Turks in East India

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I'm back at Nine One for the third time in the two months since the restaurant's opening. A friend who is a big fan of Samaira's has rounded up a few fellow winos for a dinner, with the theme being one of my favorite wines. I had initially hesitated to join this gathering, as I was already scheduled for a lunch today, but eventually the allure of drinking beautiful wines paired with delicious food from a friend proved too irresistible. So here I am...

As usual, we asked the chef to decide what to serve us. With 6 of us tonight including our Indian friend, I looked forward to trying dishes I hadn't tasted on my previous visits.

Khakra, chundo - the khakra (ખાખરા) and chundo (छुन्दो) are always the first order of business.

Corn chips and kachumber - not surprisingly, some of our friends visiting for the first time wondered why they were eating tortillas with salsa in a place serving Indian food...

A different type of boozy lunch

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Louise has a new chef in the kitchen with the return of Loïc Portalier, and Julien Royer came up to Hong Kong for a proper introduction. It has been some time since I was last at Louise - and in fact any of Julien's restaurants - so when the invitation came to join a media lunch today, I accepted without any hesitation.

As the shenanigans surrounding Asia's 50 Best Bars are happening in town this week, we also had a number of people from outside Hong Kong at lunch with us. There was a lot of talk around the tables about all the after parties last night, and it's obvious that all the partying has caught up with some of my friends...

I wasn't in a drinking mood as I have a big wine dinner tonight, so I just accepted a glass of Chartogne-Taillet Sainte Anne, which was toasty and mineral on the nose.

We then started with three amuses bouches:

Angel hair with black truffle, kombu seaweed, and caviar - this was... OK lah... No doubt it will make lots of people happy.

Stretched like a drum

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We have a visitor in town wanting to visit a few restaurants, and one of the places on the itinerary is Flower Drum (鋒膳). I had heard about this place a lot from friends for a long time - in fact one of the owners is a friend - but have only managed a casual lunch visit a few years ago. Now that I've been asked to join a table, curiosity got the best of me... and I wanted to see what the hubbub was about.

Our VIP friend had arranged the meal, so we were seated in the private room that connects to the terrace where one can enjoy a cigar or two after a meal. A "short menu" was already set for us, but little did we know what we were in for...

These candied cashews were pretty nice with all the sesame.

But they were nowhere as popular as the potato chips that were really crunchy and tasted of fragrant olive oil.

Woodcocks in the Valley

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Some weeks ago I found that, much to my surprise, Bong Girl actually drinks wine that are not bongwater. Among the wines she posted was a bottle from Domaine de la Mordorée - a winery I had the pleasure of visiting in Tavel. I feel honored that since my visit back in 2011, Fabrice Delorme has followed my gastronomic and vinous adventures via this blog. On the other hand, I kinda feel bad that I haven't tasted many bottles from them since that visit more than a decade ago. So I decided to schedule a meal with Bong Girl in order for me to add a few more tasting notes to my library.

Locanda is a place I have been meaning to revisit for years. I always thinking about going back but somehow, I end up somewhere else. Well, I finally made it back tonight. I got in touch with Gavin, who I haven't seen in a few years, and got ourselves a table. We agreed to share a few plates to start.

It's always good to start with some carta musica. This was really nicely done, and came with some tomato ricotta.

A little more sheltering

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Everyone knows I'm an asshole. I didn't get called the Arrogant Prick for nothing, and I've got a few ongoing feuds with restaurant groups and chefs. Most PRs in the business have the good sense to stay away, so I'm always surprised when I get approached for an invitational meal. I am always nice enough, though, to remind the PRs of my reputation... and ask them to make sure that they really want me at their client's restaurant.

So this was how I came to be at Arbor tonight. I waited about a year before making my first visit here 5 years ago, and returned for an MNSC dinner a few months later. While I had enjoy some of chef Eric Räty's dishes on those 2 visits, I didn't think I really "got" the cuisine. And the restaurant's corkage policy - at least in the old days - kinda put me off from paying them more visits.

I had asked for the shorter, 6-course menu instead of the full 9 courses. As I'm dining out on a few nights this week, it would be best to keep things simple. And the poor PR would, presumably, spend less time suffering in the presence of my company.

We started with the restaurant's signature brioche, with seaweed inside. Served with some mentaiko (明太子) butter just like it was years ago.

Teammates in the 'hood

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It's been a looooong time since I last shared a meal with my old team, so I decided to take them to my favorite restaurant. That would be Neighborhood, for anyone who doesn't know me well enough. I cannot claim to be the restaurant's most loyal customer, but I think this being my 76th visit since the restaurant first opened in 2014 surely counts for something!

