The Good Old Restaurant, More New Dishes

"Let me know next time when you come over again so I can show you more new dishes" I don't think when Chef Gauillaume said that he expect I would come back so soon after my lunch at Caprice back in June. But here we are again for another lunch only a couple of weeks later, since CYY missed out the first one and she wanted to make up for it.

On Doctor's Order

I never seem to catch on the local craze for afternoon tea despite my love for all pastries, but I recently had a good one at Dr Fern’s Gin Parlour, a speakeasy-style bar hidden in the basement of The Landmark in Central. The place has slowly become my go-to place for a simple drink (or two) at night since they had an awesome selection of my favorite gins (well, that’s their specialty, as their name suggests) Often I would just hop by either for a drink after work, or just drop in after dinner for a quick nightcap.

Elegant British Fare on Gough

“What’s a restaurant serving ‘Modern British Cuisine’ like?” That's the question I asked myself when I braved the heavy downpour to walk up to Gough Street last week for a dinner tasting at this new restaurant called Gough’s on Gough specializing in such. Pictures of the restaurant and its food started popping up on my Facebook feed regularly and from what I have seen and heard it’s more than decent, so my expectation was high.

New Italian Private Kitchen

There's every reason to be excited about this new restaurant opening. With Umberto Bombana being unarguably the most well-known Italian chef in town with three Michelin-starred restaurants under his name (Otto e Mezzo in Hong Kong and Macau plus Ciak in the Kitchen in Central), his latest project Octavium, branded as his "private kitchen", was eagerly anticipated by many months before it opened its door.

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.

Spicy Feast

Among this particular group of friends I am probably not the one with the highest tolerance to spicy food, but that doesn't mean I can't join them for a spicy feast, like the one we had recently at Dong Lai Shun of Royal Garden Hotel in TST East. The restaurant specializes in Northern Chinese cuisine which I love, and I figured  even if the dish became too spicy to handle, there’s always a glass of beer (or wine) that could tame the heat.

Eight Countries, Eight Restaurants Later...

One Star House Party seems to be a fascinating concept - a group of culinary professionals would travel around the world and host pop-up dinners drawing inspiration from local cuisines and ingredients, then moved on to another country/town and did the same, like a nomad with a purpose. They started in Hong Kong one year ago, and 12 months later, after various stops and numerous stories to tell, came back to town for a 5-week engagement to host another series of pop-up dinner, showcasing their favorite dish in 8 different countries they hosted dinner at.

Say Cheese on Sunday

We met up with some friends at Upper Modern Bistro a few Sundays ago before they embarked on the month-long summer vacation. We came across the restaurant's FB posts about their cheese promotion on weekends and thought the offer to tap into one of our favorite cheese collections in town at such price was something we don't want to miss.

Legit Local Tempura Place

To be honest I was not all that convinced when I received an invitation to check out this new tempura restaurant in Central. Coming off a weekend in Tokyo just recently I wasn't exactly in the mood for a Japanese meal knowing it's likely not close to what I would have in Japan, but I was relieved somewhat after seeing Chef Eric behind the counter when I walked into the restaurant on a weeknight joining a group of friends for a dinner tasting. Chef Eric was the tempura chef at a Japanese restaurant in Causeway Bay some years ago which we frequented then, so on more than a few occasions we enjoyed many of the tempura dishes prepared by him. That certainly gave me some level of comfort, and not haven't tried his food for a while I was curious to check it out.

New Ramen Joint with a Queue

It's not uncommon to see long waiting lines outside the newest and hottest restaurant in town, at least until the next newest and hottest one came around - thanks for the patience and persistence shown by many food lovers in Hong Kong who always want to be the first to try just about anything. Lately we have witnessed another such new entry to our local dining scene in Tsuta, the ramen joint in the unofficial ramen street in Causeway Bay recently making Hong Kong their third overseas home after Singapore and Taipei.

Tokyo in 40: Cheapo Steakhouse

After an afternoon at Ghibli Museum and wandering on the streets of Kichijoji for a mini zakka crawl, I decided to stick around the neighborhood for dinner before catching my midnight flight home. There's no lack of choices of places to eat near the train station, either inside the food halls of shopping centers and department stores, or inside a few blocks of narrow alleys lined with bars and izakayas (called Harmonica Yokocho)

Tokyo in 40: Kichijoji Zakka Hunt

Hopping on the bus after visiting Ghibli Museum, soon I was back to the busy streets of Kichijoji. I did my research in advance and made out my itinerary for a mini zakka hunt in the afternoon before dinner time. There are so many interesting shops in this area that I could easily spend a few days going through them one by one, but with only a few hours to spare, I got to be a bit selective.

Tokyo in 40: From Toro to Totoro

The neighborhood of Kichijoji, a western suburb near Tokyo, is known to be a shopping haven for homeware and zakka, and being a self-professed shopaholic for both, I am still puzzled why I have never visited there before. And this time shopping wasn't even my main purpose as I hopped over to this side of town for a museum that I always wanted to go, after my sushi lunch in Tokyo.

Tokyo in 40: Sunday Sushi Lunch

Finding a proper place to eat in Tokyo on Sundays is not as easy as one might think since many fine dining establishments chose to rest on that day, but Sushi Shin in Nishi-azabu is a rare exception, which stays open on Sunday and closes every Monday instead. So I asked the hotel concierge to make the booking for me for Sunday afternoon.

Tokyo in 40: Morning in Daikanyama

With the many times I have been in Tokyo, I have never been to Daikanyama – I still don’t understand why as the setting would have been my favorite hangout. But anyway, I rectified this situation this time with a visit to this trendy neighborhood on Sunday morning.

Dinner at a Speakeasy Bar

A week after attending the pre-opening media preview of the new Employees Only Hong Kong at Lan Kwai Fong, I was given a second opportunity to try more of their food and drink, this time at a sit-down dinner. Monday was probably not the busiest night at Lan Kwai Fong (plus we started a bit early), but it was fairly packed when I walked in to the bar (and soon it was filled to the capacity as the night progressed and by the time we moved to our dinner table)