16 hours in Osaka: Kanazawa in Osaka

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We have 1 night in Osaka - a city I hadn't been to since 1998 - and need a place to eat. Fergie has promised to buy me dinner, but surprisingly didn't have any suggestions on the venue. Well... the couple of places I've been wanting to hit in Osaka for years are either booked out for the evening or not open. I turned to the ever-trusty Tabelog and did a quick search. Much to my surprise, I was able to book seats at the counter for the four of us with two days' notice at a place with Tabelog Bronze Award and a Michelin star.

The second seating on a Sunday night at Higashichaya Nakamura (東茶屋 なかむら) finds us seated next to three friends of the chef who had brought their own bottles of wine. I had never heard of the place until two days ago, so I didn't have much expectations other than the approval and recognitions it had received. Besides, I wasn't the one paying for the meal, anyway...

Chef Nakamura Manabu (中村学) hails from Ishikawa Prefecture (石川県), known for their great produce around Kanazawa (金沢) and Noto Peninsula (能登半島). Having trained in a number of estasblishments with Michelin stars in Kansai, he is known for bringing most of the seafood ingredients from his home region. Displayed prominently behind him tonight was a bottle collecting charity donations for the victims of the Noto Peninsula earthquake on January 1st of 2024.

Appetizer: lotus root, Japanese horsehair crab, sea urchin (先付: 蓮根 毛蟹 雲丹) - this was a pretty presentation on a large lotus leaf, which was sprayed with some water to create that look with summer rain drops on the leaves.

16 hours in Osaka: cold sake on a hot summer day

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Fergie pinged me two days ago, telling me there's been a change in his travel plans. Would I be able to join him for a short visit to Daimon Brewery (大門酒造) today? Well, I did have plans to meet up with Rikachu for lunch today, but I realized this visit was probably more important... So I apologized to my friends for bailing on them and made my travel arrangements.

After shoving some contraband into my check-in luggage, Fergie and I made our way to The Bridge. I haven't been here since this lounge re-opened, and I quickly got myself some breakfast.

I had seen friends post about the new biangbiang noodle (𰻞𰻞麵) offered at the lounge, which was in addition to the usual dandan noogle (擔擔麵). I figured I needed to check it out, and while some of the noodles stuck together as expected, the minced pork sauce was nice and spicy with the fragrance from Sichuan peppercorns.

Sweet drinks (are made of this)

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I had been looking forward to the new desserts that Astoria and the team had been developing at Caprice, and had the idea of doing a casual dinner at the Caprice Bar where I could try them all at once. I had to wait a few weeks until the new desserts all passed their internal taste tests, which was apparently done over last weekend. So I got myself a table for tonight, allowing me to catch Hairy Legs before he left for the summer.

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Anyss greeted us upon our arrival, and he was pretty excited to show us the new cocktails and the presentation format. Since we're on his turf tonight, we decided to order cocktails with our dinner for a change.

I Can't Drive _ _

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It’s that time of the year again, and I’m grateful that Foursheets flew halfway around the world to be back for this dinner. Just as I did last year, I chose to spend this night at my beloved Ta Vie 旅, as there were a few dishes I really wanted to have.

I chose not to dine here during the period when they were serving their 10th anniversary menu, featuring their “greatest hits” since opening, so I knew there was a good chance I wouldn’t be able to have the exact menu served to me tonight. Sato-san did, however, agree to serve me some of those dishes as part of the special menu he selected for me – interspersing the classics between new, seasonal dishes.

I’m also grateful that such a fine dining establishment would be open for business on a Sunday with the chef in the kitchen. That made my choice of restaurant much easier.

Nukazuke (糠漬け) bread – this little bread has been part of the journey on every single occasion, ever since the restaurant’s opening. I shall never tire of starting the meal by tearing open this piping hot bundle.

Snacks with an Accent

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The Great One pinged me asking whether I'd be interested in attending a four-hands collaboration between Chef Shantanu Mehrotra of Indian Accent and Chef Gaurav Kulhari of Chaat. She would be in Europe for the festivities in advance of The World's 50 Best Restaurants, but had been told that she could pass along her invitation to someone else.

As Foursheets is halfway around the world, I needed to find a dining companion willing to put up with me for a couple of hours. Thankfully The Man in White T-shirt was available and curious enough, so I didn't have to be the loner for the day. 

We are treading on B Bestie's turf, so I wasn't the least bit surprised to find that lunch had turned into dinner service for us. Thankfully I don't have anything planned for dinner since I'm home alone. B Bestie also very smartly kept me away from the table he was actually hosting for lunch...

Khakhra, vatana, chutneys, from Indian Accent - the flavors of the Gujarati khakra (ખાખરા) shell were now familiar to me after the few visits I paid The Bombay East Indian Girl last year, and here we've got some peas inside, with yogurt and tamarind chutney, and finally bits of dhokla (ઢોકળાં) on top with a tiny piece of avocado.

Funky Aussies

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Monsieur Jamin and the Film Buff have been talking about doing a dinner where all the wines tasted would be Aussie. Not only that, these would include some very off-beat, small production, highly sought-after gems that most wine lovers have never heard of. They invited me to join their shindig and, since the cat's away this week, this mouse decided that he would play.

