Taka 18

So I saw a picture of a grilled prawn head with abalone sauce mixed with all the gooey bits on HK Epicurious’ Instagram. If you’re like me, a photo like that has the potential to cause all manners of madness. I literally Googled their number, dialed up, and booked a table in less than 5 minutes. After the initial period of excitement, I did my pre-​date ritual of Googling the hell out of this place, and found close to nothing. It is a Japanese/​European restaurant. Not fusion. Just serving two cuisines under one roof. «Okay…» I thought, «did I make a mistake here?»
I decided to take the risk and invited A along to be my test gerbil. He arrived at the place first, I was running late, and got a few strange messages: «I’m sitting down now. No one is here…»; «The table looks like it hasn’t been used»; «Are you sure about this?!»
When I arrived, I realized what he meant about the table — there was a faint powdery film on the marble as if it had just come out of the warehouse. Oh god, fingers crossed.
The set menus were split between Japanese and European. We went for Japanese. I saw the prawn head dish in the $ 800~ set, so ordered this, and another $ 500~ set which had grilled prawn with uni. Thought it was time I put my paycheck to good use so I ordered a bottle of Sake to boot. I was all in. No turning back now.
And of course there’s going to be a happy ending!
Both sets were flawless. The standout was definitely the grilled prawn dishes — the rich, orange sea urchin crust on top of the light sweet flesh of a huge prawn was above and beyond any expectations I had for this place (and trust me, they were already soaring after that IG pic). The sashimi was fresh, and we were blown away by how sweet the scallop sashimi was! With a drizzle of lemon, this baby sings.
Everything cooked was very rich — watch your cholesterol levels here, people. The wagyu beef in the $ 800~ set, perfectly medium rare as requested and covered in garlic chips, was a heart attack on a plate. And the miso cod in the other set was so buttery and fatty that we ended up just poking at the last few pieces, frustrated that our bellies couldn’t consume more.
Tips
— The House sake is cheaper but can be served hot or cold, and tastes fine. But I’m no Sake snob.
— YOU MUST TRY THEIR GRILLED PRAWN DISHES! MUST!!! Both the uni crusted prawn and prawn with abalone sauce are amazing.
–Their sister restaurant is Hon Jin on the island — if you can’t be bothered to trek to Jordan, then perhaps check this eatery out first instead.