Dinner in Time Warp

Felt like walking into a time warp when we joined our friend KC for a dinner in an old-school restaurant inside one of the public housing estates. Choi Hung Estate may be better known as a popular hotspot for IG snapshot these days for its iconic rainbow colored facade (Choi Hung meant "rainbow" in Cantonese hence the design followed its namesake theme when it's first built in the 1960's) but this is also a tight-knitted community with 10000 or so residents completed with schools, markets, and shops for everyday needs. 

Unagi Part 1: Sumiya on Gough

Mid-summer is customarily the time to eat Unagi, or freshwater eel, thanks to the tradition of “Doyo no Ushi no Hi” day which falls in late July this year, so the other day we made a quick stop at Sumiya on Gough Street to enjoy a bowl of Unagi-don at this restaurant specialized in this classic Japanese dish. 

A Rare Exception

I am never a fan of Tai Ping Koon, quite possibly one of the oldest local restaurants still standing and serves the so-called “Soy Sauce Western” cuisine, a fusion cooking style of sort mixing old-school service a la russe with a “Chinese characteristic” – how politically appropriate. But I thought I would make this an exception for once to eat there again given the restaurant is right across the street from where we were staying for the night. 

Nostalgic Celebration

I felt like nothing at Luk Yu Tea House has changed since the last time we were here – it must have been years ago. That included the guard at the front door, the long stairs on the side that go into the second floor, and the old-school Canton teahouse décor that has become a rarity. Friend C was celebrating her “18th birthday” at the restaurant recently and we were happy to come along – we would take any excuse to eat and drink with the gang. 

Early Dinner in a Chalet

Call this either a late lunch or early dinner, we made a booking to eat at Chesa at 3pm just as we checked out from our room at The Peninsula. The ambience of the cozy dining area, hidden in one side of the floor just above the lobby and resembled a Swiss chalet completed with dark wooden furniture, dim lighting and traditional wall décor, has always been my favorite part and it did feel like we were transposed to another part of the world once stepped in. Barring the rowdy family who sat right next to us with the parents treating the restaurant like their own (dysfunctional) home with lots of screaming and running around, it was actually quite nice. 

Good Old Sunday Roast

Sometimes it's the simplest dishes that made me happy, and this time, it's the good old Sunday roast, appropriately on a Sunday morning. I have enjoyed Chef Cary's traditional British cooking at Gough's on Gough before it closed a few months ago, but we were glad that he brought some of those dishes to his new post at Lobster Bar of Island Shangri-la. 

All Snake Menu

Some friends and we met up in Shum Shui Po for the snake dinner menu at one of the specialty restaurants in the neighborhood - the same group went for another snake meal only a month ago so consider this a sequel to that. Sher Wong Yip (Snake King Yip) is one of the handful shops remained in Hong Kong fully licensed to handle and sell live snakes. During winter months I often dropped by for a comforting bowl of snake soup and sometimes a bowl of sticky rice, another of their signature dish. But this is only my first time trying the more elaborate menu with 10 different courses, most of them cooked using snakes.

Good Old Jesse

We did two other serious meals during our short stay in Shanghai – one that we have been to before, one that was new to us. First, the good old Jesse Restaurant (or Lao Ji Shi 老吉士 as known by the locals) right in the center of the French Concession neighborhood. What started of as a home-style restaurant in a quiet block serving classic Shanghainese cuisine has grown into an institution, with multiple branches around the city and other places in China. We had a memorable meal there during our last visit to Shanghai so we were dying to go back, and we made a reservation at their original branch right after our flights were confirmed, helped by our friend M who was a regular at the restaurant during her days living in Shanghai.

Four Pizzas, One Wine

On her brief return to Hong Kong, my friend V organized a few get-together meals around town and I managed to join her and some others over dinner at Kytaly, the “new-ish” pizza joint at Wyndham that many has said made the best pizza in Hong Kong.

Okinawa Short Trip: The Traditional Cuisine

Despite the brief time we got to spend in the island, we were eager to learn more about traditional Okinawan cuisine, so on the night we arrived at Naha, we went to eat at Tantei, a restaurant specializes in Yaeyama Ryori, the style of cooking rooted in the region for centuries (on another recommendation by my friend JP). The restaurant was a bit hard to find even with GPS equipped in our car with the place also doubled as the home of owner-couple Nobuhiro and Reiko Miyagi in a quiet residential area not far away from the Shuri Castle.

