Catching a Breather

We were genuinely surprised when we saw the packed dining room at Paper Moon at Harbour City just the other day. We knew the place has always been popular with its killer harbor view and decent classic Italian dishes, but with business clearly slowed down just about anywhere else we were glad to see they seem relatively unaffected.

Quick Sushi Lunch in Fukuoka

I was more into casual street food whilst in Kyushu for my recent trip but I did go for one simple sushi lunch in Fukuoka nonetheless. Sushi Kawasho is an old sushi restaurant opened in 1947 now with 2 branches, one in Nishi-nakasu district and another, one that I went, inside Hotel Nikko near Hakata train station.

On My Day Off: Pasta Bar Lunch

I heard great things about Pici, the new pasta bar at Wanchai's St. Francis' Yard, but I also heard it's next to impossible to get a table at this no-reservation restaurant opened by the same team behind Pirata (and TokyoLima, which I went recently also). So with my day off I decided to try my luck by going there early before they opened for lunch service at noon.

Treasures of the Sea

In the middle of last month we were at Cuisine Cuisine to check out the new seafood dinner menu available every Tuesday at their TST branch. It's a good thing that after a few rather heavy meals in the past few weeks I got to try something lighter for dinner.

Restaurant Week Menu at Mercedes Me

We finally got our chance to try Mercedes Me, taking advantage of the Restaurant Week special menu on a Monday evening with a group of friends.

Our experience with Restaurant Week in previous years has been by and large positive, and we found this a good opportunity to check out restaurants that we have somehow missed out on before. Guess Mercedes Me fell into that category - we have heard good things about this relatively new casual dining establishment in Central too many times, but we never got around to go previously.

The Newest Thai Restaurant in Town

We normally would wait at least a couple of months before trying any new restaurants, because just like cars, we believe restaurants do need some time to run in to perform at the right level - menu is to be revised and refined, front staff to be trained, and kitchen team to bond and get on the same page with one another. But this time we decided to take a chance with this new restaurant that's not even officially opened because I am curious enough to defy our "unwritten rule" for this one time.

Back to Basics at Benoit Paris

One weekday afternoon when I was in Paris I decided to have lunch at Benoit, a classic bistro in La Rive Droite, just a quick 20 minute walk down rue St Martin, on the same street where I was staying. From outside it looked just like any other restaurant in this area popular with tourists (with Notre Dame and Centre Pompidou only a few steps away); well, except this 100-year-old restaurant has a Michelin star, with branches now in New York and Tokyo as part of Alain Ducasse's restaurant empire.

Feast in a Rustic Bistro

Chez L'Ami Jean was often quoted as a prime example of one can dine well in a restaurant in Paris without the bestowment of a Michelin star and without breaking the bank. And we went there for lunch on another sunny, super hot afternoon.

Meal in the City - Lunch at Club Gascon

With jetlag still lingering in our first couple of days in London, we decided to take it easy with our schedule and had lunch at Club Gascon, a small French restaurant close to where we stayed and after a morning when we split ways - me cycling by the river whilst C spent time at her London office (hey, c'est la vie)

Noryo-yuka Cuisine in Kyoto

Sitting on Noryo-yuka (納涼床) - the open-air riverside platform - is an unique way of dining in Kyoto available only in the summer season. As this is our first time coming to town during the hotter months, we were eager to experience this ourselves.

Though there are over 100 Noryo-yuka set up in Kyoto by restaurants and bars of all sort - from traditional Kyoto cuisine to western food to places to drink - they tend to get very popular among locals and tourists so we decided to make a reservation in advance at a restaurant near to where we were staying.

Day at the Four Seasons (Part 2) - Lunch at Caprice

After spending the morning being an "unofficial intern" inside the pastry kitchen at Four Seasons Hong Kong, we emerged from the hotel basement and arrived at Caprice upstairs, as two regular customers. I always know lunch tables at the restaurant were hard to score, but little did I know they were booked up not weeks, but months in advance. We actually only got ours due to a last minute no-show that morning - whoever that decided not to come at the end, we thank you for sparing us that table.