Guest blog: The Ox at El Bulli

Three of my friends had the opportunity separately to take their wives for a meal at El Bulli in its final month of operation, and all were dining there for the first time.  The last of   the three was the Ox, who wrote a very nice account of this very special experience.  He has very kindly allowed me to repost his thoughts here, as it would be very interesting for many people out there to read about the meal.

I have often said that although my birthday dinner at El Bulli still remains the most amazing meal I've ever had, I do have my regrets because 1) I foolishly chose to leave my DSLR in the hotel room, as I wasn't in the habit of taking pictures of food back then; and 2) I started this blog upon my return from Spain - a mere 10 days after the dinner at El Bulli - so I didn't take notes at dinner.  Despite having told myself to write down my thoughts about the meal immediately afterwards, it took me 4½ years to finally get off my ass to do it...

So here it is.  The Ox and his El Bulli experience.

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.

Creatively recycling food

For a big fan of molecular gastronomy such as myself, I could hardly believe that it's taken me this long to make my first trip to the Krug Room.  It took a double birthday celebration - one of them 40th - to get me to this wonderful venue.  Uwe is on vacation but his kitchen staff managed to execute all the dishes flawlessly.

To get to the Krug Room, one goes through the back door of the Chinnery to the maze that is the kitchen, and pushes open a discreet-looking door.  The room is lavishly decorated without the bling, and a large windows running the length of the room provides a view to part of the kitchen.  It wasn't exactly the busy part of the kitchen and I had my back to the window, so I didn't see much going on throughout our meal - only the three large stockpots immediately on the other side of the window.

The theme of the meal is "recycling" so one of the diners joked that "we're eating garbage tonight".  Definitely very playful and creative.

Fish bone : rice / crisp / dip - the bones of a sardine and rice flour were deep-fried into a cracker, and dipped in a XO/tartar sauce. 

Can : Kumamoto / caviar / tomato - opening the top of the can reveals the contents: 2 creamy Kumamoto oysters each topped with a little bit of sturgeon caviar, sitting on a bed of faux salmon roe made from Bloody Mary.  The oyster leaf is always an interesting element.

After picnic : salad / vegetable / plastic bag - I was a little disappointed that I didn't get the "flower pot" for my salad, but I guess the chef needs to mix things up a little.  This reminds me a little of the "Sex on the Beach" dessert at Bo Innovation with its play on discarded items... In addition to the greens, there were two "half-consumed" burgers, a couple of "plastic bags" containing freeze-dried corn and other goodies, chips... all sitting on a bed of "dirt" and "grass" - the latter made with mashed peas.  The lower level of the box was filled with panko and other fun stuff.  The chef told us that we didn't need to eat the contents at the bottom unless we were really hungry, but curiosity got the best of me...

Tea : buillon / wrap - I initially thought these were two cubes of foie gras, but it turns out they were made of mushroom powder.  Pouring the liquid (vegetable stock?) from the glass tea pot meant you had mushroom consommé in your cup.

Fish market : prawn / fillet / seaweed - an interesting mix of ingredients.  The protagonist was the Scottish langoustine, complemented by some baby eel, baby squid, razor clam and seaweed garnish.  Everything was fresh and delicious.  There was also a block of freeze-dried potato, although I couldn't really taste what it was...

Soap : lobster / bubble / macaroni - the "soap" in the soapdish was actually shellfish bisque that has gone through "spherification".  The chef came and deposited a "wet towel roll" - made with layers of egg white around a cheese center - into the bowl already topped with foam/bubbles.  There were chunks of lobsters in the bowl underneath the foam.  Essentially this turned into a lobster/seafood bisque. 

Chicken bone : foie gras / smoked / skin - honestly I thought this was a waste of Bresse chicken, as I really didn't think the shredded chicken was anything special.  But the real star here - as the name clearly states - was the "chicken bone" made from frozen foie gras.  Absolutely delicious they were.  The small piece of chicken skin was pretty yummy, but I wish there was more of it.  The sauce was interesting, as I could have sworn it was a teriyaki sauce spiced with some ginger...

Lamb's wool : Rhug Estate / ragout / mint - the dish arrived covered in candy floss, which melted as sauce was poured on top, infusing the sweetness into the sauce.  Underneath were two distinct pieces of organic lamb from the Rhug Estate in the UK: the top piece looked to be lamb loin (or did the waiter say it's actually lamb shank which looked like lamb loin?) and was very tender - probably sous-vide.  The bottom piece was definitely minced lamb shank.  Both were pretty yummy.

