose, very Japanese.

Mercifully the rest of this little restaurant is of the wooden, clean-lined simplicity which is even more Japanese to my sensibilities, and far more welcome than flying pandas.

I vowed not to look up and instead gave my full attention to the menu. Familiar items such as sushi are available, but the centrepiece of the menu are the curries. There are several to choose from - I opted for the minced beef. To go with it I also ordered a sampler dish of four side orders. These included prawn scallop and oyster tempura plus tofu.

The curry arrived first. The rice formed a little island in a sea of curry sauce while the mince filled in the centre of the rice. Two little ears of okra poked kawaii-like from the top but despite that little indignity it looked quite good.

It tasted very good. Japanese curry is usually quite mild and whilst this couldn’t claim to be spicy it did have a little kick to it. The sauce was laced with mushrooms and other goodies. I breached the wall of rice and let the mince spill in.

I was half-way through before the other bits arrived and to be honest, I didn’t really need them. They were perfectly edible but just seemed a little bland. Curry is perhaps not the best thing to have them with … though that didn’t stop me cleaning the plates.

I washed it all down with a banana smoothie, paid the bill which was a little under $200, and was on my way. The decor maybe iffy but the curry is spot on. It’s in an awkward part of Causeway Bay, but if you want to get away from the crowds for a bite then it’s a good place. Just don’t look up

Robatayaki is Japanese style barbecue. The guests sit in a semi-circle or kind of horseshoe shape around the chef who cooks everything over charcoal while you watch. The waiters main job is to collect your orders and deliver drinks, sushi and sashimi. We ordered a Sapporo beer each while we considered the menu.

There is a good range of options. Plenty of seafood as you might imagine plus chicken and kobe beef and plenty of crisp fresh vegetables.

At $900 we decided to pass up the Kobe beef. It did look good but we wanted to try a few things without busting the budget.

The first thing we ordered was the okra ($55). I’ve never really understood why okra got the nickname ‘ladies fingers’, it doesn’t look a bit like anyones fingers. But whatever you call it, this is by far the best way to serve it as it keeps in check the vegetables natural tendency to turn gooey.

It wasn’t long before we had finished the beer and I had spotted some ’super dry’ sake on the menu. Unfortunately I didn’t catch the name for it in English but I’m a sucker for a dry chilled sake. My companion warmed to my enthusiasm and ordered a big bottle ($349).

By this time the black mushrooms ($60) had been delivered. The chef actually sits some distance away on the other side of the charcoal. The food is delivered by way of a large paddle, rather like a rowing boat oar.

The chef was getting into the swing of it by now and we had hardly stopped singing the praises of the mackerel ($95) when the Alaskan crab legs ($280) were delivered. The mackerel was the only dish to have a light soy sauce to accompany it. For all the others the only condiment was a squeeze of lemon. This was perfectly adequate as it allows the natural flavours of the food to come through unhindered.

Next up came the spicy fish roe ($90), and garlic ($45) and lastly grilled onigiri (rice balls). Robatayaki is simplicity itself and is a joy to eat.

For dessert my companion had a coconut ice cream and I a tangerine sorbet ($60 each). We both felt they rounded off the meal perfectly. The ice cream was served in a half coconut shell and the sorbet was served in a hollowed out tangerine skin and served on a bed of crushed ice.

The bill at the end came to a little over $1,300 which we decided was quite reasonable. Of course if you fancy the live lobster or the Kobe beef you’ll need to budget for considerably more than that.

Guest Review
It was once right in the middle of Staunton Street by the escalator, but is now hidden in a corner along Gough Street in Noho because of the skyrocketing rentals. So now, it is overshadowed by the long queues outside a beef noodle restaurant and an open-air traditional Hong Kong ‘Daipaidong’. However, Kiyotaki’s very own reputation of fresh sashimi and tasty yakitori has made its own mark in this increasingly hip and trendy area.

