Eats in Hong Kong - Japanese

For the past week, I was fortunate enough to make it to Hong Kong (on super cheap tix!!! :P) and eat eat eat almost non-stop.

Hong Kong is a facinating place filled with shops, restaurants (of all sorts), and lots of people. Food-wise, you can choose to eat cheap, expensive, fast, or enjoy a slow chillaxing meal.

Not knowing a better way to blog about my eats in HK, I've decided to group the food.

Jap food abounds in HK, so much so that you can get it anywhere for a wide range of prices. You can eat at expensive restaurants with fantastic views (such as at Kamado - 1 Peking Rd, TST), or you can just pick up a pack of sushi or sashimi from your local supermarket. But one of the most popular ways of obtaining Jap food is thru Sushi-trains! (there are never-ending lines for these places - much to the frustration of my partner who hates waiting).

But, the wait is definately worth it. For instance, at Itamae (multiple branches thruout HK including at Causeway Bay, Mong Kok, and Kowloon Tong) the salmon sushi below costs HK$6 (on special), or $9 (normal priced) which translates to around AUS$1.20. And just because it is cheap, doesn't mean its not tasty. In fact, it is super super yummy!

One of my all time favourites is scallop sashimi. My partner was a bit deterred that I ordered so many of it. I couldn't help it! One was just raw, one was with green-tea salt, one was giant JUMBO scallop, and there's also grilled scallop (which I didn't order as there was too much food already). All scallop varities were super super yummy. If only Itamae was next to my house in Sydney...

The Jumbo Scallops were quite a bit larger than the normal ones - but both were deliciousness.

Then there are hand-rolls. As I had lunch before I went to this sushi train, we just ordered the eel hand-roll for my partner. No complaints there.

Now for some different sushi. Below is a photo of the mango with tropical prawn roll. I like mango and I like prawns... but the combination of the two with a strong wasabi flavour... hmm... interesting is the only word I can use to describe it.

There was also the lobster salad boat. Again, this was just average.

Below is a grilled cheese with prawn roll. The grilled cheese rolls I've had in Sydney taste really awesome - but this cheese tasted a bit like artificial craft singles (which really don't melt).

The crab and roe salad was super cheap (HK$18) for a huge bowl. My partner and I make this salad at home quite oft, and I have to say - mine tastes better. However, the cost of my salad does cost more than AUS$3.

By this time, my partner and I were both completely stuffed and ready to leave when one other plate (that I ordered and conveniently forgot about) came. Although this salmon and salmon roe sushi looked very apetising, I still could not fit it in my stomach - and hence, my partner had them both~ and no complaints there.

Most sushi plates at Itamae cost around HK$20 - which is around AUS$3-4. For the degree of yumminess of the sushis - it's definately worth the cost (espeically the scallops!!!).

At times when the sushi-train lines are TOO huge, there is always the opportunity to buy sushi and sashimi (and oysters and super marbled beef) at any local supermarket in HK. On one occation, I couldn't resist but to buy this salmon sashimi. And it was soooooo super super unexpectedly good.

On other occations, jap cravings may guide us to Japanese restaurants. On one such occation, we went to Kyou (in Causeway Bay).

There were set dinners for HK$89. The one we ordered comprised of Spicy Salmon Head noodle soup, 3 pieces of sashimi and 3 pieces of sushi. Very good deal seeing that the noodle and soup serving was quite substantial.

Of most interestingness was the sushi at this place. There was the "Don't know how to roll" sushi - which was a very badly rolled sushi. Badly rolled yet tasted amazing! The sushi was made up of spicy salmon salad, raw scallop, and raw prawns. mmm... yum.

So what happens after you "dont know how to roll"? You "know how to roll". We didn't order this as the photo of it didn't look too nice. So we ordered the next one down the line, the "cross roll". This is a bad translation. If I were to translate the chinese of this item, it would be "bad roll".


It really wasn't that bad either! Softshell crab with avacado. It was OK nice.

After the bad roll, it must be a good roll - or on the menu, it's an "OK roll". It does look the best out of the three rolls. However, taste-wise, it was just average. Just tempura prawns with salmon.

So, that's all for Japanese in HK for now. I think that Jap in HK is not any worse than Jap in Syd... just a whole lot cheaper and a whole lot more available :)