Fine Dining Resurgence in Causeway Bay

With a fancy commercial building in Causeway Bay, Cubus, as well as new restaurant openings in World Trade Centre, Causeway Bay looks set to experience a renaissance in fine dining. Directly opposite the famous Da Domenico restaurant on Hoi Ping Road, Cubus currently has three brand new restaurants, Bella Vita, Sushi Ta-ke and Sessyu, in operation, while World Trade Centre has seen two new hotspots, Hooray and Kaiko, opened by JC Group.

Two of the restaurants, Bella Vita and Sushi Ta-ke at Cubus building, are opened by a F&B group called 1957 & Co. Sushi Ta-ke on the twelfth floor is manned by chef Kimijima Yukio, previously sushi chef at Yamm and Zuma here in Hong Kong. The minimalist design of the restaurant (designed by Steve Leung) takes full advantage of the views and the restaurant includes one dining room dominated by a sushi bar and a private dining room with its own sushi bar.The restaurant is opened in collaboration with Mamoru Sugiyama, from the famous Sushi Koh Honten restaurant in Ginza, Tokyo. All the seafood is selected by Sugiyama daily at Tsukiji and flown straight to Hong Kong. Those eager to have the Sushi Koh Honten experience without flying to Japan can try the omakase sets, designed by Sugiyama himself.Featuring an appetiser, sashimi, a simmered dish, a grilled dish and sushi, the sets range from HK$1,200 to HK$1,500. Even the more humble dishes on the menu show an attention to detail, for example, the miso soup (HK$50) is also Sugiyama’s own special recipe and uses Japanese blue crab, three types of miso, as well as fish bones, shrimp head, snapper and dried mushroom.

Find more Japanese restaurants in Causeway Bay here.

Directly downstairs of Sushi Ta-ke is Bella Vita, an Italian restaurant with Tuscan chef and ambassador of Italian Cuisine- as appointed by Bertolli, Italy’s leading olive oil brand - Francesco Pasquini at the helm. The menu highlights seafood with signature dishes such as a grilled octopus with black pepper and green apple salad (HK$198) and a cod fish timble with truffle and Tuscan spiced toast (HK$360).Seafood aside, we also like the sound of the chitarrini egg pasta gratinated with bacon, cheese and black truffle (HK$268) and the risotto with Chianti and Tuscan sausage (HK$248). The wine list is Italian-focused with super-Tuscans dominating the reds. Two private rooms seat a dozen guests each, and on sunny days, there is also a small balcony available for alfresco dining.

Find more Italian restaurants in Causeway Bay here.

Further down on the eighth floor is Sessyu, a teppanyaki restaurant. The restaurant is simply decorated: a long communal teppanyaki bar is positioned in front of floor-to-ceiling windows to allow diners both a view of the chefs and the surrounding Causeway Bay scenery. There are also smaller teppanyaki bars for a more private dining experience. For the indecisive, there are numerous set menus at about HK$1,000 each and includes everything from Japanese Hida Nd Tochigi beef, abalone, king crabs and lobster. For a bit of freshness, there is also a sushi and sashimi menu available.

For those working in Causeway Bay, it’s a common complaint that the options for happy hour locations are limited, in comparison to Central and Wan Chai. Which is why the opening of Hooray in World Trade Centre has been greeted with such enthusiasm. With a huge 10,000 square foot terrace overlooking Victoria Harbour, Hooray offers an extensive cocktail list. There are sake cocktails, champagne cocktails, fresh fruit martinis, muddled cocktails, frozen cocktails, as well as a solid selection of whisky.

See more bars in Causeway Bay here.

On the food side, the menu is European as interpreted by a Japanese chef Ono Toshiharu (previously the executive chef at Nadaman at the Island Shangri-la), with dishes such as pan seared foie gras with tomato wasabi sauce; egg custard with uni and caviar; and raw M4 wagyu beef with wasabi soy. There is also a teppanyaki grill in the midst of the terrace, offering an Asian twist on barbecue.Located one floor up from Hooray is Kaiko, a sister restaurant of Teppanyaki Kaika at The One shopping mall in Tsim Sha Tsui. Kaiko is an especially good option for lunch, as it offers seven different lunch sets ranging from HK$150 for a teriyaki chicken from the region of Choshu to a Kaiko special lunch set with 150 grams of A4 Japanese sirloin (HK$580). The sake list is similarly extensive with everything from bottles of Shichida Junmai from Saga (HK$420 for 720ml), to a bottle of Jyoyondai Junmai Daiginjyo from Yamagata for HK$4,500.

See our complete listing of all restaurants in Causeway Bay.

Sushi Ta-ke:12/F, 1 Hoi Ping Road, Cubus, Causeway Bay. +852 2577-0611
Bella Vita: 11/F, 1 Hoi Ping Road, Cubus, Causeway Bay. +852 2577-0699
Sessyu: 8/F, 1 Hoi Ping Road, Cubus, Causeway Bay. +852 2576-0880
Hooray: P502, World Trade Centre, 280 Gloucester Rd, Causeway Bay. +852 2895-0885
Kaiko: P502, World Trade Centre, 280 Gloucester Rd, Causeway Bay. +852 2895-0885