Sky High Getaway

Our obsession with staycation continued with a “weekend away” at The Ritz-Carlton Hong Kong. With the craze for staying a night or two away from home now catching on with the rest of the city, we arrived earlier than usual to check-in to avoid running into the crowd. And that strategy worked as we were given the room key quickly by the front desk staff upon arrival slightly after noon. 

Ritz at Home

We took up the generous offer from the team at Ritz-Carlton Hong Kong to check out their new home delivery menu. As much as I love cooking at home, it’s good for a change every now and then when someone did the work for me, and with their meal set said to be enough for 4, we asked two of our friends to join us at our place on a Friday evening, something we haven’t done in ages.

Weekend Executive Lunch

We made a point of dining out a bit more often than we need to just to do our small part to support those in local F&B and hospitality industries in the era of coronavirus outbreak. And in a more pragmatic end to it, I can’t say we were not partly motivated by the gorgeous deals and discounts now available in just about anywhere we go in town.

Four hands and a few more wines

Last month was the first time I returned to Tosca at The Ritz Carlton Hong Kong since Chef Angelo Agliano took over at the kitchen. They have even changed the name to Tosca di Angelo for the new era. We were there on the final night of the special collaboration dinner series featuring guest chef Antonia Klugmann from Friuli–Venezia Giulia.

Last Lunch in Tokyo

We wanted to stay in at our hotel on the final day of our Japan holiday, just to spend the morning in the neighborhood then lunch at one of their restaurants. Azure 45 is considered one of the best French restaurant in town (with one Michelin star which they keep for a number of years) and shared the same floor as the hotel lobby up at the 45th Floor of Tokyo Midtown.

Satisfaction Restored

We felt we needed time to adjust as we left the tranquil Hiramatsu resort in the countryside of Hakone and checked into our hotel in metropolitan Tokyo for 2 more nights. I normally prefer staying in Shinjuku for its proximity to the shopping district and major train lines, but this time we decided to visit The Ritz Carlton in Roppongi for a change.

Okinawa Short Trip: Italian-Okinawan Dinner

Wanting a quiet getaway in Okinawa, we decided to spend 2 nights in a resort up north after the initial night in downtown Naha, and on our first evening there, we ate at one of the restaurants inside our hotel. While Okinawa might not be the place to be as far as fine-dining is concerned, both restaurants at the Ritz Carlton Okinawa offered the rare luxury dining options in the region, which included a Japanese teppanyaki restaurant plus an Italian one, in addition to the lounge and all-day-dining restaurant, all within this cozy property.

Okinawa Short Trip: Mixed Bag Experience

It's regrettable that I couldn’t exactly say our stay at the Ritz-Carlton Okinawa got on well from the moment we walked in to the resort property – in fact it was probably the most unpleasant "Marriott Experience" in my memory. We found ourselves greeted by no one when we pulled up to the front after a long drive from Naha, then we were made to wait in the lobby for over 15 minutes with our luggage sitting next to us on a cart until someone actually came and completed the check-in steps (despite having urged to check-in online 2 days before and I did and we arrived right on time as we have earlier indicated), during which no one even mentioned basic information like when and where breakfasts will be served.

While the property boasted their magnificent, “panoramic” view of the golf course and the sea behind, I was shocked when they showed us our room with a partial view, snuggled right behind another structure (they should have called this a "concrete rooftop view" – that’s pretty much all we could see from the balcony) That's on top of somehow they thought sticking us to the far end of the hotel was a good idea - that took a good 5 minutes walk from the room to the lobby.

Luxury Bento

Thankfully I didn’t make much plan for my short trip to Kyoto, ‘cause otherwise any plan would have been severely disrupted by the heavy rainstorm covering almost my entire time there (sad to be the worst in the region for decades). But for a few things that I planned at the last minute, I decided to have lunch and pay a visit to a new hotel, and an old friend.

Long Lombard Lunch

I always love the idea of Tosca’s weekend lunch menu with a regional focus, each time featuring dishes from a specific area and paired with their wines as well. A few weeks ago, we were there again on a Saturday afternoon, just as they were wrapping up the series focusing on Lombard dishes and wines. While we may not particularly appreciate the heat wave going on in town with temperature soaring to mid-30s, but that meant we had a few days of stunningly clear sky, making our visit to Tosca near the top of The Ritz-Carlton especially enjoyable with the perfect viewpoint of Hong Kong’s skyline from Level 102 of the tallest building in town.

