Saved by the sticks

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It was a little more than 2 years ago that I last saw Egon Müller IV in Hong Kong, at an amazing tasting featuring wines from his family estate Weingut Egon Müller - Scharzhof as well as those from Domaine Trimbach. When DaRC asked whether I would be interested in joining a tasting of his wines that is being organized by ORD Fine Wines, I immediately said "Yes". I do recall, with much fondness, the previous time I attended such a tasting just before the pandemic. This time, though, there would be some red wines at the tasting so it won't be just riesling.

The three of us showed up at the new home of Palco inside Heritage 1881. I know the restaurant only by name, but I figured simple Italian food would be fine... I would be wrong.

We started with a glass of welcome drink while waiting for everyone to arrive. As I sat in my seat while others mingled, I received a message from the Zhongmeister that he was here, too, together with some mutual friends. So I, too, got up and mingled. That was when I realized that Egon was not here. Apparently he needed to be at the estate, so his daughter Isabelle came in his place.

2021 Château Belá Štúrovo Riesling - nice, classic nose of petrol and white truffle. A little sweetish on the palate but still got the acidity.

We finally sat down and started dinner more than 40 minutes late... and I was starving.

My worst meal of 2025

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Yes, I'm well aware that only 3 months of the year has passed... but I very much doubt that any meal I will have during the rest of 2025 will be as bad as my dinner tonight.

Sporty Cousin has been working in Foshan (佛山) for a few years now, and used to visit 102 House (壹零貳小館) during the initial pandemic years when they still operated solely out of Foshan. As he was a frequent guest of the restaurant, I was planning to go and visit him 2 years ago, just after the borders reopened between Hong Kong and the rest of Mainland China. But before I had the chance to do so, it was announced that the original restaurant would cease operations - apparently due to the village house being scheduled for demolition.

I first heard about the restaurant in January 2018, when they did their first collaboration with The Chairman (大班樓). I remember being so impressed with the passion shown by Chef Xu Jingye (徐泾业)  as we were told stories about their research into classic Cantonese recipes. Everything at that meal was new and tasty, so I had a really good impression of the team.

While a number of friends subsequently took the trip to Foshan during the following 2 years - before China's borders closed in January 2020 - I never made the effort. I also missed some opportunities to check out their Shanghai location, which by now has 2 Michelin stars and had just taken the No.29 spot on Asia's 50 Best Restaurants. So when Sporty Cousin messaged me a few days ago and asked whether I'd be up for dinner in Foshan tonight, during the week-long "private kitchen" stint when Xu Jingye and manager Yao Min are back in town, I didn't hesitate. I immediately booked my train tickets, and even arranged to buy a few bottles from a wine shop in Guangdong to be shipped to Foshan for this dinner - given that Foursheets and I could only carry 2 bottles of wine across the border without paying duty.

But... I did had some reservations in the back of my mind. V has been a regular over the last few years in Shanghai, and told me that the cooking has gotten significantly worse in recent days. Apparently it has been so poor that he was bitching out Chef Xu during his visits, and then stopped going altogether. Another fellow foodie has also warned me that the kitchen in Shanghai is on a downward trajectory, has also bitched out Chef Xu during their visits, but didn't think that I would have a bad meal in Foshan.

Unfortunately for the six of us, we all left the restaurant fuming. I had heard from my friends that Chef Xu no longer cooks in the kitchen - which isn't a problem if the kitchen team can deliver. Saffron Bae a.k.a. Hairy LS is often galloping around the world taking after his idol Monsieur LS, but the kitchen team at Caprice still delivers impeccable dishes without him. Well... I saw Chef Xu out and about in the courtyard, so it's doubtful he spent much time in the kitchen tonight.

Pan-fried Chinese white shrimp (干煎大明蝦) - we were all a little surprised that there were no "starters" and the meal began with these giant shrimp. The use of tomato ketchup in the preparation is a familiar one, if not quite traditional Cantonese.

Disappointing Russian department store

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I haven't been so disappointed in a restaurant in a long, long time. 

After the start of the Year of the Ox, we finally stopped working from home and working life went back to "normal".  I decided to take the team - the ones who are in Hong Kong, anyway - to lunch to kick off the new year.  While I originally thought about going somewhere just across the street from our office, I decided to venture a few blocks further and booked ourselves into Restaurant de Chine (中華匯館).  It's been 3 years since my last visit, but these guys have always delivered.  

