INAKAYA

If you’ve been to the original Inakaya in Tokyo, know that the Hong Kong outpost is a more formal experience. Instead of rowdy greetings from chefs, diners enter a zone of Zen calm, 101 floors up in the ICC. It’s more like three restaurants in one, with a sushi bar and main dining room, then a teppanyaki counter and private rooms, all affording spectacular views of Hong Kong Island. The third space is a robatayaki room, where customers focus on the grilling action by chefs kneeling in front of them. No matter where you sit, Inakaya is about ultra-premium ingredients prepared simply, at prices as dizzying as the height. Start with sushi or sashimi, freshly flown in from Japan, before progressing to top-grade wagyu beef and vegetables cooked on a hotplate, and ending with some fried or baked rice. The wine list is heavy on first-rate Bordeaux, though it’s the sake list that stands out. Staff are unfailingly polite, though non-Cantonese speakers may have some difficulty with more complex communications.

Top-grade wagyu beef at Inakaya