Feb 2014
Ahhhh...time to share my awesome experience at RyuGin Hong Kong@ICC SkyDining 101. To sum it all up, "Beyond Expectation"
The whole gastronomical journey from start to end completely blow me away with the intricacy and meticulous presentation of food, not to forget how it won my taste buds over effortlessly. It was soooo good that I dare say it's even better than some top rated Kaiseiki meals we had in Japan itself.
After we had our free valet parking, we headed up and was promptly seated. The restaurant had limited seating and they do swipe your card in advance during booking to prevent last min no show or cancellation which is chargeable. Fair enough since the materials will cost a bomb and much prep work are required.
The menu for the night is on the table for your leisurely glance over. It doesnt read impressive but mind you, the food will blow your mind.
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| Menu for the night |
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| Waiting to be impressed |
First dish to be presented was "Fresh Urchin with simmered Raddish". What can I say apart that the urchin was so packed full of sweetness and it was a seamlessly beautiful union with the raddish. Imagine 3 months on, the memory of its awesomeness can still evoke the glorious satisfaction and longing for this simple dish.
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| Fresh Urchin with simmered Raddish |
The second dish was a mixture of monkfish liver and calms. Normally I'm not a fan of liver (apart from pork's) but this was surprisingly "non liverish" in taste. I didnt know if its the miso or the calm that did the trick of distracting or deceiving my tastebuds but it was another winner. The small raddish though was more for texture than taste.
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| 10 years Speciality: Monkfish liver from Hokkaido, clams, with mustard miso sauce |
Next on the list is the fresh prawn dumpling and while the clear consome looked unimpressive but it was delightful with every bite as it does not overpower the gentle natural sweetness of the prawn. If only all dumplings on this earth are made this way! The light yuzu scent gently refreshes your palette and enhance the natural fragrance of the dish.
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| Yuba soy skin fresh prawn dumpling |
The 4th fish is sashimi. No words are needed. Me being me, I just need to touch the salt mountain design and it is verified glued down. So no fear of messing it up. Lol
We are on a roll here and the dishes just got better and better and left me craving for more. Usually by this time at some other joints, after a few hits, the misses with start to appear but NOT at RyuGin. The next dish which was charcoal grilled Alfonsino fish was clearly another winner here. The sweetness and juiciness without doubt will win over even the most hardy critic of fish dishes. It was pure ecstasy. The fish was cooked to perfection and sublime. If only I could bring myself to cast away my manners and lift up that stone slab just to lap up every bit of the fish juice oozing out, I would. The red raddish did nothing for me but the star winner is honestly the fish.
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| Charcoal grilled Alfonsino with grated green raddish & red raddish salad |
After the fish, it left me dizzy with anticipation. Could the dishes get any better than this honestly? The 6th dish that came was Japanese hairy crab with shitake mushroom egg custard. I stared down at this unassuming bowl of goodness and held my breath as I took my first spoonful. Just shoot me already. This bowl is choke full of flavor that I couldnt be more delighted to say this has got to be the BEST egg custard I have eaten ever, and I have eaten many. The silky smoothness coupled with the wholesome woody shitake aroma, and throw in those crab meat. It was heavenly!
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| Japanese hairy crab with shitake mushroom egg custard |
Following swiftly behind was finally the meat dish. My long awaited Wagyu beef. One way to describe it? TO DIE FOR.
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| wagyu sirlion |
The 8th dish I suspect is a filler dish, that is to fill up those in between gaps inside your belly with rice. The rice itself is bland but the abalone was great. There was no way to top the fish and beef and so in comparison this will obviously pale in taste. However, that said, that miso soup was AWESOME.
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| Simmered abalone rice |
By now, we have finally reached close to the finishing line, the desserts. I present to you the "Minus 196 degree mandarin candy with + 99 degree homemade mandarin jam". This dessert is KICK ARSE good. The freezing cold mixed with the sweet sourish hot jam was brillant! I wished they gave me two of these.
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| -196 degree mandarin candy with +99degree homemade mandarin jam |
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| 196 degree mandarin candy with +99degree homemade mandarin jam |
Last but not least, the 2nd final dessert. I cant rem the name but this was the only disappointment of the night. They tried to do some Jap-Chinese fusion to signify CNY but nope, doesnt work. I didnt finish this esp after all the successful 8 dishes, not gonna ruined my nite with this.
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| Add caption |
All in all, it was an awesome dinner and would I recommend anyone to come here? A resounding YES YES YES! If you are all for food and gunning for one special dinner to pamper that special someone after saving up for the whole year, THIS IS ABSOLUTELY the one place you should go for.
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