Chef-founder George Kwok at Inoshishi, and Brut and Pondi fame, is gaining virality on Instagram for his recipe videos and food explainers.
The likes of wine bar Brut, French-Indian restaurant Pondi, Cantonese-meets-American eatery Shop B, and small-batch-wine-focussed Crushed Wine Bar form an eclectic restaurant group of sorts along Sai Ying Pun’s quiet streets
Chef’s George Kwok and Camille Glass together birthed Brut in early 2018. They wanted to bring the many cultures they’ve lived in to a menu that also embraces good organic wine. Till this day, the wine bar has continued a legacy of independent restaurant cooking with experimentation as the focus.
In the years following, both Camille “as the front end of the concept creation” and George, “the backbone of the restaurants,” defined what “small, cosy, and independent restaurants” could be in Hong Kong, according to the Hong Kong-born chef George.
“With [Brut and Pondi],” and later Shop B in collaboration with co-owner Natalie Ngan, “we wanted to create a strong vibe with these restaurants, they are occasion restaurants that people come to to celebrate,” George shares.
Each four of the Sai Ying Pun restaurants have enjoyed success over the years, both in name recognition and patronage. For his next project in late 2024 – and there was always going to be more for the serial restaurateur – George wanted to cook a cuisine he has never touched professionally in a Hong Kong kitchen before.
“If I were to open a new restaurant that I haven’t opened in the past, I only have a few options left – Filipino, Vietnamese, Korean – Japanese is one of the most comfortable [cuisines in Hong Kong] and appeals to the crowd.”
Inoshishi opened in November 2024 in Causeway Bay with a menu focussing on yakitori, kushiyaki, kushiage, oden, and teppanyaki items. “After my years in Hong Kong, I have gained enough experience to finally open a restaurant by myself,” he says.
“What I am trying to create is a place where you can come regularly. I wanted a restaurant where you don’t feel the pressure to spend more than HKD300 per person for a good meal [and where I can have] 100% of my input.”
Crowds rushed to his Causeway Bay restaurant when they opened, keen for his izakaya-style menu and simple bites, most notably for the signature grilled ox tongue. Fans of George from Brut and Pondi followed him to his new Japanese restaurant for a taste of something closer to home.
Inoshishi opened in the neighbourhood’s Ginza style commercial building Macau Yat Yuen Centre, flush with 10 Japanese restaurants, including George’s own.
“You won’t get foot traffic or walk-in customers with people trying our restaurant,” George notes, “so my first intention with marketing my restaurant was to start doing dancing videos, simply to build a fun reputation for the restaurant.”
Now, with over 117,000 followers on Instagram, George has built his brand as a chef that cooks for his customers at Inoshishi and Hong Kongers online.
His first recipe video in April last year, creating a succulent plate of scallion oil chicken topped with a peppery garlic sauce, earned him more than 370,000 views. Next up in spring and early summer came recipes on how to make smash burgers, naan bread, meatballs, braised pork rice, and iced watermelon dessert.
In August 2025, George released his first explainer video, sharing what really is the difference between Japanese, Korean, Singaporean, Chinese, Thai, and American eggs. “Bam it exploded, within a week I got more than 500,000 views on the video.”
Informative videos breaking down types of steak, pork cuts, imported chicken types, oil, pasta, cheese, tomatoes, and sugar earned him more than 2 million views on his page in 2025. His follower count has kept on rising since.
As a Japanese chef, George also shares recipes close to the heart of his operations, including creamy mentaiko pasta, beef udon, and clam lemon ramen. This way, he can show off his cooking style without needing a reservation at his kitchen counter first.
“[Before I opened Inoshishi], I thought that when you want to promote a restaurant, you have to talk about a restaurant, but actually this is the opposite.”
“This is why people have started coming to Inoshishi more and more, because they’re looking for my recipe videos. I just cook things I love and I want to eat for the next day, I don’t overthink about what are the trends or what’s going to get me views.”
George has found success in his recipe videos. He has worked with several Hong Kong brands promoting their kitchenware and ingredients and invites from local, Chinese, and Australian cooking shows have come his way too.
“About 20 per cent of my customers visit Inoshishi all because of my cooking videos on Instagram!”
Pay a visit to George at Inoshishi for a taste of the food he cooks every week online.
