Celebrating 40 Years

After my first visit to the restaurant 2 months ago, I returned to Hoi King Heen earlier this month again, this time for a special menu presented by Chef Leung Fai Hung, who’s celebrating his 40 years working inside the kitchen. I love the meal during my last time out here so I was looking forward to the dinner hosted by the hotel PR team and specially prepared for us by Chef Leung as part of this tasting menu available til end of this year.

Street Food Fest

A whirlwind visit to Macau brought me and some other friends to Studio City to check out the Michelin Guide Street Food Festival over the Golden Week long weekend. Normally I wouldn’t fancy such a long day-trip commute for only dishes at a few food stalls, but with the line-up included restaurants and chefs from all across Asia and a few starred establishment, I figure it’s still worthwhile - just think of it like those pop-up restaurant/guest chef event, just that this time these were street food stalls.

Third Time's (Still) A Charm

When I was organizing a quick catch-up with some friends in late September over dinner, I did confess to Chef Daniel Calvert that his restaurant, Belon, was not the only venue I have suggested as options. Well, in my defence, I just didn’t want to be like a “Restaurant Nazi” dictating where people should go eat, but at the end I was glad that we reached the consensus to convene at Belon for our long overdue dinner gathering.

New Chef, New Dishes, Same Look

My lunch at Man Wah was pushed back by 2 weeks because of Typhoon Mangkhut which hit us in mid-September, but glad we could finally re-schedule and made that happened before the October 1 long weekend. I am an admirer of Chef Wong Wing-keung’s cooking at Yee Tung Heen of The Excelsior, and recently Chef Wong moved across to its sister property at Mandarin Oriental Hong Kong to be their new executive chef at the Chinese restaurant (where he used to work as sous chef before his post at Yee Tung Heen). MO’s PR team has been arranging meals at the restaurant to introduce their “new” executive chef to the media, and hence I was invited to one of them.

A Restaurant Week Night Out

We thought we missed out on the Restaurant Week promotion this summer until we realized a few restaurants were extending their special menu til the end of September. But instead of using this opportunity to try something new like we did before, we opted to go back to somewhere we have tried and like this time around.

Chef Vs (Paella) Pan

I did say it would be a long while before I will even consider doing the “chef gig” thing again since my “debut” at PMQ Taste Kitchen a few months ago. But when Chef Alex Fargas and his team approached me to be the guest chef for the weekend brunch menu at his restaurant La Paloma, it seems like a project having too much fun to say no to. The restaurant in Sai Ying Pun, with the promise of serving “Sexy Tapas”, has been doing this “Chef Vs Pan” series for a while, in which once a month one outside chef would come in to deliver his/her version of paella (using the giant 40-inch pan) and roast suckling pig as part of their weekend brunch menu.

Crossover Across the Straits

There seems to be a constant stream of chefs coming in from overseas working alongside with local restaurants for special collaboration menus, or so called four-hand meals. The latest I had the opportunity to try was the one featuring two creative chefs I love, Chef Agustin Balbi of Haku Hong Kong and Chef Kai Ho of Taipei’s Tairroir, plus the Japanese bartender Shuzo Nagumo of the Mixologist Salon in Ginza. They came into Hong Kong for a 2-day-only collaboration event in late September.

A Spectacular Omakase Show

Since late last year, what used to be called Sushi Ta-ke has gone through quite a transformation from a cozy sushi-ya at Cubus to a new, much bigger location on the ground floor of Lee Garden shopping mall not far away. And in addition to sushi which they still offer at a longer counter, they also had separate sections for teppanyaki and tempura, making this one of the few in town that offers high-end Japanese fare in such wide variety of dishes and cooking styles.

Serious Wine and Dine Night - I Mean, Seriously

Our favorite “secret private kitchen” venue became not so secret any more, now that they finally put a discreet sign outside the building at their new location bearing the name “No 9 SBI Canteen” (9號軟庫飯堂). Apparently this is the name they were known by for those in the circle who has visited the place before. It’s been a while since my last visit at their old location on Pottinger Street, and then they have closed and didn’t re-open until a month ago at this new location in Sheung Wan, and our friend RC was kind enough to organize a gathering for a bunch of us.

Pre-Concert, Pre-Typhoon Dinner

We have always wanted to try the new Pici in Tsimshatsui since they open a few weeks ago and we decided to go on one evening for an early dinner when we had to attend a music concert nearby, just as the super typhoon loomed.

Summer Macau Stay-cation Part 3: Family Friendly Star

I found it kinda ironic that Grand Lisboa Hotel, the property that houses one of the biggest casino floors in the world under its roof, also features a few very good restaurants well-suited for families. After we had a great Italian feast at the friendly Casa Don Alfonso the night before, we visited The Kitchen right next door for lunch before we called an end to our quick Macau stay-cation.

Summer Macau Stay-cation Part 2: Long Table Dinner

After an afternoon of fun pizza-making, we returned to Casa Don Alfonso evening for a proper sit-down dinner at their private room at the back of the restaurant. We ate here once late last year after their renovation and re-launch, but this time we had the opportunity to try out some new dishes by the new chef Maurizio Ferrini, which showed further refinement from our first visit since they moved from fine-dining style towards a casual trattoria while sticking true to the traditional family-style Italian cuisine.

Summer Macau Stay-cation Part 1: Noodles, Congee and Pizza-Making

An hour of ferry ride in the choppy sea – thanks to the stormy weather – got us into Macau in a late Saturday morning for a weekend of staycation at the Grand Lisboa. And the hotel PR team was so kind to organize a weekend-full of “feastivities” to keep us entertained and well-fed.

Dinner at The Chairman

Following a spectacular meal at the Ap Lei Chau fish market, almost the same group of people re-convened in the same evening at The Chairman for another eating session. It’s been a while since my last visit to this classic Cantonese restaurant which is already in its 10th year at the same location and has gotten quite a reputation for its intricate, true-to-the-tradition cooking. And with its owner DY – who is considered by many one of the more serious foodies in town himself - personally picking the dishes for us, I was really curious how the dinner would fare given my already-high expectation.

Fish Market Tour

The chef showed his disbelief when seven of us carried around 20 catty (or 12 kg) of live seafood to his restaurant just round the corner near the Ap Lei Chau market in an afternoon. “I doubt you would be able to finish all of them…” he said, and at the end, he might be right, but we all had a great time travelling to that part of town for some unusual catch, and rest assured all leftovers (not a lot of them) were carried home and didn’t go to waste.