I was glad to see the restaurant being reasonably busy on a Tuesday night. This is one restaurant which I must support to ensure its continued operation, as I would be lost without it. For tonight, as everyone else is coming for the first time, I pre-ordered one of the signature dishes, then left the rest up to the Kitchen Nazi. As usual, I asked him to not kill us with food. I mentioned that a mutual friend had recently visited and came away relatively unscathed, only to be told by The Man in White T-shirt that in that instance, there had been a dish which suffered catastrophic failure... hence a significant reduction in the amount of food being served. So... we shall see!

We were served plenty of sourdough bread together with our first two dishes, but I was a little late in warning my friends about the perils of enjoying too much bread too early in the meal. But how could I blame them when the bread is so irresistable?

Kuruma prawns - these days a meal here inevitably starts with these babies, seasoned with some piment d'espelette as well as some fennel, as the sweetness and anise flavors really showed.

Back to la grande dame

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Mr and Mrs Birdiegolf felt that my birthday would be a good excuse to meet up and pop open a couple of bottles, and somehow I steered the conversation towards The Peninsula Hong Kong. It has been YEARS since I last had a proper meal in the hotel, and while I had been tempted to check out either Felix or Gaddi's after the arrival of the husband-and-wife duo - each of whom was at the helm of the two restaurants - but I just never made the move. Not even when Seb came back to Hong Kong for his new gig at The Pen.

That ends tonight. Knowing that none of us have been to Gaddi's in quite some time, it was high time we paid La Grande Dame a visit. I got in touch with Seb and made the arrangements. This was gonna be fun!

We stepped in to the dining room and were led to one of the tables at the back of the room. Not the usual table for the Birdiegolfs when they were coming regularly, but the room hasn't changed much... other than maybe the Baccarat Harcourt Our Fire candlesticks on our tables. We've still got the band sitting in the room, and the average age of the diners in the room was still above mine. But they did remove the requirement for gentlemen to come in a jacket, so I guess that's progress...

I honestly don't remember starting the meals here with gougères but my friends seem to be familiar with this.

89-year gap

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Although I enjoy an occasional light bullying of the Candidate - which usually involve forcing her to taste certain wines that are not to her refinedpicky palate - I do acquiesce to her demandsrequests from time to time. Today was such an occasion.

We saw a couple of weeks ago that Caprice had gotten themselves a few bottles of William Kelley's wines. These are very young, produced in minute quantities, and have been totally hyped up. The candidate had gotten her own allocation, but given the limited number of bottles around, she was reluctant to pop her own bottles when the wines are so young. At the same time, she wanted to have a taste of the wines now to see whether the wines live up to the hype.

While I was here three nights ago, I was informed that the restaurant was down to their last bottle of the Gevrey-Chambertin. So I immediately made a booking for lunch today, and hoped for my friend's sake that no one else was interested in the bottle before we came in.

Luckily for my friend, it seems that no one else was as interested in the wine as she was.

As usual we start with a trio of amuses bouches presented in the boîte à bijoux:

Lobster roll - this was pretty nice.

Closing day, part 2: per aspera ad astra

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For my "real" birthday meal, I chose to return to Ta Vie 旅 as it's one of my favorite restaurants in the world. I have followed Sato-san's career since the relatively early days at Tenku Ryugin (天空龍吟), during the previous Year of the Dragon. Since launching his "Pure, Simple, Seasonal" philosophy for his cuisine, I have been a very big fan - and rejoiced when the restaurant was promoted to the coveted Michelin 3-star status last year.

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It was pure coincidence that we arrived on the last night before the restaurant is scheduled to close for renovations. They have been in this space since 2015, and I guess they are due for a makeover. I felt very privileged to be here tonight, as there has been many memories created here.

Closing day, part 1: that Chiuchow place

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It's the day of the big reunion, so a number of old friends are back in town for the event tonight. But it happens to be my birthday, and I told the organizers long ago that I wasn't gonna spend my birthday with this lot... Meanwhile, I hadn't seen the King in a little while, so we took the opportunity to catch up while he's in town. As Sheung Hing Chiu Chow Restaurant (尚興潮州飯店) has decided to close their long-standing location next week before moving into new, more modern digs, my friend decided that he would like to come one last time.

The place has always been run down and didn't exactly look spanking clean, and the various adjoining shop spaces - which they all owned - weren't all that different in that respect. I guess that's one of the reasons why I never thought about going there much - especially when their dishes weren't significantly better than other Chiuchow restaurants in town.

As is their usual practice, we were offered small cups of gongfu tea (工夫茶) to start us off.

Cold crab Chiu-Chow style (潮州凍花蟹) - this was obviously a MUST for this meal, and coming in at HKD 1,600 it wasn't outrageously priced. Pretty nice.