As you step in, the staff is always ready to greet you with a loud ‘Irashaiimase’. The lighting is fairly dim but bright enough to see your food, and the restaurant is cosy enough for talks, or even secluded enough to let you fight with your partner. Big groups are welcome too, and the owner has even added a LCD TV for ‘dining-alone’ clients who want to catch up on their soaps. If you are lucky, you will see local celebrities here.

The restaurant seems to be aiming to maintain a homey feel despite the higher prices.

Yes, the food is expensive, but which good Japanese restaurant isn’t? The sashimi platter is always worth the HKD160 or HKD220 because there is a wide variety of seafood and fish, plus its always fresh. And the chef will always recommend the fresh sashimi of the day. There is a long list of barbecued skewers to choose from, with prices starting from HKD20. There are also the traditional nimono (Japanese home-cooked and boiled food), rice dishes including sushi, onigiri, ochazuke and Japanese noodles like udon and soba. The food is authentic and fit for anyone who feels like a real Japanese feast.

Besides the normal Sake (cold or hot or masu sake), the restaurant has Ichiiko Sochu and clients can choose to order by glass or by bottle (which you can keep for your next visit). A glass of Sochu mix costs about HKD70 and a bottle costs HKD300. Ordering a bottle will, of course, make more sense.

We always start off with a sashimi platter, followed by a skewer platter, and a grilled cod fish, salmon head, beef with baby mushrooms, or fried vegetables. Our favourite skewers include beef tongue which is barbecued with Japanese spices, ginkyo nuts which go well with drinks, and sea prawns which cost HKD40 (a bargain compared to other expensive Japanese restaurants) and nicely done of course.

It is not so much about cost, it is more about what type of Japanese food you want to find. If you are desperate for real authentic Japanese food, then this is the place. The best thing is the place can only accommodate about 20 or so patrons, so it would never be too crowded and rowdy. Just be prepared to spend at least HKD500 for food and drinks (not including bottle orders) for two persons.

This is a Japanese restaurant at the top of Knutsford Steps. It seems to be rather popular with the young local set, a demographic that misses me by a rather large margin I have to confess. But not one that is likely to put me off.

Since I’d just walked the length of Knutsford Terrace and failed to come to any other conclusion I decided that something on a skewer was exactly what I wanted, so I bounded up the short flight of steps and in the door.

Skewer Skewer is the first restaurant you come to, indeed one walks right into it and, with a bit of luck, you’ll be greeted by the charming smile of one of the waitresses. On the the right are romantic tables and little curtained booths. They do look very cosy, but I felt sitting there on my own would be a rather lonely experience so I opted for one of the more conventional tables on the left.

There is, of course, a full Japanese menu with all the regular items such as sushi and noodle dishes but this time I was interested in the grill. For those of you that don’t already know, the Japanese have a fine tradition of grilling things, it’s called robatayaki. Traditionally the grilling (yaki) would be done over a large open hearth (ro) where people would gather for heat and cooking.

These days the cooking is done over a modern grill and there is not much that the dedicated robatayaki chef cannot fit onto his skewer. The menu at Skewer Skewer is fairly conventional. Though I was tempted by the French garlic bread on a skewer ($24) I decided to keep things fairly simple.

For drink I opted for a Hoegaarden. It was called a “large pint” on the menu, on special offer at $52. I knew full well that this was one of those bucket sized glasses but I decided its fruitiness would go quite well with the food.

The first Item out of the kitchen was Roasted Norwegian Salmon Belly ($58). Slightly crisp on the outside, inside the fish was soft and delicious. Seasoning is fairly light in robatayaki, mainly salt with just a dab of melted butter or a brush of teriyaki sauce, so the natural flavours come shining through.

After the salmon came eel ($68) and a generous portion it was too. But I was not so impressed with this, though I would blame the eel rather than the chef. The flesh of the eel is much more dense than salmon so the contrast made the eel seem rather tough and rubbery. The flavour was good and in future I would suggest to the waiter that the eel be delivered first.

