The sunny mountain

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Now that we're neighbors with the Zhongmeister and Winnie the Chew, I have tried to occasionally see if we could meet up over a bottle of three. I had recently acquired a batch of wines at very affordable prices - most of which were unfamiliar to me – so I was particularly eager to find excuses to pop some open. My original plan was to see if my new neighbors would be up for a casual drink after dinner, but they took this in a slightly different direction…

Dinner at Hiyama (日山) was proposed, and suddenly my friend offered to bring a bottle that cost 10 times the price of the bottle I had envisaged opening. Well, then… I needed to bring something to match! The casual bottle can wait until after dinner.

What we didn’t count on was a typhoon coming our way.

Even though I had never been, I had known about Hiyama in Tokyo being known for their beef. As we were drinking some nice bottles, it seemed only appropriate that we opt for the Hiyama premium dinner set (日山特撰).

Kuruma prawn, sea urchin, baby peach, ume somen, bonito sauce (先付：車海老、雲丹、若桃、梅そうめん、鰹だし) – it’s always so nice and refreshing to start dinner with cold somen (素麺) in warm weather. The green peach (若桃) was very sweet and nice.

Dude, where's my carbonara?

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I got chewed out by Juve Fan. After the closure of Ramato, I (and many others, I'm sure) have been bugging him to re-open a more casual eatery. After all, if I just want a nice place of pasta with an appetizer or two, there has to be more viable options in town between Pici and Estro.

Well... Ninetta opened with great fanfare not long ago, which meant that it was still too early for me to visit. Besides the fact that lots of KOLs were fighting to get the earliest table they could snag, the restaurant itself sent out a marketing email asking people to book tables for August - a call that went out on the second of July. That means "Don't bother trying to come in July!" So imagine my surprise by Juve Fan pings me a week later and asked why I haven't visited Ninetta. HELLO?! You asked us to book for AUGUST then I am the bad guy for not having dined at your establishment by the second week of opening?!

Well, Juve Fan decided I should come sooner rather than later, and found us a table for tonight. So here we are.

Sure enough, we arrived on the same night as a table of KOLs... placed there by B Bestie. Well... Foursheets and I just want a casual dinner and enjoy the food. No need to mingle with KOLs, then...

Sourdough - I was hungry when we arrived, so this was much appreciated.

Brasserie in da 'hood

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It's Saturday, and we're looking to have a nice dinner out without breaking the bank. In Hong Kong, there's a dearth of bistros or brasseries where I would be happy with the cuisine, and feel that it's money well-spent at the same time. Fortunately, there's one not too far from our new home. After three months in the hood, I felt it was time I took Foursheets to check out Chouchou. I, of course, had already had a first taste back in March.

Since it was Foursheets' first visit, I decided to let her choose the dishes. Besides, it would be good for me to try out new items.

Tarte à la tomate - this was a FAIL. The puff pastry was too hard and firm, which made it hard to cut... and then proceeded to break into pieces in awkward shapes. In addition, the pastry was cold so the butter had congealed and just tasted gross in the mouth. Oh and they also added rosemary to the tomatoes, which was another point deduction for me.

Four Seasons in Hangzhou day 4: stinky finale

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For our last meal in Hangzhou, we are finally headed somewhere without a Michelin star - although the place was given a Bib Gourmand award by Michelin. Nanfeng Restaurant (南丰饭店) is a no-frills place that is highly-regarded for serving Xiaoshan (萧山) cuisine. We would be going "locaL" before leaving Hangzhou, and our host made sure to order up a storm so that we wouldn't be hungry for the rest of the day.

Local water caltrop (本地菱角) - it's been AGES since I had these back in Taiwan, and while I had this yesterday, I'm happy to get another taste before we leave.

Four Seasons in Hangzhou day 4: breakfast with a view

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It's our last morning in Hangzhou, and although I was totally stuffed from last night's dinner and absolutely did not need the calories, I dutifully made my way to Charm, the all-day dining venue at Four Seasons Hotel Hangzhou at Hangzhou Centre. The kind people at the hotel had reserved a corner private room for us, and Chef Neal Zeng (曾东海) was in the kitchen to cook a few special dishes for us.

Before the special dishes arrived - and there would be four of them - of course we had other items from the kitchen as well as the buffet...

Lotus root with glutinous rice, honey, and osmanthus (桂花糖莲藕) - not as luxurious as the one I had yesterday, but I love it all the same. Would love to have it any chance I get.