Pizzazaza: zazazazazazazazazazazazaza!!

Shop info:
Pizzazaza
G/F, 7 Wun Sha Street, Tai Hang
Tel:  2881 8287

15 August 2012, dinner
$180 per head

This was, actually, part three to Locust Tunghok and I's dinner in Tai Hang on this hot and humid day.  For no logical reason whatsoever, we decided to start our even with a rather expensive yet disappointing yakitori dinner with Sapporo beer at a nearby new-ish restaurant called Ikki (一輝日本料理), followed by a scoop of smooth and rich chocolate ice-cream at the recently opened Lab Made.  We locusts were still hungry (trust me, we smartly refrained from ordering much on our first round at that yakitori place) and we happened to see this new pizzeria, so in we went.

Pizzazaza (previously known as MIST Pizzeria) was the new opening by the ex-boss of the ramen shop MIST in Causeway Bay of Michelin 1-star fame.  The starred restaurant was unfortunately closed following shareholder disputes between the Hong Kong owner and the Japanese advisor (please correct if I’m mistaken on this) and the Hong Kong owner invested to open three new shops in Causeway Bay / Tin Hau.  Pizzazaza was the first to come, followed with the just opened Rasupermen (ramen, of course.  Priced lower than MIST) at Hysan Square and the soon-to-be-launched Sawadelight at MIST’s old place.

THE ENVIRONMENT
Pizzazaza, rather unlike MIST ramen, is a casual diner located on Wun Sha Street, at the shop where “Little White House” used to be.  Perhaps to show its break from MIST’s rather serious, carefully choreographed and poker faced style, the name of the restaurant was recently changed to Pizzazaza.  So recent, that the store-front still says MIST Pizzeria!

The inside of the store is of a relaxing white.  Space between tables are understandably limited due to the very narrow store front but dining here doesn’t feel particularly claustrophobic thanks to the high ceiling and the light coloured walls.  Various artworks are hung on the walls and the yellow hued window into the kitchen showcases a collection of pans and other kitchen tools.

What I liked most, though, was the menu which is shaped like a pizza!

THE SERVICE
I was very impressed by the wait-staff here.  Not only are they very aware of what they serve, they were also aware of what ingredients are used, how the food taste and good combinations.  The waitress who took our order, for instance, suggested the bread basket to go with the slow cooked egg with wild mushrooms, and described the different flavours of the three types of beer they serve.  Another waitress told us what ingredients are used in their impressive looking mountain like Rucola pizza and how it’s constructed.  Yet another waitress taught us how best to eat the slow cooked egg and pointed out every ingredients in the dish.  This is the kind of knowledge we come to expect of Michelin starred restaurant staff, but unheard of at a casual pizzeria!

It was actually more than that.  I actually felt that they are genuinely proud of the food they serve, have probably tried most of them and is happy to tell customers about them.  Hell, they were more enthusiastic and genuine than the waiters who served us at Robuchon a Galera / au Dome in Macau.

THE FOOD
Obviously, good environment and friendly helpful staff is not enough to get me excited for a pizzeria.  The food need to match.  And the food was certainly decent.  Here we go…

Having had a tiny half pant Sapporo between us locusts, we did not plan to have more beer here… yet the waitress suggested their special beers, named Pizzazaza, Sawadelight and Rasupermen respectively.  I was pretty sure that these weren’t going to be house brewed (that would be asking a bit much, right?).  These were actually re-labelled bottled beer.  The one we ordered (Pizzazaza a.k.a. Weizen) was from the Kiuchi Brewery in Naka-shi of the Ibaraki prefecture in Japan.  As the waitress suggested, there was a slight banana-like flavour to the beer, which was light and refreshing.

To our surprise, the ($5 per portion) bread basket came with olive oil & vinegar, pesto and a spicy tomato puree.  The three items seems brought in but I liked the “inflated” grissini-thing.

Slow cooked egg with wild mushrooms, potato puree and black truffle sauce ($108)

We at this as suggested, mixing the potato, egg, truffle, mushroom and the spinach puree on the side and dipping with the inflated grissini.  Egg was nicely cooked, mushroom well sautéed, potato puree smooth and generous scoop of black truffle sauce.  Couldn’t be bad, really!  Yum!

Pizza Margherita ($158)

Buffalo mozzarella, cherry tomatoes & basil

Pizza was nice too – the thin crust was dry and not soggy with a wheat-y flavour especially on the rim.  The mozzarella was richer than the usual tasteless crap we find on Margheritas from a lot of “pizza restaurants” in town and the cherry tomatoes were fresh and retained that nice natural sweetness to it.  We were actually pondering, when we ordered, that why this Margherita is $40 richer than the Quattro formaggi pizza as usually it’s the other way round.  This is well worth the price!

