This new Japanese eatery is thankfully far enough down the hill from the noisy demolition work taking place at California Tower for it to feel like a world away. The sleek interior, predominantly in shiny black, oozes futuristic glam, but the menu is less intimidating - plenty of sushi and sashimi, grilled and hot pot dishes. There is a separate menu for tempura and, with a tempura chef who spent several years at Inagiku, the tempura is indeed excellent with its light and crispy batter and succulent morsels within. There is a particularly large range of fish and seafood tempura, including local, Japanese and King live prawns (HK$48, HK$88 and HK$168 respectively), steamed and premium abalone (HK$68 and HK$200 respectively), mantis shrimp (HK$42), silver pomfret (HK$38) and sole tonguefish (HK$42). Plenty of seasonal vegetables are also available tempura-style, as are some specials such as sea urchin rolled in snapper, cheese rolled in shiso leaf and shrimp paste stuffed in bitter melon tempura. Diners are offered the choice of dipping their tempura in salt, green tea salt, curry powder or fresh lemon juice instead of the standard tempura sauce. From the ?la carte menu, the stewed turnip and sea eel (HK$58) was warm and reassuring; the large chunk of sweet daikon radish had soaked up the flavours of the miso-style soup, and the eel on top was tender and nicely flaky. The Japanese sole fish, veranda sushi (HK$78), was an intriguing and mouthwatering mix of smoky and citrus flavours. Diners can sit at tall stools at the counter and watch the chefs at work, and opt for omakase, leaving their meal in the hands of the chef. There is a dedicated sake sommelier to help diners choose from the more than 20 varieties. There is also a few varieties of shochu, fruit liqueur, whisky, and champagne, and one red and one white wine.
2/F, Unit 208-209, Yip Fung Building, 2-18 D'Aguilar Street, Central, 2840 1401