Authentic "Pun Choi" Experience

I cruised along the highway up to the township of Kam Tin near the border after receiving a late phone call from my friend A asking whether I am interested in a “Pun Choi” (盆菜) feast in the rural village in one evening. Just the other day I was telling my other friends that I would love to have an authentic Pun Choi experience some time, so I took this as God answering my prayers with this last-minute invitation.

Summer Macau Stay-cation Part 1: Noodles, Congee and Pizza-Making

An hour of ferry ride in the choppy sea – thanks to the stormy weather – got us into Macau in a late Saturday morning for a weekend of staycation at the Grand Lisboa. And the hotel PR team was so kind to organize a weekend-full of “feastivities” to keep us entertained and well-fed.

Festive Baos

We were hosting breakfast at church for about 70 people for a second time at the end of February and this time I experimented with a new recipe – or rather, a traditional one with a slight twist. I always prefer a hot breakfast over the usual cold pastries, especially during winter and the first time we did a steamed gua-bao with pork belly with some success (at least I think most people seem to like it), so I thought we would do an encore, except this time I am going to make one in red color, something I called the “Chinese New Year Special Edition”.

The Evening with Snakes

A bad flu I caught over the weekend didn’t stop me from joining some friends to the Pottinger private kitchen for dinner. I was there late last year for what I thought was the last time at this venue (since the building is poised for re-development), but turned out it’s been delayed for another year, so maybe this time it is the last.

Touring Middle East 14: Kosher Dinner

Searching online for "Best Kosher Restaurant in Jerusalem" led us to Eucalyptus near the Old City. I felt one can't get a full grasp of Jerusalem cuisine without trying at least one proper Kosher meal, plus we were right in the middle of Jewish Sukkot celebration so it just seemed culturally appropriate doing so too. So one afternoon after returning from our sightseeing activities, I asked the hotel to make the booking for us for dinner at the restaurant in the same evening.

Portuguese Wines and Cantonese Cuisine

We were perhaps the only table in the room who cared much more about the dishes to be served rather than the wines that were being poured and passed around at a recent dinner event at Kin’s Kitchen in Wanchai. We always wanted to go back to the restaurant for their old-school Cantonese dishes, and the dinner, with the theme of "Piggy Feast" featuring wines from a Portuguese vineyard held in late August, provided us the perfect excuse to eat together.

Trattoria by the Harbor

Despite its odd location, Giando at Fenwick Pier has been successful as the go-to restaurant for many who want simple, home-style Italian meals in a laid-back environment. A few months ago, the restaurant moved to the new and more convenient location on Star Street, and taking its place is a "new" restaurant called Gia Trattoria but under the same ownership, with Chef Gianni Caprioli still at the helm dishing out Italian classics day-to-day.

Hiroshima Three Stars

When we found out our friend C and J were travelling in a similar itinerary as ours in Japan at around the same time, we made plan to meet up in Hiroshima over a dinner at Nakashima, a restaurant receiving the top honor in the special edition of the local Michelin Guide a couple of years ago.

One Dish Wonder in Miyajima

We decided to have lunch first before we went sightseeing as we stepped out of the ferry into the picturesque Miyajima Island just off Hiroshima. After all since we were spending the night here there's no need to rush through all the scenic spots like most tourists on day trip had to do. And our first lunch destination was at a small restaurant called Fujitaya, the only Michelin-starred restaurant on this tiny island.

Snake Feast in the Cold

I certainly picked the best time for a traditional snake feast when I joined a group of foodies and wine connoisseurs to eat at a specialist restaurant in Kowloon in one of the coldest weeks in town on record.

I have had snake soup a few times already during the season but it didn't stop me from signing up for yet another snake feast when i saw the notice for the event from Slow Food Hong Kong - this time at the famous Shia Wong Hip Restaurant in Shum Shui Po. There were a handful of snake restaurants in the old district of Shum Shui Po in Kowloon, and Shia Wong Hip is the one I go quite regularly, for they are one of the few remaining licensed  establishments in town to sell live snakes, hence they keep a good supply of the freshest meat for their dishes.