Bonus Feature: Let’s do lunch at Kirala Kitchen 煇

2nd floor, Henry House, 42 Yun Ping Road, Causeway Bay.

The bonus feature restaurant is Kirala Kitchen where my friends and I managed to convince the restaurant to serve us the dinner Kaiseki at lunchtime. We took advantage of the 50% discount offer to the marked price if you paid with a certain bank’s credit card (please drop me an email if you like to find out). Not only was the food up to the authentic standard that you expect of a Kaiseki, the restaurant also took added effort of serving every dish in handcrafted Japanese pottery.

The first course was salmon tartare, arctic trout sushi and duck salad. The salmon tartare and arctic trout sushi was fresh and sea sweet. The tartare had a nice fragrant and tangy flavour to it. The duck salad was cooked medium and had a nice smoky flavor which complemented well with the spinach.

Next was a warm entree. The flavour of the bonito stock complemented with with the sea bass and lotus root. At first I thought the lotus root was minced meat ball but was pleasantly surprised when I scooped the first bit of it into my mouth.

The Hokkaido snow crab legs served with its roe mixed with miso paste (somewhat similar to Kani Miso) had a smoky grill flavour which did not detract from the sweet taste of the crab legs. A squeeze of lime made the taste more refreshing whilst the miso roe sauce brought out more of the crab flavour. I almost ask for seconds on the miso roe sauce but decided against it seeing there was much more the come. Notice in the picture the crab was served hand crafted japanese pottery whose colours were naturally derived through the use of different types of earth in firing process.

I eagerly awaited to taste the angler fish liver when it was served because I haven’t yet found a Japanese restaurants in Hong Kong that actually makes it right. I have to say, this was pretty close however personally I do prefer it served cold like a mini entree dish. The liver was juicy and sweet that complemented well with the monk fish. I was particularly interested in the bowl it was served on because the surface area was naturally derived silver.

The sashimi platter was nicely presented. The uni and prawns were sweet and delicious whilst the fish was fresh. The scallop was juicy in the middle whilst the outer layer was lightly seared. I saved the toro for last and savoured the taste whilst it lasted in my mouth!! 😀

The lobster and vegetable tempura added a new break to our palette as we neared the end of the Kaiseki experience. The lobster was juicy and tender, indicating the freshness of the produce. Though traditionally a slight dip on the salt is the best way to eat the tempura, I still prefer dipping it into the sauce with a smear of radish as it lessens the oily flavour when I bite into it.

I love the finely polish Japanese rice and this was no disappointment. The mushroom added a mild woody flavour to the Hokkaido (pearl) rice that wrapped up the Kaiseki course nicely just in case we weren’t full enough already!

The Cherry Blossom ice-cream was surprisingly not too sweet with a slight salty flavour to it. It was served in an ice-cream bowl with gold leaf bits as part of the decoration which was quite exquisite. The Plum liquor with mango bits complemented the cherry blossom ice-cream flavours well and the journey was wrapped up with a flourless chocolate cake.

BRINGING IT ALL TOGETHER
Will I go back?: Definitely, you must try it out too!
Rating:

Date: March 2013
Food: Loved it, mildly flavoured cooking method that brought out the natural flavours of the ingredients.
Service: Friendly but for a Kaiseki experience they could be more well train to explain the dishes being served
Ambience: Nice comfortable zen like decor and surrounding
Pricing Category: Fine Dining, HK$500+ per head