Katte Shabushabu 勝手

I haven't cooked in a long while and this evening I wanted to all of a sudden. Being the lazy person that I am, in order to get the best of both worlds, hot pot / Japanese shabu shabu was the best choice whereby I can fulfill my desire to cook and to explore new establishments at the same time. The whole store front was transparent with a huge glass wall which I think is a good way to promote itself via the display window. The layout of the tables (or long bar table) reminds me of Restaurant City @ Facebook whereby the waiter / staff would deliver and serve dishes inside the enclosed aisle for greater efficiency. Anyways ...



Each guest has his/her individual pot in front of the "bar table." Among the choices on the menu, we picked the set dinners because we were too lazy to order individual items. The set came with a main dish (see below), the choice of soup bases and some side items such as assorted vegetables.

(1) Soup Bases
My friend picked the Clear Red Snapper soup (Left Picture) and I picked the Fish and Kelp Soup (Right Picture). Mine was more of a clear soup based which I like and the Clear Red Snapper soup wasn't as clear as I expected. I tried both soup bases from the start but realized that both were lightly flavored. Apparently, as informed by one of the owners present there that evening, it was intentional to keep the soup base rather light to start with because it will get to be more rich and strong after the meal. It was after the meal when the soup should be consumed to get the most of out it in terms of flavors. (and I did follow the advice and enjoyed the more complex flavors of he soup at the end of the meal!)



(2) Shabu Shabu Deluxe Set
As part of the main dish of the set, the star of the show was the Miyazaki Beef Flat of Rounds (A4 Grade). It was fresh and thinly sliced. A few seconds in the boiling soup would be sufficient to bring the beef its optimal eating condition according to the CHEF of the night, which is ME! The beef would melt in your mouth but due to the light soup base, I only tasted the beef and not much of the flavors of the soup. It was as if I was cooking the beef in plain boiling water. (the Clear Red Snapper Soup was better in this perspective because it started of with a stronger flavors) If you are to order my clear soup base, I would suggest to cook some vegetables using the soup first to elevate the underlying flavors of soup base. Just a tip from Chef wannabe Jason.



(3) Shabu Shabu Seafood Set
For the seafood set, it came with Clam, Prawn, Oysters and Scallops. All items were of extra large size if you ask me. They looked fresh and tasted fresh. Again, with such shabu shabu setting and with fresh ingredients, we can all be great chefs! It was fun indeed!



All items were huge, especially the oyster!



As recommended, placing the shrimp head into the soup at the start would produce a strong and rich flavors for the soup throughout the meal, give it a try to see if it works for you!



(3) Side Items
As part of the set, it came with Assorted Vegetables, Inaniwa Udon and Clear Clam Soup as well. Not much of surprises here. The way the Udon was presented was nice but make sure you cook the Udon last so to get the most out of the soup.



The clear clam soup was rather light in flavors and was not served hot but warm instead. Not what I expected (or preferred) and a few points off for serving it warm!



(5) Japanese Pork Slices
The two main dishes we shared were not enough so we ordered an extra plate of meat. Instead of beef, we opted for pork. They were fresh and without much surprises. The beef was definitely better.



(6) Grilled OX Tongue
Now this was surprisingly delicious. The grilled OX tongue was thick and firm, carrying a very chewy sensation to it. Flavors were good as well with traces of grounded pepper all over it. I was surprised because at a place where YOU the diner is the CHEF, I did not expect cooked items to be this enjoyable. Thumbs up!

Likes

• Fun - If you want to be a chef for a night, this is a good place to start with. The quality of the items all depend on YOU! Not much skills from the kitchen there, smart way to do business indeed.
  