Leather : sirloin / onion / truffle - O-M-G this was an amazing dish.  The "plate" arrived first with a thin layer of cowprint purée - where the pale area had been made with onions and the black spots with black truffles.  Both were absolutely delicious.  Then came the hunk of sous-vide Matsuzaka beef (松坂牛), which melted in the mouth and gave us such wonderful flavors thanks to just the right amount of charring and salt.  Let's not forget the black truffle sauce that was poured on top of the beef.  When you have all of these ingredients together in one mouthful, one can get a little glimpse of heaven.

Light bulb : coconut / ginger / electric - these looked like a lot of fun.  Break open the sugary shell and reach in for the coconut foam.  The ice cream in the bowl was made with ginger, tickling and waking up one's tastebuds.

Chocolate engine : silver / cylinder / oil - the dark hunk of chocolate lying in the middle of the "road" didn't look really attractive, but cut open to find the chocolate raspberry mousse and cherries inside.  The decorate pieces of chocolate on the side were meant to look like engine parts.

Metal : nails / screws / bolts - the crowd cheered the arrival of these plates.  The chef has fashioned everything out of chocolate, and they looked amazing.  Being a bunch of juvenile boys, we joked about picking up the wrenches and whacking each other over the head...  I took some of them home just for fun.

This being the Krug Room, the drink of choice is of course Krug Champagne.  Each diner gets a total of 4 flutes of 3 different wines, but we also decided to bring our own...

Krug Grande Cuvée - always my favorite and did not disappoint.  Honey, lightly toasted oak, yeast and a little sweet on the nose.  Kinda acidic.

Krug Grande Cuvée en magnum - I figured we wouldn't have enough alcohol so I brought the magnum that I was dying to get rid of...  Definitely more "fresh" and lively compared to the 2 bottles we drank up earlier.

1998 Krug - pretty sweet and toasty nose, with lots of ripeness and caramel later on as it opened up more.

1970 Montrose - given to the birthday boy as a present, the condition of this bottle (sourced from my friend at Altaya Wines) was impeccable.  Exactly what I would want and expect from this wine.  Mint, sweet grass, sweet fruit, cigar smoke and even some savory notes.  The wine has clearly aged and developed but it tasted incredibly fresh and vibrant.

Krug Rosé - minerals and oak, with some salty preserved plum (話梅) in the nose.

Estrella Damm Inedit - this was the famous "El Bulli beer", as it was made by Estrella Damm especially for Ferran Adria and his team.  The label says it's brewed with spices, and I definitely thought it was a floral, fruity version of Hoegaarden.  After all, the beer was brewed from hops and wheat, so there are similarities with the famous Belgian white beer.

This was a very, very, very fun evening for all of us.  I really appreciated and enjoyed the creative dishes, and there was clearly too much Champagne for me.  I'm pretty sure all of us had way too much to eat.  There's always hell to pay after a night like this...

No sex on the beach, please...

It's my turn to take Witz out tonight for a unique dining experience, and I asked the Resident Froggie to join us at Bo Innovation.  It's been more than a year since my last meal there, although I've been a fan of Alvin Leung's cuisine for almost 6 years now.  I still think that for a serious foodie visiting Hong Kong, Bo Innovation provides a one-of-a-kind experience that is hard to come by elsewhere.

I thought about getting the wine pairing, but decided to bring my own wine anyway.  As I suspected, the 2004 Pax Aphrodite was over the hill.  You just can't age a Viognier... it loses all its freshness and floral notes and turns into something else.  Nose of honey, oxidized pear, sweet like marzipan, marmalade, and somehow not very "clean".

Witz chose the Chef's Menu, which he felt was kinda "middle of the road" in terms of the number of courses.  It was certainly a lot of food...  Fortunately, only a few dishes were repeats from my last meal.

Oyster : spring onion, lime, ginger snow - we start off with something I had last year.  The oyster was Kumamoto, which is normally sweet and creamy.  This time I thought the ginger and spring onion flavors kinda overpowered the oyster, which is a shame... Ginger + spring onion is such a classic combination in Chinese cuisine, used to neutralize the "fishy" smell of seafood.

