Fair pit stop for diners in a hurry
This year will have a brutal impact on Hong Kong's restaurant fortunes. But at far less than $100 a head, with a harbour view and a smidgeon of atmosphere, it is restaurants such as Hyakunin-Issyu that are likely to survive.
Located on the third floor of the World Trade Centre in Causeway Bay, the Japanese restaurant is excellent value.
The question is, would you rather eat five platters of mediocre sushi at $70 each over five meals, or would you prefer to blow it on a $350 selection of superb quality from a five-star venue? What this restaurant never pretends to be is anything other than what it is - middle-of-the-road. As a pit stop on a busy shopping schedule, it is a fair to good choice. It is quick, functional, and dispenses with most of the niceties, although some attention has obviously been paid to the decor.
A large space is effectively broken up into a few areas. The bar area is built around a giant fish tank, so no matter where you are at the bar you can watch the fish. This makes meals-for-one a less lonesome experience. It also beats looking at a blank wall.
Fish tanks are, in fact, a recurring design feature in the restaurant. No matter where you are seated, there are fish within spitting distance to keep you company. The rest of the decor is a mix of light or dark wood in various combinations.
The picture-book menu, too, is fairly anonymous. Steering clear of beef (a lingering fear of mad cow disease) and poultry (bird flu alert), we ordered bean curd udon ($40), tempura donburi and udon ($55), tempura and udon ($65), assorted sushi ($70) and a cucumber roll ($30).
The sushi arrived almost as soon as we finished ordering. For $70, we were not expecting the best Hong Kong can offer. But the selection of tuna, prawn, yellowtail, salmon, eel, cuttlefish and cucumber was not too shabby.
The ingredients were fresh, although the eel was rather less fleshy than it could have been. By some tastes, there could have been a little too much wasabi in the cucumber roll, and the seaweed was so dry it was shrivelled.
The rice also would have been found wanting by connoisseurs.
The accompanying pickled ginger was sad and wilted.
The egg sushi, which was in the picture on the menu, was missing. This was not the only time the pictures told a lie, although it was the only time we minded.
The second incident of picture imperfect was welcome. One of the dishes in the set tray of tempura/udon selections looked suspiciously like chicken, which we decided we would ignore.
The glass noodles that were served in its place were a much better idea. We could not work out the reason for the switch, but in the end were grateful because the cold noodles were probably the best dish of our meal.
Our two tempura dishes were different in one way only - in one, the tempura was served on rice; in the other, it was served on the side.
Both came with udon noodles in soup. The generous tempura servings were the same - prawns and vegetables.
The sole complaint here was that the tempura batter was slightly heavy, but not inedibly so. Again, for $55 and $65, respectively, both dishes were remarkably good value although the batter was slightly heavier than it should be.
While we did not mind, we were not sure Hong Kong's Japanese community would be as unfussy. There was not one Japanese among the hordes, which was not a good sign.
The restaurant is clean and has a non-smoking section. The bill came to $286 with enough food for at least four.
Hyakunin-Issyu, Shop P312-313, World Trade Centre, 280 Gloucester Road, Causeway Bay, Hong Kong, Tel: 2881-6191, Lunch: Mon-Fri 11.30am-2.30pm, Sat noon-3pm, Sun noon-2.30, dinner daily 5.30pm-10.30pm
