Wrong Danny

The name Danny's Kitchen has been known to me for a while.  One of my foodie friends seems to frequent this place and knows the owner well; and I keep seeing their makeshift counter at Eslite (誠品) in Tianmu, where they are selling wines from their selection.  When it came time to try another restaurant in Taipei tonight, I made a reservation here and dragged my friends here.  I made the reservation rather late, and I think we got just about the last table in the basement...

We were presented with one menu for the three of us.  I don't know why restaurants keep doing that... Yes, a few tables had just walked in at the same time, and the table behind me was doing their ordering and hogging a few menus... but still!  Anyway, I was surprised when I saw the menu, and kinda suspected that I had really wanted to go to the other restaurant in town with the name Danny in it - Danny & Company.  Oh well... we were already here, so we should just make the best of it.

Poor service ruins the fun

I was meeting up with some friends who I haven't seen for a long time, and they suggested going to Chef Show Time (阿正廚坊).  The restaurant had moved to a new location, and the design of the space seemed better.  Somehow my vague memory tells me that I didn't like this place so much after my last visit.

My friends ordered a bunch of dishes while I stuck to just three.  We decided to share the first few dishes, which were mostly appetizers.

Black truffles and red prawns

As I seem to be doing the rounds through some of my favorite restaurants in Hong Kong, I guess it made sense to go back to 8½ Otto e Mezzo.  It's got to be the one "Western" restaurant I have dined at the most over the last year or so, due in no small part to the generous policy on corkage.

I didn't want to be totally boring, so I actually picked something that's in season and not on the menu... although I really was tempted to order two pastas, just so I could have more of the awesome carbonara...

The dinner that never was

I do think I'm a little cursed recently. I was on the receiving end of some sub-par service at one of my favorite restaurants for my birthday last week, and tonight I had the rudest service from a restaurant that I've ever had in my entire life.  For only the second time in my life, I stormed out of a restaurant without having eaten a single bite, on account of rude and/or arrogant staff.

I was very much looking forward to getting together with my friends, as I haven't seen them in over a year.  I definitely wanted to see Rickachu before I left town, and they had decided to book tonight's dinner at g.e.  (it's supposed to stand for "gastronomy extraordinary", but believe me, the only thing extraordinary about this place has nothing to do with the food...)  Anyway, I was a little curious and wanted to check this place out, as the chef is ex-Kee Club and had apparently spent time in the kitchen of El Bulli.  I will just say that I went to Kee Club for dinner once a few years ago, and had some of that "molecular" cuisine, and never bothered to return.

NOT VIP treatment

We have finally come to my actual birthday today, and I've chosen to go back to Pierre with Tigger to celebrate.  Pierre has always been among one of my very favorite places in town, and the old team had always treated me very well.

But the front of house team completely FAILED tonight.  Was the service not friendly?  Yes, they were smiling.  Did they not greet us courteously both when we arrived and when we left?  Yes, they did.  And there were occasions when they came and addressed us by name, uttering "Mr. A this" "Mr. B that"...  but there were simply too many mistakes.  Perhaps they seem small and insignificant to the average diner, but for those of us picky eaters - and I am proud to admit to being one - these are simply unacceptable for a restaurant inside a 5-star hotel, with 2 macarons and a world-famous chef as the mastermind.

Surf and Turf

Another drunken birthday dinner, this time with the Specialist and friends.  There had been some debate about the dinner venue, prompting some of us to try out places like the new Brainless Restaurant.  In the end, though, we defaulted back to 8½ Otto e Mezzo... due in no small part to its generous policy on corkage.

The Specialist started early at the bar, and I joined her and a few others about an hour before dinner.  Given my limited capacity for alcohol, I was careful not to over-indulge too quickly.  I nibbled on some air-dried beef to pad my stomach lining...

