Monday, March 03, 2008

Megu

Saturday evening, dinner at Megu Japanese Restaurant, Elements Mall, Kowloon.

Megu is a modern Japanese restaurant aiming to dazzle clients with artistic, over-the-top presentation and equally exaggerated prices. While I was impressed with how each dish was presented, only half of the meal was amazing and fresh. Nobu Hong Kong is better, more creative and innovative, and I prefer their simpler designs.


the brightly lit ad of Megu in one of the floors of Elements Mall


the menu


VOSS water from Norway. Personally I would drink tap water, but HK restos like "pushing" expensive bottled water from faraway places....


an order of shrimp tempura, 3 pcs. costs a whopping HKD 175, which is quite "cheap" compared to sister-in-law's 10,000 yen (per piece) tempura experience in Tokyo! It came with a delicate, somewhat tangy, ume plum salt



the shrimp head filling was also battered and fried



fresh wasabi rhizome (none of that sickly bright green stuff from a tube) resting on a "oroshi" grater, sharkskin mounted on a wooden paddle


Our friend grating the wasabi. The flavor is milder than commercial pastes or powders.


Grilled "toro"(fatty tuna belly) at HKD 78 per tiny, thin slice. It wasn't too fatty, if you know what I mean. They say Inagiku's grilled toro are the best (Inagiku is located at the Four Seasons Hotel).


Wild Red Snapper Madai with Nuts, Vegetables and Oriental Spicy Dressing. The dressing was heated until smoking then poured onto the greens. It was an ordinary salad with extraordinary tableside presentation.


Special sashimi set served in a bowl of crushed ice decorated like a pond with an ice "grotto", lit by soft blue light. Resting serenely on the ice bed are slices of maguro (bluefin tuna), hamachi (yellowtail tuna), red snapper, scallops, fluke, alfonse, toro and 2 very fresh shrimp. I was a bit disappointed there was no amaebi in stock. The hamachi, snapper and scallops were very fresh, the tuna insipid.



Foie gras in Crispy Australian Wagyu Beef Croquette- crunchy breading, flavorful beef leading to a rich, foie-filled center.


White Miso Clam Chowder with Kiritampo (grilled rice) Stick


Mushroom Essence for 2



Dramatic: a siphon, which, when heated, allows the broth from the bottom to "drain" to the top.


Served in tiny, tiny cups.



Here I am refilling my cup with more broth, very light on the tummy, but full-flavored indeed. There was a small dumpling at the bottom of the cup, hidden by the mushrooms.


*We were served a grapefruit sorbet in shot glasses to cleanse the palate at this point.


Stone-grilled Wagyu beef with garlic slivers on top.



Set on fire with liquor.

* we also ordered their beef done 4 ways, cubed tender beef skewered and basted with wasabi, Japanese chili powder, sesame paste and garlic.


A view of the hot coals inside an implement used to cook the sauteed salmon and vegetable dish we ordered.

*They do a lot of table side cooking at Megu.



The comfort rooms were Japanese-inspired as well. Here you see the zen-like faucets and the softly-lit mirrors below portraying geishas. Of course all the cubicles had the high-tech bidet system found all over Japan.

6 comments:

Anonymous said...

yummy!!!!

grumpyurbanslacker said...

re that Sashimi on ice, parang its too much ice and not that many sashimi...i.e. rip-off.

Anonymous said...

hi ragamuffin, can u email me please
restauranthopping@gmail.com

wysgal said...

I don't get VOSS water. I was in a recruitment event recently and they had nothing but rows and rows of VOSS water on the tables. It seems really wasteful to consume really. I'm happy with filtered water. Heck, I think my stomach is even hardy enough to take tap water. =)

ragamuffin girl said...

hi grumpyurbanslacker, yep Megu is more about presentation than quality or value for money really... it was a business dinner though so we ordered what was recommended.
wysgal I would drink tap water anytime, personally can't tell the diff between expensive "bottled" water and tap. :) would you believe some restos here in HK do not serve tap when asked! that's a pet peeve, I hate paying for water.

Anonymous said...

Wow, 5 stars for presentations. The mushroom essence looks really really cool.