Shanghai Vegetarian

On our second night in Shanghai we went for something different and visited Fu He Hui. I am always curious about this restaurant as this is one of the two vegetarian places awarded a star in the local Michelin Guide, and ranked highly as one of the Asia’s best.

Good Old Jesse

We did two other serious meals during our short stay in Shanghai – one that we have been to before, one that was new to us. First, the good old Jesse Restaurant (or Lao Ji Shi 老吉士 as known by the locals) right in the center of the French Concession neighborhood. What started of as a home-style restaurant in a quiet block serving classic Shanghainese cuisine has grown into an institution, with multiple branches around the city and other places in China. We had a memorable meal there during our last visit to Shanghai so we were dying to go back, and we made a reservation at their original branch right after our flights were confirmed, helped by our friend M who was a regular at the restaurant during her days living in Shanghai.

Shanghai Shanghai

It kinda sucks when our entire weekend getaway was washed out by the continuous rainstorm, but if there’s any comfort from all that, at least this time we stayed in a lovely hotel and got more time to spend inside our room with possibly one of the best view in the city. It’s been years, over a decade even, since we travelled to Shanghai, so we decided to pop by during the July 1 long weekend.

Marathon Meal

I was recently eating at Aurora at Altira Macau when their chef Helder Amaral joined hands with Chef Eric Raty of Arbor from Hong Kong to present a four-hands menu as part of the Michelin Guide promotional series. I had a hard time trying to draw a connection between the two chefs and their cooking style, but since I have enjoyed Chef Eric’s food previously at both his starred restaurant and at events where he’s a guest chef, and this did give me an opportunity to visit a new restaurant, I went along and made a short trip over.

Young Chef's Pop-up Menu

We recently went back to visit PMQ Taste Kitchen to check out the latest pop-up menu from a local young chef. Biased as I might be, I always love this idea of restaurant incubator concept (managed by our friends J and C) that allows new chefs to test out new recipes and business ideas with full set-up and operational support, and we were always surprised (and impressed) from the few visits we made previously.

New Place in Soho

Just when you think there's no more new spots for restaurant in Soho area, another one showed up, and this time is at a new building at the foot of Soho hidden next to the escalator. The first tenant is Kinship on the third level, open for business about a month ago.

Yuwaku Onsen

We wanted to stay close to Kanazawa on the last couple of days of our trip, so the town of Yuwaku (湯涌温泉) fits the bill perfectly as it's only 30 quick minutes away from downtown by car and so we didn’t have to spend much time commuting.

Hida Beef Craze

As we traveled through the mountainous area of Gifu Prefecture, one thing we couldn’t miss was the sight of restaurants serving the famous Hida-gyu, the local beef breed from the black haired cattle known for its taste and excellent meat texture and also one of the most coveted wagyu types.

A Century-Old Ryokan

We made a slight detour to stay in Gero (下呂) in the middle of our road trip to Central Japan, as the town is considered to have one of the best onsens in the country. Given we have been to the other two previously (Arita and Kusatsu), just thought we will hit this one to check off the list.

Another Sunday; Another Brunch

Our friends at church organized yet another brunch outing after Sunday service recently, this time to Gough’s on Gough on a weekend when our friend F was working in the FOH of the restaurant. I was at the restaurant when Chef Cary Docherty just came on board about 6 months ago and loved my dinner there, and as I keep hearing good things about his cooking and the restaurant’s new menu, I thought it would be great to check out their signature Sunday brunch, featuring some British classics.

Brunch on the Rooftop

We couldn’t have asked for a better weather to be up at the rooftop of The Murray to enjoy the Sunday brunch at Popinjays a few weeks ago. We had a pleasant meal at The Tai Pan just downstairs previously and we expected to be impressed once again.