Three-Course Celebration

Still recovering from the long trip which ended just a couple of days before, I was not in particular mood for a lengthy meal to celebrate my own birthday. So I suggested to check out Arcane, a place that I thought it's good enough as a venue for special occasion yet not those 10-course degustation menu kind of place. And most importantly, it's a place that I have never been before (at least for a proper sit-down meal) I honestly don't know why as I have always been a fan of Chef Shane Osborn's cooking.

Four-Hands Preview

I was not able to make it to either nights of the special Vicky Cheng x Margarita Fores dinner at Chef Vicky's restaurant VEA in late October, but was glad to get a sneak preview of the menu a couple of days before it was launched. I have never tried Chef Margarita's (of Grace Park Restaurant in Manila) cooking before but I always wanted to, ever since she received her Best Female Chef award by the Asia's 50 Best Restaurant last year.

Touring Middle East 4: Dining Under Starlight

We wanted to reward ourselves after an exhausting day at the Petra, so for dinner, we ditched the buffet at the restaurant downstairs at our hotel and opted to eat at the lush Al Ghadeer on the rooftop. With the temperature dropping significantly in the evening and on a clear night, we just thought that’s a good idea to chill and relax, and try something different.

Touring Middle East 3: Petra by Day

The thought of having to walk twice the distance during the day as we did in the previous night didn’t sit too comfortably with me, but I guess I just had to forget the pain and sweat and made the hike up to the magnificent sights in Petra again. We began our journey at 8am in order to avoid the heat on mid-day as much as possible.

Touring Middle East 2: Petra By Night

We arrived at the town of Petra in the southern part of Jordan right before sunset after a 3-hour bus ride through the King’s Highway (an ancient road even mentioned in Numbers 21:22). While our official itinerary of Petra wouldn’t start until the next day, some of us decided to join the Petra By Night show after dinner at our hotel. Well, we have seen Petra in numerous photos and documentaries before (plus of course, the Indiana Jones movie which was shot there) but this is one of those places you just have to visit by yourselves to experience. If you haven't put this in your bucket list, you should.

Touring Middle East 1: Madaba and Our First Lunch

In just slightly less than 12 hours, our uneventful Royal Jordanian flight (a new Boeing 787-Dreamliner by the way) landed at Amman Airport at day-break. We try to do at least one long trip every year and this year our destination is Jordan and Israel. It’s only our first time setting foot in the Middle East.

Sukiyaki at the Counter

It’s my fault that I had to rush across the harbor to make my 6:30pm reservation at Sukiyaki Mori, but I was glad I made it right on time (okay, I was more like 15 minutes late) at the doorstep of this new restaurant at the junction of Elgin and Hollywood. I couldn’t recall any other restaurant specializes in sukiyaki in town, and being meat lovers as ourselves, we were eager to check it out.

Beer Crossover

I think it's a brilliant idea for Beef & Liberty to join hands with Brooklyn Brewery for this interesting project to deliver an unique drink-pairing dining experience which normally reserved for wine people. One corner of the restaurant was converted into a private dining area (think Krug Room but for beers) completed with wooden insignia on the wall and the collection of Brooklyn Brewery beers on display, and a special menu designed by Chef Uwe was served matching with several beers, some not commonly found in Hong Kong market.

Proper Kaiseki

I came to know this Japanese place through a rather unusual source - sponsored ad on Facebook how about that? (just to show it does occasionally work you marketing people!) I was intrigued by the fact that the restaurant, called Tenkuni, is specialized in Tempura and Unagi, or freshwater eel, as they advertised. You know, there's only a handful place in town that serves even half-decent Unagi dishes that can be somewhat close to any random ones in Japan, so that got me curious enough to give it a shot on one weeknight.

Loading up on Canto

I was back at Cuisine Cuisine at The Mira in TST just a few days before we embarked on our long trip to the Middle East in October. I was lucky to have a series of fine Chinese meals around town lately and this one was definitely ranked right up there. I was here only a couple months ago attending a wine tasting followed by a sumptuous feast and I loved the food prepared by Chef Edwin Tang then, so I was interested in checking out more of his creative dishes, this time over dinner with the hotel's PR team.

Champagne Food Crawl, The Sequel

"So you wanna join the second round?" I had a great time with the Krug food tour the first time, so it's hard to refuse my friend G's offer for an encore, with three new restaurants, three new chefs with their creations in the theme of mushrooms for Krug pairing.

Not The Usual Lounge

It's just unfair to put The Lounge at Four Seasons Hong Kong on the list among other hotel cafes. True they all serve the somewhat predictable menu trying to cater to a wide spectrum of customers, from proper breakfasts to sandwiches to salad and pasta, and of course the must-have "Asian Delights" section (whatever it's called in individual places) with dishes like wonton noodle soup and chicken rice. Plus the afternoon tea completed with the silver-plated tower with all the sweet and savory goodies. That's what this kind of restaurants are designed for in the first place.