Archive
HK: Tenku RyuGin Hong Kong (Jan. 2013)
Author: Victor
Restaurant: Tenku RyuGin
Exec Chef: Seiji Yamamoto
Chef de Cuisine: Hideaki Sato
Date: January 6, 2013
Winter Gastronomy Menu
Website: http://www.ryugin.com.hk/index_e.php
Notes:
-I’m trying to hit up a few kaiseki and sushi restaurants while on my Asia trip this break, and this restaurant was one of the ones I was most looking forward to. My anticipation, it turns out, was justified.
-Nihonryori RyuGin is a famous kaiseki restaurant in Roppongi, and I really wanted to try their Hong Kong branch, which happened to be only their second restaurant!
I use the word “delicious” a lot in my descriptions of the courses. I really can’t help it. That’s what everything was: delicious. The ingredients were really fresh, the execution was perfect, and everything really was delicious. This was INCREDIBLE cooking, and I’m really glad that I’m lucky enough to be able to experience it. This meal is one of my top five meals of all time.
Three of the dishes are specialties from the Roppongi restaurant:
-Course #2: “Premium Monkfish Liver”
-Course #7: Reinvented “Nikujaga”
-Course #9: -196°C “Candy Pear” and +99°C “Pear Jam”
This is the outside of the restaurant; we were in the ICC 101 Sky Dining lobby.
HK: Macaron Tasting! (Jan. 2013)
I wanted to try some of Hong Kong’s macarons, so I made my friend go on a short macaron eating tour with me. Here’s how it went!
1.
Le Goûter Bernardaud
(at IFC Mall)
16 HKD per macaron
1. Valrhona chocolate (left)
2. Caramel and fleur de sel (bottom)
3. Pistachio (right)
4. Raspberry (top)
Le Goûter Bernardaud is based in Hong Kong and actually has two locations in IFC Mall; we walked past this one first, so we ate the macarons there. We probably should have gotten macarons at the other location in IFC Mall to see how consistent the macarons are, but we didn’t :(. Oh well!
The texture was off; at times, it was too solid, and it felt like there was too much filling. The flavor was there, though! Overall, I thought LGB had the third-best macarons of the stores we tried today.
HK: Wagyu Kaiseki Den (Jan. 2013)
Author: Victor
Restaurant: Wagyu Kaiseki Den
Exec Chef: Hiroyuki Saotome
Website: http://www.wagyukaisekiden.com.hk/
Date: January 5, 2013
Notes:
-I wanted to try some of the sushi and kaiseki restaurants in Hong Kong during my time here, so I looked up restaurants. Wagyu Kaiseki Den came up a lot, so I quickly made reservations. It’s located in Sheung Wan, so it’s a short walk from Central.
-There are a total of 30 seats, with eight of those seats at the bar. We sat at the bar, and we got a great view of the kitchen staff prepping and cooking the food!
-The meal had a LOT of truffles. It’s arguably overkill to do the white truffle tasting at Amber and then eat here the following day, but… you only live once!
-The wagyu used is from Kagoshima, Japan.
-I really enjoyed this meal. The ingredients were all really fresh, and the constant use of uni, truffles, and wagyu made me a very happy man.
-Some of the dishes really weren’t all that creative, but they were executed REALLY well. The ingredients were great, and everything was really well-prepared/cooked, so each dish was delicious. This was superb cooking.
This was the view from our seats. Chef Saotome’s preparing toro for the sashimi course (#5) here.
Monte
Victor
tadv3
Happy Noms 