Perfect Japanese Food @ Ben Kei Restaurant

It was a really tiring night as I arrived in Kaohsiung for Derek’s wedding this coming Sunday. With only two hours of sleep, a factory meeting that lasted more than 7 hours and a 90-minute train ride sitting next to a person that couldn’t stop coughing I had no mood to explore Kaohsiung nor eat out.

Without much appetite I decided to have a light supper at Ben Kei Japanese Restaurant in my hotel and ordered my regular favorites.



Amouse Bouche: Mackeral

Like most decent Japanese restaurants my meal started off with a pre-appetizer of Mackerel that was braised in a sweetened soy broth.

Tuna and Salmon Sashimi

I guess one of the bonuses of living in Taiwan is its close proximity to Japan and it shares the same ocean. The sashimi was excellent. The salmon had a nice marbling and the tuna was very fresh. Furthermore, every piece of fish was so perfectly sliced.

Salad

My salad came next and even that was so perfect. This wasn’t just some tossed up salad on a bowl. This big salad was actually layered to bring out the different characteristics of the fruits and vegetables. There was iceberg lettuce, kiwi, grape fruit, fresh corn, tomatoes, cucumbers and asparagus. Every single vegetable and fruit was as fresh as it could be and were arranged in a way to be eaten that went well together!

Hamachi Kama

This took forever to come. In fact I had to wait at least 15 minutes after I finished my salad before it arrived. This too was perfect. The fish was very moist and perfectly salted. The skin was crisp but not burnt. This was one of the best hamachi kama I’ve had.


What more can I say? I was tired and had no appetite but yet I finished every thing. Headed by a Japanese Master Chef definitely showed the difference in quality. I had never seen sashimi so perfectly sliced, a salad so well laid out and a hamachi so well grilled. The dishes were so simple but yet so much time was spent on perfecting it.


Contact Information:
Address: No.266, Cheng-Kung 1st Rd., 801 Kaohsiung, Taiwan, R.O.C.
Tel: +886 (07)216-1766
Fax: +886 (07)216-1966
Web: http://www.grand-hilai.com.tw/english/about_03.htm