Baked in Wanchai

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V is back in town for a few days, and since I happen to be free tonight, I decided to catch up with him over dinner. As our other friends were either out of town or deathly ill, it came down to just the two of us again. Wanting something casual but wanting to check out a place that was new to both of us, I suggested we hit Chouchou - the slightly more upscale sister restaurant from the people behind Babette.

While I really relish being pampered at fine dining restaurants, what Hong Kong really lacks is a collection of bistros and brasseries that serve straightforward French fare that taste good, without burning a hole in one's wallet. Unfortunately Jean May - a crowd favorites which rose to fame during the pandemic years - closed down recently. So I'm kinda on the hunt for more places where V and I can just bring a couple of bottles and chill.

The menu here offers a number of classics often featured at brasseries, and I was pretty happy to start ticking them off tonight.

Tarte fine aux champignons - 'tis the season for mushrooms, and I love having a pile of them in a puff pastry. Would have been even better if they did it as a vol-au-vent but I was still very happy.

Foie gras au torchon - doesn't get much more classic than this... and I could never say 'no' to toasted brioche. There was a condiment of pear and cocoa that was rather interesting.

Tourte - we were trying to see which dish to share, and felt this would be more interesting than côte de boeuf. When this arrived, I initially feared that it wasn't big enough and that we would need to order up more food. How wrong I was...

So this may not be the venison dartois from Hairy Legs, but it's still damn respectable with layers of Comté, jambon de Paris, potato, truffle sauce, and smoked pancetta (what? not lardons?) Very hearty and satisfying. And most important of all, went very, very well with our wines.

The tourte came with some sucrine lettuce on the side. Was that Marie Rose sauce on top?

Jardinière de légumes - always a good idea to have some veg for balance.

Île flottante - one does not often see this classic show up in Hong Kong, so I jumped at the chance. Fluffy meringue with a nice vanilla sauce. Happy.

V and I each brought a "casual" bottle, and as usual I was happy to pay the corkage. Originally we were meant to give up our table for the next seating, but seeing that we were paying HKD 1,000 for corkage that was pure profit for the restaurant, the manager told us we could take it easy and finish our wines.

2008 Gourt de Mautens Rasteau - popped and poured. Pretty nice and floral on the palate, and a little soapy. There was also a hint of funkiness, but pretty enjoyable.

2006 Jean-Michel Stephan Côte-Rôtie Côteaux de Tupin - started drinking more than 1½ hours after opening. This was definitely showing very well, with plenty of fragrant, woodsy notes. Drinking beautifully, and exactly how I was hoping it would be.

Well, we didn't finish the second bottle at the brasserie. We adjourned to V's Whiskey joint and hung out there. I was within 2 minutes' walking distance from a bunch of the afterparties for Asia's 50 Best Restaurants, but tonight, I treasured time with an old friend a lot more.

Diamonds and stars

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A little over 3 hours after running into Chef Liu, I walked through the doors of Yong Fu (甬府) in Hong Kong for a collaboration dinner B Bestie invited me to. I'm cognizant of the fact that I was just slagging off some of these collaboration dinners with multiple chefs across different countries and cuisines, but this one seemed a little different. Yong Fu Hong Kong and Yong Fu Shanghai are from the same group and serves dishes from the same cuisine, while I felt there can be real synergies among Ningbo cuisine and the Cantonese cuisine featured in Jade Dragon (譽瓏軒) as well as the Chiuchow cuisine showcased at Selection by Du (菁禧薈). In spite of my misgivings about the kind of stuff B Bestie gets up to in terms of these "x-hands", I have supreme confidence in Chef Liu Zhen (刘震)'s and Ms. Yu's ability to put together a fantastic menu.

The real VIPs were in the private rooms upstairs, while the KOLs sat in the main dining room downstairs. It's been a few years since I last saw Natalie from the City of Dreams, and of course she was here accompanying Chef Kelvin Au Yeung (歐陽文彥). I also got a chance to greet some old acquaintances I haven't seen in a couple of years.

While the four head chefs have put together a 10-course menu - where most of the dishes were individual efforts and one course included input from all of the chefs - there was a wine pairing featuring solely wines from China. This is definitely more of the trend these days, as restaurants from China are eager to feature wines from up-and-coming producers from their own country.

Appetizers (頭盤):

Six sons for lunch

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It was more than 8 years ago that I brought Gaggan and Tara to Seventh Son (家全七福) and fed them their famous roast suckling pig. Gaggan wanted some dim sum today with the boys, and although my original intention was to bring them to Forum Restaurant (富臨飯店) - which I introduced to our mutual friend Champagne Diva last year - plans changed a few hours ago. And we ended back here, with a table of 8 hungry mouths.

