Classic Giando

I felt like Giando is exactly the restaurant I love with the casual Italian trattoria style ambiance and decent food based on traditional cooking and seasonal ingredients. And I thought I just visited at the right time last week when white truffles were in season (plus they were running a special anniversary tasting menu), and even better when Chef Gianni Caprioli was there to personally attend to us and brought us a few new dishes.

The Right Time

From the onset Hop Sze Restaurant in Sai Wan Ho looks just like any neighborhood eatery serving home-style Cantonese dishes, but one got the hint this one stands out in this old and worn district, either by a quick glance at their menu with a separate section filled with extravagant ingredients, or by the fine wines on display in the cabinet or brought in by their customers.

Off Menu at The Chairman

I don’t like pulling strings to make restaurant booking but this time I made an exception by reaching out to my friend DY for help. Some friends and we were organizing a Sunday lunch with the group at The Chairman so I wanted to see if DY could arrange for us a few off-menu or new items at his restaurant, now many considered to be serving some of the finest Cantonese dishes and most true to the traditions.

Event Preview

I was gutted for not being able to attend the T.Dining Off-Menu event in mid-November because of other engagements, but glad I was given a sneak preview in an afternoon recently with a few participating chefs showing us some of the dishes that would be presented at the actual event. T.Dining has been great in bringing together some of the best culinary talents in town for one-of-a-kind collaboration events for the past few years (such as this and this), and this may be their most ambitious one yet, featuring over a dozen chefs not only from Hong Kong but some flying in later this month, all paired up to create a number of unique dishes only available at this event to be held at The Peak Galleria.

Time for Hairy Crabs

Outside of white truffles, I would say hairy crab is one food ingredient that I relate most to the coming of the fall season. And glad we got to share our first hairy crab meal this year at our favorite Shanghainese restaurant with some friends we haven’t seen for a while. We always thought Shanghai Fraternity Association is a place perfect for casual dinner gatherings in the area, and their food has always been decent.