Newly opened Japanese izakaya Iza in Elements, Tsim Sha Tsui – skewers that hit the spot, and more besides

Pork neck and ox tongue skewers and a cracking grilled eel on rice were the highlights at this casual dining place in Kowloon

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Japanese casual dining restaurant Iza at Civic Square in Elements, Kowloon Station.

Published: 5:30pm, 8 Aug 2017Updated: 12:19pm, 9 Aug 2017

Iza in Civic Square, Elements, is the latest izakaya to open in Hong Kong. It’s a cosy space with an outdoor seating area, although most would agree it’s too hot for that right now.

When we went, the restaurant had recently opened and looked a bit understaffed, but the waiters were patient in explaining the concept of the menu and ingredients in the dishes. The menu was still being tweaked and some dishes listed were unavailable. Soon after we walked through the door we were recognised by executive chef Jin Suzuki, who is also responsible for the menu at Hon10 in Pacific Place.

We had a scrumptious start to the meal with the tuna tartare with crispy rice cracker (HK$115), a new creation by chef Suzuki. Diners pile bluefin tuna tartare and small cubes of tuna onto the crunchy rice crackers before adding some of the slightly tart sauce. The ingredients complemented each other, and the combination was a mix of smooth and crisp textures.

The Japanese sweetcorn (HK$48) was crunchy and sweet, although the portion was small. The asparagus dipped in an onsen egg (HK$28) seemed like a good idea, but in practice was messy to eat – we would have preferred to eat the ingredients separately.