I M Teppanyaki & Wine

Amazing Value Teppanyaki in Hong Kong

I've been on a bit of a teppanyaki kick recently. Having exhausted most of the high-end Edomae-style sushi omakase in Hong Kong, I started exploring other venues around the city. Matsubishi was decent but not particularly memorable. Crown Super Deluxe, a place in Causeway Bay that always reminded me of a Japanese Mafioso establishment (perhaps it was the loud pinstripe suits the wait staff wore, or the fact that every chef had full sleeve tattoos), seems to have closed down after COVID, which is a shame. At the last minute, I found out about the only Michelin-starred teppanyaki restaurant in Hong Kong, and of course I had to pay a visit.

I M Teppanyaki & Wine was founded by Chef Lawrence Mok Tsan-lam, who spent more than 30 years in some of Hong Kong's best kitchens before opening his own teppanyaki restaurant in 2013. It earned its first Michelin star in 2016 and has held it ever since.

We decided to do something simple and went with the set lunches.

The room is cavernous and dark, built around two central hibachi grills with 14 seats at the counter and a dark black motif running through everything.

The meal opened with a chawanmushi topped with a generous portion of salmon roe and a dab of wasabi for a bit of kick. The raw ingredients were then laid out on the grill in front of us, as is tradition.

I'm usually not awake before noon, so a lunch reservation required a bit of caffeine to get me going. I asked for a coffee early, but the restaurant didn't have much of a coffee programme; an Americano from a super-automatic was as good as it was going to get.

I’ve also been trying to manage my alcohol intake recently, so I swapped the bubbly for a sparkling genmaicha tea, yuzu-infused and on the sweeter side. It turned out to be a good accompaniment to the meal.

The star of the lunch was the crispy tilefish, served on a bed of pumpkin sauce. Always a crowd pleaser and perfectly done here: the skin blistered and popping, while the flesh remained fall-apart tender.

Next, big-head shrimp served on a piece of sea kelp, followed by abalone on kelp with an abalone liver sauce. Both were clean and well-executed, letting the ingredients do the talking.

The A4 wagyu tenderloin came wrapped around deep-fried garlic flakes and green onion, rich without being heavy, with the garlic adding a sharp crunch against the soft beef.

To close the savoury courses, a traditional fried rice with whitebait and dried shrimp, served alongside Japanese pickles, miso soup with giant clams, and a side of fried bean sprouts. Homely, filling, and exactly the right way to land after the parade of premium proteins.

This turned out to be one of the best-value Michelin meals I've had in Hong Kong. I think the only cheaper starred restaurant I can recall is Tim Ho Wan, which I've never been a fan of. At this price point, it's hard to find fault with anything. The tilefish was the highlight, the beef roll was excellent, and as an introduction to high-end teppanyaki in the city, I M Teppanyaki is a great pick.

Total damage: 1200 HKD/2 people