Hong

Bizarre really, how a piece of raw fish can be so appealing. However, as bizarre as this piece of food may be it is the food that so many of us crave on a daily basis. The food in question? Sushi. At first Sushi was a type of food I detested. The first time I had a California roil was almost my last, as I struggled to comprehend the sticky, slimy textures that were attempting to make themselves at home in my mouth. However, as time went by I somehow grew to love the Japanese dish, and now it is one of my favourite meals. There are many restaurants that attempt to make this Japanese delight, some do a great job, others – not so much. For those of you that have experienced it, will know that there are few things worse than having bad (off) Sushi. Looking for a Sushi restaurant is somewhat of an easy task, finding a quality Sushi restaurant is an entirely different task.

After much deliberation and positive feedback from friends and family alike, I thought it was finally time to make my way down to Hong, the Sushi restaurant in Claremont. I had heard a lot about the famous ‘Hong’ restaurant and on this particular evening my craving for raw fish was somewhat overwhelming.  You could only imagine my excitement to testthis much spoken of restaurant. As we made our way into the Sushi restaurant we were greeted by a waiter. A small Chinese man, who could barely speak English. Call me crazy, but if you go to an Asian restaurant, and everything about the restaurant is Asian (including the people that work there) you are usually in for a treat. As my eyes gazed over the menu, my tummy rumbling with hunger and excitement, I found myself spoilt for choice. Hong offers a wide variety of Sushi, and because if the reasonable pricing of everything it made it difficult to choose. Eventually I made my mind up and ordered the Sushi of my choice, now it was a matter of waiting.

Despite the waiters knowledge for the English language, or lack thereof my food arrived swiftly and efficiently, without any frills or fuss. I was greeted with a wave of excitement and surprise. Excitement, attributed to my on-going craving for Sushi, which was now becoming a reality. Surprise, attributed to my emotion I experienced as I saw the size of the portions of my meal. People often throw around and perhaps overuse the cliché: Quality not quantity. However at ‘Hong’ in Claremont the sushi is quality in its quantity. The food is truly outstanding. The service, you may argue could be better, just in terms of communication. In terms of efficiency and speed in getting your meal from you back to the kitchen, back to you, you would struggle to complain.

I have eaten at many Sushi restaurants in my time and I can honestly say, without the shadow of a doubt that the meal I experienced at ‘Hong’ was one of the best Sushi experiences I have ever had and one which I certainly won’t forget.