The Hairy Chevalier

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It's a big day for Hairy LS. Foursheets and I were among a small group who received an invitation to the residence of the Consul General of France in Hong Kong and Macau. Besides the commanding view of the Hong Kong skyline, we were there to witness our friend being bestowed the distinction of Chevalier de l'Ordre du Mérite Agricole.

The ceremony was brief, and after the medal was pinned to the lapel of his jacket, we toasted the moment with some Billecart-Salmon Brut Réserve and nibble on some canapés. We were very happy for our friend to have been bestowed this honor. Now he's a knight... but where was his horse and armor?!

We were still kinda hungry after the ceremony, but had no dinner plans, so a few of us went to - where else? - Caprice Bar for some simple food and drinks.

Royale tarte with duck and foie gras, raspberry and chocolate sauce - it's been too long since I last enjoyed one of these tartes from this kitchen, and although we are in the middle of summer, I still love them! Nope, not heavy at all... not in my book. Of course, the King of Sauce delivers with that combination of fruity acidity from raspberry vinegar and the chocolate richness.

No curry for old men

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Ever since my first viit to Nine One just a few days after it opened, I have been wanting to return with friends. Our high school gang hasn't met up for quite some time, and as it turns out, one of the senpai is making a what we hope is temporary move back to Tokyo. As he is quite fond of Indian food, I thought it would be a good opportunity to get the gang to check out the place.

I requested for three items which I didn't get to taste last time around, then left the rest up to Samaira. So I ended up getting much of the same dishes as on my first visit, which was OK. They're tasty enough for me to have them again.

Khakra, chundo - the khakra (ખાખરા) and chundo (छुन्दो) still go very well together.

Corn chips and kachumber - the guys were pretty surprised by this combination, and of course they found the kachumber (कचुम्बर) pretty refreshing.

Rainy day catch-up

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Rikachu and family are back in town for a few days, so the old gang got together for a dim sum lunch today. As usual I got given the task of choosing a restaurant, and this time around I brought us to Imperial Treasure Fine Chinese Cuisine (御寶軒) in the Crowne Plaza Hong Kong.

I had to stay home for a delivery so I was a little late to lunch, and the orders had been put in by the time I arrived. Happy to not have been in charge of ordering...

Barbecue pork with honey sauce (蜜汁叉燒) - nicely marbled with decent charring of honey glaze on the outside.

More passion, more sushi, more shari

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Some time ago Foursheets mentioned her desire to have some nice sushi, since it has been quite some time - going back to the middle of last year - when she last had some great sushi. As I had been visiting Sushi Shikon (すし 志魂) exclusively for almost the last 2 years or so, I thought it may be a good idea to revisit Sushi Fujimoto (鮨ふじもと). Business had been going gangbusters when they first opened during the pandemic, but of course now that everybody and their grandma is flying to Japan to eat, seats are no longer difficult to book.

One of the big changes since the restaurant's early days is their policy on photography. On my previous visits, photos of the food - with the exception of the pieces of tuna - were forbidden. Since I don't eat bluefin tuna at high-end sushi restaurants, that meant I had no pictures of those meals. These days there are no longer restrictions on photography, which is good for me.

The first things we saw were these big abalones from Shimane Prefecture (島根県), since they can longer get the ones from Chiba Prefecture (千葉県) like they used to thanks to Hong Kong's seafood ban.

Especially for you

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This month DaRC goes up a big figure, so there has been a series of celebratory dinners. Tonight our little group gets our turn to open up a few bottles with him, and once again he's chosen to support RAW Yeah on this occasion. With the recent announcement regarding Nikushou, it made sense that we tried to lend some support, and RAW Yeah was kind enough to open the restaurant exclusively for us tonight.

The menu was, of course, set by the boss... and as usual we had a mix of seafood and beef, most of which had been meticulously sourced.

Firefly squid with broad bean and white asparagus (螢烏賊 空豆 ホワイトアスパラガス) - didn't think I'd be eating firefly squid this late in the year, but I wasn't gonna complain!

Aussies in the hood

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My friends from Down Under requested to revisit Neighborhood, as they had enjoyed their visit back in 2018 very much. We had a smaller group this time around as a few of our common friends were busy or out of town, so unfortuntely there would be no repeat of having 4 magnums with dinner...

I asked The Man in White T-shirt not to kill us, since there were only 4 of us. But of course, the Kitchen Nazi is not one to listen... and I didn't even try to order from the menu tonight.

Kuruma prawns - these are always so good. Love that the Kitchen Nazi gets his fishmonger to get him kuruma prawns in this size, because they're just so tender.

Saucisson "Noir de Bigorre" from Basque black pigs - it's been a while since the last got to taste this, as the Kitchen Nazi preferred to send us dishes that weren't so processed...

