The New "In" Place

ODDS seems to be a rather odd name for a Japanese restaurant, but turned out that's the only thing that seems out of place about this new venue in Central, opened only a few weeks ago. 

Contemporary Japanese restaurants are back on trend these days, and ODDS was one of those new "in" place who caught this wave along with a few which opened recently in this neighborhood in the middle of downtown Central. One couldn't ask for a more convenient location with the street level entrance leading into the bar/lounge with the dining area further back through the "secret door". There's no particular specialization per se, but they did have dedicated stations for yakitori, sushi and teppanyaki courses and we had a good sample of all those. 

We started with a few cold dishes. The fatty tuna and wagyu tartare with caviar has luxury written all over the dish, and the pairing of the crispy cod fish skin was a nice touch to this no-fail course. We had more of the toro (fatty tuna), this time in the form of small cubes served raw but briefly smoked for the nice aroma and served with the oozy yolk sauce for the creamy texture. 

Abalone was one of the specialty dishes on their a la carte menu, and we shared a large piece among the few of us. Love the super tender texture from isoni cooking style of the piece from Aomori and the rich liver sauce that served on the side was much enjoyable too. We had a few more seafood courses too, including the sardine served as maki sushi, picked crab served with vinaigrette jelly, raw Japanese oyster on its shell, and also grilled amadai with the crispy scales. 

Their yakitori menu came with a few rare parts, made from local chickens. Both the esophagus and chicken oyster were delicious. The whole akamutsu (blackthroat seaperech) was grilled on cedarwood and served in individual portion. It's perfectly done with slightly crispy skin and moist underneath. The wagyu and uni kamameshi was another signature dish of theirs, served with slices of hida beef and plenty of uni covering the whole pot.

(Dinner was by invitation)

When? July 26 2021
Where? ODDS, Shop G2, G/F, Standard Chartered Bank Building, 4-4A Des Voeux Road Central, Hong Kong
Menu Highlights? Hida Wagyu Beef and Sea Urchin Rice in Pot
Web: lubuds.com/portfolio-view/odds