Japanese restaurants continue to proliferate in Hong Kong and one of the latest is Kagura in Elements mall. It specialises in yakiniku – Japanese-style Korean barbecue, featuring Mirai beef from the owner Haruyoshi Kashiwaba’s farm in Hokkaido. The opening of Kagura in Hong Kong also marks the restaurant’s first expansion overseas.

As a result the decor has a rustic theme based on the original restaurant, with piles of wood decorating the exterior, while inside there are brick walls and wooden beams on the ceiling. It feels cosy despite having a large dining space, and the restaurant was practically full on the night of our visit.

As at many yakiniku restaurants, diners are given a disposable bib to wear to protect their clothes from the splatters of the grilling meat,although it would have even betterif the tables were a bit bigger. The Hokkaido potato salad (HK$58) was already sold out on the evening we went, which also meant we couldn’t try the warm mozzarella and potato (HK$78), so instead we tried the tomato salad (HK$78). It had wedges of Japanese tomato, chopped cos lettuce and a light vinaigrette dressing. Assorted kimchi (HK$78) wasn’t that spicy and featured the fermented cabbage, small sliced cucumbers and radish.

The assorted Mirai beef yakiniku platter for two (HK$420) showcased different parts of the cow – loin, rump, tenderloin and karubi, or boneless short rib.The gas-powered grill cooked the thin slices quickly, and left hardly any smell of smoke on our clothes. Unlike most traditional grills where the smoke is removed by an overhead ventilator, at Kagaura, the smoke is pushed downwards into an exhaust system.