Opus Restaurant, Causeway Bay
The best way to describe Opus Japanese Restaurant is that it has somewhat of an identity crisis. You get the impression that it’s not sure whether it wants to be a serious Japanese restaurant, a karaoke or a bar. The reason for this confusion is that it boasts a refreshingly different view of Hong Kong’s Causeway Bay and the menu remains pricey for what you get. The furniture and decor is modern but borders just on the wrong side of kitsch giving it the feel of the “upmarket” option at family ski resort. This is all compounded by the strange lighting which in places was full on spotlighted and in other places goes from dim to dark to dim again, but far from an ambient type of way.
As I said, the food is nothing particularly to write home about. The lunch time toro-fan was expensive and used too much spring onion. For the dinner menu, the strange thing was that they were sold out of beef by 2100 when we sat down for dinner. Even so, the food wasn’t bad but it wasn’t great either. The hefty price tag for what you got, really wasn’t worth it.
One possible redeeming quality was the staff. After a few hiccups, they tried their best to be helpful as they saw it. One young waiter didn’t know much English and couldn’t say what a dish was in English. After we let the matter drop because his English wasn’t up to it, he actually came back five minutes later and told us what it was in English.
Be warned that after 2200, the place features a live band. The caliber of the band was good but one does have to question the decision to have a live band playing its hardest while you are still having a meal. But I do have to recognise that this is more of a personal issue since the live music at TOTT’s has the same effect of annoying me. This band was open to requests and some guests were invited up to sing along with the band. In my opinion, the girl they brought up to sing with them sometimes sounded better than the actual performers. Although I shouldn’t really be nasty since I’m not a music critic.
The restuarant has only been open for a few months. I think this is obvious in the kinks that they still need to work out. Definitely worth a revisit in six months time to see if they have improved themselves and figured what sort of venue they actually are.
Contact Info
Opus
29/F 33 Sharp Street East
Causeway Bay, Hong Kong
Tel.: +852 2831 0881
