Friday, May 9, 2014

Sushi To by Harlan Goldstein (Hong Kong, CHINA) ★★★★☆

This month, celebrity chef Harlan Goldstein invades Causeway's new Soundwill Plaza II with two of his newest restaurants - Sushi To and Penthouse. Sushi To by Harlan Goldstein, the first of the two to open, soft opens tonight and we decided to come for a sneak preview.



While contemporary Japanese cuisine may be unchartered waters for Chef Harlan, together with executive chef Maeda Norihisa and his team, Sushi To promises an exciting menu that features a wide range of seasonal creations and specialty dishes using only the finest ingredients.

Look who we met right after we stepped out of the elevator - the formidable chef Harlan waiting at the doorstep and greeted us with open arms.



We were at the Chop House a few weeks ago and didn't notice that the building boasts such an impressive view of the Victoria harbour.



The restaurant is absolutely huge and the menu is very extensive. Sushi, sashimi, robatayaki, teppanyaki, sukiyaki, stone-pot rice and tempura, you can find everything under one roof.

Right at the entrance of the restaurant is a 8-seater sushi bar with a team of chefs eager to serve.



And across from the sushi bar is the teppanyaki station.

 

But at the end, we decided to go for the more private and spacious dining room area. I love the combination of wood and velvet sofas. It helps to evoke a sense of warmth and comfort which makes customers feel right at home.




We had a nice chat with Chef Harlan and of course, we had to ask him about the dishes he would recommend for us. The first one on his list was this sushi of seared squid topped with sea salt and lime. Not bad (6/10).



A little more successful was my own choice - the seared salmon sushi with a house special mayo (6.5/10).




The chu toro sushi was silky smooth but could have a more marbled and fattier texture (5/10).



The other house specialty here was this panko crusted Hiroshima oyster. The oyster was so fresh and juicy but what tied everything together so well was the special black truffle miso sauce. That was delightful (7.5/10).



The Hokkaido Taraba King crab soup was next. Cooked in a special thermal plastic bag with Hokkaido Taraba King crab, mushroom and asparagus in a crab miso butter sauce, it was another well executed dish. I particularly enjoyed the soup which was so sweet and flavorful (7/10).



Sticking with the seafood theme, we were presented with a Hokkaido scallop grilled its own shell. The scallop, sliced into a number of pieces, was served with salmon roe and edible flowers in a salted konbu seaweed soup (7/10).



Finally we were down to our final dish - a stone-pot rice with seafood. Yes more seafood!

This was a superb collection of the finest Japanese seafood including Hokkaido scallop, crab meat, clams and shrimp. A special seafood broth was provided in a tea pot allowing diners to pour into the pot in order to slowly simmer the rice (7.5/10).



After dinner, we took some time to check out Penthouse by Harlan Goldstein on the 30th floor of the same building. It's still under construction but looks like it's ready to serve around the last week of May. We will be keeping on a very close eye on their soft opening.





Food Rating: 7/10
Price: $$$$
Address: 29/F Soundwill Plaza II - Midtown, 1 Tang Lung Street, Causeway Bay, Hong Kong
Closest Metro Station: Causeway Bay
Tel: +852 2970-3218
Website: www.sushito-dining.com


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