Metropol memories

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I'm overcome with sadness. After 35 years, our friend's family has made the difficult decision to close down Metropol Restaurant (名都酒樓). While business has recovered from the tough years of 2019 through the Covid pandemic, the family is sitting on unrealized gains on the restaurant space and that math just ain't gonna get better. The restaurant's coming closure before the end of September has been announced, and owners and staff can be proud of the institution that together they have built - hence the use of the term 光榮結業.

While I cannot pinpoint the exact date I first dined here, it would probably have been within the first week or two of me arriving in Hong Kong at the end of May 1995. My office was in Pacific Place then, and it was a regular affair to go to lunch at Metropol whenever visitors from other offices arrived in Hong Kong. What I didn't realize until years later is that the restaurant - part of the Heichinrou (聘珍樓) group which started in Yokohama more than 140 years ago - is owned by the family of an alumnus of my high school in Tokyo.

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The space is large, able to host banquets of 100 tables with at least 10 diners per table. Lunch here is alwas a boisterous affair, as the place would be buzzing for a few hours - building up gradually from 8 a.m. when their breakfast service begins. For our visitors from outside Hong Kong, it's a real culture shock and quite an experience.

Occupy Amber: balls, coins, and acidity

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Five years ago Fish Ball left us, and since then we have taken to keeping a vegetarian diet on this day each year. And every single year at dinner time, we have stepped through the doors of Amber to experience the magic that Richard Ekkebus weaves with no meat and no dairy. Just vegetables and fruit.

This year, though, things are a little different. After holding 2 Michelin stars for 16 years since the introduction of the Michelin Guide for Hong Kong and Macau, Amber was finally inducted into the hallowed halls of restaurants with 3 Michelin stars in the guide's 17th edition. Those of us who know and love him were incredibly happy for Richard and the team. Tonight would be my first opportunity to see him since the promotion.

We opted for the smaller, 6-course menu. I expect to be eating a lot of sourdough bread tonight... so gotta leave some space!

The sommelier gave us very big pours of complimentary Champagne to start, and it was a nice one.

Eric Rodez Blanc de Noirs, Edition 45, dégorgée en Decembre 2023 - nice and lovely on the palate, with a good balance between acidity and ripeness, good depth and a long finish. Classic marmalade on the nose.

Days of chewing carefully: TV chef in da 'hood

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I've been keeping my schedule light this month to make it easier on myself, but I had given Mr. Chichi the finger a few times too many lately, so I agreed to join him at Neighborhood tonight to meet a new friend. Just like it was 3 weeks ago, The Kitchen Nazi wasn't ready when I arrived, and shooed me over to Paragon to grab a drink. I was then introduced to our last-minute companion who would be joining us for dinner.

I did start my evening on the right foot, though, with a Blue Note. I'd always order a drink that's blue.

Days of chewing carefully: why so complicated?

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Nowadays I don't get to see The Compatriot often, as neither of us are in Taiwan much. But he happened to be in Taipei this week so we made last-minute plans to meet up for dinner. I didn't have any place I needed to try, especially given my current condition, so I happily went along with his suggestion of Hosu (好嶼).

I had never heard of the place, but these guys apparently have themselves a Michelin Green Star. They do seem to use exclusively locally-sourced ingredients, with dishes inspired by Taiwanese banquets (辦桌). Well... I'm not really "local" enough and left Taiwan very young, so I don't think I've ever been to a proper 辦桌... So the ingredients and the flavors are gonna be pretty unfamiliar to me.

Our welcome drink was a cup of tea from Yilan (宜蘭) with some plum from last year.

Days of chewing carefully: two beef noodles

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It's not surprising that whenever we are back in Taiwan, one of Foursheets' favorite things to eat is beef noodle soup. Ever since I first introduced her to Lin Dong Fang Beef Noodles (林東芳牛肉麵) back in 2015, it has been a mainstay on her itinerary. She wanted to explore a couple of other places this week, so I let her pick...

We had tried to check out Lao Shan Dong Homemade Noodles (老山東牛肉家常麵店) a few months ago, but it was during the holiday season and there was an impossibly long line to get in. This time around, though, we went on a week night and had no trouble getting in. The place was still buzzing on a Monday night.

Pork and chives dumplings (豬肉韭菜水餃) - thick, hand-rolled wrappers with plenty of bite. Very nice.

Days of chewing carefully: Don't Go

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We have a visitor staying with us for a few days, and this was her very first trip to Taiwan. Naturally, we were eager to introduce her to some good, authentic Taiwanese cuisine. We were sitting in a taxi en route to our go-to casual Taiwanese when I suddenly thought of the delicious braised pork rice (滷肉飯) at My灶. It's a very popular place and normally not easy to book on short notice, but I picked up the phone to call them anyway. Much to my surprise, they had a spare table available. I immediately asked the taxi driver to turn around.

Stir-fried white water snowflake (炒水蓮) - this is always a good idea in Taiwan. I love this fibrous and crunchy veg, and pretty nice stir-fried with some mushrooms.

