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.

A Mixed Feeling - Gaddi's

Whether it's because of its location, its gorgeously-designed dining space with Victorian windows, high ceiling, crystal chandeliers and candlestands or its classily-dressed wait-staff, in our mind, dining at Gaddi's is never a light-hearted affair. Even without the dress code (there is one actually), you would have felt obliged to dress up a notch so as to not feel too out of place with the classic, colonial decor - of course, whether you like it or not that way is a personal preference.

My bro and sis-in-law came back to Hong Kong recently for a week-long break to attend a wedding, so we met up for lunch here as this was the only time slot we were both available. The maitre d' seated us in the middle of the dining room after everyone arrived. Well, a few tables were occupied here and there, but it's so quiet that I can almost hear the pin drops. To be honest I am not a big fan of such "tranquility", felt more like sitting in a deserted place that made me feel a bit uncomfortable - again, a matter of personal preference.

Compared to its dinner menu, the menu du dejeuner obviously offers better value for money - a 3-course lunch with options to choose from for appetizer, main, and dessert (or cheese if you so choose). It came with a glass of wine too, though there's nothing particular to write home about for a rustic, typical Macon Village that I had (or the Australian shiraz as the other option).

The food this afternoon wasn't bad, per se, just that it's certainly not as inspiring as previous times when we tried the chef's table dinner menu - which I didn't blame him cuz that would have been four times as expensive. I love the presentation of all the courses, both in terms of plating and how the food's brought to the table - so elegantly done that it's certainly a class of its own. Well, this is once called the best French restaurant in the Far East for a reason, I suppose.

My main course - Bresse chicken confit with lentils - is a classic winter dish cooked beautifully and I have to tip my hat off to Chef Goodridge for that.  It's served with a foam of foie gras which did bring a balanced flavor and a new facet of texture to the plate, figuratively speaking. I also adored my dessert of prune and pecan clafoutis - another iconic French dish - this time served with a quenelle of armagnac icecream.

Unfortunately service is one of the areas that we found especially dissappointing this afternoon. So often when we turned around looking for our waiter we found none within our proximity, not to mention the mere fact that we actually had to ask - several times - for simple things such as having our bread plates and water glasses filled. We almost have to resort to the rather rude two-hand wave in order to get some attention from someone - at one point I even considered calling the maitre d' on the phone for rescue. From our past experience that's very not typical of this hotel I must say, especially from this very dining outlet. Perhaps that made it even more of a let-down.

We can certainly live with a little less uptightness, a more "lively" dining room and definitely more attentive service, yet we wouldn't complain too much after sitting down for a decent meal like this - we became even more appreciative to that once we saw the long waiting line for the "famous" afternoon tea downstairs as we made our way back to the hotel lobby. But next time, we will probably save up to enjoy a sumptuous dinner here rather than coming for the presumably better-valued lunch.

when? November 13 2010
where? Gaddi's, The Peninsula, TST, Hong Kong
menu highlights?  Bresse chicken confit with Puy lentils and goose liver

Repeat Business - Bombana Part 2

It's extremely rare that we lavished ourselves in upscale dining in quick succession, but a couple nights after Amber we were sitting in Bombana's dining room at Otto e Mezzo yet again, this time with my college buddies. With the white truffle season on-going and the newly acclaimed 2-michelin stars to show forth, it's not easy to score a reservation at this restaurant but we were glad that a last-minute cancellation by someone else cleared us off the waitlist for a table.

The restaurant's already full of ppl when we arrived - most of whom looked like they are coming for some corporate functions, then a few couples and us - party of six. I suppose that's typical of a Monday evening. Mr Bombana's mingling around the dining room as usual, chatting with guests and preparing the still-in-season white truffle dishes by the table - he ought to be more than pleased looking at the buzzing dining room on what is usually the slowest night of the week for restaurant business.

Glancing through the familiar menu and wine list - we came here for dinner a few weeks ago - I decided to bypass the degustation menu this time and opted for something simpler. I started with tagliatelle with lobster and cherry tomatoes and move on to the main course of osso bucco with saffron risotto. I had a similar dish a month ago - only last time it was angelhair instead of tagliatelle, and by choosing to repeat that probably tells my fondness towards this pasta dish. In my opinion, no one does Italian meat dishes better than Bombana, and this classic dish of osso bucco is without a doubt the best in town. It's meaty and juicy and goes so well with the creamy, flavorful and perfectly-cooked risotto. Our friends mr and mrs y ordered the grilled rib-eye. The menu said it's good for 2 but in my opinion it can easily serve 3 or 4 average person - hence we were able to steal a bite from them, and it is amazing.

I also loved the Super Tuscan that we picked - a non-traditional Merlot-Syrah-Sangiovese blend gave this wine a berry-forward palate with good smooth tannin not very typical of its young age. Easy-drinking and goes well with the meat dishes we had. We didn't find anything interesting from the dessert menu, so instead we went back to our place for a dose of homemade ice-cream - a scope each of darjeeling and espresso flavors - my interpretation of "yin-yang" as a perfect nightcap to bring this Monday evening to a conclusion.

Well, of course white truffle is the ingredient of choice when it came to the right time at this restaurant, but surely for the rest of the year, as we found out this evening, there are still plenty of reasons to come here more regularly, whether for an elaborate celebration, or just a run for a simple, comforting Italian meal. Either way, Bombana is certainly our choice.

when? December 6 2010
where? 8 1/2 Otto e Mezzo Bombana, Alexandra House, Central
occasion? Gathering with Friends
menu highlights? Osso Bucco with saffron risotto
drinks? 2008 Gaja Ca'marcanda Promis