Xenri No Tsuki Japanese Cuisine

It’s a torn 3.5 stars.
I came here with high expectation. I have seen a lot of people talking about the 16-​pieces lunch set, but really seldom anyone about their dinner. To be fair, if they can afford to do relatively price-​friendly lunch, I can’t stop thinking about how much they overcharge their dinner.
But it was a different experience anyway. The staff was really patiently talking to us to understand what we need for the night. A lot of time what she suggested was off the menu. It was more like having a personal chef /​butler that works for you.
We ordered two big arse shrimps and some sashimi. I didn’t know what exactly we ordered, as my friend was in charge and again, often they were off-​menu. But then, The thing really turned me off was how fancy they tried to make the food to a point it was a bit overdone. The shrimps looked like it was best eaten raw and fresh, but it was slightly grilled by the chef. It lost the fresh, and hence the taste. Same for the sashimi.
Funny the dishes that I liked were the tofu hotpot with beef, which was done by the kitchen.
All in all, it’s a nice, intimate restaurant, quite aggressively priced ($ 900 each without any beverages ordered), excellent staff, and the freshness of the food was not quite meeting the expectation. But I’ll definitely come back to try the lunch set.

Big drop of sushi quality, not sure bcoz of less customers… Salmon roe not covering the rice, uni not as fresh as before, crab obviously mixed with too much water probably won’t come again

This is my favourite sushi joint in Hong Kong, and I’d go so far as to say it is something of a constant in my life — never letting me down, always living up to my grandiose expectations, and… the chutoro, because, well, chutoro.
The 16 piece nigiri set is an absolute steal for less than $ 400, as you get to choose from an extensive list of some premium sushi including minced otoro with scallions, uni (sea urchin), sweet shrimp, arc shell, chutoro, and swordfish.
If you go for sashimi, you will notice the cuts are much thicker than they are in the nigiri set. I used to love the otoro sashimi for that unbelievably fatty texture, but have gradually directed my adoration towards their chutoro, which has so much more flavour and just enough fattiness to keep us satiated.
Another option is to just sit by the bar and, if you dare, order off from the sushi chefs who have some freshly caught fish sitting on ice. You’ve been warned that these can get a little pricey, but the texture and flavours can be one-​of-​a-​kind.
The signature Xenri roll is a must-​try, with roe, otoro and tempura artfully rolled into the most decadent bites. Whoever came up with this combination is a genius. The soft shell crab tempura roll is a sight for sore eyes too, drizzled with kewpie mayo and stuffed with some soft avocado to balance that slight crunch.
As for hot foods, I admit I’ve only tried their soups. I love their fish soup — «lap yue tong»… if anyone knows what kind of fish ‘lap yue’ is (in English), please comment! The soup is thick, milky and intensely flavoured from boiling the fish head for — what I can only assume has been — hours.
In summary, Xenri No Tsuki is as good as it gets. Amazing value for money, consistently fresh and delicious varieties of fish and seafood, and not too stuck-​up or intimidating that you can’t have a swell time sipping a bottle of sake by the bar with the chefs.