While waiting for our food to arrive, I showed the boys a picture of my friend on his last visit here. He was proudly wearing a top from a famous Japanese designer, woven with a Chinese character (or kanji (漢字), if you prefer) that one does not use at a dining table. I'm not sure how much my friend has changed since that meal 8 years ago, but at least this time it's too warm for him to be wearing the same top.

As always, Mr. Tsui Wai Kwan (徐維均) - the seventh son himself - sat at a table in a corner enjoying his lunch as well as observing the crowd. It's been a few years since I last stepped foot in this restaurant, and he seems to have aged a little more than I had expected - not unlike what happened to my own parents. I'm happy he's still fit enough to come and keep an eye on things.

Barbecued whole suckling pig (大紅片皮乳豬全體) - OF COURSE we started with the roast suckling pig again. The boys were all excited and took out their phones for pictures and videos, but some bongwater lover couldn't wait for everyone else and decided to snag a piece of the crackling first.

Kolkata, Hong Kong

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I was surprised when Gaggan told me that he was doing a pop-up in Hong Kong during the week of Asia's 50 Best Restaurants. He hasn't done a pop-up or collab at Asia's 50 Best since Singapore in 2023. I was even more surprised - pleasantly, of course - when he told me that it will be Indo-Chinese. He knows of my fondness for "Chindian" cuisine, so I was really looking forward to tasting what he and the team would come up with. Now, knowing that he was doing this at the Kerry Hotel - the host venue for the awards ceremonies of Asia's 50 Best Restaurants - I naturally dialed down my expectations...

Due to limits on work visas, Mr. Bongwater wasn't doing service tonight. I had originally planned to take him somewhere and open a few nice bottles together, but I would have a tough time passing up the chance for some fun with Gaggan, so Mr. Bongwater ended up sitting with us at dinner tonight. Foursheets and Bong Girl also joined us to make it a foursome.

The event is called Gaggan Tirreti Bazaar, after the Chinatown neighborhood in Gaggan's native Kolkata. I know my friend loves Chinese food, and maybe one of these days I'll have the opportunity to explore the Chinese restaurants in the area with him.

Henriot Brut Souverain - this was rounded on the palate with good acidity balance.

We started with a series of dim sum bites:

K-eighborhood in Jeju

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Lots of so-called KOLs are in town for the festivities around Asia's 50 Best Restaurants, and many restaurants in town are busy hosting 4-, 6-, 8-, and even collabs up to 14-hands. Unlike previous years where these "50 Best Signature Series" events were by invitation only, this year tickets are available for sale for the many meals. I'm pretty sure most of the events sold out quickly, too, once people were given the opportunity to participate in the fun.

I wasn't planning on going to any of the events at lunch time, since they're happening during my work week, but when the Kitchen Nazi pinged me about his collab event, I figured I could maybe take an extended lunch today. And since Mr. Bongwater had requested that I take him to Neighborhood while he's in town this week - something that was impossible due to the late timing of his request - I asked permission to bring him along, too.

I'll freely admit that I had not heard of Chef Kang Byungwook or his restaurant Last Spring (넘은 봄) on Jeju Island. When I first saw the event being advertised on social media, in the back of my mind I noted that the guest chef was "some Korean guy" and that his restaurant is not in Seoul - since the event was referred to as "K-eighborhood in Jeju". Funny thing was that while talking to a few KOLs who were also invited to the event, none of them knew who the guest chef was... In fact, some actually thought the Kitchen Nazi was doing this solo.

As we found out during the meal, Chef Kang actually worked in Hong Kong for a few years - both at my beloved Ta Vie 旅 and L'Atelier de Joël Robuchon. Apparently he also spent a month in the kitchen at Neighborhood, which is how he is connected to our host.

One of the reasons I don't go to many of these events is, well... I'm an asshole. I'm picky about who I sit with, even when the meal is free. In fact, I'm MORE picky about my dining companions when it's by invitation, because I really only want to share space and time with people whose company I enjoy (or at least don't object to). So with the restaurant filled with KOLs and wannabes, it's easy to guess how the meal went.

First up was what looked like the "dry bouillabaisse" that is often served here as the first dish, but the Kitchen Nazi called this "cold Jeju [seafood] stew". Local spiny lobster, razor clams, shrimp... etc. were poached in a crab broth seasoned with gochujang, then chilled before serving.