LoveBites Lunches: Nadaman

Every now and then, one deserves a little treat in the form of a nice lunch in the middle of a work day, and whilst my favourite Japanese lunch stop is still Sushi Kuu (addicted to their sashimi salad!), I had a cheeky treat at Nadaman the other day and I tell you, their tonkatsu set really hits the spot!

Lunch sets range from HK$240-$530. True, it’s not the best value Japanese lunch set on the block, but you pay for the setting, quality and 5 star hotel experience. Whilst I feel that the assorted sushi set most probably would leave a grown man still hungry, who wants too eat too much in the middle of the day and snooze in front of the screen afterwards anyway? The tonkatsu set is very generous, with a good range of side dishes and a killer chawanmushi (the recipe on their website, check it out!). The tonkatsu is crispy and juicy, with a nice big heap of thinly shredded cabbage that goes down very well with their tangy Japanese salad dressing.

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Sushi Set – Appetiser, assorted sushi, chirashi sushi rice and clear soup HK$360

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Kaisen Don and Ebi Tempura Soba Set: Appetiser, assorted sushi rice, cold udon and shrimp tempura HK$260

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Tonkatsu Set: Appetiser, steamed egg custard, deep fried Kagoshima pork cutlet, rice, pickles and soya bean soup HK$380

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A particularly good chawanmushi

The setting is bright and cheery, and some of the waitstaff have been working there for decades. Our server was a sweet older woman who was very attentive – almost too attentive actually. She continued to take individual dishes away as soon as we finished them, interrupting our conversation. But she was super sweet, so we just grumbled a bit amongst ourselves and didn’t say anything.

If you really feel like treating yourself, I highly recommend that you go in the evening to try Nadaman’s supreme teppanyaki dinner (HK$1,380) – if you do, you must get a seat at the teppan counter to enjoy the full experience.

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Tokio Joe and the Sony Cybershot RX100

Tokio Joe is  a LKF stalwart and part of the Lan Kwai Fong Entertainments Group, it has been there for yonks and is always packed for lunch, and I had never been there!  I needed to try this place out, and since it’s my mum’s birthday week, I decided to treat her to some raw fish.  Tokyo Joe has a great selection of lunch sets, both single dish sets and combination sets, and all are served with complimentary miso soup, daily appetiser, tea and dessert.

As a side note, I have started to use my new Sony RX100 camera to shoot my food porn (my photographer bro gave it to me for my birthday, thanks so much little bro!) – it has a Carl Zeiss lens and is said to be ‘the best pocket camera ever made’. I have to say, I am inclined to agree! It takes amazing shots with razor sharp image quality and professional-looking depth of field, as well as great low-light performance for when I’m out for dinner. I love the adjustable flip screen, which helps to take direct overhead shots of plates, and also the bendable flash (although I’m afraid that breakage risk is a bit higher) for bouncing the flash off the ceiling for more ambient lighting.  I must say, my focusing skills are a little out of whack in some of these photos, but I’m still learning how to use it’s many functions and settings.

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Complimentary Tomato Salad – the daily appetiser

We started off with a wonderfully refreshing appetiser – fresh tomatoes, in a soya sauce/olive oil dressing and topped with sweet and crunchy caremelised red onion. Really nice.

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Horen So Goma-Ae (Spinach Salad with Sesame Dressing) HK$ 75

This spinach salad was very nicely presented in a roll-shape – you peel off the crisp stalks of cold spinach and dip them (or rather, drench them, as I do) in the creamy sesame sauce.

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Spicy Toro Tartare HK$ 290

This toro tartare is one of Tokio Joe’s signature dishes, and for good reason. A generous mound of spicy, crunchy, creamy tuna tartare sits on lettuce for easy transfer from plate to mouth. I really want to try making this at home, so we made an effort to dissect the tuna tartare and put together a recipe – tuna, spring onion, fried spring roll wrapper, (maybe a touch of) some minced shallot,  La-Yu chili oil, Japanese mayonnaise.

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Deluxe Lunch Box HK$ 225

I love the choices available in the deluxe lunch box – it’s a great selection of everything one might want from a Japanese lunch, and I thought it was extremely well-priced for what you’re given.

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