Worth a detour - Mission Chinese Food in Shenzhen

We are the kind of people that are quite willing to go the distance in search of good food but this one is still quite a stretch by all means. After accepting an invitation from our foodie friend j for this one-night only dinner event north of our border served by a visiting kitchen crew from Mission Chinese Food of San Francisco, I admit there was this moment when we wondered whether it's worth such a detour and hassle. With the original invitation email asking us not to publicize the event before it happened, and the address will only be provided in the morning of the event, we wondered whether this is just a cheap stunt or worse, a scam.

Anyway, we departed from Hong Kong at 4pm on this one Sunday afternoon and one long bus journey, 2 border checkpoints and a taxi ride later, we arrived at a random residential neighborhood in west of Shenzhen at an elegantly-decorated restaurant, where this special dinner event was held.

We did do a little due d beforehand trying to get a better idea what we are getting into. Mission Chinese Food is the brainchild of 2 talented restaurateurs, Danny Bowien and Anthony Myint. It's a "pop-up restaurant" housed within another old-school Chinese restaurant in San Francisco's Mission District, each shared a common dining room with separate menus and separate chefs. Since its opening in 2010, MCF has attracted quite a following with its creative (and somewhat twisted, mostly in a better way) interpretation of Americanized Chinese food, not only among local diners, but critics as well - San Francisco Chronicle named it a Top 100 Restaurant in San Francisco this year and its chef Danny Bowien a rising star. Mark Bittman of New York Times raved about it in his column.

For a good part of June, the entire kitchen crew closed down their shop in San Francisco and ventured around Asia - made their way to Tokyo, Beijing, and then Shenzhen/Hong Kong. Towards the end of their journey, they borrowed a corner of this nice restaurant in Shenzhen (owned by a family friend of theirs) and played host to this one-time event with a selected group of invited guests. Our friend J happened to receive the invitation and she's so kind to ask us (and 6 of her other friends) to join. This is how this event came along and how we ended up here. Well, a pop-up restaurant from San Francisco doing this one-time secretive pop-up dinner event in Shenzhen... hope you are still with me by now.

Anyway, our meal began soon after everyone arrived at around 6-something. The dinner started on a delightful note - the "Nobu-esque" geoduck sashimi served with a piece of ginger-infused cantaloupe and a dash of tomato-flavor is just the perfect summer appetizer I need. It set the tone of what MCF is all about - the dish is clearly Asian-inspired but with a unique, creative touch that is unlike everything we have had before. 

The sashimi's followed by steamed eggs served in a cappuccino cup. This is my favorite dish of the evening - the eggs are steamed chawanmushi-style, with chicken confit at the bottom and a thin piece of scallop and green apple on top, and they are all bathed in a superior broth infused with chrysanthemum. Refreshingly flavorful - the well-cooked confit plus the strong flavor of the broth made this a standout against the traditional version.

After that we were served with 2 main courses. The prawn dish was met with mixed comments across our table. Fresh prawns are salt-baked by the table side, and served with sauteed razor clams and mushrooms. I found it a bit uneasy to see the prawns being "buried alive" - literally - in piping hot salt bath in front of us, but I like its taste and appreciate how the chef tried to contrast the texture and flavors of prawns and razor clams. But the prawns are a little bit undercooked and some might find it a bit too salty to their liking. The duck "3-ways" is decent - duck confit was wrapped in a "money-bag" - a egg flour crepe as the wrap with pulled duck meat inside, along with seared duck breast and deep-fried duck tongue. I would probably prefer the wrapped duck confit be a bit smaller and deep-fried but overall it's still good.

Tonight's soup dish is a fish roulade wrapped with chicken liver in a ginseng broth on a bed of barley. I can't personally taste much of the ginseng flavor, and I found the fish a bit tough and less the delicacy I would expect. Nonetheless I found the combination of flavor and texture very interesting.

Two desserts were served at the end of the meal. First is a glass of sauternes infused with chrysanthemum and mango steen. I am sure wine connoisseurs may shrugged at the attempt to mess up their "heavenly drop" with extra flavorings, but we all thought this is nicely executed and well-balanced. The last course - the cornmeal cake - has more of a southern flavor (of the States, not China) than anything else. It's soaked with cognac and served with chinese pears, whipped cream and again, a hint of chrysanthemum flavor. To me, it's of just the right sweetness, and I wonder how they would match up against the sticky corncake commonly found in everyday Northern Chinese cuisine.