Next came sliced duck in roti ($52). This was an interesting departure from the norm. To say it was a bit like Peking duck would have aficionados of the dish howling in dismay. Nevertheless, the duck was there and so was the sauce. This may have been wrapped with vegetables in Indian/Malay style roti and served on a skewer but the connection was there to make.

The last skewer of the evening was a fairly straightorward pork, peppers, tomatoes and onions combination ($68).

At this point the waitress came to collect my empty Hoegaarden glass, “One more?” she smiled, I declined. “But it is special offer, two for one.” she insisted. “But I’ve already had two in that one” I wailed. She agreed to let me have something smaller so I settled on a bottle of Corona.

The desserts were a little on the disappointing side. The only one that took my fancy was the coffee jelly with vanilla ice cream but they had sold out.

I thought about the Japanese ice cream but then I remembered seeing an Italian gelato shop at the bottom of the steps so I paid my bill and made my way down there. A tub with chocolate and raspberry flavour was $28 and was so wonderful I quite forgot to look at the name of the shop but it is right there on the corner at the bottom of Knutsford Steps.

I bumped into an old colleague at a function a few weeks back. It was a bit of a surprise for both of us I think but a pleasant one nonetheless. We decided we really must keep in touch and, to seal our vows, went out to dinner.

She suggested we go over to Observatory Court which I thought was a splendid idea. I’m a bit slack at getting over the other side of the harbour, I have to admit. After snooping around a while we decided to go for teppanyaki at Akita.

Akita is on the first floor and stepping out of the lift, we found ourselves in a surprisingly spacious restaurant decorated in a mock traditional Japanese market style. In front of us were counters displaying fresh seafood and vegetables. To the right was a robotayaki dining area. We hung a left to the teppanyaki area.

Teppanyaki derives it’s name from the hot iron plate, called a teppan, on which the food is cooked. But with teppanyakai you don’t just get dinner, you get a show. We decided on the Hokkaido Teppanyaki Set performance at $498 for two people. We also ordered a bottle of cold dry sake. It was a rather a nice sake but I don’t remember what it was called - leading me to suspect I may have consumed more than my fair share.

The performance, of course, is watching the chef prepare the food. Ours was not only an excellent chef but a good entertainer, twirling pepper mills and cooking utensils with as much aplomb as any cocktail waiter.

We started with a light salad with crab while the chef topped and tailed two jumbo prawns. He set the heads aside for later. The prawns were firm and tasty. “Buttery”, said my friend. I had to agree, but I didn’t think that was a bad thing.

The hint of butter was prevalent throughout the whole meal but it never became overbearing.

The prawns were followed by scallop and geoduck clam dishes. The clam is actually pronounced “gooey duck” but is also called elephant trunk clam and has the distinction of being the largest burrowing clam in the world. It’s also said to be something of an aphrodisiac, possibly due to its phallic shape and the fact that the female produces something like 5 billion viable eggs during her lifespan. They are also an excellent accompaniment for sake.

By now the chef had turned his attention to the Angus beef steak. This was going to be served with a generous amount of fried garlic. While we watched, a bowl of lobster miso soup was served. After the steak we had fresh garden vegetables. The prawn heads were then pressed and cooked until crisp, and then finally, the Akita special fried rice. The fried rice was unusual in that it is cooked with bacon and ground beef, and was really rather nice.

By this time we were both feeling replete but I always feel that the meal is not complete without dessert. That said, in Japanese set meals the dessert is usually ice cream and I wondered if I could cheat. In the end I’m glad I didn’t because the ice cream flavour was sesame and tofu which I had never had before and was most enjoyable.

Afterwards we snooped around Observatory Court some more before clambering into our respective taxis vowing to do it all again soon.

When you really don’t want to leave Central, but a friend insists you accompany her to Quarry Bay to try out her new favourite restaurant, there’s not a lot you can do to resist. So it was that three old friends met up to eat at Dining Art Japanese Restaurant last week.

