Yachiyo

Anytime I visit a ramen house and enter a little on the late side, in darkness, when the buzz of the dining room is still present but the crescendo has passed, and I sit alone tucked into a corner, my laptop by my side, still warm from the day’s tribulations, I feel a certain kinship with the thousands of salarymen whose nightly rituals I only share infrequently.  Tonight was one of those nights.

And the shio ramen at Yachiyo was delicious and restored my strength for the evening.

Note that Yachiyo will move to a new location on Lyndhurst Terrace in the next few days.  Call ahead to ensure you visit the correct establishment during the transition.

Review: Mist

There are precious few places where superlative food is served with grace and style, at a price that is not stratospheric.  Mist is one of those rarities.

After a day spent wandering around Causeway Bay shopping for a new mobile phone (more exhausting than hiking, let me tell you), Pisco and K decided to grab an early dinner at Mist.  We showed up just before six o’clock, and for a few minutes, before the crowds arrived, the small dining room was our own private kitchen.

The room is beautiful through simplicity; each seat has its setting in a drawer just under the table.  A large, smoked mirror suggested that the room was more spacious than its 20-odd seats might allow.  Slow jazz played softly in the background and we were transported to a very calm and peaceful bubble.  The design aesthetic is refined minimalist; it is one of my favorite spaces in Hong Kong.

The menu is simple – a complete dinner set is available, but we were here for ramen and it was an easy order.  I took the ume shio (sour plum) ramen, and it was the best ramen I have ever had in my life.

Let me repeat: it was the best ramen, ever.

One slice of perfectly-cooked, thinly-sliced pork.  One shiso leaf.  One ume shio.  You must request the boiled egg, which is soft, and still has an oozing yolk at its center.  It is perfection.

The service is superb.  Drinks are silently refilled, and plates are removed from your table the instant that they are finished.  It is a marvelous performance by the staff.

One Chabuya White Ale, one plate of dumplings, one small green salad, and two perfect bowls of ramen ran 370-odd HKD.

Food: A
Service: A
Ambiance: A
Value: A

I do believe this is the first set of straight-A’s I have awarded to a restaurant in Hong Kong.  Congratulations Mist!

Mist?
G/F, 4 Sun Wui Rd
Causeway Bay, Hong Kong
+852 2881 500
[map]

Mist on OpenRice