Yes, it's an awfully long journey home after we finished our meal, but with eye-opening food, good company and this being a one-of-a-kind experience, we felt it's worth the detour.

when? June 12 2011
where? Capistrano, Futian District, Shenzhen
menu highlights? Steamed Eggs: Scallops, Apples, Chrysanthemum
web: www.missionchinesefood.com

You can also check out more pics on Flickr: http://www.flickr.com/photos/g4gary/sets/72157626947475022/

Mirror

Sometimes you just hated it when a dinner you had so much high hope for almost made it to greatness but at the end not quite close to that level... that's the impression I had after trying this much-hyped, much anticipated French restaurant in the heart of Wanchai. We have been trying to secure a booking at this restaurant for ages without much success so when our good friend C told us he have a reservation for a table we immediately jumped on joining.
The restaurant’s on the 6th Floor of a commercial building – not exactly the usual neighborhood as far as fine-dining’s concern but I like the décor inside – bare walls in deep, trendy colors with a mirror as its only decoration, an open kitchen on one end with a handful of dining tables in the main room that can sit 20-30 at max. Given we have such a hard time getting a booking, it doesn’t feel as crowded as I thought, surprisingly. Not much of a view of the outside but it certainly feels comfortable inside the cozy dining area.

Menu's simple - there are a choice of 4 or 6 course signature menu and a 6 or 8 course chef degustation menu. This arrangement made sense since everything from appetizers to mains to dessert all came out from a small open kitchen that can hardly fit 5 people working at the same time. I can’t imagine they are capable of offer any more choices other than this. Wine menu features just a handful of choices – straight from the negotiants according to the menu - it's perfectly fine if you are fan of Burgundy and they do have an interesting selection of it, but in case you are not, you are better off BYOB and pay that more than reasonable corkage fee (HK$150 at the time we went). That being said, I enjoyed the Clos Vougeot that C picked from the wine list much - classic, powerful and good combination of earthy nose quickly followed by plummy flavors and more.

The dinner started on a high note - the appetizer of shrimp with caviar on a bed of rich sauce made from shrimp heads is richly flavored and is absolutely a divine treasure from the sea. I also quite enjoyed the 2 other appetizers that followed - foie gras with fresh figs and balsamic reduction, and tuna tartar with matchstick granny smith apples and wasabi foam - though I think I could live with a slightly less-cooked foie gras and a more distinctly-flavored wasabi espuma.

One must start wondering the chef's creativity (or lack of, to be exact) as we were served a crab veloute with crab meat and roes after our three appetizers. It looked almost identical to our first appetizer, and sure it did smell good as the soup's poured into the dish by the waiter from a little ceramic bottle, but it tasted rather bland, especially compared to the rich shrimp head sauce we had moments ago.

For our 6 course degustation menu, we had a choice of crayfish and beef cheek as our main course. I picked the latter and it's quite decent. Beef cheek's cooked sous vide (for 48 hours, as we were later told by the restaurant manager) and served on a bed of onion confit. It's tender and rich but just something I would at least expect from a restaurant and chef of such caliber. On the side is 2 little piece of potatoes cooked a la boulangere with sour cream and bacons. Well, give this a French name all you want, I was quite disappointed to find a baked potato with the predictable condiments from a degustation menu by a chef whose past experience included time at the kitchens of Essex House and Plaza Athenee.

The crayfish main, which i didn't try personally, was nicely assembled with cut white asparagus, green asparagus mousse and sea urchin royale. It didn't receive high marks from our dining companions though - that's evident as much of the sea urchin royale was left on the plates almost untouched. When our friends commented that to the manager, the rebuke we got is "well, other people have similar comments before, but we thought it might be because Hong Kong people are not used to such French cooking method and texture". If such attitude persists I really can't see how we can see any improvement in here any time soon, and wonder why they even bothered to ask for our opinions in the first place.

Desserts, like other dishes of the evening, were nicely presented, but once again didn't have as nice a flavor to match. As much as people says food's a form of art one shouldn't forget it's still the taste that counts most. The portion of my lemon tart was pathetically small - even for a tartlet, and I can't taste much other than the sharp sourness. I am tempted to say Maxim's probably do a better job but drawing such comparison would have been an insult to Maxim’s. And I really don't understand why making the fuss of matching a lemon tart (topped with lemon custard and rind) with hmm... lemon mousse. There's no complement in flavors nor textures by putting these two on the same plate - they might as well pass us a bigger and better prepared lemon tart than trying to impress us with a "fancy" dessert done 2 ways.