Har mi : red prawn, capellini, chilli, sage - the prawn was a Spanish gamba carabinero, which was perfectly fresh, succulent and delicious.  The tobiko (とびっ子) on top was clearly a Japanese influence, but the whole dish was overpowered by the sprinkle of prawn powder.  The intense flavors from the powder was great, and reminiscent of the Cantonese prawn roe noodles (蝦籽撈麵) that one finds in local noodle shops.  However, there is good reason why there is usually nothing else on the plate of those noodles other than prawn roe... Very yummy, but need to carefully extract and enjoy the carabinero before your taste buds get overloaded by the powder.

True- 8 vinegar : tomato, foie gras, ginger - what a coincidence!  The inspiration from this dish comes from pig trotters braised in vinegar and ginger (豬腳薑), which is eaten after the birth of a child.  I'd just had some of that last night, since I'm still celebrating the birth of my godson.  The "true-8", as I suspected, is a play on the name 八珍 - a famous local brand of condiments where they also offer the trotters.  The cherry tomato was pretty  big, but delicious to eat in one bite.  We tasted spices such as cinnamon and star anise along with the vinegar, which also went really well with the perfectly pan-seared foie.

Part 2 of the dish saw the waiter drop a cube of flash-frozen ginger powder into the bowl, thereby completing the vinegar-ginger combination.  The ginger powder was pretty tightly packed, and as I was "chewing" on bits of it I was somehow reminded of semifreddo, although this was definitely harder and doesn't simply melt away without assistance.  I decided not to finish this part, as the ginger flavor became a little too much and I'd just had a big bowl of the same sauce last night...

Scallop : kaffir lime, kyoho grapes, sea urchin, mango, shichimi, potato - wow!  The scallop was perfect, just lightly seared on the outside but raw and tender all the way through.  I love kaffir lime and the coulis definitely worked with the scallop.  The sea urchin and mango coulis was less impressive, and I did not mix the two different coulis as suggested by our waitress.  I didn't find the shichimi (七味) flavor strong enough in the "rösti" below the scallop.  The perfect end to the dish was the kyoho (巨峰) jelly, whose wobble oozed sexuality.  Intensely flavored as the grape itself... wonderful.

Lotus leaf : carot, gnocchi, yaks milk - the yaks milk foam wasn't very strong, but the crunchy cheese crisp was not bad.  The "gnocchi" was made with sweet carrot but filled with the same sauce as was laying at the bottom of the bowl, and oozed out of the agar shell once you cut into it.  The lotus leaf flavor was intense and very enjoyable.

Iberico 36 : morel, vermicelli, onion foam - the onion foam covered the entire bowl, and I had to move some of it aside to reveal what was underneath - a slice of 36-month jamon iberico wrapped around some "vermicelli".  The vermicelli was actually Japanese konnyaku (こんにゃく) cooked in morel sauce, with strong flavors that stood up against the salty ham.  The foam was made from raw onions and had that kick... and I definitely need a breath mint after the meal...

Molecular : "xiao long bao" - another one of Alvin's classics and the essence of molecular gastronomy.  The "filling" was a little more viscous than I remembered, and still tasted like a xiaolongbao (小籠包), but somehow I liked it better last year...

Hunan Ham : halibut, compressed winter melon, honey, fennel, shiitake, pine nuts - the foam was made with shiitake and pine nuts, with a thin layer of ham-flavored gelatin and some mushrooms.  The halibut was very, very tender and juicy, which made me wonder if they had chosen to sous-vide it.  The fennel agar was alright.  The compressed winter melon was pretty hard, and the powder on top seemed to have crunch and fiber, which made us conclude it was ground ham, as opposed to powder made from ham broth.  Winter melon and ham - a very classic Chinese combination.

Red dragon fruit and ginseng sorbet - very nicely done and definitely cleansed my palate!  The American ginseng (花旗蔘) was good and helped cooled down the body in the summer.

Squid : sweet bread, lettuce greens - a little disappointed here... This was done as a "hotpot" with squid-flavored soup, but I didn't taste much squid in the soup - mostly oyster sauce actually...  The tofu square was battered and fried like Japanese agedashi tofu (揚げ出し豆腐), while the fried sweetbread tasted like - of all things - a piece of General Tso's chicken (左宗堂雞)!  Maybe my brain is still a little screwy thanks to my dinner with Witz on Monday...

