Universally popular in Hung Hom

Kazuo Okada's signature dish, flash smoked salmon. Provided to China Daily

Hung Hom has long been one of my favorite areas in Hong Kong for the good eats. The predominantly low-rise neighborhood is dotted with diners boasting some of the best roast meats and dumplings around.

For those hankering after five-star fare, Harbor Grand Kowloon has the reputation for being the hotel of choice for President Hu Jintao and other Chinese dignitaries.

This spring, K.O. Dining, the F&B arm of Japan's Universal Entertainment Corporation, added its fine dining restaurant complex at Harborfront Landmark, with kaiseki restaurant Kazuo Okada leading the pack.

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The restaurant takes its name from Universal's chairman and his vision of what Japanese fine dining should be.

The interiors are deliberately minimal, with unadorned walls against a neutral palette of black leather armchairs and gray granite floor.

In addition to the main dining area with panoramic views of Victoria Harbor, there is an open kitchen with red and yellow backlit features walls, a sushi counter, a teppanyaki room and a private dining room.

The evening that I dined at Kazuo Okada, it was chef Hirofumi Imamura's day off. Despite not being there in person, his attention to detail is immediately apparent from the austere but beautiful floral arrangements near the entrance, to the tableware and accessories he personally selects from Kyoto.