CONCLUSION
I like this pizzeria.  I like the pizza, the slow cooked egg, the beer, the staff’s enthusiasm and the happy dining ambiance of the place.  If you look at price, at $180 per head this was in the same price range as the nearby Piccolo pizzeria (which, IMHO, despite having a nice wood-fired oven was not as good as its sister shop in Kennedy Town).  Recommended!

Summary (rated 1-5):
FOOD:  (4/5)  
SERVICE:  (4.5/5)  very good service
ENVIRONMENT:  (4/5)  Nice and relaxing.  Slightly crowded though.
BIG LOCUST'S RECOMMENDATION:  (4.5/5)  Recommended.  It’s not perfect, but for this price?  Must try!

Hatsu Japanese Restaurant: (Update) Yes, the cooked food is decent!

Shop Info:

Hatsu Japanese Restaurant
G/F, Bank of America Tower, 12 Harcourt Road, Central

6 August 2012, Lunch
$190 per head

Last week I had a rather disappointing lunch at Hatsu Japanese Restaurant, the new opening at BoA Tower.  The problem, of course, was partly due to my stupidity in going against my own advice of never eating sushi or sashimi at non-sushi-specialist restaurants.  Today, I mustered the courage to try Hatsu again, this time determined to stick to the cooked menu.  Having had a disappointing Cod Saikyo Yaki yesterday at Harakan-S Japanese Dining Room, I ordered the “Grilled Black Cod Fish” with the hope that this restaurant would serve a better version of the dish.

ENVIRONMENT

The earlier review has covered most I have to say about the venue.  Having sat at the innermost table this time, however, I can attest that the inner window-side tables are far better than the communal tables at the entrance.  Not only is the environment much brighter thanks to the full height curtain wall, the area feels more private.  There are occasionally smokers hot-pot-ing outside but other than that the path outside is scarcely used.

If one were to eat here I would definitely recommend to either arrive early and grab a table inside, or book one early on.  Where you seat could easily make the difference between a comfortable and relaxing lunch and a rather miserable one at a dim corner under the escalator!

SERVICE

Again, courteous with prompt response, never too intrusive.  The wait for food was reasonable.  And I like their teapots with matching cups!

Last time

This time

FOOD

Fortunately, Hatsu’s cooked food, the grilled black cod at least, is far better than its sushi and sashimi.  The saltiness and slight sweetness of the sauce cuts through the fattiness of the cod well and of course, also goes well with a bowl of rice.  The cod itself was cooked just right – very juicy and tender with the “pieces” separating easily.  Far better than the Harakan-S version I’d say!

"Grilled Black Cod Fish"

Separates nicely, moist and tender

Raw veggies

The salad that comes with the set lunch, however, was not very good.  The veggies were noticeably fresher than last time, but came un-seasoned.  I.e. that was a bowl of raw veg.  No dressing, no salt, nothing.  Hmm… maybe the chef forgot?

The chawanmushi wasn’t much different from last time’s, only that I probably erred by saying that there was a quarter of a piece of Jap fish ball in it.  No.  It was 1/8 of a piece… other than that it’s chicken and mushroom again.  Same weak-ish flavour but same smoothness.  Not bad!

Bought in ice-cream, stored in freezer with cup.  Not bad!

CONCLUSION

Whilst my first visit left me bad impressions of Hatsu, this second visit was much better.  The grilled cod was decent and chawanmushi not bad.  There are of course room for improvement, such as the salad or the raw items, but I can see this as the preferred Japanese diner in this small culinary desert between Central and Admiralty.  If you work in the area and would like a quick Japanese food fix, remember this place.  Also, remember to book or arrive early (i.e. before 12:00 noon!) so you can get a decent table towards the inside of the shop.  Also, it would be a safe bet to avoid those sushi / sashimi (unless you’re a salmon fan…)

I still think that at $190 this was by no means cheap… but in Central / Admiralty things does come at a premium…

Summary (rated 1-5):

FOOD:  (3.5/5)  Salad dragged it down.

SERVICE:  (4/5)  Friendly staff and proactive manager.

ENVIRONMENT:  (4/5)  Much better environment on the inside.

BIG LOCUST'S RECOMMENDATION:  (3.5/5)  Go for the cooked menu!  Still worth visiting in this area.

Harakan-S: Read the menu first. Always.

