Sushi Kuu

There's been a lot of hype around Sushi Kuu, so a friend and I went to try it out. I've already found a sushi place that's hard to beat - Sushi Ta-ke in Causeway Bay, which deserves a full blog post. Given the hype, I thought Sushi Kuu might give my favorite spot a run for its money.

Kuu, however, didn't come anywhere close to Ta-ke in terms of food, environment or service.

The fairest comparison was to order the deluxe sushi set, which was $340 + 10%. Same price point as Sushi Ta-ke. 



Kuu's Deluxe Sushi Set - Warning: it looks better than it tastes!

In the set there's only one salmon roe gunkan and two pieces of egg. My friend traded pieces before the photo was taken.

Disappointment #1: even if you sit at the sushi bar at Kuu, the deluxe sushi set is not made piece by piece like it is at Ta-ke.

Disappointment #2; the maki (rolled sushi) for both the regular and deluxe sushi sets is three pieces of a California roll. No negi-toro roll (minced fatty tuna with chives) for the deluxe set.

Disappointment #3: the seaweeds of the gunkan sushi was already soft when it got to the table. Even Senryo makes their gunkans and handrolls to order!! Ta-ke goes the extra mile by serving the sushi with seaweed separately, after you finish the other pieces.

Disappointment #4: the udon served with the set is not the good quality chewy udon, and was either over-cooked or sat around for too long after it was cooked.

Disappointment #5: I asked for no wasabi in my sushi, but they still set down a plate of sushi with it. Only when I saw the green through a slice of white fish and told them did they realize.

I conclude that at this price point, I'd rather save up the money and go to Ta-ke on the weekends. Look for a mouthwatering post on Sushi Ta-ke soon!

Sushi Kuu
1/F Wellington Place, 2-8 Wellington Street, Central, 2971 0180

Mostaccioli Brothers

I had lunch with a bunch of girlfriends today at Mostaccioli Brothers up on Elgin Street. This restaurant is owned by El Grande Concepts, the same group at Grappa's. Even though it's on Elgin, the actual restaurant is down the stairs and in the back of the building, so look for a green sign and a set of stairs.

All lunch sets included a vegetable soup, and coffee/tea/Italian soda. Set lunch prices ranged from about $80 for paninis up to about $120 for pastas.

Minestrone

Risotto with Parma Ham and Rocket

I thought that the minestrone was decent, but a bit on the sweet side. The risotto was really salty though. Since the ham and rocket are laid on top, I feel like the restaurant has a pre-made risotto base, and just add the toppings and flavors accordingly. The problem here is that they don't realize that Parma ham is pretty salty already, and so is the shaved Parmesan cheese. The risotto could be creamier. 

Even though my risotto didn't come out as well as I hoped, some of the other pastas at the table looked good - there was a baked Mostaccioli pasta, one of their signature dishes. It was a garganelli pasta baked in a tomato-based sauce with Italian sausage and lots of cheese. Another friend ordered the pasta with fresh fish (I think today's fresh fish was salmon), and that was good because the seafood flavor really came through in that tomato sauce on top of spaghetti. They had a nice variety of pastas to pick from.

It's worth trying if you are up on Elgin Street, just make sure that unless you really like your dishes salty, don't order the risotto with Parma ham.

Mostaccioli Brothers

B/F & G/F, 16 Elgin Street, Central, 2525-5770

Slices Pizzeria

Was walking on Leighton Road in Causeway Bay and noticed a woman at the street crossing with a paper bag flat in her hand from "Slices Pizzeria". Around about then I was pretty hungry and was thinking of what to eat. Seeing that bag solved the problem!

Slices is just one shop down from Yogo (it seems both are owned by the same people). Luckily I got there and ordered my pizza just before the St. Paul's Convent student lunch crowd invaded the store.

They had four huge 22" pies in the heat box - 4 Cheese, Hawaiian, Sausage and Mushroom, and 4 Seasons. I wanted to try something different, and ordered the 4 Seasons (tomato, mozzarella, artichoke, mushroom, ham, olives). It had me at olives.

A huge slice of pizza at Slices

Yum...olives, artichokes, mushrooms, ham...