Am I being too harsh on a small restaurant like this? Well, not if they are charging as much as their more established counterparts. Throughout the dinner, we kept saying “we have had better food at so-and-so…” – guess that pretty much summed up our verdict for this evening. A friend of ours who came here a few times did mention it’s a hit-or-miss for this restaurant, and I guess we must have come on those “miss” day. There are some good moments here and there, I did appreciate some of their efforts, and we definitely enjoyed the great company and all that, but we can’t help but feel the inconsistency in food quality and service throughout the evening.

It's unfortunate that we left with a slightly sour taste in our mouth - I am not sure it's more because of the lemon tart that we would rather forget, or just a let-down of the overall dining experience. Guess it’s going to take quite some effort for dragging us back for a second try, not that we are able to score a reservation at any time soon.

when? April 25 2011
where? Mirror restaurant, 6th Floor, Tiffan Tower, 199 Wanchai Road, Hong Kong
drinks? Domaine Louis Max Clos Vougeot Grand Cru 2001
menu highlights? Shrimps “rafraichit” with golden oscietra caviar and head sauce
web: http://www.themirror.hk/

You can also check out more pics on Flickr: http://www.flickr.com/photos/g4gary/sets/72157626450366261/

Barcelona: Boqueria Market

Well this is easily the best part of our trip: a morning stroll in the Boqueria Market. It's a food market just off La Rambla, some 15 minute walk away from our hotel. It's almost like Borough Market in London but a bit less touristy, or like Tsukiji in Tokyo but more diversified and cleaner. We can easily spend ours just hanging out there - which we did. Just walking around, glancing and smelling all the food and interesting ingredients on offer, is such an eye-opening and amazing experience.


I will let the pictures speak for itself... - just don't look if you are hungry cuz they will probably make you more so. (except one picture some people may find it gross - but hey it's still food and people actually eat them!) At least you have been warned.

48 Hours in Bangkok - Part 2

25 - 48 Hours

0900, Sunday: We rose up a bit late to this windier morning, and we decided to check out early and head straight for some shopping action after a light(er) breakfast. There are no lack of shops in the Siam/Chit Lom area with several mega malls sprawling in the area with the major ones being Siam Paragon and Central World (near BTS-Siam Centre station). While most Hong Kong tourists flocked to the fashion boutiques, designer-label shops and the lingerie section of department stores, we had the best time wandering in the basement supermarket at Siam Paragon, and picked up quite a bit of Thai spices there - the likes of lemongrass or kaffir lime powders, for example. I figure they will come handy for the occasional cooking of hearty tom yam goong or Thai curry at home in one of the cooler nights, or when I want to try out exotic-flavored ice cream.

1300, Sunday: We had our quick late lunch at one of the many restaurants inside Siam Paragon, Manna Thai Restaurant. This casual restaurant serves "classic" Thai cuisine, at least compared to the un-classic Sra Bua that we had the evening before. We ordered some familiar dishes and mixed with some un-familiar ones - I particularly like the crispy tumeric flour wrap with dried shrimps and coconut as appetizer. Other dishes such as stir-fried morning glory, grilled pork neck and tom kha kai soup are delicious, better than what we expected for normal shopping mall food.

1615, Sunday: Having just 2 carry-on luggages, we decided to give the new Airport Rail Link a try for our return trip back to the airport. It's only a 30-minute journey between Phaya Thai (reachable via BTS/skytrain) and Bangkok Suvarnabhumi Airport on City Line which made 8 stops along the way, or twice as fast (and 3 times more expensive) if you chose the Express Line service instead. Either options will get you straight to the airport terminal building without much hassle. And for only 45 Baht per person (less than HK$12/US$1.50), this is easily the cheapest and fastest way to the airport, and I highly recommend that especially for those who happened to carry little luggage and live close to a skytrain or underground station.

0000, Monday: Home. Without much fanfare on the return flight we were home by midnight, just in time to catch up with some football on TV before bed. It's depressing realising the trip's too short (it always is!) and we have to go straight to work the next day morning, but at least our next journey's just round the corner - that gave us something to look forward to in these 2 tough weeks leading to Chinese New Year. Hasta la vista, baby!

