Izumi Curry

C and I wanted to have a bunch of different things for lunch one day so we decided to go to the food court of Hysan Place. Izumi Curry has never disappointed and this time was just as good as any time :)! 

Izumi Curry

Kitchen 11

11/F

Hysan Place

500 Hennessy Road

Causeway Bay

Hong Kong

Tamarind

Ugh once again I have been lazy with keeping up to date with my blogging, now there are a HUGE amount of backlogged restaurants! Be ready for an influx of reviews in these upcoming weeks and I try to get back on track with all my food reviews!

I was meeting J for a long delayed catch up dinner and we decided to try out Taramind in the Sun Hung Kai center which serves Indian, Thai, and Vietnamese cuisine. Reviews of Tamarind has been generally quite favorable so I was eager to try it out for myself. When I told H that I was eating at Tamarind, he seemed very skeptical and commented that he did not think a restaurant that offered three different cuisines would be able to deliver quality food as the focus is scattered. I understood what he meant but still had high hopes for Tamarind. Unfortunately H's doubts were correct and I will not be returning to Tamarind again!

Grilled Pork Neck with Tamarind Sauce
The serving was very generous and the pork neck was quite decent. Although this dish was fine, the flavors could be a bit more interesting and it was only just ok. 

Chicken Makhani 
This curry was quite flavorful and went well with our garlic naan which is not pictured. The sauce could be a little thicker and although this dish was probably one of the better dishes of the night the chicken makhani is far better at Bombay Dreams.

Tamarind Black Cod
This was a dish that was praised in many reviews and I truly do not know why this was the case. I usually LOVE black cod yet this dish lacked that delicious buttery flavor that is the signature of black cod. The texture was also a bit off, it was overly oily and just too soft. The sauce was also a bit overpowering and too sour and sweet.

J and I were thoroughly disappointed with this meal and was going to cheer ourselves up by ordering a mango sticky rice but then was let down again when they waiter told me that they only had indian desserts. This is quite shocking as you would think that a restaurant that wanted to dabble in different cuisines would at least include this very popular dessert. It is possible that some of the other dishes are good and the curry wasn't BAD, but there are other places with better choices that I would rather go to.

Another special note is that the service left much to be desired. When I first arrived at the restaurant the waiter could not hear that I already had a reservation and was EXTREMELY rude. I was about to give him a piece of my mind but his brain suddenly functioned again and he realized I made a booking (not that having a reservation or not should have any effect on one's attitude towards a customer) and suddenly became much more polite and also tried to offer some sort of explanation about his behavior earlier. Although he reverted back to acceptable behavior, the damage was already done as this type of customer service is absolutely unacceptable.

Tamarind I will not be returning again!

Tamarind

2/F

Sun Hung Kai Centre

30 Harbor Road

Wan Chai

Hong Kong

Izumi Curry

Hysan Place is the new supermall that has opened in CWB and I finally got to explore it on Sunday. A and I were initially going to hit up Bee II old school style but when A found out that I've never set food in Hysan yet we decided to switch venues and try out Izumi as well. I've really wanted to try out Izumi after seeing some very tantalizing pictures of the dishes so I did not object at all when we decided to skip out on Bee. The restaurant is located in the food court area but has its own space where seating is more comfortable. We were seated by the window and there was a decent view of CWB.

Tonkatsu with Curry Omelette Rice
Although I love Coco Ichibanya, the one thing that bothered me was that I was not allowed to pick the spice level for the curry served with omelette. Therefore I was happy to find out that this was not the case at Izumi! I picked "big spicy" and the curry was perfect! The curry was very rich and full of flavor and there was a definitely kick from the spice. I think it would be nice if the curry had little bits of veggies like onions etc though. The egg was soooo delicious, super smooth and creamy. The tonkatsu however was a little tough :( Although it was a bit tough, it was not TOO bad. I would also like it even more if they didn't drench the life out of it and allowed it to be a bit crispier. Overall though this was very satisfying and I would return again to try another dish. A got the hamburger patty with curry and omelette and that was quite scrumptious as well! 

Izumi Curry serves decent curry at reasonable prices. The tonkatsu could be improved but the egg and curry sauce was very yummy. Lunch came to around 100 per person and was served with a salad and drink. Izumi is definitely a spot to keep in mind the next time you are looking for a place for lunch!

Izumi Curry

Kitchen 11

11/F

Hysan Place

500 Hennessy Road

Causeway Place

Hong Kong

Coco Ichibanya

Coco Ichibanya is the top curry rice restaurant in Japan and has outlets in mainland China, Thailand, Hong Kong, and California to name a few. I unfortunately did not know the existence of this glorious eatery until Y introduced me to it. I was just about to whine about how there are only 3 outlets in Hong Kong and that they are all on the Kowloon side BUT I just found out on openrice that there is a Causeway Bay branch now! AM VERY VERY HAPPY. Apart from loving the food, I also love saying the name of the restaurant, it's so cute and has a nice ring to it. Coco ichibanyaaa~

Pork cutlet "tonkatsu" with egg omelette rice and spicy curry
The pork cutlet was crispy and well done. The meat is definitely not as tender and thick as the tonkatsu at Tokichi but the price is also much lower so this is understandable. Coco is also famous for it's curry over its tonkatsu quality. The egg is creamy and soft, the amount is very generous and there is enough egg for every bite of rice. The only complaint I have about this dish is that you can only choose between spicy or non spicy for the curry when you order the omelette rice. When you order other dishes you can choose from a couple levels of spiciness (1-5?). I like my curry to be spicier but I could not do that since I got the omelette rice. It seems silly impose such a restriction on the customers because I can't possibly see why they can't just ladle over the spicy curry onto the omelette rice! My curry was not spicy enough for me but it was still yummy. If it was spicy then this dish would have been perfect!

I love egg :)

C got a level 2 spicy curry with shrimp. I much preferred the spice level of her curry so I shamelessly took a number of spoonfuls to smother over my own rice. The waitress was a bit slow and seemed to be in a constant state of daze but overall the service was fine and it's not something I would be picky about in a casual restaurant like this. If you come here for lunch I recommend coming at 12 or 12:20 latest because once you pass that time the place gets completely filled up with workers on their lunch break. Coco Ichibanya is definitely one of my new favorites and with the new branch in Causeway I can see a lot of japanese curry goodness in my future :) I just really hope it doesn't turn into those 1+ hour wait restaurants...

Coco Ichibanya 

Shop 302

3/F

Silvercord Plaza

30 Canton Road

Tsim Sha Tsui

Hong Kong