Tempura shrimp
Chef Kunio Sakuma
What is it: If you’ve got a hankering for tempura, Inagiku, the second instalment of the popular Japanese family-owned restaurant has renowned tempura chef Kunio Sakuma personally manning the hot oil.
The place: A vast restaurant with beautiful harbour views, a dedicated tempura area, teppanyaki bars and a sushi bar. Minimalist styling gives it a Zen feel and lets the food and view do all the talking.
The eats: Our first taste of the tempura didn’t disappoint with a juicy prawn bursting with delicate flavour sheltered by a coating of light, crispy batter. The exceptional quality of the tempura comes down to the authentic ingredients and refined sesame oil imported from Japan that they use in their cooking.
A second dish was a tiny mouthful of crunchy soft shell crab that was slightly lacking in taste, but the eel roll with Hokkaido cheese tempura that followed was absolutely delightful. A soft gooey centre and the flavour was complemented rather than overshadowed by the eel. The crispy light exterior provided an added textural bonus. The whitefish tempura was a long, lean fish that we savoured, adding only a touch of lemon and salt to further enhance the tasty dish. The roll of uni (sea urchin for those as yet uninitiated with the insanely popular delicacy) was rich, porous, buttery, and an acquired taste that divides many a diner.
A sashimi platter came next with uni, toro and whitefish accompanied by a tentsuyu with radish dipping sauce that made for the truly outstanding dish of the evening. We know they are known for their tempura, and it was delicious, but we loved the sashimi best and will be back for more. We finished with a unique and masterful tempura egg yolk atop white rice that was a joy to unleash and devour.
Inagiku, Four Seasons Hotel Hong Kong, Level 4, 8 Finance Street, Central, 2805 0600
