We were so impressed by our first lunchtime visit to WAKARAN last month that we recently headed back to the fusion eatery on Ship Street to experience the much more expansive dinner menu.
Opened in mid-2024 by Epicurean Group, WAKARAN is chef Tommy Tsui’s bold interpretation of modern Asian fusion cuisine – zeroing in on Japan and Hong Kong in particular – executed via elevated Western techniques.
The artsy interior underscores chef Tommy’s creativity on display at the open kitchen counter. The black wooden floor tiling, white brick walls, and large-scale mirror installations are interjected with pops of vibrant colour from the AI-generated abstract artwork – a pleasant surprise from the eatery’s staid Ship Street entrance.
We were treated to the “Layered Essence” dinner tasting menu (HKD648 pp), a total of seven courses with aperitivo, plus a few cheeky extras – and we left WAKARAN nearly rolling ourselves out the door. For each dish mentioned, we’ll include the à-la-carte price if it’s available to order separately (usually coming in a much bigger portion).
In the amuse-bouche section, the yan-min crab “croquette” (HKD68 à la carte) is an expected opening bite marrying crab, horseradish, and mozzarella cheese in creamy harmony.
The only dish on the menu that didn’t hit for us was the second amuse-bouche. The golden itoyori crudo (HKD158 à la carte) seemed flat and one-note despite the Japanese golden threadfin bream being dressed up with plum and ginger chutney.
The abalone porridge (HKD78 à la carte) in the “From the Sea” section is a WAKARAN signature for good reason. The texture of the congee is much smoother than we’re used to at typical Cantonese spots around town, and although we’re not normally fans of the “chew” associated with abalone, the abalone here is pleasingly tender to the bite. We lapped up this rich, comforting porridge, with the chicken skin component adding even more savoury smack.
One of the extra courses that we devoured was the Wagyu and uni maki taco (HKD188), another WAKARAN fan favourite. The deep-fried maki and rice shell is an ingenious vehicle for the maki, which is here topped with thin slices of super-fatty Wagyu crowned with a mound of sea urchin. It’s a good thing each taco can be eaten in just a few bites, as we’re not sure we could handle more than this amount of richness.
Also in “From the Sea,” we couldn’t quite detect the “hot and sour” element of the hot and sour “ma yau,” though the fish itself was well cooked, displaying its distinct crispy skin and flaky flesh.
By this point of the tasting menu, we were already bursting at the seams, but we soldiered on to try the KFC (HKD98 à la carte) in the “Land” section of the menu, a top-notch Korean fried chicken rendition featuring two delicious contrasting sauces: yuzu honey and Sichuan mala pepper. We would have licked the plate clean if we had room to spare.
Diners get a choice of one of two main courses on the tasting menu, and you can’t go wrong with either one. The homemade pasta with Japanese sakura ebi red prawn has the slight edge over the smoked pigeon (+HKD48 or HKD248 à la carte) owing to the deeply umami sauce coating each strand of silky noodles. We were hoping for a bit more smoky punch from the bird.
A cup of on-trend pistachio affogato (HKD88 à la carte) completes the tasting menu with a potent hit of caffeine- and Baileys-laced nuttiness.
Though nominally a food review, we also want to shout out the cocktails at WAKARAN, which include the newly unveiled series of “MBTI” gin and tonics inspired by the popular Myers-Briggs Type Indicator personality test. For instance, the INTJ (HKD168) features a funky mix of Porcelain gin with mandarin and Sichuan peppercorn. If nothing else, these cocktails make for great talking points!
Our verdict of WAKARAN
Fusion cuisine often gets a bad rap for being a pretentious marketing technique; the blending of the cuisines can be superficial or executed poorly. WAKARAN belies that notion. The dinner tasting menu includes plenty of bang for your buck and is the way to go to experience the full breadth of chef Tommy’s fusion prowess.
WAKARAN, Shop B, G/F, Pinnacle Building, 9 Ship Street, Wan Chai, 2866 3681, book here
| Order this: abalone porridge, maki tacos, KFC, smoked pigeon, pistachio affogato Menu: WAKARAN menus Price for two (tasting menu): around HKD1,300 (the price tag could be much lower if ordering à la carte) | Atmosphere: dimly lit and eclectic, offering about a dozen counter seats and around the same number of tables. Come evening, the volume is boosted and the vibe becomes more-club like Perfect for: foodies who are game to experiment |
This review is intended to offer an individual perspective on the dining experience and should not be considered as a definitive judgement of the restaurant’s overall quality or reputation. The views expressed in this review are solely the author’s and do not reflect the opinions of Foodie.