A night of Champagnes and Burgundies

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We haven't seen our friends from Down Under for 6 years, thanks to their 2019 plans being cancelled on account of social unrest followed by 3 years of Covid border closures. Now that borders have been open since late 2022, we are glad to welcome them back on the last leg of their trip before they return home. I rounded up the Candidate and the Film Buff for our first dinner together tonight, as the Aussies definitely had some things they could bond over.

I was surprised when the gang voted in favor of Xinrongji (新榮記) over another crowd favorite, and even more surprised when, booking our table just 5 weeks ahead of tonight, I was told that YES, one of the restaurant's very limited number of Peking ducks was still available for pre-booking. I didn't hesitate for even half a second.

I picked out a few other dishes to pre-order, but when we arrived at the restaurant, the manager informed me that we were still some distance away from the minimum charge required, especially since the Candidate was being counted for this purpose despite her very late arrival and the fact that she was not expected to partake in any food. So I added a few other dishes on the spot, but was told it was still not enough. The manager was obviously trying to get me to order the high-value items to get us to spend more, but unfortunately I just wasn't interested in those items.

We always start with some fruit as well as some confectionery:

I didn't bother asking where the melon came from, but it was pretty crunchy just like ones from Hami (哈密) or elsewhere in Xinjiang.

Walnut cookies are always nice here.

Long time no pigeon

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Foursheets' bestie is in town from the Land of Maple Syrup, and we've decided to take them out for a nice dinner to welcome them back to Hong Kong. Given a few options to choose from, it was decided we would be enjoying some pigeon tonight... so off to Stellar House (星月居) we went.

This is a rare chance for our visitors to have Shunde (順德) cuisine, and I'm not even sure if they know what the area is famous for, so I made sure to order a few classic dishes which, from experience, the kitchen executes well.

Crab and winter melon soup (鮮蟹肉冬茸羹) - this was a hit with the ladies, but I really didn't understand the presence of undercooked and crunchy loofah, as they introduced some green flavors that I didn't care for. Also got some diced mushrooms. The white pepper was pretty noticable.

Fourth anniversary

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Four years ago, we bid a teary farewell to our beloved Bro Bro, a.k.a. Kuma the Asshole. It was tough for us to go through that in the beginning stages of the pandemic, and other tragedies would follow. But here we are today. The night we let Bro Bro cross the rainbow bridge, we had a simple dinner at Nikushou as Foursheets could not handle the simple act of cooking even some instant noodles, and we were so devastated that she couldn't think of where she wanted to eat. Nikushou and their yakiniku (焼肉) was the default for her. And we have returned every year since then, with a bottle of red wine over some simple dishes.

This year, though, felt a little different. Just a couple of days ago Foursheets received a message from the restaurant, which advised us that their eighth anniversary is also likely to be their last. We all know that the economic environment in Hong Kong is tough these days, and the hospitality industry is definitely suffering. Although this is our go-to yakiniku restaurant in town, even we have halved our visits over the last year and a half... thanks to increased travel outside of Hong Kong.

Well... we would have come here tonight regardless, but it seemed particularly poignant to show our support at this point in time.

Fruit tomato (フルーツトマト) - always good to start with something like this, and a little dab of salt brings out the sweetness of the fruit.

The Park at the Forum

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While at dinner last night, someone threw out an invitation to join a dinner gathering tonight with representatives from Howard Park, the winery in Western Australia. I had heard about them from the time I started learning about wine, but for some reason I had never had the opportunity to taste anything from them, so I decided that it would interesting to meet up and try some of their offerings.

No dinner venue had been set by the host, so I booked us a table at Forum Restaurant (富臨飯店). I'm always happy with the food here - which isn't surprising given their 3 macarons - and we can call on Jacky's services should we need him. And since I appear to be the one most familiar with the restaurant, the burden of ordering dishes fell on my shoulders, naturally...

I couldn't believe that they had already run out of char siu (叉燒) by the time we started our dinner. Unimaginable under normal circumstances, but they were reasonably busy tonight. Oh well.

Salad prawn on toast (沙律鳳尾蝦多士) - this is always one of my favorites. I just can't resist ordering prawn toast every time I see it on a menu, and here they do it pretty well. Deep-fried toast?! Hell, yeah!

Old Napa night

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The Prince of Napa is back in town as he spends time at Vinexpo. I haven't seen him since that morning when we drank a few bottles while watching TayTay at the Superbowl, so he invited me to join a dinner where the wine theme is "old Napa" - specifying that the wines have to be older than 1990. This isn't a theme that comes up often among the wine circles in Hong Kong, so I found myself a bottle and agreed to join in the fun.