From Loire to Burgundy

I could hardly believe it... I had just finished a 2-day eating tour in Macau where I barely felt hungry during my entire stay, and here I am... going to lunch at another fancy restaurant!  Truth be told, this lunch with my friends was scheduled before the Macau trip popped up in my schedule, and I wasn't about to cancel.  After all, it's been almost 1½ years since I last stepped foot in Amber.

I had maybe a third of the bottle of 1971 Joh. Jos. Prüm Riesling leftover from last night, and brought it to share with my friends.  I checked with Hervé the sommelier to see if he would let us drink the wine without charging me full corkage, and he was pretty nice about it.  We were not charged corkage in the end.

The Bespectacled Froggie came to introduce the dishes from the set lunch menu, and recommended that we take the "chicken from Burgundy".  I could see as the Resident Froggie rolled her (very) big, round eyes back and the look of "WTF" appeared on her face.  When did Challans get moved to Burgundy, more than 500 km inland?!  And the guy was a Froggie! I guess he failed geography as a child...

Brainless and no magic

I'm not normally in the habit of visiting new restaurants within the first couple of months of business.  Most of the time the establishments haven't worked everything out yet, and either the food or the service - or both - will disappoint.  As fellow blogger KC commented, I'm reluctant to go and step on landmines.

Unusually, I found myself joining a group of friends for lunch at Al Molo today.  Michael White is a big name in the food circles of New York, and there were high expectations when this place opened.  Legolas Jr. had worked out a menu with the chef so that we can try out a bunch of pastas in 1/4 tasting portions, which was a great way to get a feel for this place.

Slaughtering fat sheep

I finally had a chance to meet up with Tigger's family to wish them happy new year, on the 8th day of the year of the rabbit.  I had expected a dinner at home, but as it turned out we went to Tenzen (天膳).  This family keeps coming here for dinner, for reasons that are completely foreign to me.  I have always found the food to be mediocre at best, and never found any reason to choose them over any of a dozen other places in town.

Putting up with poor service and bad attitude

Over the weekend I had a couple of instances where I came face to face with very poor service as well as bad attitude at dining establishments.  It made me wonder why we diners sometimes continue to patronize those same establishments where the staff and/or owners have treated us poorly.

I attended a beautiful wedding on Saturday, held at the Repulse Bay.  The banquet was a buffet lunch at the Verandah.  Everyone knows that this is run by the Hongkong & Shanghai Hotels - the same owner as the Peninsula.  One would expect very high standards for food and service, but I was shocked by how poorly trained the staff were.  They looked like part-timers who were called in for a few hours just for the banquet...

There was a series of mistakes committed by several different waiters.  One was trying to serve us Champagne, announcing "ladies first" while putting down a flute on my right hand side - in front of my other wine glasses - instead of together with my neighbor's glasses.  Another tried to remove a duplicate flute of Champagne from a friend... is it forbidden to have 2 glasses of the same wine? 

Waiters in Hong Kong still do not understand that when a diner puts down his/her silverware in a cross pattern, it signifies that he/she isn't finished with the food on the plate.  I had to practically yell at someone so that he would put my plate back down with the last piece of lamb chop still sitting on it.  Then there was the clueless guy who was so eager to pour tea for a guest that the liquid escaped from under the teapot's lid and flooded the table.

A friend of mine joked that this was the training school for the hotel group... and I really did wonder whether all the clueless newbies come here and get trained before being sent off to the Peninsula...

Last night I grabbed a quick and casual dinner at Lotus Garden (蓮園) in my neighborhood.  The boss here is famous (or infamous?) for her attitude.  She has no patience for just about anybody, and if you don't like her hollerin' and her attitude, you know where the door is.  Last night was no different.  I saw customers who walked through the door, got a dose of her attitude, then turned around and walked out.  I know that the boss' bark is worse than her bite, and I just tune her out most of the time while I'm there.  And the place is always packed. 

Another place famous for poor service/attitude yet never short of customers is Da Domenico.  People either love or hate this place, and the hate definitely stems from the perception of overpaying for nonexistent service.  I had have some first hand experience with this.  So what keeps people coming back? 

