Posts Tagged Japanese

This has been C’s regular lunch spots for some time as it is just around the corner from her office. But R and I have never been Fortunately R’s golf buddy also recommended this place and he arranged a dinner gathering so that we could try it out. As with all sushi restaurants, we made a point to sit at the sushi counter and specifically requested to be served by the handsome chef, Satoro-san.

As January 1st is also a big festival in Japan, we started off with some traditional Japanese hors d’oeuvres and mochi (rice cake) soup to celebrate the New Year. And what’s a celebration without great wine – our friends bought a bottle of Okunomatsu Daiginjo Shizuku Sake Juhachidai Ihei (奥の松 大吟醸雫酒 十八代伊兵衛). Satoro-san called the shots, so we had no idea what we were to be offered next. We started with some dried scallops topped with salmon roe. Then came the sashimi, which was very fresh and the o-toro (fatty tuna) was stunning – literally melted in our mouths like butter. The sake was a bit sweet on the first sip, but opened up and paired perfectly with the sashimi. The next surprise was the seared salmon wrapped in lettuce, which was very refreshing. A delicious baked lobster followed, but we were thinking “cooked food already? What about the sushi???” Lo and behold, we had something we never tried before – yaki hamachi (seared yellowtail) sushi. Excellent. Could this be even better than yaki toro (seared tuna)? We’ll soon find out. A boiled carrot again had us wondering is that all the sushi he’s going to serve us??? But it must have been intended as a palate cleanser. O-toro, yaki toro and saba (mackerel) were served one after the other. And yes, the yaki hamachi was better than the yaki toro, maybe because it was the first time we tried it. To top it off, a steamed sushi rice included awabi (abalone), anago (conger eel), ikura (salmon roe), uni (sea urchin) and kani (crab) served in a bamboo steamer. To end, we had a small sample of cold somen noodles, which is thinner and more refreshing than the Inaniwa udon we normally have. It was good that we could order as much or as little as we liked. After all that food, we couldn’t resist to try the noodles, but a full portion would have been too much.

During dessert (Japanese melon followed by mochi), Satoro-san asked us if we liked whiskey…are you kidding? He treated us to a glass of Lagavulin 16 years. The single malt was really smokey, which we enjoyed very much, and it really got us going. We were then dared to try a 46% alcohol rice wine – Echigo Samurai 46 degrees (越後さむらい46度)! We were up to the challenge and it actually drank very easily and smooth. Very pure and no we didn’t have a throbbing headache or hangover afterwards.

Worked out to HK$1,200/US$154 per person, quite reasonable for the quality of food that we had. This is no doubt one of the best sushi places in town. Comparable to some of the Michelin star restaurants in Tokyo. The proportion of rice to fish was perfect and the rice was squeezed just right. Hate it when some places give you a huge block of rice and worse when it all falls apart. None of that here. A very memorable experience and I’m sure R will be nagging C non-stop for not taking us here earlier. Another great place for sushi…and on Hong Kong island too! Yippeee.

– 19/20

Sushi Kuu 壽司喰
1/F Wellington Place
2-8 Wellington Street
Central, Hong Kong
T: +852 2971 0180
E: mail@sushikuu.com.hk

100105 Sushi Kuu - Chopsticks cover

100105 Sushi Kuu - Chopsticks holder

100105 Sushi Kuu - Handsome chef, Satoro-san