It is hidden just off the main King’s Road, close to Exit B of Taikoo MTR station. The little row of restaurants behind a sitting-out area seems a little too tucked away to get very busy, but even so, there were only 2 empty tables at Dining Art as we arrived at 7.30.

Everything was very relaxed from the welcome we received as we came through the door, to the comfortable, cream-coloured seats, and cleverly arranged tatami-lookalike sunken table affairs. The lighting is bright, without being garish, and the spotless kitchen area is open to the main restaurant floor, so you can watch the chefs do fancy things with huge lumps of fresh fish.

The menu was extensive, and there were also daily specials on a chalkboard (in Chinese only - but the friendly owner/manager, Sam, was on hand to offer advice and explanations). We ended up with 9 dishes, along with a cold sake!

First along was Deepfried beancurd rolled in bonito flakes - the bonito adding some flavour to the soft tofu. New Zealand steak cubes with Japanese ponzu (vinaigrette) - small cubes flash-fried and still red in the centre.

We plunged ahead with the house special Mixed sashimi rice, then Lightly grilled salmon & bonito sushi, a large, crunchy, Soft-shell crab roll, and another special, the delicious Salmon florette topped with crab meat and crab coral. As we were feeling flush, the Fatty tuna (Toro) sashimi had to be ordered as well. All the sushi was very fresh.

Next up, my friend had insisted on the mysterious (to me at least!) Crab leg soup in teapot. It came with teeeny little cups, and was very strong-tasting, and full of goodies (see the picture). Good stuff for a cold night.

Mentaiki chicken wings came finally - who’d have guessed there was enough meat on a wing to stuff them…? These ones are spicy as they are stuffed with crab roe and kimchi.

While we were debating the merits of the few desserts on the menu, Sam came over again and told us they had another special they were trying that day - Frozen strawberries stuffed with vanilla ice cream, dipped in white chocolate and drizzled with condensed milk. What a decadent and also completely delicious end to the meal (which totalled somewhere around $900 for the 3 of us).

Dining Art has only been open a few months, but I would guess this will become a very popular ‘off the beaten track’ hangout. Of course, there’s no guarantee that everything we had will be available on the day you visit Dining Art, but I bet Sam will be able to recommend something just as good.

One of the great things about sake is that it never seems to give me much of a hangover. One of the not so great things about it is, I don’t realise just how drunk I am until I try and stand up. It’s then that I discover that my knees have turned to jelly and my feet point in opposite directions.

I was drinking sake the other evening in Dozo, the trendiest sushi-go-round in Central. Chilled sake, which is just about the trendiest way to drink sake these days. Traditionally, of course, it is served warm and that is how I’ve always drunk it but after a few sips I was rather warming to it. We’d ordered Ichinokura, a sake from Miyagi prefecture that boasts a light fruitiness.

A sushi-go-round is what I call the popular kaiten style restaurants where the dishes pass by on a conveyor and the all the diner has to is grab the ones they fancy. At the end of the meal the bill is calculated by the coloured rings on the rims of the dishes. At Dozo the dishes start $20 for a black rim, $30 for red etc up to $75. The dishes usually contain either two pieces of sushi rice with toppings or two sushi rolls.

All of the usual culprits were trundling by; Norwegian salmon, yellowfin tuna, those little sweet omelettes called tomago with their belts of seaweed. But there were some slightly unusual ones as well. One that caught my eye is called the Dozo roll. This is actually crispy duck with miso and spring onion. Unconventional but quite delicious all the same, the whiteness of the rice on the outside is freckled with sesame seeds.

But the kaiten does have its drawbacks, especially if you are indecisive like me, and can’t make your mind up that you want something until it is already out of reach. So Dozo also offers a la carte and my guest, who is very good at this sort of thing, took matters - and the menu - in hand.

Within moments she had dispatched the waiter with an impressive looking list then leaned forward and said; “I ordered the sashimi sampler” ($180). I knew she had ordered considerably more than that. Indeed the first item to arrive was prawn tempura maki ($40). The prawns are made crispy by the light batter and wrapped in seaweed.