Sichuan vanilla : apple, suckling pig, peas - OH-MY-GOD... this was really, really good.  The sorbet was made with Sichuan flower pepper (花椒), vanilla and apple, and I thought it was better than the apple-cinnamon combo.  The pig was slow-cooked for 20 hours (OK sous-vide monsters, you win...) and was very, very tender and delicious.  The crackling was yummy.  All the flavors from the fat were preserved - a perfect piece of pig.  The sugar snap peas were infused with a smoky flavor, which made them especially interesting.

Sex on the beach - this was optional, with the additional cost being donated to AIDS Concern.  I decided to add this extra dessert, but in the end I kinda regretted it.  When it arrived I realized that it wasn't - as I had expected - to be a de-constructed version of the cocktail.  I had missed the full vision imagery - which was not a pleasant one - until I was done with the dessert and overheard Alvin explaining it to the next table... The brown "sand" on top was made from Cantonese milk tea (奶茶), and was kinda crunchy and nice.  There was jujube and cognac crème at the bottom, which was also not bad.  A piece of sea shell with the red ribbon needs no further explanation.  The pink agar?  Well, I don't know why it didn't hit me earlier, but it's meant to be a condom made from agar, and there was a liquid coconut and white chocolate cream inside... and it oozed out after I took a bite... Sorry, but the thought of eating a representation of a used and discarded condom is just disgusting.  Thanks a lot, Alvin!  Now I know why our Resident Froggie passed on this one... she'd heard about it earlier.

Sandalwood : almond, hawthorn - I don't think the smoke smelled like sandalwood, as I expected it to be much more fragrant and pleasant.  Instead it was just some type of pungent, woodsy smoke.  The almond tofu (杏仁豆腐) was classic, but I didn't get the distinct hawthorn flavors underneath as it had blended with the overpowering almond extract.

Shui Jing Fang : banana, vanilla, caramel, raisins - my least favorite course, and I barely touched it.  Somehow when I had it last year, it didn't seem so gross to me.  That may be completely psychological, though, as I don't remember being shown the empty liquor bottle and smelling it.  Anyway, the dessert is named after (and made with) a Chinese rice liquor called 水井坊 - which like all Chinese "white wine" (白酒) smells revolting to me.  I just don't get the "fragrance"... because it was just so intensely artificial.  I had the piece of banana and that was it.  Surprisingly, the Froggie was quite happy with it.  I think her boss should send her up to China and entertain some clients... 乾杯!!!

Petit dim-sum - finally we get to the petits fours.  I found the white chocolate truffle interesting because the filling was preserved kumquat (金桔), and the sweet and salty mix was pretty cool.  The kaffir lime macaron was alright on a technical level, but I didn't get the intensity that was unique to kaffir lime.  The cream puff had strawberry preserve and basil-flavored pastry cream.  Kinda interesting.

We were all pretty stuffed, and I think it was definitely a very interesting meal for both of my guests.  Gotta come back during hairy crab season for the classic hairy crab soufflé, which was one of the dishes that first "wow'd" me back in 2004...

A little molecular fun

Another birthday, and yet again I've chosen to dine at a fusion establishment. I haven't been back to Bo Innovation for a couple of years, and I've been thinking about revisiting ever since the people working for the chubby baby decided to give them 2 stars. I wondered if things had gotten so much better since my previous visits to put them on par with some of the best meals I've ever had.

I must say that I don't really like the space they currently occupy - the last place was slightly better. I can't really say why it is, but it just wasn't very warm and inviting. But the bright lighting did make it easier for picture-taking...

As is traditional I opened a bottle of wine from my birth vintage, and tonight it was the 1970 Veuve Cliquot Brut Reserve. I love old Champagne, and this bottle was no exception. Nose of caramelized sugar, brown cane sugar, orange marmalade and of course the Chinese salty plum (話梅). To be precise, it's salty plum that has been dipped into Shaoxing wine (紹興酒). Very fine bubbles and the wine was surprisingly sweet on the palate for a Champagne.

Given that I haven't been back to the restaurant in a while, and this being my birthday and all, the Chef's Menu was the appropriate choice for the evening. Here goes:

Pomelo sunrise nitro-bomb - OK this is really gimmicky, probably designed for people who haven't been exposed to molecular gastronomy. A dollop of foam flavored with pomelo and tequila is dropped into a bowl that has been frozen with liquid nitrogen, quickly freezing and hardening it into a very cold meringue. Once in your mouth it sticks to your tongue much in the same way as licking a cold piece of metal on a snowy day. It numbed my taste buds for a while, and leaves me wondering why the chef would do this to me right at the start of the meal...