Once you pick the slice they reheat it for you in the oven (which does cause a bit of a line with too many students). You can actually add toppings for $5 each. A slice of 4 Seasons is $32. Their cheapest slice is a Margherita for $25.

Perhaps I've been back in Hong Kong for a while now and haven't had good New York pizza for a while, but Slices will take care of that from now on! The crust is thin, crispy but chewy, not overloaded with sauce or toppings, and did I mention that I love olives? It could, however, use a little more salt (maybe hard to control with olives and artichokes), and I did sprinkle it liberally with Italian seasoning after I took the photos of the slice. Much better :)

They also take create-your-own orders for whole pies, and there are 14" and 18" pies as well. The place was filled with students because they give student group discounts as well as a student lunch deal - $34 for a slice plus a drink. Not bad.

Slices Pizzeria

Shop 4 & 5, G/F, 128-132 Leighton Road, Causeway Bay, 2895-6633

Butao Ramen

Butao Storefront

Finally I've tasted Butao Ramen. A source told me that there are no lines at Butao if you go around 4 in the afternoon (Butao now opens till 6pm). So C, K and I went to eat at around 4:30pm. We didn't even have to wait and sat down immediately! This place has just only a few more than a dozen seats - it's no wonder the wait can be so long.

Order sheet to choose your preferences

Everyone gets their own order sheet to tick their preferences. Butao has four ramen soup types on its menu - yellow (the plain pork bone broth) for $75, black (soup + squid ink) for $88, red (soup + spicy base) for $88, and green (soup + pesto) for $90. I've heard that there's a curry soup base off the menu, but I didn't ask about it.

You can also choose the concentration of your soup base, the amount of oil and garlic, yes or no to roast pork and onion, how much spicy miso paste, and hardness of your noodle. You can tick for add-ins too. I wanted the half-cooked egg but it's currently unavailable.

Original Butao King (Yellow)

C and K both ordered the original. K described the soup as tasting like liquified cooked egg yolks. I agree!! The roasted pork was about normal.

Green Butao - with pesto and parmesan cheese

I thought this was pleasantly surprising. You can still taste the egg-yolky broth but the pesto works well with it! A Japanese and Italian fusion creation.

Noodles

Luckily I ordered the noodles hard, because these were thin noodles. C ordered his soft and said they were pretty soft. I think I actually might try extra hard noodles next time. Even though I'm a fast eater, the noodles in the last few bites were soft. I wouldn't mind a bit more firmness anyway.


I like Butao and I wouldn't mind going back to try the other soup varieties (I think I'll try the Red Butao next since I love spicy food). Having said that, C and I both think that this place is not worth a long wait while you starve yourself in line. 


Butao Ramen 豚王
G/F, Wo On Building, 8-13 On Lane Street, Central, 2530-0600

Nibbles - Macarons from Jean Paul Hévin

Was out in Central today and wanted to get some macarons while I was at IFC. The plan was to have them when I take a break from writing my paper this afternoon. I've had the macarons at Le Gouter Bernardaud and wanted to try the ones at Jean Paul Hévin. I ended up buying two - one raspberry and one bitter chocolate.

Frambois'in and Amer macarons

Couldn't help but take a bite!

Frambois'in:

Amer

I think the LGB macarons are a bit too sweet for me, but these JPH ones are good! It wasn't just sweet sweet sweet, like most macarons.

I love basically anything raspberry x chocolate, and the Frambois'in was well balanced. There was a good amount of tartness, the raspberry flavor came through, and the ganache was smooth. The dark chocolate one was yum too (after all, JPH is a chocolatier), and I do like how you can actually taste the nutty almond-ness of the cookie.

JPH has lunch and brunch too in the small seating area adjacent to the shop, but no reservations. Will try it some day, and their signature chocolate drinks!

Jean Paul Hévin Bar à Chocolat et Boutique

Shop 2045A, ifc mall, Central, Hong Kong, 2111-9770

http://www.jphevin.com.hk/

Hide-Chan Ramen

Last weekend I was in Central and wanted to see how ridiculous the queue was for Butao Ramen, the small ramen shop with less than two dozen seats on Wo On Lane in Lan Kwai Fong. I've long decided that I will wait until the hype is over to try it than waste a morning lining up. It was already 1pm and the line still looked like it was about 2hrs long. Butao closes after selling 200 bowls of ramen, so I was wondering if all those people at the end of the line actually thought they had a chance to eat a bowl of ramen that day.