• Grilled OX Tongue
• Fresh Ingredients

Dislikes:

• Warm clear clam soup
• Seating arrangement quite packed

Avg Spending: Above HKD 500 per person

勝手 Katte Shabushabu
G/F, 5 Caroline Hill Rd, Causeway Bay, Hong Kong
Tel: 2577 2628


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Hanagushi Yakitori 花串

After our happy hour dessert at Sift, it was time for something light! Japanese was the best choice in my opinion. It has been a while since I last had a meal here and my previous two visits were for lunch so I was up for some surprises tonight. The entrance of the place is hiding to the right of the staircase on the first floor and once you entered, expect to be greeted by waiting staff very soon after.



As soon as you turn open the menu, you would soon realize that this place specializes in yakitori. However, since we were here for something light , we opted for less meaty dishes. With the wide selection of items on the menu, I had to order a beer to calm myself down. Yeah, I know, just an excuse, but a darn good excuse right?



(1) Daily Special Fish Soup
The staff highly recommended it when we were ordering and I am glad we trusted her. It was very well prepared with very rich and fresh fish taste in every spoonful. The milky color of the soup was definitely a result of long cooking / preparation time and not of coloring in my opinion. There was a piece of tofu sitting at the bottom of the bowl and it complimented the smoothness of the tofu as well as the silky smooth texture of the soup! Two thumbs up! The only negative thing is that it is a daily special item so try your luck next time.



(2) Yellowtail Sushi
Among the many choices of fish, I selected yellowtail not because I heart this fish in particular but because the staff mentioned about having a daily special of Grilled Yellowtail Head. Daily special usually translate to freshly arrived items with a marked up price tag, so I assumed that yellowtail sushi would be from portion of the freshly arrived fish as well. Not certain if my logic was right but that was exactly what I was thinking when placing the order. However, it was a fair dish only; it was relative fresh in the sense that it likely arrived in the early afternoon or even in the morning kind of fresh. Maybe my logic needs some tweaking ... humm ... (whatever that means ... )



(3) Deep Fried Soft Bean Curd (Agedashi Tofu)
Another favourite dish of mine in any Japanese restaurants. The fried tofu was fair with a light batter on the outer layer and a very soft interior. What I really liked about this dish being served was the sauce and the generous portion of garnishes especially the thinly sliced dried bonito fish flakes. Not bad at all.



(4) Grilled Cod Fish SAKYO Style
The size of the grilled cod provided a very heavy dose of Omega 3 for me! Although it was huge, I finished all of it because it was good. The sauce used was not as rich and strong as I hoped. It was unfortunate that we were there for a light menu so did not order any rice. I could have consumed two bowls of rice with this single dish! Yummy!



(5) Udon soup with Tempura
The udon was not chewy at all and the tempura batter was rather "hard" because it was slightly overcooked in my opinion. Nothing surprising from this bowl of noodle except for the soup which was rather comforting to consume because it was slightly sweet (and hot) but not overly strong with the soy sauce flavor.

Likes:

• Fish Soup - very good ! Strong and Rich in fish taste
• Grilled Cod
• Agedashi Tofu - love the dried Bonito flakes

Dislikes:

• Udon - too soft
• Yellowtail sushi - not as fresh as I hoped due to my faulted logic

Avg Spending: HKD 300 - 500 per person

Hanagushi Yakitori Japanese Restaurant 花串日本料理
1/F., Ho Lee Commercial Bldg.,
17-22 Lan Kwai Fong , Central
Tel: 2521 0868

The Yuu 一遊

My first impression of this place was that the overall decor resembles very much like The Mon @ CWB. Once I looked at their menu, it just further reinforced my assumption due the the series of similarities between them. (I am still not sure by the way.) Let's go back and talk about the decor. The environment looks very much Japanese in my opinion and the ambiance (ie: lighting) was great as well. Not too dark but very soft and mild. Such an atmosphere is great for light meals after work with a few friends and chat over a few beers.




(1) A very fresh fish / Sashimi (Daily Special)
I forgot what was the name of this fish but it was very fresh indeed. (I only know it was not 池魚) There were various condiments in the center of the plate for you to mix with the very thinly sliced sashimi but I personally preferred it the way it was, plain fresh sashimi with just a bit of the sauce.