I laughed out loud when my friend showed me that a booking was made at The Merchants (嘗申匯), the restaurant purportedly serving Shanghainese cuisine inside the complex known as Forty-Five. When this place launched more than a year ago, PR8 sent out a press release declaring it to be “Hong Kong's most exciting new food and beverage lifestyle destination in a generation". I laughed out back then and inched my friend about the hyperbole. Since then, feedback from friends who were invited to tastings have been pretty lukewarm, with comments like "might as well go to Shanghai Fraternity Association (上海總會)" being a common refrain. Most tellingly, I don't recall any of my friends returning to the restaurant after their initial visit. If they did, there haven't been any posts on social media gushing about their meals. Meanwhile, I have had zero desire to pay the place a visit on my own dime.

But hey, I'm not the host of the event so I just went along with it. I did share my reservations with the Prince of Napa, who has, in the past, accompanied me on a couple of "take down (踢館)" meals. While I have a reputation of being the Arrogant Prick, I do believe that the Prince of Napa is even worse when it comes to fine dining restaurants. So... this was going to be interesting.

Somewhere along the line, my friend asked me whether there was anything that I wanted to pre-order. NOOOOO... I wouldn't want to do anything to detract from a "real" experience at this here restaurant.

We were seated in one of the private rooms, with commanding views of the city. I suppose that's why people come here, although personally, the view during the meal is not one of the factors I use to judge a restaurant.

We started with a trio of appetizers, but as I don't normally touch raw crabs, I gave my portion of drunken crab with 25-year Hua Diao wine (廿五年花雕醉膏蟹) to my neighbor.

Crystal pork terrine served with vinegar (水晶肴肉) - this was pretty nice, and probably the best version I've had in a while.

Pepe e pepe

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I hadn't visited Juve Fan for a proper meal in a while, and after giving my Maradona shirt to the Hungry Hungarian for him to wear during his recent visit to Estro, Juve Fan decided to invite me for dinner at the restaurant. I put up a protest about this invitational meal, as I'm more than happy to go on my own dime to support him, but he insisted - and promised to make for me the cacio e pepe I had seen others enjoy at an event last month. So I begrudingly accepted his invitation.

When he proposed that I buy a bottle off the restaurant wine list, the wheels in my head started turning... Did they still have wines from Emidio Pepe on the list? Could I have a bottle of Emidio Pepe to go with my cacio e pepe, and make it a Pepe e pepe pairing? The answer was 'yes'. Then this would be an interesting occasion...

Right off the bat, we were told by Martina that it would be a 7-course menu for us. So... not a small meal, then... and we started with the quartet of aperitivo:

Dill and vegetable tart - with honey peas and basil. The flavors of the basil was particularly strong.

The Hungry Hungarian Chairman

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The Hungry Hungarian was back in town and has been eating his way through Hong Kong where just about every place he visited had been arranged by PR8. One of the few meals where he wasn't led by the nose happened to be at The Chairman (大班樓), as he was fortunate enough to take over a booking from a mutual friend who was out of town. He had 2 Hungarian friends with him - one of whom wouldn't touch any seafood - and I thought they might need a "local" with them, so I agreed to join him at dinner tonight. After all, while we have had a few coffees together in the last 2 years, it has been a few years since we last shared a meal together.

I had come up with a choice of dishes - taking our Hungarian guest's preferences into consideration - and chosen what would normally be the maximum recommended number of dishes. But of course there was an intervention, and the menu we actually got - let's call it "the Margaret menu" - ended up with lots more food... and a lot more seafood than I had planned for.

We were a table of 7 tonight, as the Hungry Hungarian had local fans here, too, so maybe I wasn't needed after all...

Ginger and vinegar pig trotter terrine (甜醋子薑豬手豬耳凍) - I really love having this as the first course of the meal, since it really does whet the appetite and, in my opinion, is a much better way to go than the traditional pickled young ginger that the restaurant used to serve. Because how many pieces of ginger can an average diner eat before getting tired of it? Anyway, I loooove pig trotters, and I love 豬腳薑, too! So this is just PERFECT.

Dreams of East India

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Foursheets and I are so happy. Our friend the Bombay East Indian Girl had decided to fulfill her dream of opening a restaurant. We've had the pleasure of trying out her cuisine at two pop-up events during the pandemic years, and also had the privilege of having her cook "Chindian"/Indo-Chinese dishes for us at home. She's been building up a following for herself with her catering business, but now she's finally got a fixed spot of her own.

Nine One opened its doors this week, having taken over a reasonably big space on the ground floor of Tsim Sha Tsui Centre. I don't normally patronize restaurants when they first open, but we made an exception because we've already tasted and liked a few of the dishes on the menu before. We also wanted to support our friend, and it's important to do that in the early stages.

