The closing of borders has made food travel virtually impossible during the pandemic and coincidentally, has given rise to some of the local fine-dining restaurants. High-end restaurants including Tempura Jiro (天ぷら次郎) were a few of the hardest tables to book amidst the pandemic with some claiming that it took almost a year in advance to secure a booking. However, no such problem now as most of our travel life is back to normal.
I ran out of ideas for Jelloman's birthday celebration and since we had such an amazing time with our tempura lunch back in Tokyo a few weeks ago, I decided to splurge on a luxurious meal at Tempura Jiro with little nugget also tagging along.
First up, we were presented with different flavors of salt including truffle, green tea, seaweed and rock salt from Himalayas (from left to right).
While the chefs started firing up the fryer, we were offered some marinated tuna (akami-zuke) to start off the meal. These came with very nice velvety texture.
Shrimp head – Starting things off was the always popular shrimp head. Very crispy and flaky.
Okinawa Shrimp – Didn't take long before their first signature item was served up. This came with an ultra-light batter.
Asparagus and sweet corn – The asparagus came with this lovely crisp on the outside. I thought the sweet corn from Hokkaido surprised me with its crunch.
Shiitake mushroom – The mushroom came stuffed with prawn mousse offering a very interesting mouthfeel but what happened to its thin batter? A disappearing act?
Maitake mushroom – I actually enjoyed this a little more than the shiitake mushroom thanks to the very crispy batter adding to the texture of the maitake.
Whiting – I was never a fan of fish so.....
But it combined very well with the sweet soy.
The highlight of the dish was actually the soft bone (spinal cord?) which was so crunchy that it almost felt like having chips.
At this point, we enjoyed a break in action from the deep-fried stuff. With the change of pace, we were offered a refreshing chawanmushi with dashi, seaweed and chrysanthemum. This was full of floral notes.
Seaweed with ikura – The crispy nori sheet with the crispiness of the batter meets the explosiveness of the salmon roes.
Very interesting mouthfeel and we were supposed to finish this with just a couple of bites.
Sea eel – This was very very filling.
I have to admit that I have never been a fan of anything made with fish so the sweet potatoes on the side was far more appealing to yours truly.
Tendon – The steamed rice was topped with kakiage, a tempura fritter made with chunks of shrimp, scallop and octopus. The flavors of the kakiage was further enhanced by the seaweed, shiso and orange zest. A very lovely end to the meal.
It was followed by a bowl of red miso soup.
Dessert was musk melon which was ripe and sweet.
Food Rating: 6/10
Price: $$$$$
Address: Shop E, G/F, World Trust Tower, 50 Stanley Street, Central, Hong Kong
Closest Metro Station: Central
Tel: +852 2780-8666
Opening Hours: 12:00pm - 3:00pm, 6:00pm - 10:00pm daily
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