The sashimi was the next to arrive. An impressive platter that included tuna, arctic clams, yellowtail and prawns neatly presented on a bed of radish. The restaurant apparently takes two deliveries, flown fresh from Japan, each day. The reward is exceptionally fresh sashimi. Even the clams, which I find disappointing in most places, were tender and tasty.

This was followed by prawn yakisoba; ramen noodles fried with prawn chicken, red and green peppers, and bean sprouts garnished with sesame and red ginger. We also had some skewers of chicken yakitori.

After this, sake and conversation took over for a while. It still wasn’t late and it was only Tuesday but the restaurant was doing very well. The menu offers ten different types of sake to cater for all tastes and pockets. They also offer a range of sake and shochu cocktails, hara kiri - chilled sake with triple sec and and gin - caught my eye. I was tempted but sensibly decided to save it for my next visit. We still had an almost full 300ml. decanter on the table.

After a while we decided we needed some tempura. We ordered the mixed ($75) in which vegetables are served with the prawns, and we also ordered some spicy roast tataki beef both of which lived up to the same high standard set by our previous dishes.

There is not a wide range of desserts on the menu but they do have Japanese ice cream, including the very popular green tea flavour. I have to confess, green tea ice cream has never really captured my heart, but sesame ice cream has. What’s more it goes perfectly with sake and was an excellent way to to end a very enjoyable evening.

Funky Fish is a Japanese restaurant at the top of the Langham Place mall in Mongkok. I don’t often go to Japanese restaurants, I tend to indulge my sushi craving at lunchtimes so they tend to get overlooked when it comes to dinner.

I don’t often go to Mongkok either, under normal circumstances the mere suggestion would be enough to fill me with horror but then someone said “There’s restaurants up there you know…”

Well I didn’t know. I’d sort of suspected there must be, but I was using lack of evidence as an excuse not to go and look. So when that someone threw down the gauntlet like that there was only one thing for it.

So there I was one rung from the top and getting hungry. I had been to the top and there are restaurants there but I made the mistake of peering over the edge into the abyss of shops below. I beat a hasty retreat, down a floor and ducked into Funky Fish.

The vertigo was just beginning to subside but the waitress led me to a table that offered just an inch thickness of glass between my back and a fall of … I concentrated hard on the menu. The sushi and sashimi was tempting but I wanted to try something a bit different this time. The waitress was very helpful and patiently answered all my questions.

My first question had about what was included in the Chef’s Selection Appetizer Box ($98). She explained that it contains nine different dishes some of which are on the regular menu but others that vary slightly from day to day depending on what chef finds in the market. It’s quite big and is usually shared.

I was hungry so I ordered one anyway and a bottle of Asahi beer to go with it. All of the dishes in the box were tasty but the ones that stood out for me were the octopus in shiso wasabi sauce, braised whelks and one of the two squid dishes. I’m afraid I don’t know what the sauce was - the waitress couldn’t remember the English name (and I forgot the Chinese name) but I can tell you it was very good indeed.

It’s a popular restaurant. I’d arrived about 7.30 and was one of the first customers but by eight it was doing a brisk trade.

You don’t have to have fish - the menu includes beef teppenyaki as well as lamb, pork and chicken options. But I love fish, and while the grilled yellowtail and the salmon belly were both tempting, I went for the herb grilled sea bass with fried bean curd sheet.

The fish was firm and fresh and quite a generous size. Nevertheless I did find myself wondering if I should order a noodle dish to finish off. But then some noodles were delivered to the people sitting nearby and I came to the realisation that it would indeed be too much.

Instead I ordered a dessert of sesame mousse ($38). There were also numerous green tea options on the dessert menu including ice cream and whilst I don’t mind it I find it hard to get all that enthusiastic about it. Sesame in the other hand is a wonderful dessert flavour. My mousse, sweet but not too sugary, was served in coconut milk and was delicious but could perhaps have benefited from being just a little more chilled than it was.

