Another day, another Japanese meal in Hong Kong. This time, it’s dinner.
Pisco and K walk by Honjin in Sai Ying Pun… it’s raining, we’re starving, and even though the resto looks a little fancy for our taste that night, we drop inside.
I don’t remember much about the decor, save that it was (too) well lighted and filled with black lacquer tables and chairs. They had a set menu for dinner so we both opted for it. Here’s what we ate:
The first course was two slices of hamachi sashimi served on a shiso leaf. The hamachi melted in your mouth, and the shiso leaf was the perfect accompaniment. I’m not quite sure about the orange-colored sashimi on the right – it tasted a little like octopus, but had a much lighter texture. This was a very auspicious start for the meal.
Second course: a decent frisée salad with shrimp. The lemon dressing was slightly too acidic, but the shrimp were soft and delicious.
Third course: grilled foie gras, on grilled sausage. This was a heavenly dish and the high point of the meal – the foie gras was rich beyond belief, smoky from the grill and ever so slightly charred. The pork sausage was fatty and salty; I would not have picked this to go with the foie gras – it was altogether overkill, but the very tastiest kind.
The fourth course: grilled eel with ginger and eggs. This was a standard-issue unagi fillet, served in a bowl over a couple eggs scrambled over sliced planks of ginger. Pisco is again impressed – it is not obvious that these flavors would go together at all (and perhaps they don’t completely) but it’s interesting and it works.
The fifth and final course was a couple of packets of mochi ice cream.
Total for the meal was around 160 HKD per person. Service is not their strong suit, but the food is high quality. The set menu is quite good value and I think we’ll be back soon for more of that foie gras.
Honjin
Shop 2-3, G/F
356 Queen’s Road West
Hong Kong
[map]
