Inakaya

We were delighted to have lunch at Sky Dining 101, the fine dining area at the 101st floor of the International Commerce Center.  Suzie was able to get reservation at Inakaya, which featured trained teppanyaki chefs creating culinary wonders right in front of you.  We arrived some 30 late as we were coming in from the Alexander House in Central; fortunately the taxi driver was able to get out of the mid-day rush in a jiffy.  We are amazed at the elevator speed; took us less than a minute to zip up all 101 floors!  The view was simply breath-taking!  It was bright shiny day, and you could see the whole harbor from end to end!

Our friends were half-way through their lunch, and we had to catch up.  Vicky, Monique and I shared three different teishoku sets.  What a way to have variety!  Light miso soup, tuna and salmon sashimi and some salad for starter.  For our entrees, foie gras with sweet sauce (slightly sweet, not overpowering at all) and seared scallops topped with fish roe.

Well, as you can see, they top everything with fish roe.  The main dishes came in succession. We had prawns, live abalone, fish, rolled sirloin and some teppan wagyu.  We have never seen live abalone cooked before and we were entranced watching the chef do us the honors. The beef was tender, sufficiently marbled, and the underlying blend of seasoning was very oriental, but I could not even make out the exact herbs or spices they used.

What better way than to top off the meal with a scoop of green tea ice cream?  This was supposed to be made in house, but I could have sworn it tasted like the one made by Haagen Dazs!  Our bill went up to a whopping HKD1,800, but dining with the family and long-time friends overlooking an amazing view, and double that with the wonderful teppan flavors and service fit for a king, I just couldn't complain.  Priceless!