What a mistake that was.

While I wanted to treat the team to a nice lunch, I was still a little conscious of budget since I'm not the boss, so I avoided any dish which charged per serving.  At a place like this, though, I still expected to come out happy without ordering anything really premium.

The trouble started when I began ordering.  A couple of dishes I wanted weren't available.  Then a couple more.  I got frustrated and asked our server point-blank which dishes I was able to order.  She didn't know.  After thinking that I was done ordering, she came back to the table to tell me that two more dishes were unavailable.

At this point I turned to specific menu pages and asked her to recommend substitutes for the dishes that weren't available.  On a particular page, only 2 or 3 options were available out of 10.  It was the same with another page.  She recommended dishes which were either charging by the serving (read: expensive) or completely uninteresting to me.  The restaurant manager, who undoubtedly was in a better position to help me order, was too chicken shit to come face the wrath that was building in me.  I was having déjà vu of this dinner from many years ago...

Barbecued Kagoshima Chami pork (鹿兒島茶美豚叉燒) - the best dish today.  At least they never disappoint with this one... The marbling just make it so tender and tasty.

Coulda, woulda, shoulda

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I was looking for something to do tonight while Hello Kitty would be out with her friends, and I figured that V might want some company while he is still home alone.  Given that we only started to discuss this yesterday, figuring out where to go eat turned out to be a challenge - especially when I didn't want to ask for any favors from chef friends.  On a Thursday night, I called 7 different restaurants for a table of 2 for dinner on Friday, and all of them were full.

I was happy that the hospitality industry was doing good business, but I still didn't have a place to eat and enjoy some wines.  Getting desperate, I suggested we go somewhere Chinese - specifically, Shanghainese.  The two choices I offered were Liu Yuan Pavilion (留園雅聚) and Jardin de Jade (蘇浙匯).  As my one and only visit was some 10 years ago, I decided to book a table at the latter, thinking it would be a little more modern.  Three of us - Hello Kitty included by now - would try to have a chill evening out.

I started to regret my choice of restaurant as soon as I started flipping through the menu.  This place is supposed serve Shanghainese cuisine, but there were a bunch of dishes typically seen on Sichuanese menus... and I also found a few Canto dishes - and even an Indonesian fried prawn cake!  I knew then that I should lower my expectations - even though the Rubberman has given this place a macaron since the 2013 edition of their guide.

Marinated chicken with Shaoxing wine (花雕醉雞) - I usually order this for Hello Kitty.  This was OK.

Black fungus and cucumber with red chillies (魯拌雲耳) - another thing I know Hello Kitty likes.  OK lah... not too spicy.

Disappointing fat bastard

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After resting up a little in the hotel, it was time to head to dinner.  I had asked some people for suggestions on Sunday dinner in London, and one of the places mentioned was Claude Bosi at Bibendum.  Not having stepped foot in London for more than a decade, naturally I haven't paid much attention to Claude Bosi as a chef.  As a matter of fact, the last time I dined at Bibendum was more than two decades ago!

But... around the time I was looking to book dinner, there was talk that this place could be promoted to 3 stars by... Bibendum, of course!  As the announcement was due to come this past Monday, I figured that if the promotion actually happened, I would be among the first to dine here after the promotion.  That sounded kinda cool.

I was rather surprised that we chose the 'surprise menu' featuring 6 courses.  I thought for sure we would end up doing à la carte...

Bibendum black olive – crushing it inside the mouth delivers a liquid dose of ratatouille and basil. This was really, really good.

Why I don't go to brand new restaurants, episode 2

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Mikacina is in town for a few days, and we figured we'd take her out for some Cantonese food.  The Great One had two new places she needed to review, and suggested that we tag along with her.  Apparently one of the hotels wasn't picking up the phone when she tried to call, so we ended up getting at table at Rùn (潤) in the brand new St. Regis Hong Kong.

Since I knew absolutely nothing about the restaurant, I did a quick search on the chef. Apparently Chef Hung Chi-Kwong (洪志光) was last at Man Wah (文華廳) in the Mandarin Oriental Hong Kong, and Cuisine Cuisine (國金軒) at the Mira before that.  Although neither are among my handful of favorites, both are quality establishments I've enjoyed dining in.  So I was very curious about the offerings.