Not to despair! Hide-Chan Ramen (serving Kyushu style ramen) just opened on Wellington Street and the line was only about 15 minutes. One of the servers came out every now and then to make sure the people in line had menus to look at and gave out an order form with clipboard and pencil so you can decide what you want to eat while in line.

Hide-Chan's menu

The order form - available in Chinese and English

A view from the noodle bar

While the noodles might be the heart of a bowl of ramen, the soup is definitely the soul. When it comes to the soup, my rule of thumb is to choose the most basic soup base. That way, you can taste the actual soup without interference from add-ins like miso or soy sauce. There were three choices of soup at Hide-Chan: White Hide (the basic pork bone soup), Black Hide (soup + special soy sauce), and Red Hide (soup + special spicy sauce). You also get to choose the texture of your noodles and whether you want your roast pork to be from the shoulder or belly. For additional $$, you can add extra anything to make a unique bowl of noodles. 

They also have tsukemen (mixed noodles, noodles and dipping sauce served separate) if you're not in the mood for something soupy, and gyoza with a choice of mayo (cheese, green onion, or tarako). The gyoza would probably be nice to share with a friend, but they run out of gyoza quick! The couple next to me wanted to order them but they were already sold out.


My choice: White Hide, medium textured noodles (al dente), roast pork shoulder, +$10 for a whole soft-boiled egg.

White Hide Ramen

The soup was thick, white and creamy, perhaps even a bit too thick, as if they reduced the soup a bit too much. I read somewhere that they simmer 120kg of pork bones for 400 bowls of soup for a whole day. If you're not one for intense flavors, this place is definitely not for you. The soup was borderline salty for me (probably because it's so concentrated). I'm glad I didn't choose the Black Hide because that would be even saltier!

The noodles were cooked just right. I think if you chose soft noodles they might be a bit mushy, since the noodles are on the thin side. Even though I ordered the roast pork shoulder (the less fatty option), the meat was still very delicate and not dry at all. You can also order a plate of roast pork, which they torch just before serving to give it a little bit of a char.

Soft boiled egg

I think the egg was a bit disappointing because for a soft boiled egg I was expecting the center to be slightly runny, like the eggs at Wakayama. I cut the egg open right after my first bite of noodles so I know it wasn't because I let the egg sit in the hot soup for too long.

Done!!

For about $80 a bowl of ramen and a shorter wait time, Hide-Chan is worth trying if you're in the Central area. Note that I waited about 15 minutes on a Sunday afternoon at around 2pm, so the wait could potentially be much longer.

Like: customizable ramen, roast pork
Dislike: egg, soup base might have been too concentrated


Any other ramen places worth trying? I still have plans for Mist and Ippei-An - stay tuned!

Hide-Chan Ramen

Upper Ground Floor, The Loop, 33 Wellington Street, Central , 2522-5990  
http://www.hide-chan.hk/eng/index.html

Kiriyaki

Coming across Kiriyaki was an accident - a friend and I had a lunch date in Causeway Bay, but we didn't know where to go. She wanted Japanese food, and suggested trying Kiriyaki. Since that lunch date about two years ago, I've been visiting Kiriyaki regularly for their minced tuna, salmon roe and sea urchin rice set lunch ($148 +10%). I just can't seem to order anything else!

Minced tuna, salmon roe and sea urchin rice set

The set includes Japanese steamed egg custard, miso soup, pickles, a small side dish, and coffee or tea.

Kiriyaki's pretty big on the portions, and doesn't skimp on the fish. They pile on the salmon roe, and are fair with the sea urchin. Sometimes instead of getting these smaller sea urchins, I got two or three large pieces. It depends on what they have in stock.

Kiriyaki has their set lunch menu every day except on Sundays and public holidays. There are at least 20 choices of set lunch, with pricing ranging from $80-$148. Some other noteworthy choices is the kimchi stone pot rice, the wagyu beef set, and the mixed grill set.

A decent, not-too-crowded choice for lunch. Dinner's a chunk more expensive though.

Kiriyaki

Room 1302, 13/F, World Trade Centre, 280 Gloucester Road, Causeway Bay, 2895-1313