Not.One.Less.

I haven't seen Babu in over a year, what with everyone being extra careful during the pandemic.  After having to reschedule a couple of months ago, it was finally our turn to check out Shikon by Yoshitake (すし 志魂).

It may surprise some people to hear that I have never been here before. After all, the restaurant has been open in Hong Kong for a number of years.  Yet when Chef Kakinuma Yoshiharu (柿沼利治) first arrived in Hong Kong, the pricing was shockingly high - with the highest of the three tiers coming in at a whopping HKD 4,500 for dinner, before service charge. Thinking it would be a better idea to visit Yoshitake-san when I go to Tokyo and pay the lower pricing, I never made this place a priority in my book. A fellow foodie's furious reaction to his lunch experience didn't help boost my desire to visit, either...  Of course, I have regrettably never made it to Yoshitake in Tokyo due to the difficulty of booking. 

After a couple of years of paying a significant markup at Sushi Saito (鮨 さいとう) in Hong Kong, I figured it was about time to tick this off my list. And there's no better companion to do this with than Babu.

The manager person came to ask us for our dietary restrictions, which was nice of him but... didn't I already tell the restaurant what the restrictions are when I confirmed the reservation a couple of days ago over the phone? The guy seemed a little taken aback when I told him, and quickly checked the stack of paper in his hands. I guess he found the list of items we didn't want to eat right there in his hand, but hadn't bothered to read it before asking the question.

Starting with the otsumami (おつまみ):

Steamed egg custard with monkfish liver (鮟肝茶碗蒸し) - this was a cold version, and the addition of monkfish liver definitely changed the texture into something more like a grainy and lumpy purée. Topped with ponzu gelée (ポン酢ジュレ) and diced spring onions. I really loved the flavors from monkfish liver with the distinctive mineral bite, which of course works very well with the acidity of the vinegar.

Marbled flounder (真子鰈) - our seasonal white fish was the marbled flounder, served with sea cucumber roe on top, a couple of drops of sudachi (酢橘) juice, and a sprinkle of sea salt. Pretty thick cut so there was definitely a good amount of bite.

Marbled flounder wing (真子鰈縁側) - once again this came in thick cut, and was pretty springy.

Sardine roll (鰯) - these types of rolls are some of the best presentations of sardines.

We have perilla leaves, chives, and pickled young ginger inside along with the sardines. Very, very tasty.

Japanese style tender octopus (蛸) - very, very soft and tender, as expected.

Junsai, baby lotus with baby scallop and sea urchin (蓴菜) - the watershield (蓴菜) came in tomato water gelée, along with some mactra clam adductor muscles (小柱) and topped with Japanese green sea urchin (馬糞雲丹) from Hokkaido. The acidity was pretty high but we've also got lots of savory flavors, which reminded me of Japanese umeshu (梅酒).

Steamed abalone with abalone liver sauce (鮑) - the abalone from Shimane Prefecture (島根県) was steamed with sake for 7 hours. Of course, one would expect it to come with the trademark abalone liver sauce... and we were asked to dip the shellfish in the sauce. As you can see, I've pretty much covered it with the sauce...

When we were done, a small rice ball was placed in the small tray, with more of that rich, lava-like sauce lathered on. The sauce was so thick that it reminded me of demi-glace. Soooooo delicious.

Grilled fresh water eel (鰻) - the skin of the eel sounded pretty crispy when cut with a knife, and it was. My only complaint was that the shari (シャリ) was to loose and fell apart when I tried to pick it up with my hands. That was a real surprise, and not something I expected from a chef of this caliber.

We start the procession of 10 pieces of sushi...

Oval squid (アオリイカ) - this was prepared by taking slabs of the bigfin reef squid - which were about 1cm thick - and making very thin slices. Each slice was then finely scored, stacked into batches of three, then tenderized repeatedly with the edge of a knife.