Hello Kitty and I arrived a little after Mikacina and The Great One.  They had a welcome drink sitting in front of them, but I guess the staff just didn't remember to bring ours.  Or maybe you only get it when you're on time for your reservation.

The four of us tried to flip through the menu, but honestly at first glance it didn't look very inspiring.  As with a first visit to any decent Cantonese restaurant, we wanted to try out their char siu (叉燒).  We were told they had run out.  This was before 8 p.m. on a week night, and that's just not acceptable.  I had flashbacks of this meal from a few years ago...

We started with a couple of amuse bouche:

Green beans with sesame sauce

Deep-fried shrimp cake with spicy sauce - we were told that this was drenched in "Singaporean sauce (星洲汁)", but what the hell is that???

When a chef makes you cry

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A friend was kind enough to pick up a bottle of gin for Hello Kitty while on a trip to London, and we agreed to meet up for lunch so that I could take delivery.  Sushi Shin (鮨辰) is a place he frequents, and since I had only been there once back in 2010, I was happy to catch up with him there.

My friend arrived a few minutes before I did, and I found him seated at the counter.  I imagine the chef already knows what he goes for, and he's informed the chef about my no-tuna policy.  Off we go with some sashimi.

Young yellowtail (ハマチ) - smoked with cherry wood.

Another Prüm evening

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Some 6 years after the first time, I was once again at a wine dinner with Dr. Katharina Prüm - the winemaker of Weingut Joh. Jos. Prüm.  I didn't hesitate to sign up when I first found out about it, because I've been such a big fan of their wines.  The added bonus was that tonight's dinner was held at Zhejiang Heen (浙江軒), a Shanghainese restaurant with a Michelin star that I have never been to.

The crowd tonight was much larger than I had expected, which was a testament to the success of the organizing wine merchant.  I arrived late and Dr. Prüm was already in the middle of her speech.  Pretty soon the waitstaff would start to bring out food from the kitchen, following the preset menu.

Zhejiang Heen signature appetizers: smoked fish, black fungi in Zhejiang vinegar, pickled radish, Ningbo crispy fried eels, transparent bean noodles with shredded chicken, smoked egg (浙江軒冷盤：長江燻魚, 香醋雲耳, 醬香蘿蔔, 寧波脆鱔, 雞絲粉皮. 煙燻蛋) - so we start out with a plate full of different appetizers.  The smoked fish was not too sweet, had a pretty crunchy exterior but remained pretty soft inside.  Black fungus came with good acidity from the vinegar.  The pickled radish was pretty salty with a little sweetness and a hint of spice on the finish.  The crispy eels were pretty tasty.  The noodles were OK, and the smoked egg wasn't bad.

(not so) Happy sushi

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For the last few years, I found myself eating less and less sushi in Hong Kong.  Unlike many of my friends, I rarely develop a craving for it.  Since I can find good sushi in Taipei that is just as good or better - and at a significant discount to the prices in Hong Kong - I've kinda been getting my sushi fix there instead.

As a result, I no longer know where to get good sushi in Hong Kong.  Realizing that there's a gaping hole in the dining experiences documented here, I decided it was time for me to check out a few places in town.  A friend suggested that we do lunch at Kishoku (楽) - one of the places often mentioned when it comes to sushi, and a winner of the Top 10 Restaurant Award from WOM guide in the category of Japanese (Sushi).

I didn't want to have a real heavy lunch, so I opted for the deluxe sushi platter (寿司盛り合わせ).  I also specified - as usual - that I didn't want any cut of tuna.

The bowl of appetizer contained chopped mixed seafood - different cuts of fish and shellfish - in a sesame and horseradish sauce.  Not bad, but I was a little surprised by the kick from the horseradish.

The salad was about as expected.

Getting fat with wasted calories

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Everyone who goes to Singapore ends up going for some type of local eats, most of which are cheap and cheerful.  I myself have my own list of place to hit, and it's still growing with each new trip I make.  But the reality is that Singapore, like any other city, has its fair share of crap restaurants.  For someone who is looking at restarting his diet, who desperately wants to make all the calories count, this can be infuriating.  There's nothing, ABSOLUTELY NOTHING, worse than having consumed a bunch of high caloric, fatty foods and didn't even taste good.

