Hong Kong - Irori 酒處

I stumbled on this last weekend and it was a good find!  Always been under my nose - considering how often I'm in Causeway Bay - but never heard of it.  Well, the power of the internet ...  is just powerful.  And so, armed even with recommended dishes from other bloggers, off we went in search of a non-descript building on Yiu Wa Street.  Good thing it's a short street.

We started with the pumpkin salad - 2 ice cream scoops of mashed pumpkin with bits of hard boiled egg.  Very similar to a Japanese potato salad but I just like spuds more.  Wasn't bad though.

First time - so a cautious order of Hirame sashimi. 

The sashimi was fresh and there was a generous serving of condiments.  Well cut with no stringy bites.  Bonus:  we got what I believe is the thin muscle of the dorsal fin, on the side of the fish.  Higher in fat content, juicier and softer, and a richer finish.  Very good.

Next up: the minced tuna canapes topped off with nothing but rich Japanese mayo.  Decadent richness and surprisingly not oily at all but a superbly good combination.  Served on slices of baguette, the fusion was interesting in a positive way.

The novelty of the joint was the grilled mochi balls with a pizza twist.  With bits of tomato and bacon on the inside, the combination is quite yummy.  Only complaint: took a lot of chewing to down 3 balls.  I think a max of 2 per person would be perfect, greed factor aside.

My favourite was the vinegared mackeral pressed sushi, Osaka style.  Very high quality mackeral and not vinegared to a pulp, this was almost catch-of-the-day fresh, with a nice twist of acid, nudged against a decent bed of rice interspersed with torn Perilla leaves, topped off with a glossy translucent seaweed, adding to texture.  Definitely one of the better ones I've eaten outside of Japan.  I would go back alone just to have this.  The 6 pieces would make a nice light lunch for one.

A quiet place to hang out above the hustle and bustle of Causeway Bay, with interesting concoctions and they even have baby bottles of sake for the less initiated (or if you need to drive). 


2/F, Bartlock Centre,
3 Yiu Wa Street
Causeway Bay
Hong Kong
Tel: +852-2838 5939