Are we masochists?  Do we just love being abused, and go back begging for more?  If the food is good - in the case for Da Domenico - do we ignore the service part of the dining experience and keep going back, thereby condoning or even encouraging the bad service/attitude?  Surely we can find other places where the food is equally good but with better service?

Muddy waters

I joined a group of chefs and foodies for dinner tonight at Ming Court (明閣), the Michelin 2-star restaurant.  I had never been here due to its location, but figured I'd check it out after its promotion from 1 to 2 stars.  The menu was preset ahead of time, including a few special requests.

Chilled bean curd sheet with shredded duck meat in chili sauce (井岡山腐皮火鴨絲) - definitely pretty yummy.  The shredded duck was very tasty with just the right amount of spiciness, and a very nice bite.  What a great way to start the meal.

Chilled drunken pigeon (太白醉香鴿) - the meat was pretty tender, and the taste of the Chinese wine was fairly prominent.

Stir-fried fresh shrimp with egg white (海生蝦炒蛋白) - very much like the Shanghainese imitation crab (賽螃蟹), prawns were de-shelled and stir-fried, then topped with a layer of soft egg white that wobbled.  Vinegar added some additional flavors to the otherwise bland egg white, as one would do with the Shanghainese original.  The deep-fried Indian mustard (雪菜) was good...

Braised shredded winter melon and mashed carrot accompanied with broccoli top with egg white (珊瑚素心燕) - this was actually very interesting, and pretty good.  The yellow topping was not real crab roe, but made of carrots and egg white to achieve the same look.  The winter melon was tasty.

We reached the turning point of the meal, where things went very wrong.  We were on a schedule as some of us needed to leave by a certain hour, so we instructed the staff to pace the dishes at intervals of around 15 minutes each.  For some reason the kitchen stopped sending dishes our way for about half an hour after the last dish, and we got pretty upset after a while when we were still staring at an empty tabletop after repeated reminders.  The manager came to apologize, and said that the kitchen was extremely busy and overworked.  That may be, but everyone else around us was getting dish after dish - except for us!  This is certainly not the way a Michelin-starred restaurant should run its kitchen, and there were 4 chefs present at the table who know how kitchens are run at Michelin star restaurants... they've worked in them!  Does he think we're stupid and blind?!

The next dish that showed up was the stir-fried sliced garoupa with assorted mushrooms and dried shrimp roe (蝦籽鮮菌麒麟斑).  My first couple of bites were wonderful - the mushrooms were very tasty, as was the Chinese cabbage.  The garoupa, however, was a total disaster.  The taste was very muddy, as least to me and a few others.  I debated about whether or not to swallow what I had put into my mouth, and eventually regretted not spitting it out.  I'm pretty sensitive to muddy fish and I found it mildly nauseating, and I was surprised that a Michelin 2-star restaurant would be serving poor quality fish like this.  We complained to the manager and ask him to taste the fish.  The restaurant subsequently decided not to charge us for the fish.

Stir-fried pigeon eggs with crab meat, scallop, egg white and yellow oily crab roe (芺蓉蟹粉白鴿蛋) - this was much better, and actually pretty delicious.  Definitely liked the very young pea shoots, and of course the combination of crab meat, scallop, egg white and crab roe was right up my alley.  I've never had pigeon eggs before, and the translucent egg white was pretty interesting.

Crispy fried chicken (朗豪炸子雞) - special request was made to "age" this live chicken for 3 days after killing it.  The result was very tender and juicy meat, and I had a large piece of the breast!  Very well done.

Stir-fried giant garoupa stuffed with shrimp paste in soya sauce (龍皇披金甲) - a pretty interesting creation, where garoupa fillet was inset into a layer of shrimp paste.  It would have been nice, except that once again, there was a hint of muddiness in the garoupa.  By this time I've pretty much had it with this place.

