Creative Four-Hands Effort

With almost every fine-dining restaurants in town offering some kind of special collaboration dinner events on a regular basis these days, I got pickier in choosing which one to go. But the one at Arbor recently just fits all the criteria, so I made the booking the first day I got the news about the event featuring guest chef Yusuke Takada of La Cime.

Weekday Buffet

I always considered the breakfast buffet at The Blue Bar at Four Seasons Hong Kong the best in town, so I was as happy to drop by during the day a couple of weeks ago when they introduced a few new dishes at the lunch buffet at the same place.

Evening with Natural Wines

Nothing stopped us from assembling at our friend J and C's Interval Coffee Bar near LKF for a special natural wine dinner they organized despite the slight disruption of traffic in the city. The place has recently introduced the new bistro-style all-day menu and they hosted a one night event with a few of their courses paired with a few bottles from Radikon winery in Italy, considered one of the pioneers in the natural wine movement. So we went on the evening before the actual event for a preview and test run of sort.

Cheesy Dinner

It's probably more common to see a winemaker or sommelier joining us for dinner rather than a fromager, or cheesemonger, but recently I got such an experience with Francois Bourgon of Fromagerie Xavier co-hosting us at Epure in TST for a special cheese-themed tasting dinner prepared by its Chef Nicolas Boutin. I guess I could call myself a cheese lover but definitely not an expert so it's an excellent opportunity to learn more from someone who's a specialist in his trade (and a decorated MOF because of that)

Weekend Spanish Lunch

I increasingly felt La Rambla is becoming what Catalunya aspired to be before this restaurant of the same group closed a few years ago. The more central location (in IFC) meant it's much easier to draw a crowd day or night, and the open kitchen and spacious, well-lit dining area makes the venue much livelier, and of course, it's all backed by the same level of excellent food and drink selection.

Back to Back Hotpots

We always joked when we chose the place for hotpot meals, more often we go for quantity rather than quality since it made little difference to us as long as the food is plentiful. But recently we did try two hotpot restaurants that offered both and more.

Twelve Courses and No Chicken

We were excited that Chef Dan managed to get us a table to eat at his restaurant Belon on a Friday evening despite we planned this rather late. It’s been a few months since we last ate there – if we didn’t count the times we dropped by for a quick round of drinks or desserts – and we have always enjoyed the meals at the restaurant with well executed bistro-style dishes and the lively vibe inside this cozy space in Soho.

For Wellness' Sake

At first I wasn't quite sure about Asaya Kitchen at the new Rosewood Hong Kong when I received an invitation for a dinner tasting recently. With its emphasis on "wellness gastronomy" or "health-conscious fare", it sounded like the menu would be filled with just avocado, quinoa and Brussels sprouts (obviously not my BFF ingredients). But I figure it wouldn't hurt giving it a shot before passing the judgment.

Classic Giando

I felt like Giando is exactly the restaurant I love with the casual Italian trattoria style ambiance and decent food based on traditional cooking and seasonal ingredients. And I thought I just visited at the right time last week when white truffles were in season (plus they were running a special anniversary tasting menu), and even better when Chef Gianni Caprioli was there to personally attend to us and brought us a few new dishes.

The Right Time

From the onset Hop Sze Restaurant in Sai Wan Ho looks just like any neighborhood eatery serving home-style Cantonese dishes, but one got the hint this one stands out in this old and worn district, either by a quick glance at their menu with a separate section filled with extravagant ingredients, or by the fine wines on display in the cabinet or brought in by their customers.

Off Menu at The Chairman

I don’t like pulling strings to make restaurant booking but this time I made an exception by reaching out to my friend DY for help. Some friends and we were organizing a Sunday lunch with the group at The Chairman so I wanted to see if DY could arrange for us a few off-menu or new items at his restaurant, now many considered to be serving some of the finest Cantonese dishes and most true to the traditions.

Event Preview

I was gutted for not being able to attend the T.Dining Off-Menu event in mid-November because of other engagements, but glad I was given a sneak preview in an afternoon recently with a few participating chefs showing us some of the dishes that would be presented at the actual event. T.Dining has been great in bringing together some of the best culinary talents in town for one-of-a-kind collaboration events for the past few years (such as this and this), and this may be their most ambitious one yet, featuring over a dozen chefs not only from Hong Kong but some flying in later this month, all paired up to create a number of unique dishes only available at this event to be held at The Peak Galleria.

Time for Hairy Crabs

Outside of white truffles, I would say hairy crab is one food ingredient that I relate most to the coming of the fall season. And glad we got to share our first hairy crab meal this year at our favorite Shanghainese restaurant with some friends we haven’t seen for a while. We always thought Shanghai Fraternity Association is a place perfect for casual dinner gatherings in the area, and their food has always been decent.

Ta Vie Celebration

"Pure, Simple, Seasonal" - what's written on the menu by Chef Hideaki Sato seems to have captured the true spirit of the dishes served at his restaurant Ta Vie. There were only a handful of Michelin-starred restaurants in town that I have yet tried, and I was eager to cross Ta Vie out of that list after hearing all the good comments from my foodie friends. And what's more appropriate than to go on a day of celebration with a special meal there?