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.  

Ode to Celebration

It’s this time of the year for a little celebration and this year it was at Tate Dining Room. We haven’t been back for a while so I figure this is the perfect excuse to check out some of the new dishes by Chef Vicky Lau and her fine team at this venue known for its fancy décor and elegant vibe. 

Middle of the Latin American Series

“We were in a roll for Latin American cooking,” I jokingly told Chef Marco at the new restaurant Rosita when we visited one December evening. With lunch at Ando just the day before and dinner at Mono a few days later, we squeezed in one dinner just in between at this new restaurant specializing in contemporary Latin American cuisine, and one happened to be the brainchild of Chef Agustin from Ando and Chef Ricardo from Mono. 

Mora

Opening a new restaurant in Hong Kong during this challenging time required certain level of confidence, something Chef Vicky Lau has no lack of, first with her Michelin-starred, over a decade old Tate Dining Room and now Mora, her first venture with focus on Chinese x French cooking. 

Chef's Table at Sea

During the 3 nights aboard Spectrum of the Seas during the cruise trip “to nowhere”, we did manage to check out a few restaurants inside the ship. And the most impressive of all was the evening spent at “Chef’s Table”, which is offered as one of their “premium dining option” (which meant we need to pay extra to eat there).

Quite Some Celebration

We count ourselves lucky to get a table to eat at Wing again just 6 months after our first meal at this contemporary Chinese restaurant by Chef Vicky. With its popularity and glowing reviews, trying to score a reservation has become almost like a competitive sport and a near impossible feat. 

Three Hour Sharp

We made the dinner reservation at VEA as soon as the local dining restriction was lifted, but that still meant we need to wait for almost a month for the earliest possible timeslot (in early March). That showed how popular the restaurant has been despite the challenging COVID situation. 

Ravishing Char Siu and an Unusual Pairing Idea

A box of wines arrived at our doorstep a couple of weeks ago, courtesy of Toasst, a new business venture based on the wine club concept co-founded by my friend A just over a year ago. Most of the time I do have a good idea what kind of wines I would like to get, but I did find this wine subscription model interesting as a supplement to my usual collection. There are always those odd bottles – either from an obscure region or made using a rarer grape varietal or both – that one often overlooked, or there’s time you wanna be more adventurous. That’s when these bottles sent from companies like Toasst would come in handy as they focused on some unusual choices. 

Tosca's Wine Lunch

I have always wanted to check out the wine lunch series at Tosca at The Ritz Carlton Hong Kong, where every month a new theme was introduced for their weekend menu with specific wine and food pairings, whether that be based on a specific region, or grape varietal or sometimes even production method (they did one with biodynamic wines before)