I paid my bill and got up from the table trying desperately not to look down. There’s a lot more in Langham Place and I shall be back to explore in a little more depth before long.

G/F Shop A, 77 Wyndham Street
Central
Hong Kong
Tel 2526 5551
Fax 2526 5559

3/F Grand Century Place
193 Prince Edward Road West
Mongkok
Kowloon
Tel 2264 4881

1/F Pearl City
24-32 Patterson Street
Causeway Bay
Hong Kong
Tel 2808 0384

2/F 49 Hollywood Road
Central
Hong Kong
Tel 2541 1599

Shop C-D 132 Main Street
Ap Lei Chau
Aberdeen
Hong Kong
Tel 2518 3638

5/F The Toy House
100 Canton Road
Tsimshatsui
Kowloon
Tel 3428 3345

G/F Prosperous Centre
1 Knutsford Terrace
Tsim Sha Tsui
Kowloon
Tel 2722 1555
Fax 2366 8998

G/F Lan Kwai Fong
Central
Hong Kong
Tel 2501 4678

Shop4, G/F Midland Court
Caine Road
Midlevels
Hong Kong
Tel 2331 8110

G/F 379-389 Jaffe Road
Causeway Bay
Hong Kong
Tel 2893 5777

G/F Elegance Court
2-4 Tsoi Street
Happy Valley
Hong Kong
Tel 2803 5558

Shop G10-15, Hutchison House
10 Harcourt Road
Central
Hong Kong
Tel 2523 2524
Fax 2523 2174

G/F Sunning Plaza
10 Hysan Avenue
Causeway Bay
Hong Kong
Tel 2882 8616

13/F Food Forum
Times Square
Matheson Street
Causeway Bay
Hong Kong
Tel 2506 1838

Silvercord
30 Canton Road
Tsim Sha Tsui
Kowloon

11/F, Kyoto Plaza
491-499 Lockhart Road
Causeway Bay
Hong Kong
Tel 3583 1852

Shop B 2/F Hennessy Apartment
48 Percival Street
Causeway Bay
Hong Kong
Tel 2890 8234

2&3/F 8 Russell Street
Causeway Bay
Hong Kong
Tel 2834 4438

60 Stanley Street
Central
Hong Kong
Tel 2537 8332
Fax 2537 8703

G/F Regal Hong Kong Hotel Plaza
68 Tee Wo Street
Causeway Bay
Hong Kong
Tel 2890 6866

1/F The Plaza
21 D’Aguilar Street
Central
Hong Kong
Tel 2804 6883

Basement, 16 Lan Kwai Fong
Central
Hong Kong
Tel 2525 1889

G/F, 21 Lan Fong Road
Causeway Bay
Hong Kong
Tel 2890 7580
Fax 2890 7634

G 1015 Yiu Shing mansion
Stage 10 Tai Koo Shing
Hong Kong
Tel 2186 6969

Unit B. 2/F Cameron Plaza
23-25A Cameron Road
Tsimshatsui
Kowloon
Tel 2301 3555

G9, G/F Site 9 Lily Mansion
Whampoa Garden
Hung Hom
Kowloon
Tel 2189 7098

Flat B5, (/F Block B Kingston Building
2-4 Kingston Street
Causeway Bay
Hong Kong
Tel 2915 0083

2/F 28 Sharp Street East
Causeway Bay
Hong Kong
Tel 2838 6428

2/F Plaza 2000
2, Russell Street
Causeway Bay
Hong Kong
Tel 2834 3255

Level 4, Four Seasons Hotel
8 Finance Street
Central
Hong Kong
Tel 2805 0600

G/F Cheerful Court
1-5 Shing Ping Street
Happy Valley
Hong Kong
Tel 2893 3917

Harbour Plaza Hong Kong
20 Tak Fung Street
Hung Hom
Kowloon
Tel 2996 8438

G/F, 19 – 21 Tong Chong Street
Quarry Bay
Hong Kong
Tel 2563 3000
Fax 2563 3013