An inadvertently private meal at Shikon by Yoshitake (thanks to the Wuhan coronavirus?!)

The best ankimo (monkfish liver) I've ever eaten in my life! :)

 

It looks like a chunky piece of meat but actually is

a chunky piece of buri (wild yellowtail)!

 

I realize the liver sauce of this awabi (abalone) dish does

not have an appetizing color but trust me when I say that it is

what made this particular dish utterly delicious! ;b

 

Before life in Hong Kong dramatically changed in the past year or so -- thanks, firstly to the extradition bill crisis and ensuing pro-democracy protests, and now as a result of the Wuhan coronavirus outbreak-turned-pandemic -- this blog was far more likely to consist of hiking photo-essays, film reviews and foodie write-ups than political talk (though it's true that the last was not entirely absent, especially after I became a Hong Kong permanent resident).  And for quite a while, and up until recently, my most popular blog post ever was the one chronicling the meal I had at the Hong Kong branch of Sushi Saito.  

 

Because the restaurant which I had it in has been open for longer already, I wouldn't be surprised if this post about my lunch at Shikon by Yoshitake (formerly Sushi Shikon and, before that, Sushi Yoshitake) doesn't attract as many readers.  Still, not least because it may well be my most  memorable lunch ever, to date, I'm going ahead and chronicling it in some detail anyway.  And for the record: I actually ate at the sushi-ya which now is located in the Mandarin Landmark (as opposed to its original location at the Mercer Hotel) a few weeks back.  But trust me when I say that it's a meal that I still feel like I can taste -- so vivid are my memories of it!

 

Before anything else, a couple of caveats.  Firstly, I knew before I went in that it has been awarded three Michelin stars.  But, in all honesty, I'm not to be super over-awed by reputations -- as I actually have eaten at other three Michelin star restaurants here in Hong Kong (and was, in fact, underwhelmed by at least one of them).  Secondly, my meal at Shikon was made even more special by the friend I went with and I turning out to be its only customers for lunch that day (surely thanks to the Wuhan coronavirus making some people less inclined to dine out).  In any case, we really ended up a lot of attention from the chefs -- which probably helped to intensify our overall experience and, actually, make it so overwhelming that I ended up needing to lie down and have a post-meal nap to recover afterwards!  

And now, without further ado, here's outlining, in chronological order, the feast we had -- which began with a serving of what looked like a sticky vegetable soup; only, within were plump, juicy seasonal clams from Japan that made the dish for me (but whose Japanese name I unfortunately didn't quite catch).  Next up came Shikon's famous tako (octopus): massaged for one hour(!) before being slowly braised, it has a texture unlike any other octopi I've ever eaten and, almost needless to say, was pretty darn good!  And then came the magical third dish: two of the largest chunks of ankimo I've ever been served -- and whose size exponentially increased the sense of sheer luxuriousness I felt while eating what may well be my favorite liver to eat of all!    

 

After a pause that was necessary as a result of both my friend and I having had a moment while eating the ankimo and wanting to hold on to it for a few precious seconds, the meal shifted to the sushi section.  First up on the sushi front was a piece of tai (Japanese sea bream/red snapper) which, if truth be told, is a fish that I feel that Japanese people tend to love more than me.  In this case, I also was a bit shocked by how strongly vinegary Shikon's shari (sushi rice) is.

 

Happily, I was much more able to appreciate the surprisingly thick piece of buri (wild yellowtail) I was served.  Aged to perfection, then seasoned, it was unbelievably good and so fatty that it was nice to have the shari be that vinegary in taste.  All in all, that super complementary neta and shari combined to make it the best single piece of buri sushi I have ever had.  (And this comes from someone who has eaten a lot of buri -- and, for that matter, hamachi (farmed yellowtail) -- sushi and sashimi in her lifetime!)

 

Afterwards, came pieces of umami-rich akami (red tuna meat), zuke (marinated) and bafun uni (red sea urchin) sushi in quick succession.  They were good but paled in comparison to the buri and that which came next: the sliced awabi (abalone) over rice, with a generous dollop of abalone liver sauce -- which, strangely enough, reminded me of duck egg yolk in taste -- atop it!  Something else that made me very happy to be served was the kuruma ebi (tiger prawn).  A treat when eating teppanyaki, it is even more special as a sushi topping. Oh, and at Shikon, they layer head "sauce" on it -- so yum!

 

When I spied what was next, I worried a bit that the meal was over -- since anago (saltwater eel) is sometimes the final piece of sushi served at an omakase meal.  Happily, that was not the case.  Instead, it was followed by two portions of kampyo maki (dried, then stewed gourd in a sushi roll).  I know people who don't love it but I found this choice to be charmingly old school and also pretty delicious!

 

In view of my having heard raves about Shikon's tamago (grilled egg), I should have known that a meal there would not be complete without it.  As it so happens, I really do feel this famed dish was the best piece of tamago I've ever eaten.  More like a cake than omelette, it was fluffy and sweet but with a hint of the ebi (prawn) that also is an ingredient.  And because it was more sweet than savoury, it did seem a bit strange to have before the miso soup that was served at the same time at it (but traditionally is drunk after one eats the tamago).  Still, neither of them were the real desserts nor final course of the meal.  Instead, it was a delicately presented Kyushu strawberry and an (red bean) wrapped in mochi that signalled the meal's end.

 

As we sipped the green tea that was also was served, Shikon's head chef Yoshiharu Kakinuma reappeared from the inner kitchen -- whose workings he had been supervising for the bulk of the meal (whose sushi pieces were fashioned instead by Sohei Matsukura who, at dinner time, does the honors in the private room) -- for a final chat.  Incidentally, I got a peek at the sayori (Japanese half-beak) being prepared for dinner that day and must say that I did feel some envy for the sushi-ya's dinner diners.  At the same time, I definitely don't regret having decided to have lunch at Shikon.  Indeed, it may have been the most expensive lunch I've ever had -- even without factoring in the sake I felt compelled to have when eating the food! -- but it actually also felt really worth it all the same! :)