For any Hongkonger (including myself) who calls Japan their second home, 2020 has certainly been a very painful experience to endure. We are absolutely gutted for not being able to take a stroll around a Japanese city all year and experience the wonderful cuisine that Japan has to offer. Well, perhaps that explains why we are visiting Japanese restaurants a lot more often these days – cuz we are all trying to pretend that we are in Japan!!!
As much as I like to sit at the bar table and watch the chefs work, I think we are better off taking a backseat with little nugget joining us tonight. This is just his second yakitori experience I recall.
Mentaiko shiso leaf and Sangen pork roll (天婦羅明太子紫蘇卷) – Our night started off brightly with this roll made primarily with prized Sangen pork. I like the special kick from the shiso leaf but the mentaiko was a little overpowering.
Deep-fried shrimp and bitter melon roll (天婦羅沖繩苦瓜大蝦卷) – The bitter melon from Okinawa surprised me with its juiciness especially after spending time on the grill but I thought it was working individually rather than complementing the flavors of the shrimp.
Deep-fried prawn skewer (揚蝦串) – Nice, bouncy texture from the prawn. Not bad.
Deep-fried Tokyo Bay abalone (東京灣鮑魚) – One of the signature dishes here. Very tender but somehow lacking flavors (thought it might be a little smoky but…).
Avocado and Sangen pork roll (牛油果豚肉卷) – We ordered the one with Fuji apple but they mixed up our order and this one with avocado showed up instead. After bringing it to our server’s attention, I thought he would take it off our bill but no cigar.
Fuji apple and Sangen pork roll (富士蘋果豚肉卷) – The Sangen pork roll with Fuji finally came. Honestly, the Fuji apple didn’t taste much like an apple after absorbing the heat. Instead, it tasted like dehydrated apple and texture-wise, it’s more like yam or parsnip. Like the shrimp and bitter melon roll, I thought the ingredients weren’t meshing well together.
Chicken fillet (雞柳) – All the chicken skewers here were made with prized Yamato Nikudori chicken which is known for its juiciness and rich texture. Didn’t realize the chicken fillet was served half-raw though. This was served with something like a homemade plum sauce. Pretty decent.
Chicken knuckle (雞軟骨) – Pretty nice.
Chicken wing (鹽燒雞翼) – I like the minimal seasoning (it’s not peppered with salt like many other yakitori places). Really tender and juicy.
Tokushima Awaodori chicken wing (德島阿波尾雞翼) – This is like a turkey wing from thanksgiving. Comparing to the previous chicken wing we had, this tasted less rich in flavors and a little less succulent. Once again, it proves that size doesn’t really matter!
Miyazaki premium A4 Wagyu beef (宮崎A4 和牛) – Pretty rubbery for a premium wagyu. Not much marbling and I thought a little too much tendons for my liking.
Kido homemade chicken ball with egg (自家製雞肉串配黃金蛋) – I looooove tsukune, or Japanese chicken balls. These were pretty decent thanks to the extra bite from the soft bones but the seasoning (especially the sweet soy) was a little heavy-handed.
Japanese deluxe soy sauce grilled rice roll (日式醬油燒飯糰) – They didn’t have any udon or rice on the menu so the grilled rice roll was the only alternative to get little nugget stuffed tonight.
They tried to emulate the experience of dining inside a traditional Japanese house (thus the name) and I thought that was the real draw here in the overall experience. Another bright spot was the comprehensive food menu, which we rarely see from a local yakitori bar and it was another big surplus. But having a long menu and delivering equally great results item by item is a totally different story all together.
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