The One With The Sushi One @ Causeway Bay

The adventure began in the cab ride while we were on our way to South Bay for the afternoon.

“I am craving for steamboat”, I quipped.

“Oh no, Raz… not steamboat. Not in summer. Maybe sushi?”

“Okay,” I pouted. “Sushi will do fine. But I know nothing about sushi in Hong Kong unless it’s prepacked at Park ‘n Shop”.

“There is this place at Causeway Bay, which is pretty good. I think it is called… Sushi First? First Sushi?”

I snorted. “A culinary offshoot of Fitness First?”

We quibbled more, and I fired up the mobile version of Open Rice to discover the place she was referring to was actually Sushi One, located at Leighton Road nearby my office.

Making reservation was a breeze, as long as it is before 8 p.m. Knowing how fashionably late we all can be, I made the reservation for a table of six on the dot.

I arrived at Sushi One later that night to find myself allocated a large table right at the back of the restaurant. Every other table was filled with customers. The din was rather disconcerting… not so loud that you have to shout to be heard, but not discreet enough for you to have murmuring conversations.

And as expected, everyone else was late, so my friend and I sat in slight embarrassment, pretending to be extremely interested in the menu while playing for time waiting for the rest of the dinner party to arrive.

After a few SMS-es it was obvious they won’t be arriving anytime soon (a case of too many crossed lines, all schedule went haywire, but not totally unexpected given the day we had), my friend and I decided to have an appetizer first to put an end to the (probably imagined) evil eye the wait staff was giving us.

And our main shield of choice was a premium platter sashimi, which was presented on a wooden tray like any other respectable sushi outlets. Despite how ordinary they look, the sashimis were surprisingly fresh and succulent to the bite. I am not one who can tell the differences from one sashimi to another, but the whole thing was pretty good, especially the prawns.

A pity that the wasabi wasn’t spicy enough, no matter how much I piled it on.

The handrolls were surprisingly cheap (HK$18 on the average) and they have an extensive list on the menu. We had the California roll (actually, didn’t you ever wonder why is it Californian?) and soft-shelled crab & avocado roll. Not too remarkable, if you ask me, but they were reasonable for that affordable price tag.

By the end of our rolls (that sounded mildly interesting), the remaining of our dinner party arrived and we heaped on the food. Platters of sushis of names which I couldn’t even begin to pronounce, more sashimis to go around (I had to recommend the same goodness to my friends, hadn’t I?) and some other dishes like the vegetable tempura (which was very disappointing, I must say, totally tasteless, and I am not even a fussy eater).

It was close to 10 p.m. by the time we were done and paid the bill (about HK$750 for a table of five, very reasonable I must say). As we left the restaurant, to my amazement there was a long queue outside the restaurant. My friend told me that they were waiting for the all-you-can-eat buffet starting at 10 p.m.

Here’s a snatch of conversation I overheard between a Chinese girl and her Caucasian friend, in English:

Caucasian Girl A: Oh god, such a long queue
Chinese Girl B: Ah, but it’s worth the wait. The food is really good and you can eat all you want. I always come here whenever I come back to Hong Kong
Girl A: No longer on your diet?
Girl B: Well, I can always diet again when we go back to LA.

Hmmm… you can take a girl out of Hong Kong, but never the Hong Kong out of a girl. They always know a good bargain when they see one ;)

Sushi One
G/F, Chinachem Leighton Plaza, 29 Leighton Road, Causeway Bay
3188 0083

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