Zuma Zoom

A London sushi favorite heads East

June 21, 2007—With two splashy new openings in an eight-month span, Hong Kong may well be Asia's hottest destination for Japanese cuisine. (Not counting Japan, of course.) A Nobu opened there in November, and this month the city welcomes Zuma, located in the swanky Landmark complex. Overseen by chef Rainer Becker, who worked at Lost in Translation's posh Park Hyatt Tokyo before opening Zuma London in 2002, the Hong Kong outpost takes its cues from traditional izakaya, Japanese gastro-pubs with an informal, shared-plate style of dining. The fare includes oven-roasted baby chicken in barley miso, and an ambitious omakase of sashimi with rock lobster, dungeness crab, live sea urchin, monkfish liver, fresh abalone, osetra caviar, and tuna belly—all available from the sushi counter, a robata grill, or the open kitchen. And with an eye-grabbing, split-level stone, glass, and wood interior by SuperPotato—the Japanese design shop behind Sensi at the Bellagio—the space is both bigger and sleeker than its London predecessor. "The drinks, the service, the quality of the cuisine will be the same as in London," Becker says. "The upstairs is for Champagne and cocktails, with an atmosphere for those want to just sit back and relax." Presumably that's something you'll appreciate in this frenetic city.

Zuma, Level 5 and 6, The Landmark, Central, Hong Kong, 011-852-3657-6388, www.zumarestaurant.com