48 Hours in Bangkok - Part 1

Two words essentially summed up our quick weekend getaway to Bangkok - "did nothing", and we loved it! Well, we didn't do nothing per se, but you got the idea - no guided tour, no sightseeing, no walking around, no nothing. But even that, 48 hours did really went by in a snap...

0 - 24 Hours

0000, Saturday: We slipped out of town on the last flight out to BKK Friday, landed at exactly midnight the next day. One good thing about landing at night is we were spared from the heavy traffic in Bangkok - within less than an hour we already passed immigration, custom and comfortably arrived at our hotel (courtesy of the expedited immigration line and hotel airport pick-uo!). Lebua at State Tower may not be the top hotel in Bangkok standard these days, despite being named one of the hottest new hotel by Conde Nast Traveler when it first opened in 2005, its location's more than decent. Tugged right behind Shangri-la Hotel on the Chao Phraya river bank, it's only a 10 minute walk to either skytrain or underground stations, giving us plenty of options as far as public transportation is concerned . All rooms are suites with balconies - ours have a perfect view of both sides of the river. It's great value too - the promotional package included breakfasts for two plus one-way airport transfer - saved us quite a bit of hassle trying to hail a cab to downtown in the middle of the night.

0800, Saturday: Breakfast at poolside. The hotel's famous for its restaurants offering al-fresco dining options on top of the second tallest building in Bangkok, but their breakfast was served in the rather unceremonious location on the mezzanine floor next to the swimming pool. Nonetheless, it's not a bad place to start our day and chill by the poolside lounge table with plenty of hot and cold dishes available. We found ourselves lucky to come down early (at 9am) cuz when we finished, there were a long line of guests waiting to get in.

1230, Saturday: After breakfast, we took our time wandering around the hotel and chill in our room before setting foot out looking for more food. We picked this bistro which came highly recommended by CNNGo (which named them the best French restaurant in Bangkok) - and deservedly so, as we soon found out. With its location in a quiet neighborhood (10 minute from Asok skytrain station) on the ground floor of a serviced apartment building, Chef Herve of Le Beaulieu stuck with the tradition and delivers classic French bistro fares with a bit of Mediterranean flair. Simple decor, blue walls, open kitchen and animal-themed paintings added to the relaxed, vacation mood. The bouillabaisse that I picked as my entree choice for the Executive Lunch menu can easily be one of the best I have had for a long time. The dessert of Strawberry cappuccino with coconut sorbet has a nice Thai touch and is the perfect choice for this tropical weather.

1530, Saturday: We always ended in some sort of spa one way or the other whenever we are in Thailand, whether that be a simple massage or more elaborate, pampering treatment. And after a short walk from Le Beaulieu after lunch, we found ourselves at the door of Divana Spa which we have tried, with time to spare for our scheduled spa appointment. It's a popular choice especially among Asian tourists with many options to choose from from the spa menu, whether you prefer a la carte or half-day/full-day set treatment. After 2.5 hours of scrub, mud, steam and massage, I came out all refreshed and rejuventated. If even that's not enough, they have a shop selling beauty and spa products that people can bring home with.

1930, Saturday: It would have been a shame not getting a taste of Thai food being in the capital of Thailand, but we picked one that's perhaps the most unusual of all. Sra Bua, located in the new Siam Kempinski hotel behind Siam Paragon shopping centre, can be best described as a fine-dining restaurant serving progressive Thai cuisine. Serving from only one degustation menu, you can never tell what you will be having merely by looking at the description of courses. For example, their signature dish is the "Lobster with frozen red curry" - which is a piece of perfectly-poached lobster served with red curry-flavored icecream and lychee foam. I also have to give credit to the spectacular display of the dish called "The Harvest" - baby carrots sit on a bed of green curry mousse and cookie crumbs, all served on a terra cotta "flower pot".

My favorite of the evening is the quartet of bite-size dishes called "The Street Cooking", essentially a re-interpretation of some common Thai street foods, brought to the table on a "cloud" of charcoal smoke ("a reminder of the smell coming from the street food stall" - as we were told). Absolutely clever touch. We went along the spirit of adventure by matching our menu with a local wine from Asoke Valley, some 2 hours drive away northeast of Bangkok. One always said it's best to match local food with local wine, and this simple yet refreshing Chenin Blanc from GranMonte Vineyard, one of the two major wineries in the region, certainly washed down well with the heat from chili and curry spices typical of Thai cuisine. This is definitely one of our more memorable meals we have had in Bangkok, ever.