Last updated on December 28th, 2022 at 10:31 am
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Today is going to be a restaurant review of one of my absolute favourite restaurants in Hong Kong – Agehan. It’s a Japanese restaurant famous for its tempura.
This restaurant was introduced to me by my mom. She used to eat here a lot while she was working in Hong Kong. She worked in Central, the financial district and it was one of those restaurants her and her colleagues kept revisiting because they enjoyed the food there.
Restaurants in the financial district tend to get extremely busy during lunchtime. It’s important to call and book a reservation at Agehan a few days before in advance (they don’t have an online booking system, unfortunately).
You could try your luck by going right when the restaurant opens at 11:30 am although I’m not sure what the success rate is.
Also, the restaurant closes during the afternoon so it’s not a place you can go to if you feel like it at 3 pm. Their opening hours are Mondays to Saturdays from 11:30 am – 2:45 pm and 6 pm – 10 pm for dinner.
Tamagoyaki (Japanese Egg Roll)
First up was the appetizer, tamagoyaki. When this egg dish arrived at our table, it wasn’t the best first impression.
If you look at the picture closely, you’ll see the grey parts.
Was this even edible? But I thought it was because surely, the waitress would have seen it and said something.
Looks aren’t everything but you expect the egg roll to be a light or dark yellow. Instead, there’s some grey in it. Not the most appetizing look.
But I’ve learned my lesson from places like eating at Dim Sum Bar and Yat Tung Heen. The food might not look good but it’s something you have to try. Maybe I’ll think differently.
Nope. The taste was bland. Honestly, the grey looking egg bothered me more than I thought.
The dish has 4 egg rolls in total. If done well, my mom and I would have been excited to devour it all. However, since we weren’t fans, we weren’t exactly eager to finish the rest (we did in the end because we didn’t want to waste the food. We were also pretty hungry by that point).
It’s not something I recommend people order at Agehan nor will I be ordering this again.
Miso Salmon
Since it’s a Japanese restaurant, I expected a tiny piece of salmon served to us on a plate. Surprisingly, Agehan has a generous portion. The fish was big and looked juicy.
In terms of appearance, it definitely looked better than the egg roll.
As for the taste, it wasn’t way superior to our appetizer. The salmon was dry and also had no miso flavour. It tasted like grilled salmon more than anything.
Miso salmon usually has a strong taste so where was the flavour? The restaurant should change the name to grilled salmon instead.
That’s two dishes in a row that weren’t meeting expectations.
Every time I visit Agehan, I tend to get the same dishes over and over again. This time around, I wanted to try two new dishes but they weren’t anything to rave over.
The miso salmon is not something I recommend getting either.
Miso Black Cod
Next up was the miso black cod. It’s a very Japanese dish.
I felt iffy about the dish before even trying it. The miso salmon came out first and it wasn’t that good. Would the black cod be much of a difference? Maybe we shouldn’t have ordered so much fish.
The miso black cod was completely different from the salmon. It was very soft and smooth. The taste of it melts on your tongue.
The only thing is that you have to be careful while eating it because it contains thin bones. You have to watch carefully for the small bones or else you can easily miss them. Restaurants I’ve been to in the past take out the bones so it’s a little disappointing that Agehan didn’t.
However, this minor detail didn’t take away from how good this fish was.
Some Japanese restaurants serve the miso black cod with a side of mayo (Agehan didn’t so we asked for some). The miso black cod is buttery enough itself but with the mayo, it’s a cherry on top. It adds to the dish, bringing it to the next level of yumminess.
If you don’t like mayo, the fish is still delicious without it.
Agehan’s Signature Tempura Rice
Saving the best for last is the tempura seafood rice.
Agehan has a decent menu selection but most people tend to get the tempura seafood rice. There’s a reason for it. It’s their signature dish!
They even have two different sizes – a smaller and larger version. The larger version contains more seafood so if that’s your cup of tea, I suggest getting the bigger size. There’s a wider variety of fresh tempura like shrimp, crab, mushroom, broccoli, etc.
I’ve eaten at this restaurant both at lunchtime and dinner time. Oddly enough, there seems to be a difference in the portion.
During lunchtime, there’s less tempura and more rice. For dinner, there’s more tempura and less rice.
My mom and I had to order an extra bowl of rice when we came here for dinner because there wasn’t enough rice for us to share.
If this is the only thing you order, one person can finish it all. If you want to try other dishes, it’s best for you to split this dish with other people.
Many Japanese restaurants serve tempura but a theory as to why I think their tempura is so popular with their customers is because of the colour. Many Japanese restaurants tend to have a light-coloured tempura batter but Agehan makes their tempura batter darker.
Wouldn’t you also be convinced that a darker looking tempura would taste better?
Final Notes – Agehan
This restaurant is on the pricier side. Given the dishes and location, you’ll probably understand why they charge a premium price.
For picky eaters, there might be some hesitation about trying Agehan because there’s no online menu nor a plethora of pictures on Google and Openrice to check out.
I hope my restaurant review of Agehan and my several pictures on this post will convince you to give this place a shot.
It’s an authentic Japanese restaurant that serves food even Japanese people like. Every time I visit here, I see Japanese people eating here. That’s how you know it’s an authentic restaurant. It suits local’s taste. Even the interior is very Japanese-like.
There’s a reason why I keep coming back here!
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Xoxo,
Nicole
P.S. If you’re looking for other Asian restaurants in the financial district, places like Summer Palace and SHE are worth visiting.
Those who prefer Western cuisine can check out Fini’s Italian American and/or Pica Pica.