BKK Pop-up: Soul Food Mahanakorn

Somehow I felt there are more and more "pop-up dining events" popping up in town, with guest chefs (usually from overseas) doing a short stint in collaboration with local restaurants. It's a good way for visiting chefs to test the waters in an unfamiliar territory, for restaurants to have something new on their menu, and for us customers, being able to try out more good food without having to travel afar. A win-win-win situation.

A Filipino Feast in Hong Kong

Most of the restaurant promotion emails fell directly to my Trash folder but this one caught my attention. It’s a 2-night-only Filipino Feast pop-up event brought to Hong Kong by Cheryl, a well-known social media personality based in Manila. And we managed to get a small group of friends and booked a table for the second and final night. I must say I knew little about Filipino cuisine but with a couple Filipino "food experts" at the table, we were in for a fun evening of sharing good food and good conversation.

Another Sake Pairing Dinner

Seats for dinner at Godenya, a restaurant hidden inside an alley near Kau U Fong in Central, is probably one of the most sought-after in town right now, with people trying to book months in advance for one of the 8 seats available every evening. And I am glad my friend made the booking for the group well ahead of time so all we needed to do is to tag along.

Middle-of-the-pack Italian

We came to check out this new Italian restaurant called Involtini in Causeway Bay for our regular BYO gathering on a Friday evening. Naturally we decided to pop open a few Italian bottles to go with our meal.

The restaurant is located at the fringe of the buzzing Causeway Bay in a new commercial building. It’s a bit hard to find and a bit of a hassle to get to, thanks to the slow elevator. The restaurant was compact, with bar and open kitchen on one side, then scores of dining tables on the other. I thought it’s comfortable, but definitely not the place you want serious business conversations or an intimate date to pop the question or something.

Thai Cooking Class

Knowing I love cooking at home from time to time, my friend M asked me to tag along to a special cooking class event organized by the local Thai consulate, instructed by Chef Nooror Somany Steppe and her daughter Sandra Steppe from Blue Elephant Cooking School and Restaurant in Bangkok.

Weekend Lunch on the Top Floor

Looking out from the window from our table, we realized we probably picked the best days to have lunch at Restaurant Petrus up on the top floor of Island Shangri-la hotel, with the clear blue sky and the perfect Kowloon skyline view across the harbor in front of us. We don’t come here often but with their new chef Ricardo Chaneton - formerly of the Michelin-starred Mirazur in the French Riviera - just coming on board after going a couple years without an established chef de cuisine, I was curious to see how the restaurant fares these days, so we made a booking for lunch on a free Saturday in late June to check it out.

The Visiting Gypsy Chef

It's no exaggeration when I said Another Place, the speakeasy-style restaurant located inside an industrial building in North Point, has one of the best views in town, and I have pictures as proof, taken in the evening before we had dinner there a few weeks ago.

Trattoria by the Harbor

Despite its odd location, Giando at Fenwick Pier has been successful as the go-to restaurant for many who want simple, home-style Italian meals in a laid-back environment. A few months ago, the restaurant moved to the new and more convenient location on Star Street, and taking its place is a "new" restaurant called Gia Trattoria but under the same ownership, with Chef Gianni Caprioli still at the helm dishing out Italian classics day-to-day.

Sunday Brunch in Poho

We were in the Poho neighborhood for an outdoor concert on Sunday afternoon in mid-June, and before that, we stopped by Upper Modern Bistro just a couple blocks away for their weekend brunch. We have not been back there for a while – not so much because of our not-so-pleasant experience last time but more because we often opted for On Dining in Central under the same management – but I am interested to see how they have kept up after losing their lone Michelin star last year.

More Summer Recipe: Skillet Cake

I looked at my new Nambu Tekki cast iron pan and wanted to do something with it, that’s when I decided to make a simple skillet cake, something that is easy to make and I can enjoy all day – from breakfast to afternoon snacks to dessert. This is arguably one of the easiest cake to make – as long as you could mix and stir you should be able to master this rather quickly.

Two Evenings at a Sake Bar

When I spotted the giant sugidama hanging outside an unmarked shop at St Francis' Yard, I was curious to know what's inside. Sugidama, which means cedar sphere in Japanese, was made with numerous trimmed cedar needles formed into a sphere-shaped decoration and often hangs outside sake breweries across Japan. Traditionally, it marked the beginning and end of the annual sake production in winter, as the color of the sugidama gradually changes from green to brown.

Home-style Chiuchow

A flurry of whatsapp messages later on a Sunday some friends and we gathered for dinner at Lok Hau Fook in Kowloon City, an old-school restaurant specializing in Chiuchow dishes, which is a branch of Cantonese cuisine rooted from the once-prosperous town of Chiuchow, or Teochew as pronounced in the local dialect.