The result was this thick blob of squid that had been half-liquefied, and now had this amazing texture which was soft and yielded to one's teeth, yet put up a certain amount of resistance. It was interesting to note that the shari wasn't as warm as it is over at Saito.

Golden eye snapper (金目鯛) - this came as a very thick cut, which was surprisingly sooo tender that I thought I might have been eating Jell-O. Unfortunately the shari fell apart as I tried to pick this up with my fingers... and THAT was definitely a surprise given this was the second time tonight.

Marbled flounder (真子鰈) - our substitute for lean tuna (赤身). Thick and chewy with sinew.

While others were getting their fatty tuna (大トロ), Sankala and I were left watching them eat. Had Kaki-san forgotten about our substitute piece? That can't be. It has been known to happen, but cannot be at a place like this.

Gizzard shad (小鰭) - more salty than expected and not as acidic.  A little bummed, though, that we weren't getting the young gizzard shad (新子).

Horse mackerel (鯵) - I wish I had bothered to take better pictures than this one. The horse mackerel at Saito had been my favorite for the last couple of years, but no longer. This very thick piece, which had been marinated in fruit vinegar and scored to create a beautiful presentation as well as texture, came with a dab of asatsuki (浅葱) on top. I could have sworn I was chewing on some Japanese custard pudding (プリン) judging by the texture... It might be worth coming back just for this piece alone.

Sea urchin (雲丹) - the stack - which seemed taller than your usual gunkanmaki (軍艦巻き) - came with Japanese green sea urchin above the shari topped with purple sea urchin from Hokkaido (北紫雲丹), and some seaweed powder (perhaps 青海苔?) in between. No points for guessing if this was popular with the crowd.

Tiger prawn (車海老) - I noticed that the staff had brought out a new batch of shari and sure enough, this was much warmer than the previous batches. Acidity was also noticeably higher, and I found myself thinking of the black Chinkiang vinegar (鎮江醋) I grew up with.

The Japanese guy near me - obviously a regular customer who had been hogging Kaki-san's attention the entire time we've been here - asked about the shari, and Kaki-san explained that he had actually used three different types of shari throughout the evening, with each type being used on 3 different pieces. The Japanese guy then proceeded to ask the other couple seated next to him whether they had noticed the difference in the shari - as if he was the only one with an astute palate...

Sea eel (穴子) - the bozushi (棒鮨)-style roll also had egg and narazuke (奈良漬け) inside. I really liked how this was done.

The appearance of conger eel normally signals the end of the savory part of the meal, and just as I was thinking that we would leave here having been short-changed (I no longer use the word 'gypped' due to its racist origins) by the restaurant, I noticed someone slicing up and shredded some abalone in front of me...

Abalone hand roll (鮑手巻き) - and here we have it! Sankala and my substitute for fatty tuna. And it's a luscious-looking hand roll with shredded abalone inside! With that abalone sauce on top! Aren't we happy campers now... I guess it took time for the kitchen to steam the little abalone for us, which was why this had to wait until the end of the meal. And yes, it was definitely worth the wait. The acidity here was noticeably higher thanks to the third batch of shari.

Sankala made a very smart move by offering her roll to Babu, who had earlier taken the fatty tuna and was therefore not getting this. We could see the disappointment in her eyes, since she really likes abalone...

Castella egg (玉子) - this really was like a piece of castella (カステラ).

Soup　(味噌椀) 

Mango pudduing (マンゴープリン) - a nice surprise.

Since the corkage policy here is more sensible, I decided to fish out a bottle of sake from my cellar.

Rihaku Daijinjo Tobingakoi (李白大吟釀斗瓶囲い) - initially a little warm. This was more dry than expected, with some fermented rice notes. Very soft and round on the palate. The sake remained relatively dry, and I guess it's been too long since I last had a bottle that I had forgotten how this tastes. Must.drink.more.

I'm glad that after 9 years, I finally chose to dine at this establishment... and in its newer, more fancy location. The important thing was that we made Babu very happy tonight. And I think I just might have a new favorite sushi joint in town...