My first crap meal came while we were doing an excursion to Pulau Ubin, an under-developed island off the north-east cape of Singapore.  It was past 1pm and we were all a little tired, hot, and starving.  We had initially planned to take the ferry back to Changi Village and find a place there to eat, but for some reason my relatives decided to stop at the first restaurant they saw...

Season Live Seafood (海味活海鮮) is as obvious a tourist trap as I have ever seen.  It's only or so away from all the bicycle rental shops and 2 or 3 minutes away from the ferry jetty.  Anyone looking for half-decent food would normally have alarm bells sounding off in one's head about places like this.  But I decided not to protest...

Fried you tiao (炸油條) - these deep-fried Chinese crullers stuffed with cuttlefish paste failed.  Too dry from having been fried too long, and these also seemed to have been left out for a little while.

Miles away from La Boqueria

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A few of us had missed out on a particular dinner 2 weeks ago, and were fortunate to have been re-invited to dine at Boqueria by the responsible PR person.  This is apparently related the New York chain, which was supposedly inspired by the best tapas bars of Barcelona, such as Pinotxo.  I've always loved tapas and pintxos when they're done well, and so even though I don't normally attend these PR meals, I happily joined the event since I pretty much knew everyone else attending.

I was running late as a client had invited me for drinks across the harbor, and I dashed back while glowing red from a few shots of Lagavulin 16.  I was seeing via Twitter that most others were going to be late, too, when I received the earth-shattering news that Your Highness had actually arrived on time (or at least before the rest of us)!  Anyone who knows Your Highness will know that, that NEVER happens…  As the Chinese will say, 太陽從西邊出來了!

Anyway, I managed to find my way to our table, greeted everyone around me and waited for the food to arrive… I accepted a glass of white sangria, but wasn't in the mood for more alcohol just yet.

Third and last visit

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It was supposed to be a quiet evening at home, but I got called out by the parental units to have dinner with them and some friends.  Since there's nothing fancy around my run-down hood, dad suggested we go to Le Palais (頤宮) since it's the closest nice restaurant we could think of.

It was a late casual dinner, so we each ordered something.  I could detect that service was a little off today, as we were assigned to a very small table that wouldn't fit more than 3 dishes despite the restaurant being half-empty.  We were also not given any complimentary appetizers other than the fruit vinegar.  We did ask to switch to a bigger table and were much more comfortable afterwards.

Another horrible excuse of a restaurant

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OK, I wasn't gonna blog about tonight's dinner.  It was pretty bad, but at first I didn't feel the need to stomp and crush on a restaurant that obviously isn't doing good business.  But... the more I thought about it, the more I felt the restaurant doesn't deserve to survive.  If this is the kind of food you serve, you deserve to go out of business.  Harsh?  Sure.  But that's the reality, isn't it?

I was meeting a couple of people for dinner, and my friend suggested to give Portofino a try.  Apparently the place had been open for a few years just around the corner from the current location, and it used to be decent.  Well, definitely wasn't the case tonight, and since we were one of only two tables this evening... I'm thinking that others feel the same way.

Seafood disaster

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I had long read about Osteria by Angie from a few local blogs - apparently it is one of the newer and popular restaurants in town.  As I continue to eat my way across Taipei, in search of newer discoveries, it was inevitable that I would tick this off my list of places to try.  So when my Very Very Very Single Friend (added a third "Very" at his request) asked me where I wanted to go, I didn't even hesitate before blurting out the name of this place.

I arrived on time despite having been warned by the Very Very Very Single Friend that he would be late, and for the rest of us to start first.  I gave the bottle of wine to a waiter and asked for it to be opened.  The cork was promptly pulled out, and the bottle marked with a sticker to indicate which table it belonged to.  But it was left on a counter far, far away from me.

I saw a couple of decanters on the shelf, and proceeded to ask a waiter to have the bottle decanted.  The junior flunky probably knows absolutely nothing about wine, and didn't really know what I was talking about.  His fellow senior waiter got the message, and proceeded to give the flunky a decanter and told him to dump the wine in it.  And dump he did... every last drop from the bottle... in about 10 seconds.  Thankfully this was a Burg from a relatively weak vintage, and there wasn't any visible sediment.  Sigh...

