Early Morning at L'altro

A few Saturdays ago I was at the Italian restaurant L'altro in Central again to check out the new seasonal dishes by Chef Mauro. He also wanted to do a few bespoke dishes for us using seasonal ingredients, so we began early in the morning on a "field trip" to Graham Street Market, one of the oldest market in town and only a block away from the restaurant.

Value Three-star Meal

It's unfortunate that the non-stop rainstorm which started in the afternoon pretty much washed out all our plans to try more places to eat for the rest of the day, so after lunch we were stuck inside those mega shopping malls on the Cotai Strip walking aimlessly in dire attempt to burn off some calories. Then at night, we went out again for dinner at The Eight at the Grand Lisboa.

The Tasting Lunch by Galliot

After making two whistle stops in old town Macau for a classic cha chaan teng followed by a new artisan cafe in the morning, we hopped on a cab and headed to the City of Dreams complex in Taipa for our lunch reservation at The Tasting Room.

City of Dreams is one of the "newer" gaming complexes located in the reclaimed land off Macau now known as The Cotai Strip, with three top hotels, several floor of casino space, a large shopping mall and numerous dining outlets. Those who have been following the Michelin Guide keenly would notice they were one of the biggest winners in the current Hong Kong/Macau version of the book, with one new restaurant getting their first star, and two others got elevated into the two-star category, one of them being The Tasting Room. (we actually ended up trying all three restaurants over the weekend, more on that later)

Morning in Old Town Macau

When our friend J (of Chicken Scrawlings) offered to organize a mini Macau food crawl for the group including lunch at her husband's restaurant which has just been awarded with a second Michelin star, it's something hard to pass up. And I figure we may as well turn that into an overnight stay in Macau to make it a "stay-cation" so we can try out more new places at a more leisurely pace.

Caramel Icecream with Salted Egg Yolks

This recipe is based on a dessert I recently made when my friends came over for dinner, and was inspired by a similar version I had at a restaurant not long ago. Salted caramel has long been my flavor of choice when I want to fix up something quick and easy, and it's proved to be a crowd-pleaser time and time again. But this time I was serving this with a slight twist, putting grated salted egg yolks on top of the scoop of icecream.

Quick Meetup at On Dining

After a quick exchange of emails before the end of last year, a few friends of ours decided on a mini get-together over wine and cheese at On Dining Kitchen on a Friday evening in January. Our friend JC is a regular of the restaurant so we left that to her to sort out the booking and other arrangement.

Buffet Thursday

Of course in Hong Kong there were no shortage of restaurants or hotels offering all-you-can-eat deals, anything from early breakfast to late night drinks and nibbles. Though I wouldn't call myself a regular nor a particular fan of this style of meals, there were occasions when I thought buffet was just exactly what we needed, either to fix a wide range of cravings in one go, or times when we scratched our heads and couldn't figure out what to eat.

Another Pop-up Bar at Landmark Mandarin

I hardly know anything of the latest in the dining and drinking scene in New York City these days, but I was told PDT (Please Don't Tell) is some big shot in East Village many considered to be the best speakeasy bar in town, if not the world. After a few stints of pop-up appearances around the world, they recently stopped by Hong Kong to take up a 3-week-long residence at MO Bar of Landmark Mandarin Oriental, and I went on one of the earlier evenings to check it out.

Weekend Lunch and Pommes Souffle

I was not sure what Chef Fabrice thought when I actually took up his offer to teach me to cook in his kitchen, but I was pretty excited. A few months ago I was at his restaurant Caprice at the Four Seasons Hong Kong when a bowl of Pommes Souffle appeared as the side dish to our main course, and I was fascinated by the taste and texture.

Risotto as Dessert

Part of my New Year Eve dinner menu paid tribute to some of the memorable dishes I had over the past year - I thought this was a good way to end the wonderful year with. When I was thinking what to do for dessert, I remembered the impressive bowl of rice pudding served by Chef Stephane Jego at L'Ami Jean in Paris when we were there in the summer. It looked ordinary and unassuming, but that combined with the sauce was one of the best desserts I have tasted. So I decided to replicate that with a touch of my own, bringing in the element of fusion.

Cooking with Not-my-homemade Jam

In early December, a good friend and a neighbor of ours W - known for his jam-making skills among many of his talents - passed us a jar of quince jam he made during the festive season. We were ecstatic to have received such a wonderful gift right on time for the holiday stretch.