Qube Sushi on Wyndham Street is a tiny place, serving a maximum of 11 customers. It's named after the Tokyo sushi bar Ginza Kyubei, whose owner, Yosuke Imada, supplies the Central eatery with its ingredients, flown in daily from Japan. Ginza Kyubei has been in Imada's family for about 100 years.
'Mr Imada created the gunkan-maki [battleship roll] sushi, which is a cone of rice wrapped with seaweed and topped with fresh seafood,' says Lam Po-yan, general manager of Qube Sushi. 'His restaurant supplies us with the fresh seafood, rice, vinegar and wine needed for making sushi, and he shares his expertise with our chef.
'To meet Mr Imada's standards, we import bottled water from Shizuoka in Japan, known for its purity, cleanliness and sweet taste, to wash and cook the rice. The proportions of rice and vinegar for making sushi are Mr Imada's family secret.'
The owner of Qube Sushi is a local entertainment tycoon who once dined at Ginza Kyubei and was bowled over by the place. He persuaded Imada to share his knowledge and invested in his own exclusive sushi bar: Qube Sushi. As well as having the cutlery and the crockery custom designed, the owner spent HK$400,000 on a piece of wood from Japan that would become the sushi counter (top).
Set lunches range from HK$180 to HK$300 and a set dinner will cost about HK$1,000. Sushi (above left) can be ordered by the piece and includes fatty tuna (HK$140), sea urchin (HK$150), salmon roe (HK$90), scallop (HK$80), jumbo shrimp (HK$90) and a spring special of yellowtail amberjack (HK$90).
More than 40 types of sake (above right; up to HK$10,000 a bottle) are available, along with five shochus (up to HK$20,000), red and white wines and Dom Perignon champagne.