Days of chewing carefully: lost and found

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We're meeting up with the Parental Units tonight, and we chose to check out a place not far from their home. I may or may not have dined at A Gan Bistro (阿甘小館) before, but if I did it would have been close to 20 years ago. This was yet another recommendation from Little Rabbit, and I was looking forward to finding a place suitable for mom.

The place was busy on a Sunday night, and while the boss lady was too busy to stay and chit chat, she nevertheless was patient enough and entertained our request for the kitchen to dispense with MSG during cooking.

Coldcut chicken in Taiwanese style (鹽焗雞) - UMMMM, NO, this is NOT salt-baked chicken. It was, however, a very, very good steamed chicken (白斬雞). It was so, soooo tender, with that beautiful layer of jelly between the skin and the meat. The fact that it was a whole leg including the upper thigh was a plus, and seasoning it with some sesame oil made it even better. This is something I'd like to buy and take back to Hong Kong.

Days of chewing carefully: a homey lunch

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I'm back home in Taiwan for a week for my long-postponed dental surgery, and I would get just one meal between arrival last night and the dreaded procedure. Little Rabbit had recommended a place to eat chicken to Foursheets, so we trekked across town to have ourselves a quick lunch at Warm Home (溫暖好家).

Oyster mushroom three-cup sauce (三杯杏鮑菇) - pretty happy with this vegetarian version.

Venezuelans in Peru

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I've been a fan of Virgilio Martinez's and Pia Leon's for a number of years now, ever since Virgilio took up Richard Ekkebus' invitation for a collaboration at Amber. I have, sadly, never made my way to Central... having cancelled my trip to Peru three times for various reasons.

I should have been excited when MAZ opened in Tokyo, and it was the closest I could get to Virgilio's cuisine after I stopped visiting Ichu in Hong Kong. But I've had other priorities on my last few trips to Tokyo...

So I was pretty excited when MONO announced that they were doing a collaboration with MAZ. Thankfully seats were still available when I found out, and I invited a couple of friends along. Chef Santiago Fernandez who - like Ricardo - is also Venezuelan brought along greetings from Virgilio.

Miolo Cuvée Tradition Brut - this is always easy to drink, with light acidity on the palate.

The cuisine from Central and, by extension, MAZ is expressed as a journey through various altitudes or ecosystems. So it was with our menu tonight.

Sea floor

Fish maw empanada - accented with some guasacaca on top, with a sofrito inside made with fish maw. This was OK, as the fish maw didn't have much flavor and just added texture.

Cherry-popping 2025, episode 3

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While I was having my worst meal of 2025 a few months ago, I found out that Sporty Cousin had never dined at The Chairman (大班樓) and really wanted to. I wasted no time in grabbing a table so that Sporty Cousin could get his wish, so here we are tonight.

I knew that Sporty Cousin would be bringing a couple of frineds who, like him, were coming for the first time. So I let them choose the dishes they wanted to have, although I made a few suggestions. I also told them about a dish I would not allow to be on the menu tonight.

Crispy taro cake with smoked duck (茘甫鴨盒) - one of the classics here, although I felt that the taro mash tonight wasn't so fluffy on top and didn't look as beautiful as it normally would, and the oil used to fry this tasted a little old. However, the water chestnuts were still nice and crunchy, the smoky flavors of the duck still familiar, and this was definitely better with the aged vinegar on the side.

Champagne and pasta

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It's been a couple of weeks, but our good friends the Birdiegolfs still wanted to celebrate my birthday with me. I wasn't very particular about the venue this year, but when Locanda was suggested as one of the choices, I immediately asked whether they could still serve the black truffle carbonara that I had missed out on right before my birthday. Ahleeso checked with the chef, and happily reported back that they were still able to do it.

Locanda is a restaurant that Foursheets and I like well enough, but somehow we don't go there enough because it doesn't pop up in our heads when we think of places to go. That needs to change. We also need to make our first visit to Aedes Wine and Pasta Bar next door.

Gavin had forgotten that we are friends with Ahleeso, so he was a little surprised to see me walk in tonight. I hope that makes up for not answering his call on the black truffle dinner.

Culatello di Zibello D.O.P. - we needed something to go with our Champagne, and this is always a good idea.

Mushroom Forest

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The Kitchen Nazi pinged and asked if I was doing anything tonight. I know he had just been on a trip to Yunnan and came back with a haul of mushrooms, and my ever-generous friend wanted to share. For a split second I thought this was an invitation for a home dinner, but of course it would make much more sense for him to do this at Neighborhood. He extended the invitation to a few other friends, but we kinda had to figure out who else was coming by asking each other.

And he didn't tell me what time to show up. Same with a couple of other friends. So typical.

Those of us who arrived earlier than expected were shooed away to Paragon around the corner, because the boss wasn't quite ready for us. So a bunch of us sat around the bar while Foursheets nursed a drink, until we were called over to take our seats at our table.

Peanuts and pine nuts - well... I guess our dishes still weren't ready, because for a while all we had to eat were these peanuts and pine nuts from Yunnan. I guess they went well with the Dom Rosé that we started drinking...