Shop 1-2, 9/F Moretown Commercial Building, 108 Electric Road, Tin Hau
Tel: 2578 2161
Open: Thursday to Tuesday noon-3pm, 6-11pm
Cuisine: Japanese
Price: about HK$425 without drinks. There's no service charge.
Ambience: friendly. Some of the other customers seem to be regulars at this two-month-old restaurant.
Pros: tempted by the display of fresh fish at the sushi counter, we ignored the tempura and grilled dishes on the menu, and our meal consisted almost entirely of sushi and sashimi. The sushi chef watched us as we ate at the counter and served the dishes at a good pace.
Cons: there wasn't anything we disliked.
Recommended dishes: we started with yellowjack sashimi (HK$200), which had five thick slices that were almost meaty in texture, and ark shell sashimi (HK$160), which came in slices that were slippery and crunchy. Pressed sushi - a regional speciality of Osaka - is not seen often at Japanese restaurants here. They were out of the mackerel we wanted, so we tried it with eel (HK$120). The rice and eel were at the right temperature, and the rice was just firm enough so it didn't fall apart when we picked it up. Crab miso sushi (HK$70 for two) was topped with a generous amount of the rich crab 'male roe', which looks pretty disgusting but has a wonderful flavour. The Hokkaido sea urchin sushi (HK$160 for two) was one of the most delicious and generously portioned sea urchin mouthfuls we've had - so rich, buttery and mouth-filling that we stopped eating until the flavours faded. It was so good that we decided to try the sea urchin from Tokyo (HK$80) to compare. It was much more austere and cool-tasting, with a decidedly briny flavour. We ended the meal with a lovely assortment of pickles (HK$40) that included burdock, takuan (white radish, which turns bright yellow in the pickling process) and - our favourite - garlic; and Inaniwa udon in fish broth (HK$55), almost too rich after a heavy meal.
What else? Kiyoshi is a 'members-only' club, but membership is free to everyone.