A little tongue teaser

It's my last meal in Hong Kong this trip, and I arranged to meet up with 2 lovely ladies for lunch.  For all the buzz this place has created since it opened, I've amazingly managed to stay clear of Linguini Fini.  I guess it was about time that I checked out the place…

I was running really late and wasn't able to check-in first, so I ended up bringing my big duffel bag to the restaurant.  I showed up at the reception on the ground floor, gave them my name for the reservation, and was sent upstairs.  I exited the elevator, and spent a few seconds looking for the ladies.

Having failed to locate the ladies - who had their backs to me - I wondered why none of the staff came up to me to see if I needed any help.  They seemed content to leave me standing around like an idiot…  Finally I asked the two people closest to me for help, saying that I had a reservation and that my friends were already here; could they please help me locate my table.  Blank stares came my way for a few seconds.  After asking for a second time, one of them disappeared, presumably to look up where they had seated my friends with the reservation under my name.

More of my favorite lamb

It's Mrs. Tigger's birthday and I'm back in Hong Kong.  We had dinner at the same venue as last year's birthday dinner - 8½ Otto e Mezzo Bombana.  I was very happy, because it's been quite a while since I was able to have some of that delicious lamb…

There was a plan to open a bottle from the birthday girl's birth vintage, but it turned out that a couple of us weren't in the best condition to consume alcohol, so we fêted Mrs. Tigger this year sans alcool.  Uncharacteristic of me, yes, but we'll just save those bottles for future years…

Double trouble

At the end of a very long and hectic day, I met up with a few old friends for dinner.  Since we weren't able to secure a table at Lupa - despite the fact that the reservation request was made by my friend Susan - Doppio Zero became our backup.  I had a quick lunch here back in November, and it was good to have an opportunity to check out the place again.

I was pretty disappointed when I stepped foot into the restaurant.  The place was completely dark - especially the area where we were.  I had carried around my SLR in my work bag all day, which was a pretty heavy load.  So now it had all been for naught…  Sigh.

We decided to share a few starters, and then I ordered two primis.  The menu advised us that the primis were not large enough to be taken as mains, and suggested anyone thinking of doing so to upgrade to a bigger portion.  To some of us, that opened the possibility of having two regular-sized primis.

(Sugar and spice, and) Everything nice

An old friend's in town on business.  I haven't seen him in a while, so I was really happy to have a chance to meet up with him.  He suggested that we go to Tutto Bello, one of his favorite places in Taipei.  I can't remember how long ago my last visit was, but that visit many moons ago - under a very different chef now famous around town - did not produce a return visit for me… until now.

I arrived to find that, to my surprise, the dinner party had doubled in size.  My friend had rounded up a few of his good friends who share his passion for wine, and there was already a spread of bottles on the serving table…  This is a group of regulars at the restaurant, so the menu has been arranged by the kitchen.

My golden fix

A couple of friends knew I was back in town and wanted to do lunch at one of my favorite places, so we booked a table at Gold, knowing that I'm having a hard time finding decent pasta in Taipei.  It would, of course, be silly for me to refuse, given how much I love the place and the big man…

Golden truffles

Back in Hong Kong on business for a couple of days, and quickly filled up my evenings with dinner plans to satisfy some of my recent cravings.  Given some of my recent disastrous experiences in Taipei, it's not hard to guess what I'm looking for here...

The evening actually started with a wine tasting.  My friend was celebrating the second anniversary of her retail wine shop in Central, and I stopped by after my conference to show her some support.  On my way to the tasting, I was chastised by the Specialist over chat for not informing her that I was in town.  She was at the wine tasting and learned of my presence from my friend...

Another horrible excuse of a restaurant

OK, I wasn't gonna blog about tonight's dinner.  It was pretty bad, but at first I didn't feel the need to stomp and crush on a restaurant that obviously isn't doing good business.  But... the more I thought about it, the more I felt the restaurant doesn't deserve to survive.  If this is the kind of food you serve, you deserve to go out of business.  Harsh?  Sure.  But that's the reality, isn't it?

I was meeting a couple of people for dinner, and my friend suggested to give Portofino a try.  Apparently the place had been open for a few years just around the corner from the current location, and it used to be decent.  Well, definitely wasn't the case tonight, and since we were one of only two tables this evening... I'm thinking that others feel the same way.

Golden trio

I was dying for some good pasta.  After the terrible experience at a supposedly new and hip good Italian in Taipei, I needed to get the real thing.  Dyson 2000 suggested that we do lunch at Gold, where Harlan's pastas have never failed us.  We decided to rope in another victim for the meal.

I chatted with Harlan a little about my recent move to Taipei, and told him I needed to come back for a pasta fix at his place.  Harlan may rub some people the wrong way, but he's always been good to me.  And the man CAN cook, which is what matters most to me.

Seafood disaster

I had long read about Osteria by Angie from a few local blogs - apparently it is one of the newer and popular restaurants in town.  As I continue to eat my way across Taipei, in search of newer discoveries, it was inevitable that I would tick this off my list of places to try.  So when my Very Very Very Single Friend (added a third "Very" at his request) asked me where I wanted to go, I didn't even hesitate before blurting out the name of this place.

