(I always like writing Japan! with an exclamation mark because I imagine some violent comic-book Japanese schoolgirl yelling “JAPAN!” and slicing somebody’s head off with a katana.)
These are my favorite Japanese restaurants and bars in Hong Kong.
Sake Bar: SAKE BAR GINN
Sake Bar Ginn is in Ho Lee Commercial Building, aka the place you find passed out dudes at 5am who couldn’t quite get home from Volar. Ho Lee Commercial Building in turn is in Lan Kwai Fong, which is normally a death sentence for good food and drink, but SBG is the real deal. They have high-quality on-the-menu and off-the-menu sakes, an outdoor terrace to watch drunks, and small plates almost as good as the booze.
The real reason I’m a fan, though, is manager Ayuchi Momose, a Sake Service Institute certified sommelier who spends her vacations learning how to make sake, which is insane. Can you imagine going on holiday to get better at your job? Ayuchi does the Japanese service thing properly, which means discreet, precise and professional, or “the opposite of all service in SoHo.” I went there for my birthday and ate all the soft bone chicken they had and drank all the sake I could afford. That was a good day.
Upscale Restaurant: RYUGIN
RyuGin is basically the “closer” restaurant for a date—if you can’t impress your lover here, it’s time to dine and ditch and return to Hong Kong Cupid with your tail between your legs.Ryu Gin’s on the 101st floor of the ICC building, which means awesome views of Hong Kong, or—if it’s raining—a view of absolutely nothing.
But that’s OK because I’ll focus on the food. Each night there’s only one menu, which is small and delightful and will have two or three flavors you have never had. Besides sashimis and sushis there are other Japanese delights: my favorite being the rice with tiny fried shrimp (at least I think they were shrimp) and their desserts, which make people go “mmmmmm” and do that eye-rollback thing. DOWNSIDE: Price. SOLUTION: Slut it up and have someone take you. Japan! Hong Kong! Slutting it up for free meals!