Hidden 秀殿 (Hong Kong, CHINA) ★★★★☆

Hidden (秀殿), one of the local restaurants that's impossible to get in these days, has always been on my top 5 list since I am a pretty big fan of Japanese Kushiage and there's really not that many good Kushiage joints in town. There's normally a 3-month wait for a reservation (weeknight or weekend) but if you're lucky enough to be first on the waiting list, there's a pretty good chance you can get in. But if you happen to be second, not so great.

I remembered making this booking around late September so I should consider myself pretty fortunate to have my table in a little more than 2 months. 

When I'm having Kushiage, I like to park right in front of the counter table to see all the actions behind. Although the fryer is totally sealed here so we weren't able to see the chefs work behind the scene, it was still good to have a few nice chats with the owner-chef from time to time. 

Potato Salad (薯仔沙律) – Once we got settled down, we were briefed about the house specialties but that's probably not necessary considering that yours truly always does his homework before an important meal. So yeah I knew all about their potato salad, chicken wing, shrimp, one bite cheese fried and scallop salmon roes. 

Kicking off the meal with a potato salad was probably a nice way to whet our appetite before all the skewers arrive.

Fried chicken wing (炸雞翼) – Deep-fried and showered with the house special sweet soy. 

The chicken wing was very tasty and very addictive. I was tempted to get ourselves a second order but thought better knowing full well that there's a parade of skewers coming our way.

Small hot udon with fried dough (天婦羅碎熱烏冬) – Something to warm little nugget up for the skewers.

I was busy serving up the udon noodles for little nugget so I almost missed the introduction on tonight's dip. I recalled they were plum sauce, soy sauce and sea salt from left to right.

Shrimp (蝦) – The first skewer to arrive was the shrimp and it was nice to get the heads too. This had really lovely bouncy texture. Two out of two to start the meal (not counting the potato salad since it's not deep-fried)!

Chicken breast with spicy cod roe mayo (明太子雞胸肉) – I'm a sucker for mentaiko (明太子) so this was right up my alley. Look at that gluey mentaiko mayo on top. 

The super tender chicken breast, thin batter and mentaiko mayo were all working together nicely.

That was a pretty intense kick of spiciness from the mayo. Love it!

Little one looked impressed too!

Japanese oyster and bacon roll (日本蠔煙肉卷) – This reminded me of the Japanese oyster bacon roll from Nishiki Yakitori (錦).

The oyster was really fresh and creamy but the crispy batter has taken away some of that lovely bite from the bacon.

Beef Tenderloin (和牛柳) – The only skewer that I thought I could do without tonight was the beef tenderloin. I was expecting a bit more marbling which didn't happen. And its texture actually reminded more of lamb loin than beef which was odd.  

Abalone (鮑魚) – One skewer came with two slices of abalone with abalone liver sauce on top. 

This was very very tender.

Spicy cod roe pasta (明太子意粉) – Did I mention that I am a sucker for spicy cod roes? Thought the pasta was a little more soupy than expected but creamy mentaiko sauce, I could live with that. The shiso leaves and seaweed added to the intense flavors.

Eggplant (茄子) – Some Japanese eggplants. I hope they're from the Fukuoka region.

Crispy on the outside and very juicy inside.

Scallop salmon roe (帶子三文魚籽) – Obviously, the chef was trying to save the best for last by saving the signature dish till the very end. Little nugget has been waiting since we sat down so of course, he was jumping in joy when this landed right in front of him.

I had to make sure that everyone got one skewer. This was a little too much for one bite but I wasn't going to complain about it. The deep-fried scallop with the crispy batter was already delicious enough, and once the small kick from horseradish in the tartar sauce and explosive salmon roes factored in, WOW!!! 💥💥

Rice cake (年糕) – Oh, almost forgot I ordered this. Another item we could do without, partially cuz I have ordered a little too much tonight. My fault.

This was by far the best Japanese kushiage experience I have in Hong Kong. Needless to say, it's well worth the 3-month wait.

Food Rating: 7.5/10

Price: $$$$

Address: Room D, 3/F, Prosperous Commercial Building, 54 Jardine's Bazaar, Causeway Bay, Hong Kong

Closest Metro Station: Causeway Bay

Tel: +852 2504-1511

Website: https://hiddencwb.com/

Opening Hours: 12:00pm - 5:00pm, 7:00pm - 10:00pm (Tue - Sun)