(2) The Yuu Salad 一遊沙拉
Interesting use of ingredients for this dish. In addition to the normal greens, there were tapioca (those bubbles form in Bubble Tea) and plain mini dumplings (aka "tong yue") as part of the ingredients. These two items provided an interesting texture to the salad. However, the dressing was a bit too watery in my opinion.



(3) Yellow Tail Belly Sashimi (Hamachi) with Geoduck 油金魚/象拔蚌
According to the staff, both the yellow tail and geoduck were daily special and arrived that afternoon. The staff explained in such detailed on their freshness that we might as well give it a try. The Hamachi belly was very nice, the fish oil / fatty part of it slowly melted in the mouth. Of course Toro is still the best in terms of the melting effect/sensation but the one being served was above average already. The geoduck on the other hand was very disappointing. Not only was the portion smaller than expected (we order a whole geoduck expecting a bigger one of course), but it was not that fresh at all. It was chewy but crisp but taste -wise it was not very appealing because it did not taste very fresh in my opinion.



(4) Robatayaki Selection
(Grilled OX tongue 牛舌 / Grilled Salty Fresh Eel 鹽燒鰻魚 / Grilled Minced Chicken 免治雞肉 / Grilled pork with Eggplant 豬肉茄子 / Grilled Quail Eggs 鵪鶉蛋) We ordered a selection of various grilled items. The ox tongue was fair, would be better if grilled a bit longer. Salty Fresh eel was surprisingly delicious but seemed to have too many tiny fish bones in my opinion. (I know eel has many but there were too many ... ...) The grilled pork with eggplant was another surprise. The softness of the eggplant together with the tender pork slices wrapped around was a good combination both in terms of taste and texture. As for the Minced Chicken and Quail Eggs, both were alright, no surprises.





(5) Omelet with crab meat 蟹肉厚燒玉子
I mentioned it many time, whenever there is anything similar to tamagoyaki, I would order it. There was not difference this time. I am not 100% sure if these are traditional way of doing it in terms of having different fillings for the tamagoyaki, but I enjoyed it very much. The egg has been slowly cooked / grilled but not being overcooked. The texture and taste of the crab meat complimented the texture of the egg nicely. I only wished the egg layers were thicker to give it a better "chewing" sensation. One thing I really liked was the way how it was served. The entire tamagoyaki was served as a whole piece without being cut into slices. Thumbs up!



(6) Soft-shell crab Maki 軟殼蟹卷
A fair dish with freshly deep fried soft shell crab but flavor-wise was a bit weak. I think the hand roll option might be a smarter choice but hard to share.

Likes:

• Atmosphere & Decor
• Omelet with crab meat 蟹肉厚燒玉子, very good.
• Grilled pork with Eggplant 豬肉茄子 robatayaki, the combination of these two ingredients is worth a try

Dislikes:

• Service was a bit slow in general
• Very disappointing "fresh" geoduck (象拔蚌)

The Yuu
4/F, Prosperous Centre,
1 Knutsford Terrace, TST
Tel: 2366 2999

Robatayaki Ichiban 一番

This restaurant has been operating for many years, at least 15 years accordingly to my sources. It is one of my occasional selections in the Causeway Bay area whenever I feel like having casual Japanese. Usually I come here not because of the sushi or sashimi but for its Robatayaki 爐端燒 and its atmosphere which gives off a slightly worn-out authentic Izakaya 居酒屋 feeling. On a side note, frequent visitors to this place would recall seeing a cat running around. It belongs to the Japanese owners of this restaurant but wait a second, a cat inside a Japanese restaurant serving raw fish? humm ....

