This is post #24, part of my #50PostsIn50Days personal challenge to document my first 100 days in Hong Kong. Other posts in this series may be found at the bottom of the original post.
Sushi is incredibly good in Hong Kong.
Hong Kong is one of the few places (outside of Japan) where the combination of (1) distance from Tokyo and (2) available money allows high-end sushi places to offer fish flown same-day from Tsukiji Fish Market in Japan.
Of course, flying sushi in same-day is very expensive, and therefore only the highest end restaurants do it. However, being close to Japan still has its benefits, and Hong Kong is still able to access much more fish from Japan at lower price points than places that are further away.
As a result, I definitely have found many more restaurants in Hong Kong that serve traditional, authentic edomae style sushi than I ever did in the States.
One of my local Hong Kong friends (a fellow sushi fanatic whom I actually met in Japan while dining at Sushi Ya), is always on the look-out for good sushi places in Hong Kong. If schedules line up, we try to explore some of these new sushi places together.
The first sushi place we tried after my move to Hong Kong was Sushi Uehara, one of his top choices for a very reasonably priced sushi lunch. Sushi Uehara is a small counter-style sushi bar located on the edge of Causeway Bay. Diners face the sushi chef as they eat, which allows them to experience sushi the more traditional way - one piece at a time.
Chef Uehara worked at Sushi Hiro for eight years before setting up shop on his own. His dinner omakase is much pricier ($1700 HKD /$218 USD), but at lunch there are lower priced options, such as the the Deluxe Lunch (12-pieces of sushi and 1 roll for $480 HKD / ~$60 USD); the Premium Lunch (8-10 appetizers/sashimi plus ~6 pieces of sushi for $800 HKD /~$100 USD); and various types of chirashi and donburi (seafood over rice) for $380 HKD a bowl (~$49 USD).
Because we really just wanted to eat sushi, we opted for the the 12-course, which gives you more sushi (even compared to the Premium lunch).
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The Deluxe Lunch still includes a couple small appetizers. In our case, we started with a lovely crisp salad as well as a warm chawanmushi (steamed egg custard).
We then moved straight into the twelve pieces of sushi.
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We started out with shima aji (horse mackerel) and ebi (sweet shrimp).
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Next, we moved onto kinmedai (golden eye snapper), sanma (saury), hotate (scallop), and zuke (marinated tuna).
Mackerel hand roll
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One of my favorite bites was the akamutsu (rosy seabass), lightly torched and served with a touch of yuzu kosho. The buri (wild yellowtail) and seared torom were also very good, as was the "uni 2-ways", a nigiri topped with half red uni and half white uni.
The tamago (egg omelet) was fine, though not in the same league as the ultra fine cake-like tamago that you get at higher end places.
We ended with a simple but delicious maki roll filled with toro, shiso, and pickled radish.
I don't usually love the dessert I get at a sushi restaurant (it's often simple, like fruit or a scoop of ice cream). This was an exception. Here, I had something I'd never tried before: an ice cream monaka, paper-like shells made from mochi rice flour filled with matcha & azuki bean ice cream. I loved it!
Sushi Uehara - General thoughts
We had a really nice lunch at Sushi Uehara. Of course at this price point I can't expect it to compare with the highest-end sushi places in Hong Kong (and there's no comparison - those places are still noticeably better). Having said that, this place is still really good and a great value.
I really liked the authenticity of the experience, the quality of the pieces that we did have, and the delicious dessert. 🙂 With 12 pieces plus appetizers and dessert, my dining companion did not have to go get a "second lunch", like he did after another lunchtime sushi outing we had more recently. All in all, I would totally come back again for lunch.
Sushi Uehara Causeway Bay
Shop A, G/F, Sun Ho Court
29-31 Tung Lo Wan Road, Causeway Bay
HONG KONG
Tel: +852-2359-4700