Shop info:

Harakan-S Japanese Dining Room

Shop 311, 3/F, Lee Gardens Two, 28 Yun Ping Rd, Causeway Bay

www.harakan-s.com

5 August 2012, Lunch

$290 per head

Some say it is most important to at least read the menu before entering a restaurant – so you’d at least know what they serve and form an idea of the budget for the meal – and often Locust Tunghok and I would turn away from a restaurant if we don’t like what we see, or we simply think the food might not warrant the price.  This Sunday, however, we made this amateurish mistake of taking the risk to enter a restaurant via its backdoor, without even seeing the menu, and sitting down only to find that the menu isn’t as attractive as we thought.  It was lucky that we survived with just a minor hit to the bank, although that was a rather optimistic view of the events…

THE ENVIRONMENT

Located on 3/F of Lee Gardens 2, Harakan-S is the renovated and rejuvenated version of the previous Harakan.  We entered through the back door, through Habitu Ristorante and the Garden.  The furniture chosen creates a casual dining environment although I kept hitting my head on that interesting pink-sea-urchin-like chandelier.  The Japanese paper door styled partitions echoes the cuisine this restaurant serves and the green wall makes the dining room a relaxed place to be.

THE SERVICE

Nothing much could be said about the service.  The staff was sufficiently attentive, but given the format of the lunch there really isn’t much service required…

THE FOOD

So why not much service is required?  Because it’s a semi-buffet lunch.  Had we known that it is a semi-buffet we wouldn’t have entered at all.  Worse still, the choices at the semi-buffet were very limited, with only a handful of choices for appetizer and one (ONE!!!) choice of green tea cheese cake for dessert.  To add to the insult, I found on its website, when researching for this post, that normal lunch with appetizer trio (salad, chawanmushi and “daily special”) is priced much lower than our semi-buffet lunch.  How convenient – oh it’s Sunday, let’s turn it into an appetizer buffet so we can charge more and use less service!  Genius! 

As one would reasonably expect, since these appetizers have been sitting on the table for quite a while they weren’t in their prime condition at all… even the sauce has shown signs of drying…

Grilled Cod Marinated in Saikyo Miso (Semi-buffet:  $298.  Normal:  $258)

This Saikyo grilled cod was quite forgettable – normal flavour and slightly on the dry side, with skins that are quite burnt with a pretty strong charcoal taste.  Portions were rather generous but that hardly compensates for the burnt skin and the inflated price.  The equivalent of 3,000 yen for a mediocre Cod Saikyo Yaki?  Come on…

Classic Grilled Eel over Rice (Semi-buffet:  $228.  Normal:  $188)

I have only had a bite of the grilled eel and from that can only say it was a disappointment.  The texture of the eel was rather mushy and the flavour quite weak – a long way away from the ones we’ve tried in Izuei Honten in Tokyo or the one with egg cover at かねよ at Kyoto!  Again, a 20% premium for coming on a Sunday, for less service, is outrageous.  On their normal menu at least there is a chawanmushi…

CONCLUSION:

We should have read Timeout HK’s 3/5 review and avoided this place, or read the menu at the main entrance before coming in.  Personally I feel that given the quality the normal lunch set prices are already on the high side, but with this Sunday premium the overpricing is outrageous.  Perhaps they make better dinners, and perhaps the a-la-carte menu is superior, but we definitely would not risk our hard-earned dough again just 0to try those.  Not coming back.

Summary (rated 1-5):
FOOD:  (3/5)  Mediocre at best, very expensive for the quality.
SERVICE:  (3/5)  Not much service to speak of especially given it’s semi-buffet.
ENVIRONMENT:  (4/5)  Very comfortable.
BIG LOCUST'S RECOMMENDATION:  (3/5)  Maybe, if you’re willing to risk a not-small amount of money on a meal that will probably be less than satisfactory!

Further reading:  原了，就是完！@ Harakan-S Japanese Dining Room

Hatsu Japanese Restaurant: Maybe cooked food is better?

Shop Info:
Hatsu Japanese Restaurant
G/F, Bank of America Tower, 12 Harcourt Road, Central


1 August 2012, Lunch
$230 per head

UPDATE:  A later visit ordering cooked food gave a much better experience.


I was filled with joy when I learnt a month or so ago that a new Japanese restaurant will be launched near my workplace where the barren dining landscape limits lunch choices to Café de Coral, Maxim MX, McDonald’s and Hokkaido Dairy Farm Milk Restaurant.  So when I discovered that it has opened I waked in without a second thought, on its third day of operation.


