Ginza Sushi Kyu (銀座鮨久) – ♕♕♕♕ 1/2

  You can instantly tell that this sushi-ya isn’t set up with intentions to increasing turnover and profit when you venture in and then noticing how little seating there is for customers, just like how high end sushi shops are always set up in Japan.  With 3 Japanese sushi chefs working at the counter for very few customers, and its fishes and live shellfishes hand picked by the owner of famous Ginza Michelin 2 Stars Sushi Kyubei (銀座 久兵衛), plus a fish tank within which 3 types of fishes on the night were still barely ‘alive’ a few minutes before the customers orders, even the Shima-aji was still panting and breathing through the gills as it sat in the fridge just in front of us on the night   (actually, we did eat 1 of the fishes whilst its still alive – so please do skip this MA rated food review altogether, if you’re not into graphic sashimi scenes with HD Videos attached!)

Ginza Sushi Kyu, in its 2nd reincarnation after it’s initial demise in Central.
This time receiving more support from Sushi Kyubei 本店 from Tokyo…




Live shellfishes and a still breathing fish can make for an awful sight,
but it can still get worst, read below…

 

Tea was refilled regularly -
Strong enough to cleanse the palate, weak enough not to interfere with eating sushi..





Edamame -
A little under-salted but may be right when eating sushi ~ 6/10





Crab Meat with Seaweed Appetiser -
Didn’t think this was exciting, crab seemed like its frozen quality and bland ~ 5/10

Show is about to begin…
We ordered the $680 middle course, which is value for money for dinner in HK.

 

Kinmedai (金目鯛) -
We started with a cheap but highly treasured fish, although quite often people mistakenly identify this as a type of Sea Bream (鯛), but in reality sushi masters will tell you it was only borrowing its name for marketing purpose in the past.  This alfonsino is sweet but a bit weak in taste, it needs a bit of grilling action on its skin to bring out its best ~ 7/10





Hiramasa (平政) -
This was stacked together with 3 different pieces of fish, for what reason I do not know as it looks a bit weird, but the taste was great and oily, really fresh, dotted with some seaweed and plum ~  7.5/10





Katsuo Bonito (鰹) -
This was still quite fatty for a Feb katsuo, may be this years later Winter has affected the seafood season, as a lot of autumn/winter fishes arrived late last year. Lovely and bold in its flavour ~ 10/10





Grilled Mackerel (炙り鯖) -
This was the weakest link on the night. Although they use Japanese sea Saba, instead of eating it raw or vinegar marinated, the grilling to medium-rare brought out some fishiness from the melted oil.  Other customers on the night were eating this raw, although the chef prob just wanted to surprise us ~ 5/10





Ark Shell (生 赤貝) -
This was pretty good, it was sweet and bouncy in texture. Conventional wisdom says these are in season in Winter, but the contrarian camp says these have more haemoglobin flavour nearer summer, which might just have a point ~ 8/10




Clear Broth with Fish and Prawn (お吸い物) -
Refreshing, with a hint of mitsuba stems and yuzu influence, this soup is brought out at the middle of the course and acts as a good palate resetter ~ 9/10





Pickles (香の物) -
Of shiso pickled eggplant and yellow radish.





Suzuki (スズキ) -
This was introduced by the chef as suzuki but looks more specifically like a 真鯛, topped with some 紅たで and yellow エディブルフラワー to enhance both presentation and flavour.  Pretty good ~ 8/10

 

Negitoro Sushi  (ネギトロ　軍艦) -
This seems to be slightly sour, which I’ve come to learn is natural for tuna due to 2 reasons. I thought the piece of takuan and spot of sauce on top was unnecessary and spoiled the flavour ~ 6/10





Skip Jack  (縞鯵) -
This was still alive when we ate it, the texture definitely reflected this as it was crunchy yet fatty.  They also have more swimming in the fish tank, together with some hirame fish.  Very good ~ 10/10

 

 

Live White Bait, in Season around early Spring..

Next up, we ordered a side of Live White Bait ($100),
which is in season only for a few weeks each year around Feb to March…

Drink this Live White Bait in a Vinegary sauce together, let them wiggle in your mouth… argh >.<

Young White Bait  (踊り) -
You pick them up using chopsticks yourself, then put it into a champagne flute glass and add in some vinegar dressing.  I think its a bit cruel but then, everything is cruel when you eat meat everyday..





Tuna OToro (大とろ) -
This is quite oily but taste is above-average rather than great ~ 7/10





Sea Urchin (うに) -
This is very sweet, although I suspect is Canadian sourced. People have this bias against anything other than Japanese urchins for some reason, but a good urchin is a good urchin, especially if its the right one in season.  I think I’ve eaten enough urchins from around the world to tell when its good or not ~ 9/10





Arkshell Maki (赤貝ひも 桜田麩 巻き) -
Very good, the sweet sakura denbu makes this remind me of Futomaki ~ 9/10





Kanpyo Maki  (干瓢巻き) -
Dried Gourd simmered in soy sauce and made into a roll. Seaweed was thick and of a good quality,
and maki was sliced neatly  ~ 9/10





Mixed Tempura -
Fried very well, prawn had a strong flavour and not very oily nor over-cooked ~ 9/10





Wagyu Beef Teppanyaki -
We were surprised how much food there is in this $680 course, and 2ndly this wagyu beef was fairly tasty and of a generous portion.  This was cooked in the kitchen teppanyaki style, but was easily better than say our wagyu as served in Kaika Teppanyaki ~  8/10




Sauce for Wagyu





Udon -
This was ok-good, cooked to right degree but the broth is a little generically bonito shavings taste, the one at Sushi Sase is much better than here in comparison, but the sushi was actually better here ~ 6.5/10

 

Maccha Green Tea Ice Cream -
This was creamy and yet, strong in green tea flavour, very enjoyable. I still remember having a sub-par ice cream in many places, including Sushi Shota.  I don’t know why restaurants think its ok to end on a low note by giving out sub-standard ice creams… not a problem here at all ~ 10/10

Price: $680 - $780 per person + 10%   
Dinner Score:  ★★★★☆☆

Opening Hours:
Mon to Sunday -  Lunch  12:00 - 15:00    
Dinner 18:00 – 23:00

Address: 銅鑼灣堅拿道西10號冠景樓2樓
2/F, Top View Mansion, 10 Canal Road West, Causeway Bay
Ph:  2302 1889