The story
From the moment you step through the long dark corridor that leads into the main dining room, Shikigiku Japanese Restaurant establishes its character clearly. The interiors draw on traditional Japanese Furoshiki art — simple, natural wood tones, Edo-style detailing, and contemporary sculptures that together create a composed, unhurried space on Level 4 of IFC Mall, inside the Four Seasons Hotel Hong Kong.
Floor-to-ceiling windows frame one of the city's most dramatic views: the ICC tower rising across the water and the Star Ferry threading back and forth across the harbour. At sunset, a window seat here is genuinely hard to beat.
The restaurant is built around kaiseki — the meticulously sequenced Japanese fine dining tradition — with Executive Chef Masahiro Noda leading the kitchen. The philosophy is straightforward: freshest seasonal ingredients, precise technique, and presentations that reflect the elegant discipline of authentic Japanese cooking. Alongside the kaiseki set courses, dedicated counters for tempura, teppanyaki, and sushi give guests the option to watch their meal take shape in front of them.
For private occasions, four separate dining rooms are available, each fitted with its own teppanyaki counter — a detail that speaks to how seriously the restaurant takes intimate gatherings.
A café and bar attached to the restaurant shifts the experience across the day. Exquisite pastries are served through the afternoon before the space transitions into a chic bar in the evening — a considered pairing that extends Shikigiku's hospitality well beyond the dining room itself.
Forbes Travel Guide has recognised Shikigiku with a Recommended distinction, citing both its graceful Japanese traditions and its first-class service as defining qualities. It is the kind of recognition that reflects what regulars already know: that this is one of Hong Kong's most carefully executed Japanese restaurants, where the setting and the cooking reinforce each other at every turn.
Recognition
Ambience
Location