HKG: Hip Katsu {CLOSED}
Luxurious-looking bento sets!
UPDATE (25/01/2015): The restaurant has closed down.
UPDATE (25/01/2015): The restaurant has closed down.
Initially, I didn't have the intention to eat (another) Japanese food when I walked into Harbour City, the biggest shopping mall in Hong Kong. Actually I wanted to try Café de Coral out until I realised, upon stepping my foot into the eatery, that it's run by Asia Pacific Catering which also runs a business in HKUST. The options offered the other day were more or less similar to what I could find in the school canteen, with a bit of more lavish stuff. I'll talk more about Asia Pacific Catering next time!
American Angus Sliced Beef Set HK$118.00 (~S$19.65)
The above-mentioned set caught my eyes when I was walking around looking for a decent restaurant. Anyway, I didn't feel lazy to take pictures of individual food items the other day, so I'm going to show and review each of them separately!
Miso Soup
Taste: 6/10
Oh, a bowl of warm miso (Japanese fermented rice, barley and/or soybean) soup was served before the set came to the table. Too bad it didn't really make a good start as the miso taste wasn't very strong, not to mention that there were only very few slices of konbu (lit. kelp) inside.
Salad
Taste: 8/10
The salad ingredients were really fresh, and the dressing provided on the table was really good! No, it wasn't the one with strong roasted sesame aroma, but it was a fine combination of soy sauce and lime, among other things. The degree of sour was just right.
Stewed Seasonal Vegetables
Taste: 7.5/10
Not sure how seasonal they were (I think they'd always be the same), but I enjoyed the vegetables which weren't overcooked and still retained the natural sweetness. The lotus root was really starchy!
Pickles
Taste: 7.5/10
Generally called tsukemono in Japanese, the pickles had the right balance of taste: a little bit sweet, a little bit tart. Hmm, anyone knows what's the brown-coloured stuff? It was my first encounter with that. UPDATE (10.30pm): The answer is burdock root (thanks, Ming Quan!) :P
Fried Egg Tofu
Taste: 7/10
The egg tofu was silky smooth, except for the top part which was too dry.
Sliced Angus Beef
Taste: 8.5/10
Finally, the king of the set! The beef rolls were only lightly seasoned with salt and pepper so that the original taste of the beef wasn't ruined at all. The inner part of the each roll was still slightly red and moist. Moreover, the sweetness of the fresh onions and the slightly sweet, slightly bitter (in a good way) crispy fried garlic blended well with the beef to create an awesome dinner. Pika's advice: Surprisingly, the beef also went well the katsu (Japanese breaded, deep-fried items such as pork cutlet) sauce provided on the table was awesome! Try it!
Stir-Fried Fillet of Chicken with Kimchi Set HK$68.00 (~S$11.30)
Chicken with Kimchi - Taste: 7.5/10
For HK$50.00 less, you'll get all the above items with the beef rolls exchanged with chicken with kimchi (Korean dish made of fermented cabbages) put on top of the Japanese rice. No, it didn't taste anywhere near the authentic Korean kimchi (which made me wonder why it's called 'chicken with kimchi' - fusion, perhaps?), but it was a pretty unique dish with a slightly creamy texture which wasn't really spicy.
Japanese Setonaikai Oyster Katsu HK$25.00 (~S$4.15)
Taste: 8/10
I'm not really sure if the oysters used in the making of the katsu really came from the Seto Inland Sea in Japan, but they were pretty juicy. They were well-hidden inside a super crunchy panko (lit. breadcrumbs), and yes, I'm craving for one now. Katsu sauce is usually made of Worchestershire sauce, ketchup, mustard and garlic), and Hip Katsu's version happened to be not that sweet.
Roasted Sesame Seeds
Before I forgot, roasted sesame seeds were given in a pestle. Crush them with the mortar, and soon you'll be taken in by the appetising aroma. Sprinkle them on your rice or meat!
Melon's Rating
Taste: 7.5/10
Ambience: 7.5/10
Service: 4/10
Overall: 6.5/10
Too bad service was cold, and most of the servers weren't friendly. After I ordered the beef and the chicken set, the waiter immediately took away the menu, and I had to call him to order the oyster katsu. Okay, I also have no idea why I didn't order a tonkatsu (Japanese breaded, deep-fried pork cutlet) set because I love tonkatsu, but after reading a number of reviews online, people seemed to be disappointed with it.
Hip Katsu
17 Canton Road
Shop 2608-10, 2/F Harbour City
Tsim Sha Tsui
Hong Kong
(Daily: 11.30am - 12 midnight)
*Prices quoted are subject to 10% service charge.
Have a nice meal,
Cliff(y)
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