Oyster: spring onion, lime, ginger snow - the French oyster used (didn't ask for the origin) was very rich and creamy, with a very long finish. The spring onion flavor mixed with ginger granita made for a classic Chinese combo of 薑蔥. A sip of Champagne washes it down and cleanses the palate.

Caviar: abalone, congee - the congee has the viscous consistency of baby food, but not sure what the cubes of jelly are made of (abalone essence?). The caviar was very tasty indeed, and the whole thing was pretty yummy.

Noodles: "dan dan", grilled salmon roe, mixed herbs - one of the best dishes of the evening. This would be my first time having salmon roe that is grilled, and I'm not used to them being this dry. But the combination with the angel hair and the spicy sauce was great. Next time I'd ask for a big bowl for take-out...

Mussel: saffron essence, lychee foam, crispy lip - this brings me back to my meal at El Bulli, where I had the essence of mussels in a "ravioli". This time the chef has extracted the essence of mussels and made a cold soup flavored with saffron. The savory taste of the sea is then combined with the sweet, fragrant taste of lychees sitting on top as a pile of foam. Mixing the two makes for an interesting experience for one's taste buds. There's a piece of deep-fried mussel lip on the side but that's not really important...

Toro: foie gras powder, freeze dried raspberry, mustard herb - we were asked to use tweezers to roll up the toro so that the powder is wrapped inside. The toro might be real thin but the flavor has come out thanks to being lightly seared. I must say that I didn't really get the taste of foie from the powder - it just tasted a bit meaty. The raspberry did have a distinctive enough taste, though. Pretty yummy and interesting.

Baby food: "mui choy kau yok" - twist open the tops and the contents of the warm jars are revealed - a brown custard at the bottom which taste of fatty pork, and the foam on top which tastes like preserved vegetables. The combination of the two is the classic Chinese dish 梅菜扣肉. While others thought this was a little too salty, I thought it stayed true to the taste of the original dish as it was meant to be enjoyed with rice. The big baby in me found it really enjoyable and the jar was empty in no time.

Molecular: "xiao long bao" - the classic Shanghainese pork dumpling xiao long bao (小籠包) has gone molecular. The thin flour skin has disappeared, and now we get the classic molecular "ravioli" which contains the essence of the dish - steamed pork and juices. The thin sliver of vinegared ginger on top adds the finishing touch.

Foie gras: spicy sichuan chives sauce - the last time I had steamed foie gras was the foie gras xiao long bao at Le Platane in Shanghai when Justin was still around. This was much, much better. The blocs of foie were so tender and succulent, and the addition of bean sprouts and yellowed chives - along with the starchy, spicy sauce - turned this into something decidedly Chinese.

Salmon: fermented black bean, honey, pickled "bak choy", ginger shoot - most certainly my least favorite dish of the evening. The salmon was slow-cooked so it was still kinda raw and tender, but the flavors were off. Somehow the combination of honey and fermented black bean (豆豉) just tasted funny.

Langoustine: preserved duck egg, english mustard, cauliflower risotto, black truffle - my favorite dish of the evening. The langoustine was just coated with the salty egg yolk (咸蛋黃) with a bit of mustard to give it more kick. I have always loved this preparation and this was no exception. To have another taste of Alvin's famous "risotto" was even better. I remember this well from a few years ago, and the full flavor of the truffles (no doubt a few drops of truffle oil were added) just lingered in my mouth. Thank you may I have another...?

Wagyu: M9+, black truffle soy, "cheung fun" - another highlight of the evening. Yes, the beef was tender, juicy and fatty, and sprinkling sea salt on top and rubbing black truffle sauce on it made it tasty. But the real winner were the rice noodle rolls - cheung fun (腸粉) - which were stir-fried with the same black truffle soy sauce. And I thought that Victoria Seafood's cheung fun stir-fried in XO sauce was good... this one just blows it away.

Pre-dessert: black sesame soda - a great palate-cleanser, kind of. Drinking a mixture of carbonated and slightly acidic soda with black sesame soup (芝麻糊) was a lot of fun. We were sternly scolded when we tried to stir the mixture with the straw, as the motion would break up the bubbles in the glass...

Dessert: banana ice cream, poached banana in "shui jing fang" - both parts of the dessert tasted pretty good, although personally I have never understood the attraction of deep-fried ice cream.

