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Sagano
The New World Millennium Hong Kong Hotel, located in Tsim Sha Tsui, was formerly known as the Nikko Hotel, which used to cater to many visitors from Japan. It’s not surprisingly then, notwithstanding the name change, the hotel would still offer quality Japanese cuisines to its guests. Indeed, The New World Millennium operates Sagano, a large up-scale Japanese restaurant as well as Ranzan, a teppanyaki venue with live cooking, next door.
We were there to try out Sagano, the hotel’s flagship restaurant that serves Kyoto cuisines. The spacious outlet is artfully designed, featuring bamboo and wood as its core design elements to present a modern interpretation of Kyoto Style décor. A waterfall by the entrance offers a serene sense of arrival; the dining halls is neat and simple with its furniture designed in classic Japanese style. The outlet seats over 110 guests; it features 6 VIP rooms and a teppanyaki counter.
Under Chef Masahiko Noka, a native of Kyoto with more than 30 years of culinary experience and who has been the hotel’s head chef since 2005, Sagano offers a wide range of authentic Japanese specialties, including sushi, tempura, teppanyaki and kaiseki, using the freshest ingredients.
Our dinner of choice is Sagano’s Special Kaiseki Menu for two persons ($1,500 per person). Kaiseki is a traditional Japanese multicourse meal consisting of a series of intricately and skilfully prepared dishes, which is popular in the Kyoto area.
The dinner started with Assorted Appetisers - seven little dishes that include marinated tomato, squid, pollock roe, spinach, mushroom, and fish. It’s clear that much preparation goes into to each small dish. Then came Sashimi which was snapper, flamed toro, and deep-sea horse mackerel. Each piece of fish is fresh and tender, attesting to its quality. Stewed Fish is next, an unusual dish in which a piece of salmon is stewed with egg plant, its sauce lightly seasoned in sweet soy sauce.
A Japanese Salad is next, followed by the entrée, Grilled Wagyu, with a potato salad as a side dish. The beef is Japanese A4 Wagyu, which is super-tender and marbled, with each sliced practically melting in the mouth. The beef is served with Steamed Rice, Miso Soup and a Vinegared dish which is snow crab meat with vegetable marinated in Japanese vinegar. The beef portion is surprisingly large, and we were becoming full near the end. We had a choice of Japanese ice cream to wrap up the meal which we chose the Green Tea Ice Cream.
For a traditional Kaiseki meal, a nice bottle of cold Sake wine is highly desirable. Sagano offers a wide selection of sake wines of different vintages. We highly recommend you choose one to go with the meal.
Japanese food is wildly popular in Hong Kong, with a dizzying variety of cuisines offered. While, the trend may go towards single cuisine venues, i.e. Sushi, Ramen, Teppanyaki, sometimes it is nice to enjoy a traditional meal where different cooking styles and preparation methods are showcased. The Kaiseki meal at Sagano did just that. So, if you are in the mood for a nicely prepared traditional Japanese meal, Sagano is worth considering.