Osmanthus jelly and mango pudding (桂花糕/芒果布甸) - this was comped by the restaurant for the poor service, and arrived with the dry ice presentation.  Taste-wise the jelly was a little too tough and chewy, and probably the worst version I've had in a while.  We had two gweilos at our table sitting on both sides of me - including our Resident Froggie who was completely ignored by the chauvinistic manager as he insisted on only talking to the big guy with the beard...  Then he told us that they sent us this dessert because gweilos all like mango pudding... So, stereotyping AND chauvinistic AND condescending...

Steamed custard buns with egg yolk (明閣流沙包) - the signature dessert certainly did not disappoint.  The salty egg yolk filling was very runny, and incredibly delicious.  At least the dinner ended on a very good note.

I was very, very stuffed, and still a little uneasy thanks to the muddy taste of the fish, so I decided to take a stroll around the neighborhood to digest my meal...  While the meal turned out to be fairly cheap - thanks to the fish being comped and some additional discount privilege we were able to use - I think it will be some time before I would have the desire to go out of my way for a revisit...

Clueless and incompetent

I met up with two friends for dinner on short notice.  Although both of them are good friends whom I've known for years, dinner with the two of them together can be quite an affair.  SOP calls for Korean, and ordering way too much food so that we leave the restaurant totally stuffed.

We went to ChumChumMi, which was supposed to be Korean with a fusion bent.  The menu was extensive, and while there were many traditional-looking dishes, there were also a few which raised an eyebrow or two.  There were also a selection of "Korean Royal Cuisine" but honestly I didn't see anything special about the dishes.

This sorry excuse for a restaurant failed so badly right from the start, and the hole just kept getting deeper.  The whole restaurant was empty - we were the only table.  The staff decided that the three of us only needed 2 menus, so we had to ask for another one for me.

We spent some time choosing the dishes we wanted to order, and called over a waitress.  After listening to us ordering three dishes, she turned to leave us as she assumed that we were done with our ordering.  We informed her that we were not finished, and asked whether she needed to write down the names of the dishes.  No need, apparently.  A manager came over, and he also confirmed that they would be able to remember all the dishes we were going to order.  We pointed to the names of the dishes on the menu while placing our order.  Nothing was written down despite our repeated requests.

Minutes later the manager returned and asked us to confirm a dish that we had ordered.  We informed him that we did not order that particular dish, and proceeded to reconfirm each dish once again.  He went away.

While waiting for our food, I decided to pick up a bread roll and spread some butter on part of it.  I almost spat it out.  The butter was stale and racid - it probably had been sitting out in room temperature for who knows how long.  I asked my friends to stay away from the butter.  I've never had a restaurant serve me stale butter like this.  Ever.

Food started to arrive and things started to calm down, sort of.  The chives mandu in small portion were OK, like Japanese gyoza. Samgeobsal kochoojang was pretty spicy, but I was a little disappointed in the three-layered pork - it was a little too shredded and there was not much fat.  Sea whelk in spicy sour sauce with noodles also came as a small portion, and was pretty decent.

So daechang gui was by far our favorite dish.  The ox intestine on the hotplate was just soooo yummy... I could have had the whole plate myself.  The fried spring onions worked well with the intestine. Mini kimchijuns were disappointing - doughy and flabby when they should be more dry and crispy.

Seafood ddeokbokgi was from the "Korean Royal Cuisine" section.  Now I'm no expert on Korean food, but my travels to Seoul tells me that ddeokbokgi is actually street food most popular on cold winter nights.  Calling street food "royal cuisine" is an oxymoron.  Instead of just rice cakes and simple fish cakes, the restaurant decided to make a "premium" version by using real seafood - like crab, mussels...etc. This was pretty spicy, too, as expected.

Pineapple bulgogi wasn't what I expected at all.  It was nothing more than simple slices of stir-fried beef (perhaps tenderized with pineapple juice) with a few chunks of pineapple on the side. I'm left scratching my head trying to figure out why this dish was created at all...

