Inakaya: Japanese Sky Dining!

Hong Kong is a city obsessed with skyscrapers. Everytime I'm back, I will see taller, grandeur ones all trying to outshine each other. The current landmark is the crazy-tall, 118-storey International Commerce Centre at West Kowloon, making all other buildings look like shophouses. And with such height, sky dining naturally becomes a sure-win concept as I found out at Inakaya!




Located on the 101 storey, Inakaya served exquisite Japanese food while specialising in robatayaki (Grilling). The restaurant's dark, wooden theme and well-spaced tables were perfect for intimate meals, while waiters were friendly yet non-intruding.

Requesting for window(if you actually call those things windows) seats is a must; The full-length glass panels gave a killer view of Victoria Harbour as I was totally mesmerised by the gorgeous citylights.



Sashimi Platter, Sushi Platter

Time and again, the criteria for raw fish is simple: Freshness. Top notch points here as I could only greedily wished for more buttery uni! Rice for the sushi was really good too; Firm, chewy pearl grains that supported the toppings so well. Great start to the meal!



Assorted Tempura, Grilled Unagi

With a delightfully thin batter, the tempura here was nice but not exceptionally memorable. The unagi, on the other hand, was faultless with its plump, juicy texture and glazed with sweet teriyaki sauce. All I needed was a bowl of rice to make my own unagi don!



Grilled Eggplant, Kinki Fish Simmered in Superior Soy Sauce

If you are an eggplant lover, then you would give double thumbs up to this one! The short and plump veggie was lightly grilled and generously smothered with a layer of aromatic miso paste, as its intensive taste was nicely balanced by the juicy meat. Simple yet outstanding!

Frankly, I had no idea what is a Kichiji (Kinki Fish) prior to this meal, as it was only afterwards that I realised the rarity of this Hokkaido rockfish. While the meat was very smooth and delicate, I thought that they had overdone the sweetness of the sauce.


Inaniwa Udon with Sliced Wagyu Beef

Still need a carbo dish to fill you up? Take this one then! No idea about the wagyu grading, but the marbled beef slices was certainly robust in flavour and close to melting in my mouth!




As I have mentioned before, inaniwa udon's smooth and springy texture made it several class above regular udon. While they could serve it both hot or cold with the beef slices, I preferred the latter as the chilled noodles gave an even firmer bite. Slurp it all up!

Inakaya has proved that it is more than just a pretty face with quality ingredients and proven culinary skills. I'm not sure about the bill, but given its more-than-prime location, the dinner for four was certainly of upmarket pricing. Then again, you don't get to dine in the skies everyday so just pamper yourself and enjoy the moment!

Inakaya
Shop A, 101/F
International Commerce Centre
Tel: 2972 2666

Taken with Nikon D70