Etorou – Seikei – Dinner Night 3 – Review

Whenever Ms Buddha and I travel, we try to do things at a leisurely pace, so having the fortunes of staying multiple nights 4 nights at Seikei meant that we were able to experience all three restaurants on the premise (including an extra night where I had vegetarian). On the third night, the host organised the Etorou restaurant for us, which is apparently their Seafood focused restaurant.

Typical to what we’ve been use to, when we arrived, the menu was already prepared for us to inspect while we ordered drinks. Similar to previous nights, Ms Buddha went for the cider and it was sake for me.

The first course for the night was a Soymilk Tofu, which was very rich in Soy flavour and a little firmer than the “silk” tofu that we have grown quite accustomed to in Hong Kong. As someone who loves mochi, the texture suited my preference.

Next was the Prawn rolled with white radish in soup, the broth was very light in flavour and the freshness of the ingredients came through very well, although the radish was a little overcook (soft) for my taste.

When it comes to impressiveness of the plating, Seikei does tend to do things with a bang! When the sashimi plate came, it shocked the both of us, especially me as I thought that it was a one person portion. The freshness of the fish came through immediately as you’d expect from a good Japanese restaurant – one of the best dishes from Seikei overall.

After the cold dish of the sashimi, it was great to warm up and prepare for the warm dishes with the steamed eggs – whilst smooth and tasty, the texture of steamed eggs never really appealed to me, although it looked like Ms Buddha thoroughly enjoyed it.

4 - Steamed egg — The bowls are always so nice

4 - Steamed egg2 — Steamed eggs – one of Ms Buddha’s favourites

The bungo beef that followed was terrific and as I’ve mentioned before, the quality of Japanese beef continues to impress me time and time again, most people in Hong Kong care only about the fat content, however, as I’ve grown older, the right mix of flesh and fat has become increasingly important, the bamboo shoot was very crisp and tasty as well.

Before the rice dish, we got the fried mackerel, which was tasty although the frying was slightly below the high quality that has come from the other 2 restaurants as you can taste a bit too much of the absorbed oil.

It is quite interesting with meals at Ryokans is that you then to get fed very substantial plates, but then when the rice /staple comes, it is normally accompanied with something very simple. But it is also this simplicity that I have learnt to appreciate the quality of Japanese rice so much more; it was as if the compliments are there to enhance the rice rather than rice being the side dish.