Having dinner at RONIN in Hong Kong is truly an experience. Firstly, you’ve got to actually find the restaurant. It’s in one of the tiny streets in Sheung Wan, pretty much at the end of the street, down some stairs and then there’s a grey door without a sign. Very nondescript – see for yourself here. Once you get in though, it’s the ultimate in understated cool. There’s only bar seating along this narrow restaurant and everyone there seems to take their Japanese food very seriously.
Bar seating is difficult when you’re in a group of more than 2. The three of us, Bro, DS and I, did manage to make it work but conversation can be difficult. We started our meal with some delicious, soft spinach and then dived into the sashimi, which RONIN is famous for. Their menu changes all the time and I’ve gotta admit, I had no idea what anything in the ‘raw’ section of the menu was. You won’t find the old salmon or tuna on here! It was all cuts and types of fish I had never heard of. Luckily all the waiters seem to be extremely knowledgeable so we chose three different things and tried to swallow our pride in being complete sashimi n00bs.
Everything is beautifully presented but also very simple. The sashimi is the best I’ve ever had – seriously. Even though I had no idea what I was eating. If you, unlike me, actually know your sashimi, please go and check out RONIN because you’ll be able to appreciate it much more than me!
I can’t remember some of the non-raw dishes we had unfortunately. This was back in early January and I should’ve written it down! I also have a feeling there were a couple of specials on that night that we ordered. Of the ones I CAN remember, we had the Sweet corn, mushroom, cabbage kakiage, shichimi salt (HK$150) which was great to break up a very meat-heavy meal. I love how it’s like…vegetables! But still deep fried!
We ordered the Sea bream karaage, pickled jalapeno tosazu (HK$310) out of curiosity actually, because I’ve only ever seen chicken karaage! I loved the presentation, having the fish pieces actually inside the hollowed out fish. Very dramatic! Also very delicious with a light batter and light seasoning that allowed the fish flavours to really come out. Finally, the Kagoshima beef, negi, maitake, sukiyaki egg yolk (HK$480) was definitely the prettiest dish we ordered, until we got stuck in and mixed it all together messily! I think of this as a kind of Japanese beef tartare – highly recommend.
I’d like to go back to RONIN next time with a more open mind. Sometimes, I struggle with sashimi and am not very adventurous with seafood, but if I prepare myself mentally next time I reckon it’ll be a great adventure! Also, you can read about RONIN‘s sister restaurant YARDBIRD here!
RONIN
8 ON WO LANE
GROUND FLOOR
SHEUNG WAN
HONG KONG
https://roninhk.com/
