Good Eating Edit: YAMA at Royal Park Hotel, Hong Kong – a new izakaya serving up washoku Japanese cuisine with a modern twist, helmed by Michelin-starred chef Kaoru Mitsuhashi

Tucked inside Royal Park Hotel along the Shing Mun River in Sha Tin, Hong Kong, is the latest and much-anticipated Japanese restaurant YAMA, helmed by renowned chef Kaoru Mitsuhashi formerly of the Michelin-starred Ginza Sushi I.

What stands out about YAMA? It’s an izakaya offering washoku-style cuisine fusing traditional techniques with a modern twist. Not only does the restaurant offer a calm, Zen-like atmosphere with the use of minimalist natural stone that lines the space, but the food is innovative and meticulously prepared. No detail is left out of Mitsuhashi’s carefully thought-out menu, which includes a selection of robatayaki dishes too.

YAMA is divided into four main sections: the robatayaki bar, the cocktail bar, the main dining area and a series of private rooms. For those unfamiliar, robatayaki is akin to barbecue-style cooking, but uses a wide, open fireplace. Ideally, a type of wood-based charcoal – binchotan – made from Japanese oak heats the grill. (YAMA boasts a binchotan grill – a claim not many other restaurants in town can make.) This special type of charcoal, combined with the chef’s knowledge of how to control the intensity of the heat and the speed when rotating skewers, gives the dish its depth of flavour, desirable texture and unique roasted aroma.

An absolute must-try at YAMA is the home-made minced chicken tsukune, which combines chicken meat, chicken cartilage, lotus root and burdock served with sweet soy and egg yolk sauce. The crunchy texture mixed with the juicy, soft chicken meat and smoky aroma is mouth-watering.

Off the grill, chef Mitsuhashi has outdone himself with dishes like the YAMA beef cutlet sandwich made of A5 Kagoshima Nozaki beef. This is the ultimate in decadent sandwiches. The fattiness is perfectly distributed in variegated strands throughout the meat to create a smooth, luscious texture that compliments the crunchy coating and soft bite of the bread. You’ll be begging for a second helping.

To add a bit of surf to the turf action, chef Mitsuhashi has also developed fried Hokkaido crabmeat cakes that concentrate the natural sweetness and brininess of the crustacean into crispy golden-brown goodness.

Besides the food, YAMA boasts a range of carefully crafted cocktails like the whisky-based Ichigo Ichie mixed with white cocoa liqueur, matcha liqueur, matcha tea and hazelnut syrup.

1/F, Royal Park Hotel, 8 Pak Hok Ting Street, Sha Tin, 2694 3869