I arrived on time despite having been warned by the Very Very Very Single Friend that he would be late, and for the rest of us to start first.  I gave the bottle of wine to a waiter and asked for it to be opened.  The cork was promptly pulled out, and the bottle marked with a sticker to indicate which table it belonged to.  But it was left on a counter far, far away from me.

I saw a couple of decanters on the shelf, and proceeded to ask a waiter to have the bottle decanted.  The junior flunky probably knows absolutely nothing about wine, and didn't really know what I was talking about.  His fellow senior waiter got the message, and proceeded to give the flunky a decanter and told him to dump the wine in it.  And dump he did... every last drop from the bottle... in about 10 seconds.  Thankfully this was a Burg from a relatively weak vintage, and there wasn't any visible sediment.  Sigh...

Not the usual stuff, for once

Dinner with Mr and Mrs Tigger at Cipriani.  We have always liked this place, and wondered if business wouldn't be much better if they changed from a "members club" to a regular restaurant.  In all honesty, though, it's much easier for us to get a table if the restaurant remains half-empty as a membership club...
I'm a creature of habit (although Tigger is a lot worse in this respect) and I tend to order some of the same dishes whenever I go to certain restaurants.  This is one of the places where I always end up having the same handful of dishes... and tonight I made a conscious effort to get away from that.

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...

Unexciting pasta

It's been a very long time since I last stepped foot in Nicholini's, and when I called up my friend and asked her to join me for lunch, she was equally excited as she was in exactly the same boat.  The sun was breaking out after a few days of rainstorms, and happily we were seated by the window and had plenty to natural light to cheer us up.

The bread basket didn't look very appealing, but I decided to try to saffron roll.  Very dry.  There was a hint of saffron, which subsequently got overpowered by the cumin seeds.

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...

Red prawn fever

OK, I admit it...I'm hooked.  Hooked on those carabineros from Spain.  I've had it three times in the last three weeks, and I'm still on the hunt for more.

I had lunch with Tigger and family today at 8½ Otto e Mezzo.  It's one of the few restaurants Tigger is happy to go to outside of the Mandarin Oriental, and one place I'm happy to go to as frequently as I can manage a booking.  Given my eating schedule this past week, I was determined to make this lunch a simple and light one.

Blowin' smoke

The Specialist took a day off today and was in my neighborhood, feeling a little bored.  I agreed to join her for "one drink" at Tastings, not realizing that it would turn into a much longer evening...

I don't really go to wine bars - nor do I normally buy wine off a restaurant's wine list - as the margins are high and I've got plenty of inventory that needs to be drunk.  On the few occasions when I have met friends at Tastings, I went for the "tasting portion" as I just wanted to get a feel for the wines. 

As with my choice of restaurants, I would try something new but not stray too far into the unknown, for fear of "stepping on landmines".  Most wine bars carry young wines which I find undrinkable, so those are automatically scratched off the list.  I also don't see any point in going for the expensive, premium wines, as most of those are either in my collection or I'll find opportunities to drink fresh bottles with friends.  So most of the time I'm picking wines from the cheaper end... and staying more with whites than reds, because young whites are easier to drink than young reds.

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.

A very long day pt 1: 2 wonderful lunches

I was planning to take my colleagues out for lunch today, and figured it was time to go back for Gold.  I was checking with Harlan on a particular ingredient I was hankering for lately, and he assured me that they've got it.  Believe me, I was looking forward to this lunch all week.

I was informed that the restaurant doesn't offer any specials at lunch, but I asked the staff to check with the chef on the item in question.  Fortunately Joe came out and offered to make the dish I came for, and also offered to do something a little special for my colleagues.

Ten decades from 1900 to 1990

A friend invited me to his birthday dinner tonight, which was celebrated in conjunction with one of his friends.  A small group of young 'uns - everyone was born in the 80s except moi - gathered at 8½ Otto e Mezzo over a few bottles of wine to celebrate the occasion.

We naturally started with some jamón ibérico and pan con tomate while waiting for everyone to arrive.  All the wines were opened, decanted and chilled during this time.

Cheese, lard(o) and cream

My original dinner plans for tonight were ruined - by myself - since I had burned my oxtail stew.  I was pondering what to do about dinner when the Specialist asked me if I wanted to join her for dinner.  They had been trying to book a last-minute table without much success when I suggested that we should go to Cipriani.  My last visit was more than 6 months ago, and it seemed to be the perfect solution for us.

The guest who brings everything

A while ago I received a call from one of my dear friends, who informed me that she had picked up a little something for me while tasting the 2010 vintage in Bordeaux.  It turns out that in addition to the box of canelés - which she had delivered to me a mere week before - she had brought back some andouillette.  That she would remember my love for this pungent sausage (on top of those sweet little bites from Bordeaux) was extremely heart-warming.  It's not exactly easy to find this outside of France...