We took a private room at Ming Court (明閣) Wanchai for the ten of us. I am, of course, aware that there's been a Wanchai outlet for this well-regarded restaurant for a few years now, but this part of town remains largely off my dining map. I'm glad to have had the opportunity to see how it compares with the "original" in Mongkok.

We started the evening with the crispy trio (脆香三疊), which I thought was perfect as a snack to go with some wines:

Fried cashew nuts with garlic salt and black pepper (蒜鹽黑椒腰果)

Fried lotus root chips with salt (鹽香脆藕片) - this was perfect as a snack to go with our wines, as the flavors were relatively neutral but one could taste the oil used in deep-frying... and that's just so satisfying.

Sweetened walnuts (琥珀甜桃仁) - I can never stop eating these once there's a bowl of it within my reach...

Smoked with delicious fat

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One of the restaurants in Shenzhen that I had heard good things about is Fumée (拂鳴). I had yet to pay them a visit as I'm still in the discovery stage with regard to the city across the border, and I have naturally focused on restaurants serving various schools of Chinese cuisine. I figured I'd get around to it eventually. When Mr. Chichi asked whether I'd be interested in joining a group tasting on a Sunday night, it didn't take me long to say 'Yes'.

After taking a detour on account of my stupidity, we arrived at the restaurant just before the appointed time. Our group was seating along the counter facing the kitchen, and I had the good fortune to keep the Kitchen Nazi company. He's always fun with eat with.

Our evening started with some Champagne...

Christophe Mignon ADN de Meunier Brut Nature, dégorgée le 20 Mai 2020 - initially this was served much too cold, a common mistake, so there wasn't much showing on the nose except for a little minerals. Got a little better once it warmed up with a little more depth on the palate.

Chef Reina Chen explained that she was serving us a spring menu, with ingredients reflecting the flavors she associates with the season. We would start with something refreshing:

We were shown some of the 9 ingredients used to make our welcome drink, including cardamom and "leaves from the forest".

This smelled of guava and pine or cypress... definitely very green. Nice and refreshing.

A classic Hong Kong experience

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Mikacina is back in town, and I was excited to have the opportunity to show her something more "local" than the other places she had on her itinerary. It would only the second trip here for Mr. P, and I was eager to let him experience more of what we love about Hong Kong. Rather than taking them to a cha chaan teng (茶餐廳), I opted for a slightly more comfy experience at Ho Hung Kee (何洪記). After all, it's a place that Foursheets and I visit from time to time by ourselves. I jokingly told Mikacina that she could have "Michelin-starred congee" when I first suggested the place, but she didn't take me seriously, and didn't realize until she arrived that the restaurant does, in fact, hold a Michelin star.

We were placed in a cozy booth just next to the restaurant entrance, which had been decorated with a flower motif. A somewhat romantic touch I did not expect from this place...

Foursheets and I proposed a few items that I thought were classics and visitors should experience, and after getting our friends' approval - including for items Mr. P did not think he would enjoy - we placed the order.

Assorted meat congee with sliced fish (羊城荔灣艇仔粥) - well, this IS one of the classic congees, and our Korean guests enjoyed it a lot. It's clearly very different from Korean porridge, and the varied ingredients like sliced fish, squid tentacles, jellyfish, shredded pork, peanuts... etc. make for an interesting mix.

Hot in the city

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I seldom have hankering for hotpot meals in restaurants. Besides the soup base - and often I would prefer something clear or even plain water - it's mostly about the ingredients. There isn't much cooking skill involved, and I freely admit to having next to none in that department. I'm almost always joining friends or family when I find myself at a hotpot restaurant. So it was the case today... when Mr. Chichi extended a rare invitation to join him for Beijing-style lamb hotpot (涮羊肉).

Having spent a lot less time in Central over the last year or so, I've been oblivious to the opening of Peking Hotpot (新京熹老北京涮肉火鍋) - a genuine Beijing import. I had, in fact, walked past it last month without taking much notice. But since Mr. Chichi is organizing, I figured I'd get to have a pretty good experience - and a lot of food.

We have the hotpot with traditional clear broth (傳統清湯鍋).

We were presented with the array of condiment sauce (搭檔小料), and I love the traditional sesame sauce.

Rush, rush

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My friendly neighborhood prime broker wanted to take me out to lunch in order to celebrate my new job, and also as an early celebration of our birthdays. She was rambling about some restaurant she'd never been to... when she suddenly lamented that she hadn't been back to The Chairman (大班樓) in a long time. Well... I decided to grow some thick skin and begged for a table - which was how we ended up here today.

Lunching at The Chairman is something I have seldom done, unless it's a weekend or I'm not working. Imagine showing up here today and immediately recognizing people at a few neighboring tables. I guess I don't live the same leisurely life as those people... but that's OK.

I left the choice of dishes entirely in the hands of my broker a.k.a. the Landlord. I thought she would consult with her colleagues before making the choices, but I was wrong. There were a few dishes that I would not have picked, that I didn't care for, but I bit my tongue. This lunch was about making someone else happy, and it had nothing to do with me.

Cold squid noodle and lily bulbs with pine nut gazpacho (魷魚涼麵百合配松子凍湯) - no, this isn't Cantonese cuisine. It's more Japanese and Korean, and that chilled pine nut cream is just so refreshing on a warm day. Those petals of 9-year-old lily bulb from Lanzhou (蘭州) is just so crunchy with incredibly high sugar content.