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Harry Rolnick

Pangs of guilt struck the Japanese in the late 1960s. With the world at their economic feet, they were feeling too good.

What could they do? Juppies chose robatayaki restaurants.

For robatayaki was a way for them to return to their roots, as well as a form of catharsis.

Thus, expensive architects and designers built stylised farmhouses in the middle of urban Shinjuku, and wonderfully designed gardens amid Osaka's trading centres.

  The robatayaki restaurant is still a Japanese tradition, but is rarely transported outside the country.

Hong Kong, though, has two or three of these places and the three-year-old Fukui Restaurant (meaning 'the well of blessings') is one of the best.

You won't find anything especially luxurious for robatayaki thrives on simplicity. There are no fancy bottles for pouring out sake - they use wooden barrels instead. And there aren't any fancy sushi-platters - only plain grilled fish.

But as Fukui Restaurant is in Hong Kong, compromises are made.

There is a teppanyaki counter and sushi bar at different ends of the restaurant, with semi-private shoji compartments as well as a few private tatami rooms.

You can still order outrageously priced Kobe beef or succulent raw tuna that is decorated with gold flakes.

However, eat simply and one can have a sumptuous banquet at prices within any purse.

The simplest-sounding items on the menu hide feasts.

Most customers will select the raw fish and tempura, or, if on a budget, look for the set meals. All are available but they can be found anywhere in town.

Instead, the secret to dining in the Fukui is its country-style simplicity and its mainly grilled fish and vegetable dishes.

Without exception, they are presented with an easy elegance.

How do you order? The least adorned dishes are often the best.

My Japanese guest insisted on the deep-fried bean curd. The outside was golden-brown, somewhere between crisp and flexible. The inside could only be compared to a delicate souffle.

Those used to Portuguese cod will find heaven in the grilled silver codfish.

This is cod with the skin so lightly grilled it has only its own oils as a coating, resting in a delicate bean sauce. But it is natural cod, flaking into juicy pieces.

The deep-fried salmon skin is typical for robatayaki and is a simple snack food to go with beer or sake.

Then there are the tiny Japanese crabs. For $70, one is presented with a dozen to be eaten whole.

They were served on a 'net' of crispy noodles and had the most delicate salty taste.

'What could it be?' I asked the waitress.

'Nothing at all,' she said. 'The crabs are quickly fried in their own juices with some sea salt thrown in.' Heavenly.

I couldn't resist the nato, that strange combination of fermented soyabeans and eggs.

'Until robatayakis, we would only have this at home,' explained my guest.

'It is so nutritious, and has so many vitamins that parents would feed it to their children. No real Japanese restaurant would serve it. But the robatayakis made it natural.' Large parties should indulge in the whole robatayaki experience such as fresh mushrooms lightly grilled in a butter sauce. Or take thin slices of beef, wrap them round golden mushrooms and grill.

The two of us barely explored the range of beautiful dishes at Fukui. We couldn't resist the sashimi, but it was the wrong place to eat it. Fukui is the restaurant for small delicacies, barely cooked to retain their natural flavours, presented without fuss for the most naturally pleasing effect.

It goes without saying that we finished with green tea ice cream, which wasn't too sweet. But this being a robatayaki, a sesame ice cream was also available.

Without the expensive sushi, a couple can indulge in a broad range of foods for about $800, including the sake.

In Japanese terms, this is a bargain. In culinary terms, Fukui exemplifies the minimum preparation approach that produces maximum satisfaction.

FUKUI RESTAURANT 6th floor, Coda Plaza, 51 Garden Road, Central. Tel: 2523-3030 Open: Noon-3pm, 6-11.30pm 



Simply the best sort of country dishes