Having just opened its doors in its current form a mere 4 nights earlier, it was understandable that the restaurant was quiet when we arrived. We were initially seated in the very back - presumably to provide us with more privacy - but we asked to be moved to a brighter table by the window near the entrance. This way, we would be able to watch the pedestrian traffic while dining.

Now that there were many more dishes on offer, we asked our friend for recommendations - wanting to taste a couple of dishes again while trying new things. We also asked for "not too much food", knowing the chef would want us to try as many dishes as possible...

Khakra, chundo - the khakra (ખાખરા) were very thin and presented in a pretty fashion.

A Fooking stuffing

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The Gastronaut has a new project in town, working with Shangri-La Hotels to open a restaurant focusing on Hokkien cuisine in Island Shangri-La. In spite of being a not-insignificant part of the local population, restaurants serving Hokkien cuisine aren't exactly on every street. In fact, other than the numerous branches of Putien (莆田) in Hong Kong, I'm really not aware of any place that is removely upscale. So... is this a gap that needs filling?

I had heard mixed reviews from friends on their experiences at Ming Pavilion (茗悅) so I wasn't in a hurry to check it out for myself. But the Gastronaut came and asked Foursheets to join him for a meal, which was how I found myself as the "plus one" at dinner.

I hadn't done any research on the dishes so I left it to the boss to decide, but I did make a couple of requests.

Our meal started with a cup of fragrant rose tea.

Deep-fried five spice pork roll (閩香五香卷) - I couldn't imagine the Gastronaut putting together a menu here without ngoh hiang (五香) on it, and here we go. Unlike the ones I usually see in Singapore, this was pretty dainty in size. I do love the big chunks of water chestnut in the middle, though... Overall this was pretty nice with the spices in the mix.

Leeloo Leela

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Foursheets and I haven't had a proper catchup with DaRC and Ro Ro in a while, so we arranged a date for ourselves. Ro Ro suggested that we check out Leela, run by Chef Manav Tuli who used to helm the kitchen at Chaat. We did enjoy Manav's cuisine on a few occasions, so it would be interesting to see what he's doing in his new digs.

DaRC just got off the plane earlier this morning and is clearly suffering from jet lag. I expected him to fall asleep at the table and do a faceplant. I guess it's a good thing he was seated in a chair and not on the banquette.

I didn't tell anyone that I was coming tonight, but as I did make the booking using my own name, I guess they figured it out. Which was why we ended up getting some extras...

The snack was made with fenugreek seeds and topped with mango chutney and chopped chives.

Lucknowi tokri chaat - from the chef. Tokri chaat (टोकरी चाट) is a popular dish where ingredients like lentils and sev (સેવ) are served in a tokri basket where the deep-fried potato basket is edible. Covered in tamarind sauce, sweet yogurt, mint chutney, and topped with pomegranate seeds and micro greens like coriander and amaranth.

Testing, one, two, three...

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It's hard to imagine that I hadn't met up with this group of friends for this many months, but it was all my fault. I had bailed on a dinner last year for something I thought I couldn't miss, and our schedules just didn't match after that. But V was in town again and that provided us with another excuse to catch up over a few bottles.

As I had wanted to bring a fairly cheap bottle for the others to blind taste, the main concern when choosing the venue fell on corkage. The Candidate proposed we check out the current program at Test Kitchen, as they do not charge any corkage. No objections from me...

The chef in residence tonight was Luke Ng, who introduces himself as someone who has been in the kitchens of The Clove Club, Florilège - where he spent a couple of months each - and most recently Mirazur - all as chef de partie. I wasn't surprised when he came out tonight wearing a Mirazur apron.

There was some confusion about how to choose dishes from the selection available, and although we had coordinated and had pre-ordered all the dishes, we soon realized that the portions were on the small side, and we would need to top up our original order.

Fried fish skins, local grouper brandade, herbs emulsion - I was starving when I arrived, and even though there wasn't a lot of substance here, it helped to settle my stomach.

Chicken, all are chicken

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I needed to drink some Champagne with Mr. and Mrs. Birdiegolf, so I proposed that we meet up for dinner again... but left the choice of venue up to them. Imagine my surprise when Toritama (酉玉) was proposed, since we all know that Foursheets isn't a big fan of chicken. Well, she decided to be a good sport and agreed to have yakitori (焼き鳥) there for the first time, doing something she normally steers away from.

Foursheets and I were a few minutes early for our seating, and the previous diners seemed to be taking their time, so we were asked to stand out in the streets. Thankfully the seats were vacated right on time and we didn't have to stand outside for too long.

My last yakitori meal was with the Birdiegolfs more than half a year ago, and I was eager to munch on some interesting bites on sticks.

