I ended up at Okra because I needed a kitchen open till late that could feed me after participating to an event. Okra staff answered my inquiry on their Facebook page and reassured me that the kitchen would be open until 11pm on Thursdays, Fridays and Saturdays. That was a good beginning.
Okra Kitchen is a modern izakaya offering Japanese food with innovative elements. The Hong Kong restaurant I visited is a spin-off of Okra 1949 in Beijing and is headed by an American chef. They also have a room for omakase upstairs operating under called Okra Bar (but I rarely consider sushi omakase outside Japan).
The visit
I arrived at around 10pm and I was seated at the counter. The chair was reasonably comfortable. They have a delicious menu, a one-pager with few items, but more than simple snack food. There was more than enough for a good late dinner. They also had an impressive sake menu, but not something I am into.
My first dish was the eel and foie gras. On the plate the house made fresh water eel, honey miso duck liver and sanbaizu vinegar were all nicely arranged. It was nice, but also a very small portion.
Then I had their yellowtail sashimi with tofu skin (yuba), garlic oil and ponzu. I appreciated the pairing between sashimi and tofu.
Then I had their “pollo loco”. Wow, this was an incredibly good sandwich. It included a whole marinated thigh and leg (boneless) on Okinawan purple sweet potato toast with fresh cabbage & Crystal sauce. It was just perfect. A great homage to the art of the Japanese sandwich (sando).
Finally I had their Koji rice pudding with aged tangerine peel condensed hon mirin and seasonal fruit. Honestly I did not like this dessert.
The check
The check was 646 HKD (82.5 USD). That was expensive, especially considered that only one dish really stood out. Unfortunately the price point of this kind of restaurants in Hong Kong is problematic. It is natural to compare these izakaya with Ronin, they seem to cater to the same public, in the same area of Hong Kong, and in a fairly similar venue. I liked the service at Ronin more; at the cost of sounding a jerk I will mention that one of the staff members at Okra was almost oppressive, asking me if everything was good several times. Ronin perhaps has a bit more choices and is more focused on seafood, but the two venues are comparable.
Where in Hong Kong:
110 Queen’s Road West, G/f.
Website: http://www.okra.kitchen/.