i choo choo choose tuna

There are only two things in life that can get me up early in the morning, and that is food, or obligation. The people who know me well probably think that rising in the early morn to the crow of a cockerel is far beyond my capability, but on at least one occasion, I proved them wrong. One of the highlights of my trip to Tokyo in the winter of 2006 was the trip to Tsukiji market, which meant getting up at 4am (though, in reality, having slept at 2:30am we ended up dragging our unhappy, unconscious bodies out of our snug, warm hotel beds at 5:00). It wasn’t all bad though. There’s something very satisfying about getting up at such an ungodly hour in pursuit of food… it gives you bragging rights and a smug look on your face as you recount the story to your friends (or, they could just look at you with a raised eyebrow and think you’re mad).

We missed the tuna auction, but rest assured we had loads of fun dodging death at every corner (slippery surfaces and people shouting at you to get out of the way as their fast-moving karts loom towards you), photographing all the strange and wonderful seafood, and watching young apprentices being taught how to handle a sashimi knife. It was also the first time I actually realised how massive a whole tuna was. At the end of it all, we congratulated ourselves (especially me) for making the effort and sacrificing a few zees to come to this amazing place. Because seriously, who needs sleep when you get to have this for breakfast?

It doesn’t look like the greatest piece of tuna in the world, but I remember how pleased we were as we chowed down on our bounty, as a kindly obaa-san watched us with a bemused look on her face. This is what travelling is all about – screw sleep!

So if you haven’t guessed it by now, I’m a bit of a tuna enthusiast. A bad time to be one, considering the over-fishing of bluefin tuna, but in the end my gut won out – I had to visit Doraya, a Japanese restaurant specialising in just that (er, tuna, not my gut). It sounded like a dream come true. Also, it was recommended not only by my own mother (queen of good recommendations), but my (Japanese) boyfriend who usually snubs most Japanese restaurants in Hong Kong. So after a happy reunion with friends, we trooped over to the restaurant just a bit before 7pm.

We went to the branch in Causeway Bay (there’s also one in Tsim Sha Tsui), which is a seriously modest restaurant on Lockhart Road where not many people really go. Doraya, thus, is pretty much a hidden gem. It looks like any other Japanese joint you get around this town, but there are no flashy signs or clean-cut modern menus. It looks ordinary. Inside, there isn’t a lot of space either, it probably seats around 30 people at the most, with a tiny kitchen in the back. Their menu is a tattered, laminated affair, a few pages listing various incarnations of tuna dishes – there’s fatty tuna, seared tuna, tuna steak, minced toro and a smattering of other dishes (I think I remember seeing swordfish and mackerel). Prices for the dinner sets range from around $78HKD to around $200 for the most expensive one – It’s been a week since that dinner and I don’t have a menu, so my memory is a bit hazy.

I ordered the ‘double tuna’ set, which comes with luscious pieces of otoro as well as akami maguro. All sets come with a small dish of simmered vegetables, egg rolls, pickles and a bowl of miso soup.

The tuna was simply gorgeous. The otoro was, as expected, meltingly tender but without an overpowering fishiness or oiliness – perfection. The akami was the best I’d had for a long time – also melt-in-your-mouth, though obviously not to the extent that the otoro was! Both were rich with what I can only stupidly describe as ‘tuna-y’ – and unlike much of the tuna sold in Hong Kong (especially buffets, gah!), it didn’t taste bloody and metallic. It was fresh and just wonderful. Period. You’d think I could stop there, but no – there was quite a lot of rice and I was worried about being sick of eating all of it. But, get this: it was bloody amazing. Turns out Doraya uses top-quality koshihikari rice, from Niigata Prefecture, thought to be the best rice in Japan. It’s delicious simply eaten on it’s own, and has a tender, but slightly al dente texture and a subtle sweet flavour. I could have easily polished off a plain bowl of that rice. The whole set cost me $128HKD (£8.40!), which is tuppence considering the amount of tuna I got in there, along with the added bonus of the Niigata rice.

So, I wish I had something bad to say so this doesn’t sound like a gushing advertisement for Doraya. If only I could say that the service was rubbish, and that the waitresses wanted us out as soon as possible so they could cram more hungry hordes into the small restaurant and make a fatter profit. But no. Even after they’d cleared away our plates, they noticed our cups were half-empty and offered us some more tea – a small gesture, but an enormous one considering (as we later found out) the queue that was beginning to form outside of the restaurant. We were thankful that we weren’t pressurised to leave the place as soon as possible, and appropriately paid for our bill after we’d finished our tea.

It’s awfully rare to be completely happy with a restaurant here – sometimes it’s like an unbalanced see-saw; good food, bad service, or vice versa. At Doraya, everything was faultless. And the kicker? They open until 2am. Now you know where to get your midnight otoro fixes.

Doraya (定食のどらや)
G/F, 451 Lockhart Rd, Causeway Bay, Hong Kong
Tel: 2834 8851

Basement, Grand Right Centre, 10 Cameron Rd, Tsim Sha Tsui, Kowloon
Tel: 2366 8072