I had a slice of a very nice cake from the Mandarin Cake Shop, with - what else? - fresh and juicy peach bits on top.

The restaurant poured us complimentary glasses of Moscato d'Asti, which went nicely with the desserts.

Finally we have the petits-fours. The osmanthus macaron was very, very nice as I love the fragrance of the flowers. The chocolate-filled sesame balls (煎堆) paled in comparison.

Alvin did make an appearance in the kitchen towards the end of our meal, and he looked very different than I remembered - no glasses, no highlights in the hair, and in general just a lot more toned-down. Fortunately, what hasn't changed is his creativity. Do I think the Michelin people were overly generous with their stars? Yes. But there's no denying that I had a wonderful meal here tonight, and I'll look forward to returning for more of Alvin's goodies.

A Very Entertaining Dinner

Tonight I had a very entertaining meal at Tang, the French/Japanese/creative restaurant at Le Meridien Mina Seyahi in Dubai. It was entertaining because I had a lot of fun watching how badly a chef can fail to come up with something cohesive.

The Indian head waiter started by telling us how great the chefs are - one used to run a 2-Michelin star restaurant in Alsace, and the other had trained in a Michelin 3-star restaurant in the US. I was tempted to ask the guy to name the restaurant, knowing that there are only a handful of 3-star restaurants in the US, and all in NY up until Michelin released other US guides a few months ago. But I decided to pass. This guy was already getting on my nerves.

I started with Champagne and Strawberries as the cocktail, where strawberry caviar would be dropped into the Champagne flute. It all looks good and I was looking forward to the desired effect, but when I took my first sip I realized just how different my expectations were. The caviars I was looking for would be liquid inside a thin membrane made of the same liquid, a la the mango caviar at El Bulli or the carrot caviar at Tapas Molecular. Nope. The caviar here has a solid core and is just a bunch of gelatin.

I asked for the chef to put together a tasting menu. Started with the Raw Experience, where he put together blue fin tuna slices; "new style sashimi" with hamachi (actually nothing more than thin slices seared with a torch); blue fin toro; and beef sashimi wrapped in shiso and kimchi sauce. He failed miserably - I didn't get a sense at all that I was having nice and expensive blue fin, the tastes were too heavy (too sour, too salty), and the flavors clashed with each other.

Next came a pair of carpaccio - cod and beet root. I don't think cod is a suitable fish to make a carpaccio since the texture is all wrong. The beet root had sprinkles of goat cheese and was mildly interesting.

Another pairing came next - of tartares. The blue fin tuna came with kimchi sauce, and would have failed completely were it not for the thin wafer with sesame seeds. The wagyu beef tartare was topped with spicy tomato sauce, with a deconstructed Bloody Mary on the side and sprinkles of macadamia nut powder. Again, not very exciting.

The next two dishes were pretty much the only highlights of the evening. The seared diver scallops were very fresh and sweet, laying on top of pear salsa. Unfortunately it was served with slices of red beet on the side and this marred the overall experience. The spring roll of Chinese spider crabs was also a hit, with hints of lemongrass complementing the flavors.

The langoustine came on a plastic stick filled with pisco sour, and one is to inject the liquid into the meat in the process of savoring it. Unfortunately I never liked pisco sour, and the ginger marshmellows on the side again did not really work well with the rest.

The palate cleanser was a tube of apple and yuzu foam.

The grade 7 wagyu beef was introduced with much fanfare by the waiter, with all the usual clichés about how the cows drank beer and got massages while listening to classical music. Yeah, yeah, yeah... The bloody thing was obviously overcooked, looking very dry and hard on one side while desperately trying to retain some fatty flavors on the other. It was topped with red wine sauce made into caviars (this time like the El Bulli caviar) which tasted like Chinese five spice, and therefore reminded me of braised beef （五香牛肉）we find in Chinese cuisine. It came with a hard shiitake biscuit, no doubt made from the leftover juice after you soaked the dried shiitakes in hot water. It's been a while since I saw someone mess up wagyu so badly.

Pork belly was the last main course, and it was a poor version of what I can get at Bo Innovation in HK. It came with suan cai （酸菜） but basically it was sauerkraut. It also mysteriously came with a small piece of fried skate. Even more puzzling was the presence of half a cha siu bao (叉燒包）where the filling was replaced by blood pudding. Given that the majority of the population don't take a liking to blood sausage, I wonder what the chef is thinking here.

