Although he really shouldn’t eat that much meat anymore, my dad loves good beef and finds it impossible to stop when the plate in front of him is being refilled nonstop. His relationship with beef is just like my love affair with all things sweet. When it comes to lack of self control, it is “like father, like daughter” indeed.
Knowing his weakness, my boss takes us to this wagyu sukiyaki/shabu-shabu spot in The Toy House. Zenpachi serves all you can eat wagyu set meals that come with a tiny plate of appetizers, sushi and sashimi, soup and dessert.
Small Plate of Appetizers – it’s really small
Sashimi – very fresh, and the shrimp is very sweet
Sushi – the restaurant’s way of filling us up before they start serving us what we come here for - the wagyu. Smart move, Zenpachi, but we are professional eaters here, although uni sushi is always a delight to have. As for the rest of the sushi, I just eat the raw fish on top and try to hide the forsaken rice under the ginger slices.
Clam Soup – another failed attempt to fill us up
And here it is, our beautiful sukiyaki pot. Of course, all the boring people out there can opt to have the traditional shabu-shabu, but I am all for the Japanese soy sauce+sake+sugar flavor in my soup base.
Wagyu – very soft and beefy, with a bit but not very much of that buttery, melt-in-your-mouth quality. But still, being the big meat eaters that we are, my dad and I down more than enough of this wagyu to cover the HK$700+ per person price tag, trying our best to be oblivious to the sharp disapproving looks and constant foot nudging from my mom.
Okinawa Pork – because mom cannot eat beef (aha! must be why she gives us those nasty looks), we order this for her. I don’t know how special the pork from Okinawa is supposed to be, but this one tastes like ordinary pork. Bland.
The biggest eaters standing at the back in an effort to hide their protruding bellies
Zenpachi 禪八日本料理: 6/F, The Toy House, 100 Canton Road, Tsim Sha Tsui. 尖沙咀廣東道100號彩星集團大廈6樓. +852-3428-3615