Yumcha at Ritz Carlton Shenzhen

We spent the maximum amount of time in our hotel (up until when we were required to check out) chilling in our room and at the library before heading out for lunch during our staycation weekend in Shenzhen. It’s been a while since I last spent significant amount of time in Shenzhen and I am amazed at all the new hotel and restaurant openings in town for the last decade or so – still not at the same rate in the neighboring Macau but now they have all the global hotel brands you could think of making a presence here with different ranges from the most luxurious to the simple boutique hotels.

Saturday Morning Dimsum

I have been to Tin Lung Heen at The Ritz Carlton Hong Kong a few times previously but this was only my first time going there for a weekend brunch with dimsum dishes when I visited a couple of weeks ago. Just like other hotel Chinese restaurants in town, during the day they offer a combination of dimsum items and other a la carte choices on their menu, and with even more variety during weekends. After all, having dimsum is one of the local favorite past-time.

Dom Perignon Part 2

Of course no one's going to say no to free-flowing champagne on a Sunday afternoon, let alone recent vintage of Dom Perignon. And that's what many of us got to enjoy with more food and drink on a recent weekend, when Ritz-Carlton re-launch their Sunday brunch at Ozone on top of the hotel at Level 118. After my Dom Perignon x On Dining dinner last month, consider this the sequel.

High-end Celebration

Ozone may not be the first venue people had in mind when they talk about dining outlets at Ritz Carlton Hong Kong; after all with two Michelin-starred restaurants (Tosca and Tin Lung Heen) and the ever-changing and glamorous afternoon tea at the lounge all under the same roof, it's easy for people to think of Ozone as more a spot for drinking rather than eating. But I have to say, for the few occasions I came here to eat I was pleasantly surprised by the quality of dishes and the overall dining experience. Kudos to Chef Rafael’s team inside the Ozone kitchen.

Saturday Yumcha: Lai Heen

With us staying right next door under the same roof (at the JW Marriott), it made sense that we went to check out Lai Heen, the Chinese restaurant at Ritz-Carlton, which was just awarded the first Michelin star recently. We even dragged along our friend E, who relocated to Macau a couple months ago for her new job, to join us after going on a quick morning food crawl together in Coloane.

Tosca x Cracco

I couldn't believe twice I walked by Chef Carlo Cracco's namesake restaurant in Milan in my previous trips and twice I didn't manage to walk in and pay a visit. After all Cracco is considered one of the top restaurants in town by the Michelin Guide (which gave it 2 stars) and Chef Cracco was highly-regarded for his avant-garde style, offering a twist using traditional ingredients with some of his innovative cooking techniques, not to mention his numerous cookbooks, TV appearances etc making him one of the best known Italian chefs.

Pop-Up in the Sky

With the iconic red pillar post-box at the front reception and sea of Union Jacks draped along the narrow corridor leading to the bar and dining area, the team in Ozone at The Ritz Carlton Hong Kong spared no effort in making people feel like they were transposed to London's Duck and Waffle restaurant when we came over for an event featuring the "highest restaurant in London" (Duck and Waffle) at the "highest bar in the world" (Ozone) up on Level 118.

Family Dinner Up High

Tin Lung Heen is the first place that came to mind when we went for a weeknight family dinner. It was more than one year since I was last here, for one of their special tasting menus at the private room, and I always wanted to come back to check out their a la carte menu. Plus it's conveniently located midway between our homes, so logistics-wise it worked out just fine for everyone.

The Highest Private Kitchen Table

Not long after the Chinese New Year break, I headed up to Ozone on top of The Ritz Carlton Hong Kong one evening to join the others for their media spring dinner. The festive period may be behind us already, but it didn’t stop them from bringing on the lingering celebratory mood with everything decorated in glowing red inside the private room on the side of this fabulous lounge on top of the hotel (dubbed the "highest bar in the world"), and the red dress code requested for everyone who was there that evening.

Tosca's Wine Lunch

I have always wanted to check out the wine lunch series at Tosca at The Ritz Carlton Hong Kong, where every month a new theme was introduced for their weekend menu with specific wine and food pairings, whether that be based on a specific region, or grape varietal or sometimes even production method (they did one with biodynamic wines before)