ALL SENSES Dining Experience
A funky re-interpretation of the timeless hotpot tradition with the freshest imported ingredients, touches of both eastern and western gastronomy, and inspired menus designed to appeal to all diners.
At the newly opened J POT by Gosango guests are invited to indulge their senses in a distinctive east-meets-west ingredient-driven dining experience. It's fresh, it's funky and one of Hong Kong's latest must-try culinary destinations.
Situated in Causeway Bay in the stylish Tower 535 on Jaffe Road, J POT combines the tradition of Chinese hotpot cooking with the freshest house-made sauces. Using only top-quality ingredients, including Hiyama wagyu, Australian M7 wagyu, Iberico lamb shoulder, Hokkaido scallops, live horse mussels and New Zealand wild black gold abalone, J POT looks like being a most welcome addition to the city's food scene.
The 120-seat interior is playful and features a fun design heavily influenced by music. Bleached timber floors contrast with keyboard-style black and white leather seating and there's a clear urban influence in the concert-style lighting, faux wall speakers and backlit tiled walls that deliver a recording studio vibe.
In a nice touch, there's also a projector streaming behind-the-scenes clips from the kitchen that add to the visual experience and overall sense of theatre. As one would expect J POT is lively, but for a little more intimacy it also features two private dining rooms that can accommodate up to 16 people.
The restaurant has a casual feel but there is nothing relaxed about the delicious food Chef Ken Kwok serves up. Blending the freshest ingredients sourced from producers around the globe with his considerable experience gained in refined Japanese, French and Italian kitchens, Chef Kwok offers diners aromatic meat and seafood presented in an array of house-made soup bases and sauces along with innovative snacks and freshly made pastas. Breaking with established hotpot protocol, J POT offers à la carte and tasting menus in either traditional or western-style, both available with sake pairing. There are seven soup bases inspired by the flavours of China, Southeast Asia and Europe, including sea urchin miso, matsutake and chicken, the signature fish maw soup, wagyu consommé and seafood bouillabaisse.
If you know your way around the world of Chinese hotpots, then the à la carte choice will leave you speechless. But for most of us, the chef-guided Tasting Menu, which marries the best of both traditional and western styles, is ideal.
The tasting menu includes a selection of seafood carpaccio and a snack platter of wagyu beef with gooey Gruyère cheese spring roll and crispy house-made codfish skin served with a first bite soup that showcases the refinement and quality of Chef Kwok's rich soup bases.
This is followed by a traditional hotpot, with a choice of wagyu consommé or seafood bouillabaisse soup and both market seafood and wagyu beef platters, as well as housemade dumplings, vegetables and a choice of noodles or house-made fresh pasta, followed by something from the extensive dessert platter. With favourites like the light and fragrant pineapple basil mousse with coconut marshmallow sorbet, apple tart with peach sorbet or cheesecake with vanilla whisky ice cream and a large selection of beverages, it's the ideal way to close your dining experience.
J POT by Gosango (gosango.com.hk)