Soigne

Soigne looked more “industrial” than I imagined and I didn’t know what gave me such impression when I visited the restaurant for dinner one night, whether it was the location in the lower floor of an office building, the bright white lighting or the open kitchen with light color decor that felt like a lab, or the quiet dining room with furniture that looks more like corporate office.

Strong Contender

Work brought me to Seoul for a few days in January and I did find time to check out a few restaurants on my free time. I was quite looking forward to the trip because it's literally been decades since I last set foot in Korea, but then I wasn't as excited when I knew Korea is freezingly cold at this time of year. (one morning the temperature changed from -6C the previous day to -2C and they called this warm - go figure)

the mind blowing logy

Our short trip to Taiwan was about eating and drinking as much as about concert-going - well, almost. But with us focusing on Taipei alone we got time to visit a few of the best restaurants in town, places that I have always wanted to try.  

Wing, A Few Months Ago

This is a throwback post to one of the meals we had at Wing in recent months. Chef Vicky never failed to wow us with some of the best executed Chinese dishes in town no matter what occasion we came here for, and this time there's no exception when we came with a couple of friends. 

The Perfect Repeat

I wasn’t planning to come to Tokyo in such quick succession but then when Chef Daniel suggested that I should come visit again during the Shanghainese hairy crab season after my meal in September and “you wouldn’t regret it,” I was like, sure, why not. And just as important was this time I came with the missus. Coming in for lunch this time and I found the dining room during day even more charming, with the mild sunlight beaming in from the window, and this time I got to sit at a table properly for the whole meal with our friends CXB and KC which happened to be in Tokyo and booked to eat there on the exact same day. 

14 Courses

I am fully prepared for a long (and satisfying) evening when I sat down at Amber for a taste of their 2-day collaboration event between Chef Richard Ekkebus and the Dutch-Indonesian guest chef Syrco Bakker in late October. 

Miraculous Meal

“I am coming to Tokyo in a few days’ time. Do you think you can squeeze me a spot to eat at your restaurant?” I know it’s a big ask when I threw that question to Chef Daniel, and at the end he did just that, which I think is no less than a miracle and made my work trip extra fruitful on personal front. (and it really was a work trip) 

Big Group Gathering

Our CHF big group gathering went upscale this time with dinner at Wing. Our friend G was bemoaning how difficult it is still to get a table at this restaurant so we made plan months in advance to eat in one of their private rooms on a weeknight.

Rainy Crossover

Severe weather the night before didn’t stop us from coming to Ando for a special lunch tasting featuring guest chef LG Han from Singapore’s Labyrinth. It’s not hard to see the striking similarities between the two restaurants and the two chefs behind, both on a mission to re-invent the cuisines of their respective home countries with a new take. 

Wing Dinner in May

I thought it was a perfect excuse to turn up at Wing to celebrate a few birthdays in the month of May, and to put icing on a cake, figuratively speaking, they put us in the private room and our friends graced us with a few fine bottles. 

A Celebratory Non-Celebration

Elaborate celebration on special days is really not our thing, but that didn’t stop us from spending an evening out for dinner at Ando on CYY’s birthday. Just a meal, two of us, like we often do any other nights. 

Grand Finale

Wrapping up my 3-day Macau vacation in April was a sumptuous lunch at the revamped Golden Flower at Wynn Macau. The restaurant which used to be famous for its rendition of “Imperial Tan Cuisine” has taken a new direction since the young chef Zhang Zhicheng (a.k.a. “Little Chubby” 小胖) took over the helm a couple of years ago.  

Meal in Shenzhen

It did seem a bit over the top when I made a quick trip to Shenzhen in a Sunday afternoon to try out some food by Chef Ricardo Chaneton (of Mono), but then I was curious about this special menu in collaboration with Chef Miles Pundsack-Poe of Ensue Shenzhen only available during this one-night event. And it’s also my first trip to Mainland China in more than 3 years. 

Second Act

I extended the stay in Macau in late April with a second night at the Wynn Palace just a short hop away. Not much have changed since our last stay here (too many years ago) with the iconic floral ferris wheel art installation sat in front of the hotel lobby, and I felt we were completely spoiled by the Wynn PR team’s hospitality when I realized they put us up in the mega spacious Parlor Suite, completed with walk-in closet, powder room, two bathrooms and a jacuzzi tub. It was just perfect as I ended up spending quite a bit of time staying in to finish up some work (yes, someone still go a full time job to do) 

The Standard Bearer

We realized it's been more than one full year since our last visit to VEA... don't know what happened and how time just flew by but we quickly made amend by making a booking to go one evening a couple of weeks ago. And we managed to catch up with Chef Vicky "in residence" in between his overseas trips. 

Dinner with Visitor

Wing has been our go-to restaurant when we want to show our out-of-town friends some finest Chinese dishes in town - something I have shared in a newspaper interview recently. And we did just that a few weeks ago, eating with B who came back to visit from Canada. 

Pair of Old Wines

I managed to make a second booking for lunch at The Chairman when they opened up for reservation so this time we went with a slightly bigger group on a Sunday afternoon. I felt I pretty much went through most of the dishes in their re-designed menu in my previous visits so this time it's pretty much a highlight of everything that I liked. 

Big Group Gathering

We had dinner at Neighborhood just a couple of weeks ago with a big group of friends (thanks to our friend P who put this together rounding up the group and working with the chef for the menu). We were happy to be back even though Chef David was not around this time – after all it’s been a while since our last visit to the restaurant. 

Two Point Zero

"Wanna join us at dinner at The Chairman?" when my friend F offered me one of the prized seats for a meal at the most sought-after restaurant in town, I didn't hesitate to say yes even though that meant having two serious meals back-to-back on the same day.

Wing with Friends

At our recent dinner at Wing with a few friends before Christmas, I was blown away by the number of new dishes that Chef Vicky brought to the table and the way he managed to seek improvements on some of the already excellent dishes in his repertoire.