Located on the fifth floor of Causeway Bay’s V Point, a new building that also houses Alto and La Bombance, Sanpi Ryoron is the of the first five new Japanese imports opening in this building this summer. Popular in Japan and headed by esteemed chef-owner Masahiro Kasahara. The restaurant takes on a simplistic décor featuring a long kitchen bar that seats 13 guests and a private room that seats eight. With soft lighting and a full view of the kitchen, the ambience is warm with increased interaction shared between the chefs and guests over dinner service.

The restaurant takes on a simplistic décor featuring a long kitchen bar that seats 13 guests and a private room that seats eight. With soft lighting and a full view of the kitchen, the ambience is warm with increased interaction shared between the chefs and guests over dinner service.

Sanpi Ryoron is an omakase-only restaurant that serves one menu that changes every month by way of seasonal ingredient availability. The ten-course menu is well-structured with multiple disciplines of traditional Japanese fare, from sashimi to tempura, meat course to rice and desserts.

We began our meal with sesame tofu with sea urchin and dashi gelee, an amuse bouche, a starter with light refreshing gelee, softly set and full of umami against a gelatinous sesame tofu. Our next course of deep fried sweet potato and spring bamboo shoot is impressive. The sweet potato morsels, coated with Japanese traditional persimmon seed cracker crumbs, are golden and crisp, while the bamboo shoot is prepared tempura style.

The clear soup arrived just in time before the sashimi course. The minced fish cake with scallops in clear soup featured a dumpling made with minced fish and filled with dices of scallops. The soup was light with kombu, cleaning the palate with just the right touch of yuzu lacing through. Sanpi Ryoron’s version of chawanmushi is a velvety steamed egg custard with chicken and prawns, finished with a pickled plum glaze.

The meat course was a simple seared wagyu steak with shaved cucumber and burdock root mochi. The well-marbled beef was succulent with a caramelized crust, served with vinegared cucumber as a condiment that cuts the richness. The burdock mochi was surprisingly good too. The steamed rice with cabbage and sakura shrimps was the highlight of the evening. The steamed rice, with an abundance of dried shrimps mixed in, was rich in every bite.

Desserts come in two small courses: Cointreau gelee with shiso and kiwi fruit was light and refreshing, while milk pudding with kinako ice cream helped to elevate the richness of the ice cream, thanks to the addition of condensed milk and toasted soybean flour.

Sanpi-Ryoron offers a modest but sound selection of Japanese sakes, including sparkling varieties, and plum liqueurs, although most on the sake list are only available by the bottle. Guests can also indulge in Calpis sodas on offer on the beverage menu.

Service is attentive and on point at the restaurant, although the staff team needs warming up to. Refilling glasses and cutlery placements between courses are prompt and friendly throughout dinner service. The staff are keen on describing changes on the menu, with the chef’s personal stories on menu offerings to share with the guests between courses.

An omakase dinner for two amounts to HK$2,640. Sanpi Ryoron takes strong inspiration from seasonal ingredients, as demonstrated with solid culinary execution throughout the menu, keeping guests wanting more in future visits.