From Dream to Reality - Sukiyabashi Jiro Roppongi

“Is that THE restaurant featured in a movie?”
“Oh, you have seen the film, haven’t you?”
“How was it? Was it really that good?”

That’s usually how the conversations started when people heard that I just went to Sukiyabashi Jiro in a recent Tokyo trip.

Work brought me back to Japan for a second time this year, and with more time to plan this time around, I decided to take full advantage and try out more restaurants around Tokyo. I was excited when my dinner reservation was confirmed for this small restaurant with only 8 seats. Okay, it’s not the original one owned by the legendary Sushi maestro Jiro Ono per se, but many would still consider its Roppongi branch – one managed by his younger son Takashi and with 2 Michelin stars to show forth – a close second.

30 Hours in Macau Part 2 - High Life of Spa and Feasting in Lobster

This is the second part of the write-up about our 30-hour "staycation" in Macau, courtesy of Wynn (Part 1 can be found here)

30 Hours in Macau Part 1 - How this come about, Dim Sum and more...

 

We were surprised and happy to have received a kind invitation from Wynn Macau to spend 2 days at their property - an offer that we found it hard to turn away from. It came at the perfect time - this summer we have been spending way too much time travelling around without much vacation time, so a trip to somewhere just far enough to be considered a getaway but close enough to avoid all the travel hassles was exactly what we needed.

My Summer Dinner Menu - Salt Baked Fish and Pumpkin Soup

Many people thought cooking the whole fish is a very Asian thing - one may immediately relate to the classic Cantonese dish of steamed garoupa with ginger and green onions, or those grilled fish with chili sauce wrapped in banana leaves commonly seen in Thai restaurants. Well, it's only partially true. While this is probably more common in this part of the world, numerous western dishes involved cooking fish in the whole - for example, barramundi or rainbow trout are 2 kinds of fish often cooked as the whole - with barbecue in open fire or baked in an oven the preferred way of cooking.

Having spent a good part of summer in inner part of China where seawater fish was not readily available, I have been craving for fish when I am finally home. So I decided to do a salt-baked fish on this hot and humid Sunday evening.

Not (just) about wine and dine: my evening with Krug

An American author once wrote in her book about cooking, that “one of the delights of life is eating with friends, second to that is talking about eating. And, for an unsurpassed double whammy, there is talking about eating while you are eating with friends.” I was lucky to have exactly such an experience last week in an event by invitation with a group of food lunatics, courtesy of friends from WOM Guide.

I guess if there’s one invitation that I can never afford to turn down, that would be it – a Friday dinner at a Michelin 3-starred restaurant featuring wines from one of the most prestigious champagne houses in the entire world, especially the restaurant I am talking about here is my favorite 8 1/2 Otto e Mezzo Bombana, and the champagne house is none other than the glorious Maison Krug.