Youka

Found Youka first on
and then I saw that Ken K. had been there, so I had to go when I was in HK. I was happy to have a break from eating dim sum almost every day and try out this Washoku restaurant. The place has a cool all black store front with sliding door entrance. The interior is swanky and modern, as expected. The ultra attentive wait staff are certainly 5 star worthy in the service department.
The food itself was exceptional. Since we went during lunchtime, we took advantage of the lunch sets. I ordered the Hokkaidodon. It was also served with an amuse, salad, miso soup and chawanmushi. We also ordered the deluxe sashimi set. Everything was incredibly fresh and prepared superbly by chef Katsuhiro Ito. He imports his fish and seafood from Japan, so you know it will be just what the doctor ordered. Reasonably priced for two people about $ 78. Lovely dining experience!

Six days after arriving in HK last year, I was ready for some Japanese food!
Youka 八日日本料理 was on the radar as a fairly new restaurant at the time. They recently celebrated their first anniversary in business.
Youka is conveniently located to the left of Wanchai’s «canteen for the rich» also known as Fook Lam Moon, with a black entrance with very little signage, so if you don’t pay attention, you will walk right past it. To open the entrance door, press the button and the door will slide open. Really cool! But it makes me wonder what will happen if power comes to a grinding halt… back door? :-)
The interior is rather swank, and even during lunch hour the light is just sufficient enough to take pictures without the use of a flash. Reservations are extremely and highly recommended due to the fact that Ito-​san has quite a loyal following… and this applies for lunch and definitely for dinner, particularly if you want to be seated at the counter.
It pays to take a look at the specials board and inquire about them in case something piques your interest. My single visit was during lunch time and thus I noticed the lunch menu was rather scaled down to fit the needs of the working crowd in the area, and honestly there was nothing that really impressed me. But the dinner menu had more selections (and of course higher priced).
The basic house salad unfortunately was mostly iceberg lettuce with a few small pieces of cherry tomato, shredded daikon, with a typical Wafu style salad dressing (soy sauce /​ginger /​vinegrette). However it did the job of easing my guilt of not consuming vegetables. The reason for this salad order in addition, was that their vegetable dish selections during lunch were limited, and it was either that or deep fried (ie vegetable tempura) which I was not in the mood for.
OK next… a solid appetizer dish of sea whelks, or rather babylons. Those who have eaten this at Ishiyama in Causeway Bay will find familiar ground: 梅貝煮 or as the Japanese would call it, Bagai. In all honesty I cannot tell if these were Japanese imported specimens, or whether they were local shellfish from the southern coast of Hong Kong which you can get easily from Ap Lei Chau fish market. But the slow simmer of the shellfish where the marinade/​sauce penetrates the shell and into the meat, then allowed to cool, is even amazingly sweet and refreshing. A true delight to the bite, even during winter time. They say this is best paired with sake (or beer). I don’t recall the price but you cannot leave without plopping down over HK$ 100 for it. I’d say this was on par with Ishiyama’s, maybe even tastier, and slightly bigger portion. Recommended!
Saba bou sushi! 鯖棒寿司. It’s hitting the HK $ 200 territory, which is around US$ 25. Ridiculous for a Kansai style saba roll right? But check this out. This is either a ma-​saba or goma saba from Japan! Good luck with the farmed Norwegian mackeral versions you find in the USA (California). So yes… quality Japanese mackeral, where the waitstaff explains a whole mackeral is used (minus the head, bones, innards etc), and the salt/​vinegar marination is done sufficiently without compromising its original flavor, and a very delicately seasoned sushi rice appropriate for this preparation that provided the needed balance with the flavor profile of the mackeral. I was warned in advance of the time required to prepare this, and that it was going to be carb heavy with the amount of rice associated with the fish. Sure enough I was full after a salad, whelks, and the bou sushi.
Value-​wise from a local standpoint, it is easily out of reach for a lot of people except those willing to surrender their wallets, but if you come from an area where fish is not delivered every day or two via direct flights from JP to HK and in this level of quality, then perhaps consider eating here (unless you are vacationing in Japan or Taipei anyway).
Well done Youka, and Ito-​san! If only I had more quota to try a dinner here. There is a lot of great potential for this place that can execute on a high level, yet satisfy the masses who only care about salmon sashimi (or pairing toro with uni as the first thing they order). Maybe next time when I visit again. Cheers.