I gave in to dessert, and was served a spoonful of powdered "bread" and goat cheese, as well as a tube of honey and violet caviar as my pre-dessert. This was OK.

With dessert, the chef sort of redeemed himself a little. Whatever chocolate concoction I was served was delicious, with what I believe to be a rum sauce. Unfortuately, here again he decided to mess around with silly bits of biscuits on the side. I sampled a red piece and initially got the taste of carrots in my mouth. As time went on, I felt I was eating a piece of cardboard. Yuck...

Some words about the staff. The head waiter was annoying as he tried to recite the twenty different ingredients that the chef had used in each dish, and spoke so fast in his Indian accent that I couldn't catch half of it. He also tried to show us how great everything was, about how creative the chefs were. Well, I would have liked to let him know that his chef is one of the worst chefs I have run into, and I couldn't imagine how he ever was associated with a Michelin 2-star restaurant, let alone to have run it.

The rest of the wait staff are all cheap labor - each one is a trainee imported from a developing nation. We had girls from China and the Philippines, some of whom had only arrived in Dubai 2 weeks ago and had absolutely no experience with fine dining. They were friendly but basically useless. But then again, this fits with the overall theme of Dubai importing thousands of cheap labor from Asian countries...

Needless to say I would never EVER go near this restaurant or its chefs again. And I would strongly advise anyone else against going.

My Top 10 Restaurants in the World

I was browsing the web and was looking through ChubbyHubby's website, when I decided to read his review of per se. I'm not sure why, but I was suddenly struck by an urge to list out the top restaurants that I have had the pleasure, no priviledge, of dining at.

Since many of my friends know of my reputation (or is it infamy) as a foodie, I am often asked about my favorite restaurants. So here goes:

1. El Bulli (Roses, Spain)
This restaurant deserves every bit of the attention it has been getting. It is the single hardest reservation to make in the world. I was fortunate to have secured a table for June 2006, on my birthday no less! My experience here surpasses any other meal I have ever had, so it will probably remain #1 for quite some time.

2. per se (New York, USA)
Many people would be amazed that I would rank this ahead of the French Laundry, since Thomas Keller is usually found in Yountville, not New York. However, I think the atmosphere of per se just makes the dining experience so much better, although the courses in the tasting menus are almost identical to that of the French Laundry. Last visited in March 2006.

3. The French Laundry (Yountville, USA)
This is Thomas Keller's flagship restaurant and justly deserves its place among my top experiences. It lost out to sister restaurant per se simply because we were seated upstairs and space was very cramped. One can't help but listen in on the conversation at the next table, which is very annoying to me when dining at fine establishments. Last visited in March 2006, a few days after the per se visit.

4. La Tour d'Argent (Paris, France) Given my penchant for creative and nouvelle cuisine, many people may be surprised at the ranking given to this grande dame of a restaurant, the symbol of haute cuisine for many. I am awed by the history of the place, the gigantic wine cellar (the collection was around 500,000 bottles during my last visit), and the amazing courses I had. It was here that I first had milky smooth foie gras d'oie scooped out to me using large dinner spoons. I have also had the caneton on both occasions, and received the little cards with their serial numbers. It's all about tradition here. Last visited in August 2002.

5. Kyubey 久兵衛 (Tokyo, Japan) Despite receiving only one Michelin star in the recently published guide, this is still my favorite sushi restaurant in the world. It is the one restaurant which I must go to during every visit to Tokyo (and only to the Ginza restaurant). I may try other sushi restaurants in the future, but for now Kyubey remains tops on my list. Last visited August 2007.

6. Guy Savoy (Paris, France) My only visit to this restaurant comes months after Guy finally receiving the third Michelin star that he rightfully deserves. I had ordered a bottle of nice white Burgundy, and I was offered different types of bread to pair with my choice of wine! That was a first for me. Last visited in August 2002.

7. Akelarre (San Sebastian, Spain) Maybe it was the drive out past Monte Igueldo on a nice day, but I really enjoyed the dining experience at this restaurant with views of the sea. The food is decidedly creative, like many establishments in Spain. Being able to order in half portions is definitely a plus. Last visited in June 2006.

