The Full Experience

When we came to Ando for lunch with a few friends who were first time visitors to the restaurant, I asked Julien and Agustin, manager and chef, to "show them the full Ando experience". Well, they did exactly that, and putting us in the comfortable private room with a view of the kitchen certainly made this a good start too. 

Across the Street

“Come eat at my secret stash spot”, suggested M, referring to the new space he acquired just across the street from his restaurant Renren Heping (人人和平小飯店) in North Point. We came to this neighborhood restaurant regularly mainly for its famous Cantonese barbecue and other home-style dishes, and also partly because its owner M is an old classmate of mine. And this time, he organized this dinner with a few of our common friends from school for an impromptu reunion of sorts with a special menu at this new shop. 

Quickie Meal

Roganic is definitely my first choice when we wanted a quick, no-fuss lunch – their business lunch menu got you in and out in slightly over an hour with three solid courses. With the whole long weekend of non-stop eating (National Day weekend), that’s exactly what we wanted on a Saturday afternoon, a 

reprieve of gluttony, so to speak. 

Modern Singaporean (and It Ain't Hawker Food)

Whey was one of those new restaurants in town now with a 2 month waiting list. So our dinner booking in early October was actually made back in August, something that has become sort of a norm these days. But with its young Singaporean chef Barry Quek having quite a reputation for solid execution with his now-closed restaurant Beet, I figured it’s worth the wait. 

Carte Blanche Lunch

With the local dining scene slowly getting back to normal so were our eating routine, including our meal date at Caprice of Four Seasons Hong Kong. And this time, it felt like they got the full team working on this particular Saturday afternoon when we were there, and the dining room was filled to the capacity. That is definitely a good indication that maybe we can finally see the light at the end of the tunnel of this damned COVID thing. 

New on the Block

We went on a mini eating spree on the October 1 long weekend, and to start, it’s Ami/Wood Ear at The Landmark, a new restaurant by the group which also owns Epure and Arbor, with the “unique fine bistronomie” concept as they called it. 

"Mo Duck Shue"

Some friends and I decided to take turns in hosting dinners at places each of us were (more) familiar with (including here and here), and when it came to my turn, I suggest we convene at Nikushou partly because that’s a place I am confident about and partly because most of us have not been recently so it’s good for a re-visit. So I gave its owner (and a good friend of ours) A a buzz and asked him to help arrange and all I requested was the menu has to be “unbeatable” (or “Mo Duck Shue” 無得輸 as we often say in Canto) as we often said in the previous rounds of dinners. 

New Sichuan at Times Square

Hong Kong people seem to have bottomless appetite for Sichuan food with more and more Sichuan restaurants popping up around town. Chuan was the latest one I tried at one of the invited dinner tastings. 

Late Dinner at Neighborhood

Let’s just say more often than not our dinners at Neighborhood ended up being eventful ones, whether that be the sheer amount of food served by Chef/Owner David or something else. And this time it’s a little bit of both when we came as a big group on one Friday evening in September. 

Clubhouse Dinner Ep 2 - Private Chiuchow Kitchen

"The Hong Kong Chinese Importers and Exporters Association" was not exactly the type of sign you expect outside a restaurant, but that's where we were eating the other night at the clubhouse of this old trade union (still in operation, by the way). There were actually a few similar places around the area, with the clubhouse restaurants serving decent food to members and guests alike, and for this, their specialty is Chiuchow cuisine.