Hamataki — Restaurant in Kowloon

Came here second time, but this time I realized their food safety awareness was one of the poorest in HK.

When my friends and I sat down, the resto manager came and introduced himself, at this point, we deliberately told him our dietary restrictions and told him one of us is vegetarian. Then we ordered below dishes and have him making sure no animal products were put (—is what was delivered)

Butter king oyster mushrooms hot plate — butter OYSTER hot plate?!?!?! (Recommended by the manager but we told him I do not eat oyster because I am a vegetarian)

Mentaiko tamagoyaki (asked to have mentaiko separately so my friends can eat) — mentaiko paste served on side but the tamagoyaki has mentaiko mayo on top… (do they not know what is in their sauce and stuff?)

Veggie skewers — veggie skewers with bonito fish flakes

Grilled rice balls (asked if anything else was added and got confirmed nothing but rice only) — turns out rice has bonito mixed in it, and too “hard” in general in terms of texture

Japanese restaurants are usually very cautious and serious about their food quality, I totally understand if they cannot do certain things in vegetarian versions and am really used to being rejected on some requests but committing to do it but not delivering it is not something I anticipate, especially restaurant at this price range. What if I was a vegetarian not by choice, I would have died multiple times by consuming food I could not intake. When a restaurant manager came serving you, you would not have a second thought doubting his professionalism but the dining experience recently was really disappointing and all the restaurant manager wants was to upsell more expensive food...

Why the HAMATAKI so famous as unexpected? Because of the youtuber post a lot. I have tried so many this kind of Japanese restaurant and found the nice food need to have a nice (mood) environment to make me enjoy. First the food, yes, they are very nice and fresh. All the seafood are very fresh with no doubt. The bbq pork and beef is a must try. The texture is very juicy. Lobster two eat very good, I recommend porridge as the second eat. Second the environment, they are nice and match with Japanese style. The ground floor will make you feel like you are in the Japan local restaurant. The 1/F oppsss sorry, is nice but not that story. Still recommend for you, depends how hungry and your budget you have. Average it cost $500-1000/head. Yes, not...

As indicated by many reviews, this is not only about great food but exemplary service. It is increasingly rare to experience table attention at this level, where the front of house is all about the table status at all times. Sake cups refilled, plates removed to make room for others, a smooth manager directing and pleasantly inquiring. Hamataki is easily overlooked on the street with its cluttered narrow storefront, but it opens into a universe of joys. I will agreeably leave gushings about the food to all the other reviews to simply say that this is a professional operation whose 10 years stand as testimony to a job and business well done. It’s a stark vacation from the KC sprawl of...