We were also brought a plate of spicy seafood noodles.  For some reason the restaurant thought we ordered this - yet another confusion thanks to their refusal to write down our orders.  We sent it back, but they decided to give it to us anyway on a complimentary basis.  After all, they had no other customers to give it to.  It was bland and uninteresting.

For dessert we chose the preserved persimmon stuffed with mixed nuts and dried fruits. This was pretty good - stuffed with walnuts, black sesame...etc and garnished with pine nuts and jujube.  The yuzu sauce was nice.

We were stuffed.  On average the food was OK, although there were only at most two dishes which we liked.  But what was up with the service?!  These people - and there were at least four of them - were just totally clueless!  If you don't know the names of the dishes, or can't remember the names beyond three dishes, use your pen and paper to write them down!  How can they not understand something so basic?!

And what's with the manager's uniform jacket?  The name of the restaurant was embroidered on the left sleeve of the guy's pin-stripe jacket, in the same spot where the mainland Chinese people used to show off the brand names of their jackets.  Dude, I don't care about how cool your uniform is...I care about how good your service can be...

Three months after opening, at 8pm on a Wednesday night, in a busy shopping mall in Tsim Sha Tsui, the restaurant served three customers out of a capacity of about 60.  The Japanese ramen shop next door is doing brisk business, so the restaurant is empty not for lack of traffic.  Frankly, there's absolutely no reason for me to go back - not with uninspiring food and clueless staff.  My friends and I give the place another three months...

Yummy burger

Tonight my friend Chris, who has been staying with me, wanted to have a burger for dinner, so we agreed to meet up at Shake 'em Buns in Causeway Bay. Neither of us have had burgers at this place, even though I had passed by the outlet on Star Street.

We arrive and the restaurant looks busy. There seems to be only single free seats here and there, and we are asked by the waitress to wait for a while. We can't quite understand why a customer waitng for his take-out order has to block off two seats at the counter, so we ask the waitress. She finally, unwillingly, ask the customer if he minds moving to the side.

We sit down at the counter. But we are warned that the food is delivered through the opening facing one of the two seats, and we are asked to keep it open. I am unhappy.

We are told that 2 customers have left and we can now be seated at the counter facing the window. We move over, and quickly realize that there has actually been a free table all along, immediately next to a couple. Why did the waitress not point us to it? I am at a loss.

We sit down, and quickly realize that we need to order and pay upfront at the cashier. Why did the waitress not tell us, before letting us wait 5 minutes for a seat? We are upset, but proceed to order the food and wait to be called.

The food arrives in dribs and drabs. First comes Chris' strawberry milkshake, which he sips happily. Then the burgers come together: Red on the Neck for me (with chili on top of the patty and coleslaw underneath) and South of the Border (not 100% sure of the name) with extra egg for Chris (with guacamole and sour cream). We both decided to forgo the Gang Bang since neither of us thought we could finish it with two patties.

I cut the burger in half while I watch Chris grab his burger and start chomping. Egg yolk and guacamole drips from his burger. I grab a half of mine and bite into it. Soft buns, and very, very juicy beef patty. I start smiling, and quickly finish this half. Both of us turn to thoughts of redemption for the restaurant.

I start on the other half, and by the time I am done redemption has been achieved. The chili cheese fries arrive, and Chris starts to work on them. I decide to let Chris take all the chili, and pick on a few fries. I generally prefer the thin fries served by Mickey D's and Al's Diner, so Chris ends up taking most of the fries. I am satisfied. Chris tries to convince me to order some more food, but I decide to leave well enough alone.

I do have to say that this is probably the juiciest burger patty I have had in Hong Kong in a long time, surpassed probably only by the sirloin burger from Morton's in Central (before it closed). The beef patty is much more fluffy and tender compared to most other burgers. It absolutely kicks Triple-O's butt, and now I have no excuse not to walk the extra few hundred meters from Pacific Place to Star Street. Look forward to trying out other combinations in the future.