Where To Eat

On the Lower Ground Floor of Pacific Place, there is a relatively new restaurant that is named Kokomi. 

As the name of this restaurant implies, it specialises in Japanese-styled dishes, but in a very modern setting. 

The restaurant can seat more than 200 patrons, but the lack of soft furnishings causes sound to travel round the open eatery in a flash.

This makes it not conducive for one to try to have a romantic tête-à-tête.

Aside from this drawback, there is little about which to criticise Kokomi, other than, perhaps, to suggest that the quality of the serving staff needs to be improved. 

TARGET (泰達財經) visited Kokomi on Thursday, June 9, 2016, because, among other things, with a yen (excuse the pun, please) for Japanese cuisine, this restaurant was the only food outlet in Pacific Place that served dishes that originated in The Land of The Rising Sun. 

(TARGET has made the determination not to return to Nadaman, located in the Island Shangri-La Hotel, due to the indifferent level of service that one receives, there, these days.) 

Having scanned the menu, the following dishes were selected for three, TARGET food reviewers: 

Grilled Eel Rice
$HK148 

Assorted Sushi and Soup Udon
$HK198 

Beef Shabu
$HK238 

Salmon Roe Sushi
$HK88 per piece 

Sea Urchin Sushi
$HK48 per piece 

Minced Fatty Tuna Hand Roll
$HK88 per roll 

Dessert

Coconut Pudding
$HK58 

Tempura Banana Split
$HK58 

Due, no doubt, to the immediate vicinity of Great Food Hall, one of the best places in the Hongkong Special Administrative Region (HKSAR) of the People’s Republic of China (PRC) where one can purchase, among other things, a large variety of fresh fish, the sushi, the sea urchin and the toro could not have been better. 

When eating raw fish, freshness is everything. 

However, in respect of the sushi courses, this medium can only postulate as to whether or not the rice hailed from Japan, as well as it, having been prepared, correctly. 

(When eating sushi, the steamed rice has to be prepared in the Japanese manner, which includes, lacing it with a little sugar and vinegar.) 

One aspect of the sushi that was most unfortunate was that the nori – the black, seaweed wrapper – was soggy. This is a real no-no for Japanese cuisine: It has to be fresh and crispy.  

Other than this single, negative aspect in respect of the six, first courses of TARGET’s meal, no other criticism could be levelled against the food at Kokomi. 

With regard to the two desserts, all that this medium can say about them is that they were both amazing – in spite of the fact that they were not, really, Japanese dishes. 

Anybody who wants to taste something special, following the saltiness of the sushi, the two desserts, chosen by TARGET, are a must. 

The Ambiance 

The dining area of Kokomi is voluminous and the tables are not positioned, close together – which is excellent, of course. 

But the chairs are not particularly comfortable so that one is not inclined to sit on them for an extended period of time: Eat and Out ... if you please. 

Perhaps, that is the reason that the chairs had been fashioned in that manner. 

The serving staff rarely smiled – which is, really, off-putting.  

This medium pondered that this was, probably, due to the suggestion, in certain quarters, that smiling too much causes one’s face to fall off. 

The total cost of TARGET’s meal was $HK1,172 for three people. 

For a luncheon or dinner at this cost, it is very reasonable, especially for Japanese food.