Kiyotaki

Pisco dropped into Kiyotaki on Gough Street for a late dinner, and arrived just as last orders were called.  The small room was nearly empty but the bar was full with four or five drunk locals enjoying their Friday evening.  It is a very loud and festive place when the bar is full, as it’s always been during my visits.

Here’s what we had:

• Large sushi plate – around seven pieces of fish, all excellent.  I wrapped the shiso leaf around a piece of albacore.  Delicious.
• Grilled chicken with basil – superb.  There was some umeboshi on the line of sauce on the skewer, which might have included red miso.  An excellent combination and the best dish of the evening.
• Cold vegetables – a few pieces of asparagus lounged over small rolls of vegetables.  The asparagus were delicious on this hot night, but the rolls were a little large for my taste – too large to fit in one’s mouth comfortably, but they would fall apart if you tried to divide them.
• Yaki-Onigiri – good size, crispy exterior
• Grilled squid – one whole squid, nicely grilled, some kind of dark, thick sauce on the plate, with shredded ginger on the side.  Very tasty.
• Soba noodles – a plate of cold noodles, with dipping sauce on the side.  It came with what appeared to be a tiny duck egg, open at the top, which we poured over the noodles.  Delicious!

The group at the bar drank all night, getting louder and louder – they were having such a good time that it really added to the ambiance.

The bill came to around HKD 480 for two people.

Kiyotaki Japanese Restaurant

It seems like it’s been forever since I’ve had a meal out; of course I’ve eaten out but several business trips and a somewhat difficult 2-week sugar detox have kept my focus from Hong Kong restaurants.

I won’t go into the sugar detox in detail here, except to say that a zero-sugar, low-carb regime is extremely difficult to follow.  Your body will have some very interesting reactions, and you may learn a lot; I did.  I’m glad I did it, and I’m thrilled it’s over.

So it was with fresh eyes and an open heart that I wandered around the neighborhood looking for a place to eat.  A friend had mentioned that Gough Street had several cool restaurants, so Pisco and K wandered down that way.

Gough Street, where have you been?!  What a beautiful stretch of restaurants, design shops, and more restaurants.  French, Japanese, Chinese, and other random western-style eateries abounded.  Al fresco tables under awnings.  Wine bars.  Add some well-styled patrons and it was a nice environment without being a scene.

We ducked into Kiyotaki Japanese Restaurant and sat down near the door.  The room is small, seating for 20 at tables and four more at the bar.  The bar was in fact full with four regulars, who were loudly toasting each other with sake and pouring glasses for the chef.  The room, being severely decorated, was extremely loud from the drunk bar patrons; this can be a nice atmosphere or just overwhelming, depending on your point of view.

The order:

• Sushi – B+, strongly above average.  The star was red snapper (I think), which we ate wrapped in the freshest of shiso leaves.  Astounding.
• Grilled chicken skewer with wasabi – very tasty, and the wasabi was very strong
• Grilled squid, rolled with a shiso leaf, and brushed with umezuki (sour plum).  This was the star dish of the night – solid texture from the squid, brightness from the shiso, and sour from the umezuki… it was an amazing combination, and it’s worth returning for just this one delight.
• Yaki onigiri – smaller than what I’m used to eating (at Maekawa), they were golf-ball sized and delicious.  Crunchy and almost charred on the outside, they have become a kind of comfort food for me.

Service was competent, quiet, and unfussy.

The plates are small, so go with a light appetite or heavy wallet.

A light meal for two ran around 440 HKD without drinks.

Kiyotaki Japanese Restaurant
13 Gough Street
Central, Hong Kong [map]
2877 1772