Sushi Craving Satisfied

With the coronavirus outbreak still raging, that means we are eating out far less than we normally would, and instead opted for either cooking at home or ordering takeaway dishes from restaurants. That also means that in a way, we treasure more of the time we got to spend at an actual restaurant seating and enjoy the dishes and drinks properly served – something we used to take for granted.

And we did just that a couple of weeks ago at a Japanese restaurant in Causeway Bay. True, we did cook Japanese style meals at home every now and then, but nothing’s compared to the experience of eating at the itamae counter with sushi dishes served by the chef as soon as they were ready. I was craving for sushi badly so we made a booking for dinner at Ta-ke at Lee Garden on a Friday evening.

It’s been a while since we last visited the restaurant and I thought they did change the set-up a little, with the large sushi counter near to the front of the dining area, and separate counters for tempura and teppanyaki further back. We went for the sushi omakase menu this time, and served by their new sushi head chef Kojima-san.

We began with a few otsumame courses – I loved the seasonal hotaru ika (firefly squid) slightly grilled for the hint of smoky flavor, and the akagai-nanohana roll (arc shell and mustard green) has a nice crunchy texture and mild umami taste. A pair of sashimi courses were next – both the kinmedai (goldeneye snapper) and hokkidai (arctic surf clam) were decent, mildly cured and worked well with just a light dip of soy sauce. On the other hand, the saba (mackerel) spent a bit more time cured with salt and vinegar, and Kojima-san served it with takuan strips (pickled daikon radish) wrapped in nori.

Meanwhile chef began to pick out the crabs from an earthenware pot and prepared them as our next course. The watarigani, or Japanese blue crab, was served raw after marinated in a rich soy sauce, which reminded me of the traditional Korean gejang prepared in a similar manner. My favorite bits were the rich and creamy roes, which worked well with the sauce for the combination of umami and sea-water taste. The thick slices of sawara (Spanish mackerel) were also very decent, slightly cooked on the surface, with the fatty texture. I also loved the small plate of salad served with freshly shaved katsuobushi – perfect as a palate cleanser as we moved into the sushi courses.

We were served a fair amount of sushi pieces – 10 or so if my count is right – and they were definitely more than enough for our appetite and my sushi craving. A few of them stood out – the chu-toro (medium fatty tuna) were the best among the three tuna pieces served with just the right texture and flavor (the o-toro was a bit sinewy for me); the uni (sea urchins) served gunkan style has excellent flavor with generous portion. I love the soft texture of the seasonal shako (mantis shrimp) with the sweet tare sauce brushed on top, and also the piece of fatty nodoguro (blackthroat seaperch) with the slightly charred skin.

We finished with the traditional castella cake, which definitely tastes more like pastry than egg custard with the burnt crust like a butter pound cake, the hearty shiro-miso soup with seafood, and desserts (slice of honeydew melon and kuzumochi Served with kuromitsu syrup) While I am still bemoaning the fact that we needed to cancel our Easter trip to Japan, but a sumptuous meal like this probably helped a little, and given the circumstances, this is the best we could do right now. (did I also mention with the promotional menu they were running at the time of visit, they were of amazing value?)

When? Apr 3 2020
Where? Ta-ke, Shop G01, Lee Garden Two, 28 Yun Ping Road, Causeway Bay, Hong Kong
Menu Highlights? Uni Sushi
Drinks? Sohomare Junmai Ginjo - Sohomare Shuzo, Tochigi Prefecture
(惣誉 純米吟醸 - 栃木県 惣誉酒造)
Web: www.ta-ke.com.hk/

United We Dine
As part of the Hong Kong food community, I felt strongly that we should all stand together to support our fellow restauranteurs, hoteliers, and passionate people which made our dining scene one of the best in the world. "United We Dine" is a city-wide restaurant campaign that calls on Hong Kong food lovers to dine out. In March and April, over 100 dining destinations across town offered limited time menu or special promotions to customers, not to mention a lucky draw with some attractive prizes. Go visit www.unitedwedine.hk for more details.