Quick Weekend Sushi

I will be lying if I say the food quality and variety has not been taken a hit since the start of the pandemic, and the most noticeable were the dishes served at sushi restaurants in town, where they relied heavily on fresh ingredients shipping frequently from mostly Japan. But that didn’t stop us from trying to find one that were still decent especially travelling to Japan (or anywhere for that matter) became next to impossible these days. 

The Four Hour Farewell

Okay, I am going to try not to sound like this is an eulogy like many people have done. The other day we had lunch at Belon at Soho, for what possibly was the last time with Chef Dan Calvert still at the helm. All tables at his restaurant were snapped up soon after the news broke that he’s leaving for Japan at the end of the month – and we were just lucky to get a booking for lunch on one Sunday. 

Fine Dining Takeaway Part 4: Roots Eatery

I messaged Chef Stephanie the night before to order our takeout dinner so we could pick it up at her restaurant Roots the next day. I was intrigued by the dishes she posted on the restaurant’s social media account (@RootsEateryHK) and we were curious to check it out. 

Coq au Blue Nun

I bought this bottle of Blue Nun as part of a prank for a few wine-loving friends who were around long enough to remember the brand being the de facto standard bearer of German wines in the late 70s and early 80s – no, I still wasn’t legally allowed to drink then but I did remember having a sip or two when I was a kid. We ended up not opening that bottle to drink that evening – rightfully so – and it’s been sitting around at home since. Guess the joke was on me. 

Simple Italian Brunch

Every time we eat out has become a special occasion now that we could only do that twice a week, on weekends during the day. A few weekends ago we went back to our old favorite for something simpler at Giando at Star Street district.

Leonard's Kitchen

One thing I learned from my last dinner at Chef Leonard’s place was if he invited you ever again, you just say yes and ask when. We enjoyed it last time around with a series of excellent and original dishes a few months ago and he somehow exceeded my expectation yet again with another epic meal last week. 

Fine Dining Takeaway Part 3: Nikushou Bento

When we heard our friend A (aka Meatchelin by his social media handle) started offering dinner bento box deliveries from his restaurant Nikushou in Causeway Bay, we immediately called to order. We have had a few rounds of western and Chinese food deliveries recently but not yet Japanese, and as far as food is concerned, we have little doubt A will deliver at the level we expected. 

Fine Dining Takeaway Part 2: At Home By Ando

Continuing our series on fine-dining takeaway meal, we took up Chef Agustin’s generous offer to check out the new “at home” menu from Ando. I suppose this is extra challenging for him and his team given they were still settling at this new restaurant and kitchen, and then everything just changed at last minute with the dine-in ban and everything, but they pulled this off marvelously.

Again

Yet another change in government policy concerning dining at restaurants meant we needed to switch our table arrangement for our lunch at Caprice, but again, the team at the restaurant did a fine job in accommodating even with rather late notice. 

Fine Dining Takeaway Part 1: Roganic At Home

With further lockdown being implemented territory-wide and we were stuck in work-from-home mode since mid-July, we resorted to cooking at home or takeaway a lot more than we normally do. And facing the adversity, restaurants have upped their game in the quality of takeaway meals. 

Change Of Plan

After the minor issue of having to switch our dinner reservation to lunch next day at last minute, we were just glad to have visited Ando, the new restaurant by Chef Agustin Balbi, two weeks into its opening. Normally we would rather wait for the new restaurant to kick into high gear and settle with the team before going, but we know Chef Agustin well and had great experience with his cooking at his previous restaurant Haku, there’s no doubt in our mind he’s going to deliver at the usual high standard even when the restaurant literally just got its stove warmed up.