Late Surpise at 和幸 Yakiniku Restaurant

For Sunday family lunch my brother suggested a "Japanese place" in Causeway Bay, my dad announced around noon. Having overeaten on Friday and Saturday, especially at Japanese restaurants in Causeway Bay, I was initially a bit reluctant to go. But it was family day after all, so I plodded along eventually.

It turned out that my brother had chosen Wako (和幸), a yakiniku restaurant famous for a walking piece of Kobe beef outside Sogo department store. To me, the human prop was where the attraction ended. My brother had not been to the place before actually; I knew the choice was an nice, innocent gesture to try something different on his part. As such I tried hard to keep my mouth shut in an effort to contain my pre-conceived biases.

Admittedly however, there was really nothing I wanted to write about this place - that is, until our server decided to give us pro bono some homemade cheesecake and started grilling them. "Stop, I will just eat it like this," shrieked my mom - but I sensed something more interesting than the set lunches eaten, and insisted that she let our server continue the task.

The grilled Japanese-style cheesecake was yummy! Toasty on the outside, soft and melty on the inside; it was neither too sweet nor heavy. Kudos to Wako's chef as I had not tried this before at other yakiniku restaurants in HK or Japan. Redemption for an otherwise mediocre lunch menu, or reward for my lip biting? Anyway, the best part of lunch was actually chatting non-sense with my brother, since he is a busy bee at work and I usually only see him once a week.

Wako Yakiniku Restaurant: 3/F 496 Jaffe Road, Causeway Bay. T: 2117 4268

Two Pieces of Real Japan in Causeway Bay

My good friend DGT
organized dinner with me and another partner-in-crime last night. The evening turned out to be a charming experience evoking the "feel" I have of Japanese urban life, which I quite miss as I haven't travelled to Tokyo much since my work project finished a few months ago.

DGT booked a table at Ajitomi, a Japanese homestyle fusion restaurant I haven't been to in years. It was nice to see the place still going strong, especially during these trying times. I also came to appreciate the level of care and detail only a Japanese owner-chef could instill in the food, decor and ambiance.

We ordered a lot of food as usual. Notable mentions included a Kyoto green salad with black vinegar and a Jap style ox-tail curry rice. The black truffle mushroom spaghetti was nice but DGT reckoned the cream-based pastas tasted better. Our absolute favourite was a stewed pork meatball, with a sweet and highly flavourful dark sauce. It almost tasted like a good Shanghainese "lion's head". We loved the dish so much we ordered seconds and ended up having 10 golf-ball sized meatballs between the 3 of us.

But alas, we loved the sauce even more. We ordered extra rice to lap up the remains and repeatedly banned the waitress from taking away the plate. The owner chef was quite pleased and told us that her sauce had been essentially stewing for 4 years - no wonder!

To continue the theme of the night, DGT suggested drinks at the nearby "b.a.r. Executive Bar" operated by Ichiro Hiidome, who used to be the bar manager at the Tokyo Westin amongst other hotel credits. Coupled by the mentioning of the fact that the bar served whisky with a ball of ice, I knew instantly that this b.a.r. should not be missed.

The meticulous and quintessential Ichiro-san did not disappoint. Watching him construct cocktails was like a mini show. He stirred glasses swiftly with his end finger stuck out, and his arms would vibrate an at ultra high frequency when using the shaker. The rest of his body would follow his arms and his mouth even twitched somewhat to one side due to the intensity. This was rather mesmerizing if you were witnessing the act for the first time.

As for the results: his "green tea milk" cocktail had distinct hints of the key ingredients without being overwhelming. A "Starbucks #2" had layers and layers of milk and rich coffee, a torched top, and coffee ice cubes to ensure no taste dilution until the end. My Yamazaki 12-years was no slouch, although I preferred something stronger for sure. Anyway, the chilled glass and ice ball made up for the experience. Subsequent orders of fresh mango champagne and Japanese pear juice with red passion fruit liqueur were of decent quality - but we were probably longing more for concoctions named "XYZ" or, simply, "Special" that Ichiro-san made for other customers. Hmm...next time, I know I will be back soon.

Ajitomi and b.a.r. both made me feel like I stepped into actual pieces of local Japan in HK, a rarity in my experience. My thanks to DGT for bringing me along.

Ajitomi - 7/F Circle Plaza, 28 Tang Lung Street T: 2836 0671

b.a.r. Executive Bar - 27/F Bartlock Centre, 3 Yiu Wat Street T: 2893 2080