LSA Reviews: Kaen Teppanyaki brings a young, eclectic vibe to traditional Japanese art of the grill

Kaen Teppanyaki is the latest of five experiential concepts to open this year on the 45^th floor of Gloucester Tower in Central. Kaen joins chic Shanghainese restaurant The Merchants and rooftop bar, Cardinal Point, which have opened. The Cristal Room by Anne-Sophie Pic and private members;’ club, the Gloucester Arts Club, will launch later this year.

A Review of Kaen Teppanyaki 

There is no doubt that the premises for Forty-Five which encompasses the above five establishments is one of the most coveted food and beverage locations in Hong Kong right now. While not quite as high as the 101^st floor residents of ICC, the prime location still offers great views of Victoria Harbour to go with your meals and drinks.

Kaen operates under the keen eye of executive chef Yoshiyuki Sato who received his early training at three-star Michelin L’Effervescence. Chef Sato is worth mentioning because his beaming face is one of the first you see when you enter the restaurant. His cheerful hospitality is something that adds to the dining experience. Nothing kills appetite faster than a grumpy chef in an open kitchen.

Technically Kaen is not just a teppanyaki restaurant; they also feature binchotan grilling, which is done using a special white coal that burns longer and is smokeless. It is perhaps more familiar with yakiniku grilling.

The restaurant offers two omakase menus for dinner. Matsu ($1,680) is an eight-course seafood teppan experience with fresh seafood like abalone and lobster, and the eight-course Ta-Ke ($1,980) which includes a selection of prime Japanese wagyu beef. Kaen also offers a small a la carte menu for those who  might find eight courses too heavy.

Being meat lovers, we naturally went for the Ta-Ke. The meal started with smoked bonito topped with sea whelk, uni and seaweed, an umami bomb that made a good start to the meal. We went on to a thick slice of foie gras terrine that was served in a dorayaki like a sandwich.

Personally, I’ve never been a big fan of foie gras terrine especially at room temperature, and especially not in huge slabs because of the fat. At a teppanyaki place, I would have preferred the foie gras grilled, it would have offered a better contrast in textures.

The simple sohmen with the not-so-simple dry pressed caviar and regular caviar in a sake broth cleared the palate for the meat courses to come, starting with the ox tongue served with green pepper and a sancho pepper sauce.

Instead of having the dashi made in the inside kitchen, Chef Sato carefully ministrated his dashi soup made from pure onsen water from Japan on the grill in front of us for the amadai. The crispy-skin fish served with springy wheat gluten in the sweet dashi was a delightful combination.

Diners will have one choice from the Kumamoto Akaushi, the Emperor’s Breed (brown hair wagyu), Kyoto Princess Wagyu (black hair wagyu) and Furano Wagyu, the original steak of Hokkaido. For the purposes of this tasting, we were lucky enough to try all three in reduced servings. My personal favourite was the Furano for its balanced tastes.

We ended our meal at the teppan counter with the Japanese claypot garlic rice with Japanese fried egg and black truffle before moving on to the bar area to have a freshly-made Montblanc that was absolutely divine and a fresh brew.

It was a great end to a pleasurable evening and we left sated and satiated.

Cuisine

Japanese teppanyaki

We loved 

The view

Ichiban dashi soup and amadai

Ox tongue

Furano wagyu

Montblanc

The Vibe 

Kaen is the from Leading Nation, the brainchild of entrepreneur Gerald Li and arbiter of style Kevin Poon. If you’ve been to any of their other concepts such as The Diplomat and Wagyumafia, you will know they offer a more eclat feel at their places. Kaen is no different. There is a younger vibe and the décor by Sean Dix also adds to this together with the art, including a mascot sculpture by En Iwamura, that adorn the place and creative platings. The counter seats are comfortable and there is a separate area with normal tables where dessert is served.

Quick Notes

Price for two:

$2,000 not including drinks

Address:

Address: 43/F, Forty-Five Gloucester Tower Landmark, Central

Tel: 21559191

Opening Hours:

Monday – Saturday: Lunch: 12pm-2:30pm, Dinner: 6pm-11pm