Meatball (つくね)

Knee soft bone (ゲンコツ)

Peanuts in the 'hood

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The Peanut Gang last did dinner earlier this year at a famous hot pot restaurant which I had never been to, but the truth is we haven't been to a proper decent restaurant in a while. PR8 is usually busy dining in his clients' establishments, and requested to return to Neighborhood for the first time since his last visit - which was one of the Peanut Gang's gatherings some 4 years ago. As many of us are fans of The Man in White T-shirt, this was a no-brainer.

Shirley called and asked whether we would prefer to order our own dishes, or let the boss set the menu for us. Well... I did want some of the seasonal specials that might come up, so I asked for omakase (お任せ) but also requested that the amount of food be kept under control. Let's see what happens!

A little drama isn't unusual at a Peanut Gang dinner, and right off the bat someone suffered a gout attack on the way to dinner. We also had to shift the dinner start time back and forth, moving it an hour ahead at the request of PR8, who then proceeded to be 45 minutes late, anway...

Kuruma prawns - these small local prawns are always really tasty, cooked in fish stock and just needed a little spice and seasoning on top.

Bistro outing on a stormy night

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The F and B industry is going through some tough times these days, so Foursheets and I have decided to go and support a few smaller operators in their efforts. It has been quite some time since we were last at Jean May and we've kinda been in the mood for this type of place lately, so a few days ago I made a booking for dinner tonight.

The weather in Hong Kong has been pretty bad the last few days, and there were heavy rain tonight with the Red Rainstorm Warning being issued. Well... we didn't want to ditch the restaurant as the point was to support the industry, so we kept our appointment.

I added an extra course when I thought we didn't order enough, but in the end I thought it was just a little bit over the ideal amount of intake.

Shimeiji frits, Parmesan - these were pretty good, with the shaved cheese topping adding a little more flavor to the shimeji (しめじ) mushrooms.

Another relaxing Friday lunch

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I had originally scheduled a lunch date a few weeks back with a friend who needed a break from going through some stressful times, and Caprice was the requested venue. Unfortunately I got sick and was still coughing by the time we were supposed to meet, so we rescheduled when I felt I was finally recovering. And here we are.

Hairy Le Squer isn't in the kitchen today. He's at another event outside Hong Kong, so he left instructions with Suveg on what he wanted for us. Well... it's not like he's doing any cooking in the kitchen anyway...

In lieu of the usual boîte à bijoux and the trio of bites, we had a proper amuse bouche today:

Potato espuma, balik salmon, Kristal caviar - decorated with egg yolk, chives, and lemon zest on top. Very pretty looking.

Simple dinner for two

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Foursheets didn't feel like cooking tonight, as we were on the eve of a public holiday. I was in the mood to pop open a simple bottle over dinner. With the last-minute decision to find somewhere to eat out, it was natural that we would end up at La Maison. I've been there a couple of times, and sometimes the combination of simple food, casual atmosphere, ease of booking, and zero corkage (important to some friends) just makes it a great place to go.

We always start with some bread that is piping hot, and we slice it up ourselves and spread with some butter.

Shrimp toast - this is always a good idea.

Scorching Bangkok day 5: teenage memories

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It's my last day in Bangkok, and I'm too lazy to go grab breakfast this morning... especially since I'm having an early lunch. I decided to finish eating all the Thai mandarins (ส้มเขียวหวาน) I bought yesterday. But DAMN! Why do they have so many seeds?!

I checked out of my hotel and got picked up by my friend, who was taking me on a trip down memory lane. When the Parental Units lived here in the late 80s, I spent my summer and winter holidays here with them, and on many days I would come to RBSC Polo Club for lunch. My friend happens to be a member and enjoys dining here, so she was kind enough to treat me to a simple lunch. The weather was just too hot today to be hanging out by the pool, so we opted for the more comfortable surroundings of the Air Bar.

Scorching Bangkok day 4: no LV at LV

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Since my last trip to Bangkok, Indian Hairy Legs has launched a new project in collaboration with a major global fashion house. Gaggan at Louis Vuitton opened a few months ago within LV The Place Bangkok at the newly-renovated Gaysorn Amarin. The location - Amarin Plaza - holds memories for me from decades ago when the Parental Units lived in Bangkok. They used to entertain at the Heritage Club on the top floor of the building, and I had occasionally also dined at the McDonald's downstairs - which had been the first one in Thailand, where the prices were shockingly unaffordable by local standards back in the day.

These days Louis Vuitton has taken over a corner of the shopping mall, and in addition to a café on the ground floor, they've opened this restaurant inside the boutique. Now it's my turn to check this place out, and I invited a friend along. Neither of us came dressed in Vuitton like many of the other patrons. In fact, I don't think I don't own any item from them...

