Nestled on the fifth floor of the prominent Bigfoot Centre, right next to the magnanimous Coffee Academics building, is Kishoku, a new fine dining Japanese establishment looking to woo the high rollers and suits in our city. Kishoku is a big space, with an interior that emanates the vibe of a tranquil spa – think textured walls and dining furniture in soft shades of cream and wheat.
Though there’s plenty of cosy booths to settle into, we opt for a seat at the sushi bar and take the head chef’s advice by ordering the botan ebi (jumbo sweet shrimp, $90 per piece), some slices of the fatty tuna ($180 per piece) and the sea urchin sashimi ($250). Though the tuna – a thick chunk of cold, chewy marbled tissue and meat simply wrapped in a piece of seaweed and shiso leaf – tastes dreamy, the sea urchin could be fresher. Much fresher. Yes, the uni’s taste varies depending on the day – but we’re surprised that a restaurant of such high calibre and talent (several of the chefs are from Sushi Ta-ke) would actually serve us less-than-fresh sashimi fare. Other dishes like the wagyu beef sushi ($100), miso cod ($200) and vegetable tempura ($100) fly by without leaving much of an impression, good or bad. But, with prices like these, you’d expect the sushi to shine. It doesn’t. The standouts of the evening are the addictive sea salt ice cream ($80) and the side of preserved bamboo shoots dipped in sesame.
When the dessert and the side dish stand out most in your menu, you know you’ve got some tweaking to do. Janice Jann
5/F, Bigfoot Ctr, 38 Yiu Wa St, Causeway Bay, Hong Kong, 2893 0333; kishoku.com.