Pirata Group’s sexy contemporary Japanese restaurant Honjo – read our opening review to find out why we first fell in love with the creative fusion food and stunning space – has two weekday set lunches available for a splurge (and, let’s be honest, we all need a pick-me-up treat once in awhile, these days more than ever).
Like all the restaurants in the group’s portfolio, Honjo was spick and span on the day we visited, with all staff masked up and sanitiser at the ready.
We opted for the more indulgent four-course Traveller Business Lunch ($448), which includes a choice of a starter, sushi or sashimi, main course and dessert, but there’s also the three-course Dreamer Express Lunch
($298/person) on offer. And both sets include some great little extras – a plate of well-salted edamame, a bowl of comforting miso soup and a choice of a green salad or fried rice (as carb lovers, we’d recommend the flavourful fried rice with its hint of Sichuan peppercorn).
There are several tempting starter choices (like Wagyu with chorizo oil, Asahi tosazu, crispy quinoa and chive and hamachi with rocket butter, white ponzu gel and yukari), but the winner for us was the otoro with Thai basil, red onion, yuzu soy and bubu arare (+$30). This a suberb combination of fatty, buttery otoro complemented by a range of zesty, tart and herbaceous flavours. We particularly enjoyed the addition of the bubu arare – teeny-tiny baked glutinous rice crackers – for their crunchy textural element.
The sashimi (akami, hamachi, and salmon) was utterly fresh and clean tasting.
For mains, it’s a draw. First up for your consideration, the BM3 Australian Wagyu striploin with truffle yuzu (+$80), which comes with a stellar potato mash and pickled red onion.
The Wagyu’s opponent is this luscious salmon teriyaki with charred lime and fresh chilli – a contender for the best salmon teriyaki we’ve ever had, cooked just to the point of doneness.
Side of fried rice
If you’re a green tea lover, go for the matcha lava dessert, but we opted for the kuromitsu cheesecake with pineapple cinnamon sorbet. Kuromitsu is a Japanese sugar syrup, and it gave a great depth of flavour to the
almost molten cheesecake filling. The crust – buttery and firm – was textbook perfect, but the sorbet, while lovely in flavour, was richer and more ice cream–like in texture than a typical sorbet.
Verdict
Honjo and Pirata Group are certainly doing something right. At a time when food delivery is at an all-time high and many are reluctant to step outside their doorstep to dine out, the restaurant was nearly full on our Tuesday lunchtime visit. It’s not a regular weekday lunch outing for sure, but when you do want to celebrate, come here.
1/F, 77–91 Queen’s Road West, Sheung Wan, 2663 3772, book online
This write-up is based on a complimentary media tasting provided in exchange for an honest review and no monetary compensation. The opinions expressed here represent the author’s.
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