Macau Yat Yuen Centre is what Hong Kong dreams their version of Shibuya can be. Hosting more than a dozen Japanese restaurants across its 29 floors, the building is representative of Causeway Bay’s Japanese dining prowess, and so is Tori Jukusei.
Yakitori, omakase menus, and Japanese food will never die in Hong Kong, so this new-ish restaurant, opening in late summer 2025, decided to bring together an 18-course omakase menu that features many cuts of chicken, vegetables, and inventive dishes.
Namely, for the affordable price of HKD580 per person, you can enjoy multiple appetisers, local and Japanese yakitori, dry-aged pigeon breast and leg, vegetables, minced chicken skewer, chicken soup udon or dry curry beef, and dessert. But don’t expect a quick dinner, you’re here for the long haul.
Once you get past an appetiser of radish with hints of lemon – we wished there was more of a hit to cleanse the palate – we began with eight courses of both Hong Kong and Japanese yakitori.
Highlights from this first section came with the chicken oyster, a plump and salty cut of the bird, two delectable cuts of chicken breast which oozed fat and salt, and chicken thigh served with a charred yuzu sauce. This itself was one of the highlights of the menu, balancing acid and salt for a perfect bite.
With what I consider a test for any local yakitori restaurant, Tori Jukusei’s rendition of a minced chicken skewer hits the marks with a bouncy texture and a soy sauce-egg dip that pairs well. You don’t taste the chicken’s residual starch coating, as you can with other versions, and that makes this version great.
A highlight of the menu is the dry-aged pigeon breast and leg. Aged for 48-hours, the pigeon is gamey, juicy, and boasts of fatty, iron-rich, and charcoal flavours. Each bite is saliva-inducing and perfect for lovers of pigeon.
Before we landed onto the dessert of Hokkaido milk pudding, with which the simple dish helps soothe your stomach and end the meal on a high, we enjoyed the main dish of the night being a chicken and bitter melon soup and nori rice with egg.
Nourishing and heart-warming, the soup warms you up. The nori rice equally brings umami flavours with a sweet touch from the Japanese egg and bonito flakes.
Our verdict of Tori Jukusei
Tori Jukusei is a lengthy but flavourful affair. Whilst the service can be tweaked to provide more explanation of each dish and the pace of the meal amped up to ensure consistent serving of dishes (we finished our meal in two and a half hours with the last few courses served together in one go to speed up), we will not forget the plump chicken flavours for a long time.
Priced as such and stacked with as many dishes, you would be hard pressed to find another yakitori meal with such great value.
Tori Jukusei, 10/F, Macau Yat Yuen Centre, 525 Hennessy Road, Causeway Bay, 7046 0482, book here
| Order this: omakase menu Menu: omakase menus Price for two: HKD1,176 | Atmosphere: fun and without the stiffness of your typical yakitori restaurant Perfect for: lovers of chicken, yakitori, and omakase menus |
This review is intended to offer an individual perspective on the dining experience and should not be considered as a definitive judgement of the restaurant’s overall quality or reputation. The views expressed in this review are solely the author’s and do not reflect the opinions of Foodie.
