Ambience: quiet and comfortable. The focus of the room is a large counter with a glistening and varied display of seafood.

Pros: many of the dishes we ordered were specials recommended by the waitress, and we'd heard from previous diners that these off-menu items were shockingly expensive. They all turned out to be within the same price range as the regular dishes on the menu. Although the fish is served with fresh wasabi, we didn't need it because the sushi had enough seasoning and so needed only a tiny dip in the soy sauce. All the sashimi dishes came with different sauces.

Cons: I've attempted to review Sushi Shin many times, but the place was always fully booked. Sadly, with the unreasonable mass hysteria over all Japanese food, the place is now practically empty. Our waitress recommended saury sashimi (HK$160) - an oily fish that we'd only previously tasted grilled. Although obviously very fresh, it didn't excite our palates.

Recommended dishes: the Japanese tomato (HK$70) puts all other fresh tomatoes I've ever tasted to shame. Cut into wedges then laid on crushed ice, it was so sweet and flavourful that the salt served on the side was unnecessary. Flounder sashimi (HK$150) came as very delicate slices of two cuts of the fish: the tender flesh and the muscle had a crunchy, bouncy texture. Sea urchin sushi (HK$60 per piece) was as rich and mouth-filling as the best we've tried. Botan ebi sushi (above, HK$60 each) were by far the largest, sweetest raw shrimp we've tasted. The heads and roe of the shrimp were served as a second dish (HK$20), and so expertly fried we could eat the entire thing, including the crisp antennae. Tuna cheek sushi (HK$80 each) was tender, fatty pieces of fish lightly grilled. Mackerel sashimi (HK$200) was absolutely delicious: the thick slices of fish were slit down the centre, filled with small pieces of fresh shiso leaf and sprinkled with sesame seeds.

What else? The chefs are from the famous Kenjo in Tsim Sha Tsui.