8. Martin Berasategui (Lasarte, Spain) This Michelin 3-star restaurant is almost on par with Akelarre in my book. The food is wonderfully delicious, creative, and you can order everything in half portions. We sat out on the terrace for lunch on a beautiful day. The only thing marring the experience slightly was the periodic smell of manure floating in with the wind (which was fertilizing the beautifully green hill in front of us. This was also the first experience with how casual the Spaniards are when it comes to dressing to eat - some guy was wearing denim shorts and flip flops while dining at a 3-star restaurant! Last visited in June 2006.

9. Le Bernardin (New York, USA) Eric Ripert is a creative master, and I love dining at Le Bernardin when I'm in New York. This guy can do magic with all kinds of seafood, and the way they pack the large dining room every night is a testament to his skills. Last visited in March 2006.

10. Pierre (Hong Kong) It was tough deciding the 10th place on this list. Admittedly I have had many meals at great restaurants, and some with Michelin 3-stars have not made it into my Top 10. Why do I think Pierre deserves to be here? Well, the food IS extremely good and consistent. And the ambience is also wonderful, befitting a dining establishment of this stature. The biggest downside is the poor and expensive wine list, and the fact that they don't normally allow BYO. Last visited In March 2007.

Tokyo Trip: Tapas Molecular Bar

I've long heard about Tapas Molecular, the mini-El Bulli dining experience at the Mandarin Oriental Tokyo. So I made a reservation to dine there during my stay this time. There are two seatings each night and unfortunately I only managed to book the 6pm seating.

This takes place literally inside the bar of the hotel, with 6 seats at the counter. There are two chefs who "cook" in front of you - Jeff Ramsey (I was tempted to ask if he was related to Gordon, but given his American accent I thought better than to crack the stupid joke) and his Japanese assistant. The seating was for 2 1/2 hours and we had to go through some 20 courses, so I expected to be busy eating little mouthfuls.

I had the misfortunate of using a malfunctioning memory card, so the photos from the dinner are lost. Fortunately I do have a mini-menu so I can vaguely remember some of the courses.

There are some similarities to what you would find at El Bulli, such as the Olive Cloud (nothing but a mass of olive-flavored bubbles) and the Carrot Caviar (like El Bulli's mango caviar, and you get a demonstration on how it's done). But clearly there are Japanese touches that are unique to Tokyo.

The Handmade Soba is interesting in that it's a course with audience participation. Everyone is asked to push the paste out of a plastic syringe into a cup of hot water. The paste hardens somewhat as it reacts to hot water, and you have a similar experience to eating the Japanese buckwheat noodles.

Blue Hawaii is fun in that everyone is given an empty soda fountain glass (found in American diners) with a metal straw. As suction is applied to the straw, the air that hits the tongue tastes like the classic cocktail.

Finally, the most amazing experience has got to be what Jeff referred to as the magic fruit. Apparently originally from Africa, this is now grown in Japan and looks like a simple cocoa bean, with soft flesh wrapped around a hard seed core.

We are first asked to taste the fruit in front of us, such as slices of lemon and lime. Of course they would be sour, and not something that I would normally take to. Then we are asked to chew on the magic fruit for a few seconds, consciously coating our tongues and the insides of our mouths with the juice.

Now we are asked to taste the lemon and lime a second time, and voila! The taste has completely changed! What was sour is now apparently sweet! The slice of lemon now tastes like a slice of ripe, sweet orange. And glasses of white wine now taste like sweet dessert wine. Apparently the fruit manipulates the signals from the tongue to your brain, and this affect can last up to 90 minutes for some people. Quite amazing!

The dining experience is slightly marred by the rushed pace of it all. Going through 20+ courses in 2 1/2 hours is a bit too much, and is probably the biggest difference between this place and El Bulli, where there is only one seating per evening.

Dinner at El Bulli

Note:  this post was composed in December 2010, a full four-and-a-half years after my dinner at El Bulli.  Somehow I never got around to writing about this evening, but it definitely deserves its own post...even though the dinner pre-dates me setting up the blog.

El Bulli certainly needs no introduction.  Back in 2005 when I came up with the idea of going there, it was the single hardest table to book, and I conservatively estimated that the 9,000 covers they do each year means the chance of getting a seat was about 0.2%.  Things have surely gotten worse since then.

In the fall of 2005 I had asked my concierge service to get me a table.  I didn't have high hopes of actually getting a table, never mind getting one on my birthday.  In order to maximize my chances, I asked for a table of 6 instead of 8 as I originally wanted, given that the restaurant only seats 50.  I was therefore elated when I received confirmation in December 2005, notifying me that I would be spending my birthday at El Bulli the following year.