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To no one's surprise, the iconic Louis Vuitton monogram is everywhere... including on the display plates which, like all the ceramics in the house, were custom made in Arita (有田). By the way, that leather Vivienne napkin ring? Not a souvenir you can keep from the meal. You can probably buy it from the boutique, though...

Scorching Bangkok day 4: ice, rice, baby

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I got out of my hotel reasonably early to run an errand. I had forgotten my notebook computer at home, and a kind soul who happened to travel to Bangkok had brought it with him to his hotel, so I got myself a car and traveled to Bang Na to pick it up.

I needed some breakfast this morning, and since the fish ball noodle shop recommended by a local isn't open, I figured I'll just go back to Ta Chai Sukhothai Noodles (ตาชัยก๋วยเตี๋ยวสุโขทัย), where Indian Hairy Legs brought us to have noodles last year.

As usual, the soup with both fresh and preserved radish comes first.

I chose egg noodles for my Sukhothai noodles (ก๋วยเตี๋ยวสุโขทัย), which I immediately regretted. This was just like the noodles in Cantonese cuisine... I do like the vinegar in the mix together with the ground pork, char siu (叉燒), bean sprouts, and diced string beans. Unfortunately, though, the noodles stuck together in my bowl.

Scorching Bangkok day 3: an Indian-Mexican romance

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I had a stop to make before arriving at my next hotel in the middle of the city. A few days ago I had a long-overdue catchup up with senpai, and he connected me with two alumni from our school. These guys were kind enough to take time out to grab a coffee with me, so we met at Roast in EmQuartier with my luggage in tow.

Moving from the riverside to Sindhorn Midtown Hotel Bangkok is meant to make it easier for me to get around the city, as it's a few minutes away from the Chitlom (ชิดลม) BTS Station. I did take the BTS after my coffee to get to the hotel, which wasn't too painful with my luggage. I needed to do some emergency shopping before dinner tonight, and as centralwOrld was not far away, I was able to get there on foot and back easily.

When my Grab driver chose to abandon my fare because he didn't want to get stuck on Sukhumvit for a short fare, I took the BTS and got off at the station nearest to the restaurant, then hopped on the back of a moto taxi to get to my dinner at Ms. Maria and Mr. Singh

I was initially slated to dine alone, but discovered that someone I had been corresponding with online happened to be in Bangkok at the same time, so I invited him to join me at my table. By the time I arrived at the restaurant, I realized that an additional place had been set for Indian Hairy Legs and he would also be joining me.

This is a casual restaurant where the whole family is welcome, and there's no set menu. I decided to leave the choice of dishes up to Vlad - and later Indian Hairy Legs.

Golgappa : chole mousse / pomegranate panipurri - golgappa (गोलगप्पे) is Dehli-style pani puri (पानी पूरी), and inside the crispy shell we had a mouse of white beans and seafood which was nice and creamy. On the side we had a drink made with pomegranate and green mango, which was savory and acidic with spices.

Scorching Bangkok day 3: Bangkok brasserie

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Woke up to another glorious morning in Bangkok, and I was hungry! So I decided to go down and get breakfast in the hotel, which is served at Riva del Fiume Ristorante. I normally don't care for buffet breakfasts but I wanted to take things easy today. It has been a LONG time since I last took in a meal or a drink by the Chao Phraya River so I decided to get myself a table on the terrace.

I tried to pick up a few things which gave me more of a "local" flavor, but I did start with one of these very pretty butter croissants.

Scorching Bangkok day 2: Isaan with the boys

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Besides coming for the launch of Hairy Legs' new outpost in Bangkok, I'm also spending time hanging out with the Indian Hairy Legs and the boys. In addition to scheduling meals at his restaurants, he promised to take me out for some Thai food. I left the choice entirely up to him, only cautioning that my tolerance for heat is limited.

Not wanting to take me somewhere for fine dining, he chose the Sathorn branch of Baan Somtum (บ้านส้มตำ) as it's relatively close to my hotel. This would be my second Isaan meal in as many days, and I was really looking forward to it. The place was heaving when I arrived, packed with lots of people who looked like they just got off work. Vlad and Rydo made it a foursome for us tonight.

We left the ordering to the person who speaks the best Thai, which is of course Indian Hairy Legs. I am grateful that most of the dishes tonight weren't over the top in terms of fire...

Prawn coconut salad (ตำมะพร้าวอ่อนกุ้งสด) - the place is, after all, called Baan Somtum, so we would try a couple of som tum. This one with pieces of coconut flesh was nice.

Deep fried chicken wings (ปีกไก่ทอด) - who doesn't like fried chicken wings? These were pretty good, so a second order was placed by Vlad, who proceeded not to share it with anyone else.