Since this is an Izakaya 居酒屋, how can we not order some beer or sake. Sake it was. There were not many choices so we asked the staff for suggestions. He suggested this slightly un-filtered sake because he likes it. O well, I like it as well because un-filtered sake in general is slightly sweeter. I am no expert in sake but this one seemed alright to me, it was easy to drink and fairly smooth as well. We ordered the following to go along with the sake: (1) OX Tongue 燒牛舌 (2) Chicken Kidney 燒雞腎 (3) Chicken Soft Bone 雞軟骨 (4) Grill Leek 燒京蔥 (5) Grill Tamago 燒玉子 (6) Grill Chicken Wings 燒雞翼 (7) Grilled Quail Eggs 燒鵪鶉蛋 (8) Chawanmushi 茶碗蒸蛋. If you ask me, I think the key factors to good Robatayaki are fresh ingredients and experienced grilling techniques. The spices and salt are condiments used to further bring out the freshness of the ingredients. A simple but complicated item to prepared well.

(1) OX Tongue 燒牛舌
One of my favorite items to order in any Japanese restaurant if they have it. The pieces they prepared here were bigger than other places but they were well flavored. The amount of salt used was just right to bring out the taste of the ox tongue. Texture wise, it was chewy (as it should be) but not overly so. Thumbs up especially with s sip of sake to go along.


(2) Chicken Kidney 燒雞腎
Not a common item I would order but glad we did because it was good. Very chewy (crispy kind of chewy) and well flavored. I think I will order this again next time at other places as well for comparison purposes.


(3) Chicken Soft Bone 雞軟骨
In my opinion, this is as difficult to grill as grilled chicken skin. For some reasons, grilled chicken soft bone as always an addictive items like grilled OX Tongue, a must order. Maybe it is just me?


(4) Grill Leek 燒京蔥
The grill marks made the leek look very impressive but taste wise it was fair only. The outer layer was hot and slightly crispy but the center was rather "cold" to me. Maybe one more minute on the grill would be better.

(5) Grill Tomago 燒玉子
This is another TOUGH dish to prepare well in ANY Japanese restaurant in Hong Kong or in Japan. To my understanding, an authentic way to prepare one "brick" of it would require time and patient because it is a slow and repetitive process. Important characteristics should include slightly sweet flavor and it should be layered evenly and pressed hard against each layer. In my opinion, in can be served cold or hot as long as it is done correctly. However, the tamago we got was a disappointing dish because the layers were loosely folded / packed and taste wise there was a rich butter flavor which I don't think should belong anywhere here. Disappointing indeed.

(6) Grill Chicken Wings 燒雞翼
Too dry, too salty and skin too thick / chewy. The wings themselves were meaty but maybe because they were sized differently but cooked simultaneously, the quality consistency failed my standard. I think the size issue is an important issue, a minor but important factor worth extra attention.

(7) Grilled Quail Eggs 燒鵪鶉蛋
Now, time for the heavy cholesterol bomb or bombs! We both know quail eggs are high in cholesterol but we just cannot resist them. Wherever a Chinese restaurant offers quail eggs dim sums, they will be on my table sooner than you can imagine. The way it was prepared here include some sauce over them but I would be equally happy with just plain salt. A simple but delicious items to try.

(8) Chawanmushi 茶碗蒸蛋

This is another dish I often order at any Japanese restaurant because I like it. However, quality can vary by a lot. I will start my Japanese theme soon so I will recommend few places where I think offer great Chawanmushi later on. As for the one here, it was too watery, either a few more minutes in the steamer or less stock would be better. On the plus side though, the ingredients used were plentiful. Flavor wise it was fair, slightly too weak because of the watery issue.

Likes:

• Cozy environment & atmosphere
• OX Tongue 燒牛舌
• Chicken Kidney 燒雞腎
• Chicken Soft Bone 雞軟骨
• Grilled Quail Eggs 燒鵪鶉蛋

Dislikes:

• uncomfortable seating (slightly packed)
• can be quite noisy
• the cat that wanders around
• very disappointing (Grill Tomago 燒玉子)

Robatayaki Ichiban 一番
G/F, 21 Lan Fong Road
Causeway Bay, Hong Kong
Tel:2890-7580