THE ENVIRONMENT
With its plain wooden table, leather seats, plenty of sunlight and the rather industrial pebble stone pile wall, Hatsu brings an air of simple refreshing elegance to the rather dull ground floor of the BoA Tower.  On the other hand, similar to the Burger King which occupied the same space a few months ago, the main dining area is quite open, with one side facing the rather busy McDonald’s.  If privacy is a concern or if you feel uneasy dining where lots of people walk by every moment, booking a table with the specific request for a table at the inner side of the premise along the full-height windows facing Cotton Tree Drive would be a good idea.  Traffic outside will unlikely be a significant concern thanks to the dense vegetation of the planters outside.


Be warned, though, that air-conditioning at certain locations may be very strong, such as where I was seated near the entrance…

THE SERVICE
Service was pretty standard here.  The waitresses were courteous and respond promptly when you signal for their attention and the manager came concerned when he noticed that I left half my sashimi untouched – more about that later.


THE FOOD
Some say ordering sashimi / sushi at a “Japanese restaurant” is a dangerous act unless the establishment is traditional Japanese with a Japanese chef at the helm, where chances of survival would be better.  Even I myself have warned friends against doing such a rackless thing.  Yet, this is exactly what I’ve done today – ordering a sashimi & sushi set lunch, but oh my, even the mentality of venturing where no sane person would go, for the sake of truly gauging the merits of this new restaurant, was not enough to prepare me for the shock I received when I saw this:

Sushi & sashimi set ($230)

The prevalence of the colour orange was appalling.  Maybe they have to pay their rent and bills, maybe they think the Hong Kong people like salmon sashimi, but I almost felt cheated that I was given the cheapest cuts possible for a price of $230.  Come on…

Let’s start with the maki rolls and the sushi.  In the front there’s the salmon, Japanese amberjack, tuna, shrimp and octopus.  The salmon was rubbery, amberjack mediocre, tuna not fresh and lacks texture, shrimp was tasteless and octopus… well I don’t usually eat octopus so couldn’t really tell.  Hell, although this is completely not a fair comparison in any sense, look at Locust Tunghok’s recent review of Sushi Xuan.  Although that sushi set was 50% pricier, the difference of quality is the best example of heaven and hell.


The maki rolls...  Salmon and cucumber.  Seriously?  I’ve had cucumber maki rolls at decent sushi restaurant too, such as this one at Sushi Iwa in Tokyo.  That, was a cucumber maki roll, refreshing and sliced up for better crunchiness.  Another version I’ve had at a location I’ve since forgotten had it finely chopped for a completely different texture.  Not this one.  This was a chunck of cucumber wrapped in rice wrapped in nori.  The salmon maki roll… was just that.

The sushi was not appealing, but the sashimi was worse.  The Japanese amberjack was tasteless and rubbery but edible.  The salmon was half-half, as in half of each piece tasted OK whereas the other half had a strange mushy texture.  One can easily buy better salmon sashimi in, for example, CitySuper.  The maguro, or toro as the manager claimed (tuna, anyway), was the worst of the three.  The fishiness of the tuna was not as pungent as the foul prawn sashimi we were served at Kyoto Joe, but bad enough that its non-swallow-able and had to be spit out.  The fishiness almost develops in your mouth, getting more acute with every chew.

How about the salad?  Again freshness was a problem.  Look closely and you’d realize the leaves were withered.  There was also a strange bitterness to the dressing which I couldn’t identify nor like.  This could be a matter of preference though.

The chawanmushi was perhaps the only dish which I marginally liked.  The egg was smooth and cooked just right, although the flavor was weak and lacks the layers of flavor usually found in better versions.  Not surprising since the only ingredients in the chawanmushi was the mushroom as shown, a 1/4 piece of Japanese fishball and a tiny piece of chicken.


The miso soup… I was furious enough by then that I couldn’t recall how it tasted.

Coffee was decent, but the size of the cup and its contrast with the creamer was baffling… 


CONCLUSION
So, this can be taken as the prime example of what not to order at a “Japanese restaurant”.  Had the price been $85, the quality of the food provided would probably have been less infuriating, but I would nonetheless suggest all raw items to be avoided like a plague.  Cooked food?  Maybe on a day when I’m feeling adventurous enough, I’d give those a try.


Summary (rated 1-5):
FOOD:  (2/5)  Cheap ingredients that’s not fresh sold at premium price.
SERVICE:  (4/5)  Friendly staff and proactive manager.
ENVIRONMENT:  (3/5)  Casual dining environment, too open.
BIG LOCUST'S RECOMMENDATION:  (2/5)  Don’t bother.  At least don’t bother with its sushi / sashimi.