Hokkai Ramen in Sogo, Hong Kong
Remember I mentioned that Paul and I coincidentally share a lot of similar Hong Kong memories. One of the most remarkable one was our fondness for this particular Unagi Don at the basement of Sogo Department Store in Causeway Bay. It's so funny how we found out about this shared love for this Japanese eel rice dish. As we were walking around Causeway Bay, Paul suddenly brought up how he would excuse himself from his family shopping routine to be able to head straight to Sogo Department Store to have his Unagi Don box. While my Papa wasn't that lax to allow me to roam free on my own, I told him that we would also go to Sogo to have the same Unagi Don and I can also remember how good it was. A trip was definitely not complete without it.
That said, we made sure to include the search for that particular Unagi Don during this trip. A lot of things have changed and to be honest, we had a hard time trying to recall where exactly that Unagi Don was as even the supermarket has a new look now. Finally, we spotted a Japanese restaurant at the basement with a long waiting line outside. We felt that it could be the one.
We took the chance as we were really craving for Unagi Don already, we fell in line and within minutes, we were ushered to our table for two. We wasted no time and agreed to order two set meals to share. The first was no-brainer. We got the Unagi Don with Pork Gyoza as sides. Since it was a bit chilly outside, we also got a bowl of Tonkatsu Ramen too.
We were really hoping that this was the right Unagi Don that we love. Well, sadly...it wasn't. However, it wasn't so bad. We love the sweet-salty basting and the fish was very tender and boneless making it so such a breeze to bite into. The Japanese rice underneath was fragrant and sticky just the way we like it. While eating though, we realized that the Unagi Don that we would get was found inside the supermarket. It's okay though, no loss as we found a pretty good alternative.
Gyoza is one of our favorite side dishes whenever dining at any Japanese restaurant. Similar to the Xiao Long Bao, we use this as a gauge to test how good the restaurant is. We're pretty happy with how compact the Hokkai Ramen's gyoza was and the wrapper had a just-right texture and thickness.
As for the ramen, I found it a tad too salty for my taste. Paul commented that the noodles weren't so bad but since I only had a few sips before pushing the bowl away, let's just take his word for it.
The tonkatsu was good though. Tender in the inside and crunchy on the outside. Yum yum!
I wonder why the locals obviously love this place as the supposed-hero product, the ramen, was such a let-down. I suggest that they name it Hokkai Donburi instead and that might make more sense.
Hokkai Ramen is located at B2, Sogo Department Store, Causeway Bay, Hong Kong.
That said, we made sure to include the search for that particular Unagi Don during this trip. A lot of things have changed and to be honest, we had a hard time trying to recall where exactly that Unagi Don was as even the supermarket has a new look now. Finally, we spotted a Japanese restaurant at the basement with a long waiting line outside. We felt that it could be the one.
We took the chance as we were really craving for Unagi Don already, we fell in line and within minutes, we were ushered to our table for two. We wasted no time and agreed to order two set meals to share. The first was no-brainer. We got the Unagi Don with Pork Gyoza as sides. Since it was a bit chilly outside, we also got a bowl of Tonkatsu Ramen too.
I wonder why the locals obviously love this place as the supposed-hero product, the ramen, was such a let-down. I suggest that they name it Hokkai Donburi instead and that might make more sense.
Hokkai Ramen is located at B2, Sogo Department Store, Causeway Bay, Hong Kong.