The dinner that never was

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I do think I'm a little cursed recently. I was on the receiving end of some sub-par service at one of my favorite restaurants for my birthday last week, and tonight I had the rudest service from a restaurant that I've ever had in my entire life.  For only the second time in my life, I stormed out of a restaurant without having eaten a single bite, on account of rude and/or arrogant staff.

I was very much looking forward to getting together with my friends, as I haven't seen them in over a year.  I definitely wanted to see Rickachu before I left town, and they had decided to book tonight's dinner at g.e.  (it's supposed to stand for "gastronomy extraordinary", but believe me, the only thing extraordinary about this place has nothing to do with the food...)  Anyway, I was a little curious and wanted to check this place out, as the chef is ex-Kee Club and had apparently spent time in the kitchen of El Bulli.  I will just say that I went to Kee Club for dinner once a few years ago, and had some of that "molecular" cuisine, and never bothered to return.

Slaughtering fat sheep

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I finally had a chance to meet up with Tigger's family to wish them happy new year, on the 8th day of the year of the rabbit.  I had expected a dinner at home, but as it turned out we went to Tenzen (天膳).  This family keeps coming here for dinner, for reasons that are completely foreign to me.  I have always found the food to be mediocre at best, and never found any reason to choose them over any of a dozen other places in town.

Conseillantes and Colgins

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I was invited by the Specialist to join a wine tasting tonight.  Hong Kong Wine Vault invited Jean-Michel Laporte, Director of Château La Conseillante, to host a vertical tasting.  I had met Jean-Michel on the trip to Bordeaux last year, and I introduced myself and chatted with him for a little while.

The line-up tonight was:

2009 Duo de Conseillante - very ripe and sweet, a bit of sandalwood, alcoholic, tangerine, a bit of toffee and a little tropical.

2009 La Conseillante - a lot more blackcurrant, minty, coffee, sweet and tropical, almost coconut, a bit of smoke and stewed dates.  

2008 La Conseillante - initially nose of rubber, relatively closed with some smoke.  Gradually opened up with some sweet fruit.  I had tasted this wine at the château last year and liked it a lot better.

2006 La Conseillante - very fruity, ripe and upfront, quite enjoyable.  Almost jammy with a little smoked meats.

2005 La Conseillante - so ripe and sweet, minty, tangerine, smoke, very concentrated but tannins are starting to soften.  Some blackcurrant jam.  Very lovely.

2001 La Conseillante - nose was a bit stewed, more smoky, and amazingly there was plenty of sweetness underneath the smoky cloak.  Smoked game meats, too.  Not bad at all.

1998 La Conseillante - a very pleasant wine.  Nose of spices and herbs, green bell peppers, and a little smoky.  Velvety and sweet on the palate.

1990 La Conseillante - a very lovely wine.  Elegant, sweet, fruity with pine needle.  Very complex and nicely woven together.  On palate it is obvious that the wine has aged.  Notes of black pepper and a hint of brett.  Palate was definitely tired, and the wine died horribly at the end.  It was like falling off a cliff...

Dinner time rolled around and we adjourned to the Hong Kong Golf Club in nearby Deep Water Bay.  The deal I struck with the Specialist was that I'd bring the wines and she'd buy dinner, and I had originally requested to have dinner at places like Caprice and Pierre.  Oh well...

Speaking of wines... I was pretty shocked when the Specialist requested that I bring out some of my Colgins, given her general abhorrence for Californian wines.  Apparently she had a chance to meet Ann Colgin and wanted to learn more about Ann's wines.  So I obliged, knowing full-well how the evening would end up...

I placed the two bottles on the table and took out my long-forgotten wine thermometer to check the temperature.  The Specialist and her friend joked that the wines were feverish and I was playing doctor.  Well, as Jeannie Cho Lee pointed out in an article in the South China Morning Post today - which I whole-heartedly agree with - red wines at room temperature in Asia is simply too warm.  Sure enough, the thermometer read 26 degrees Celsius - a whole 10 degrees warmer than the suggested serving temperature!  

I poured the first wine into our glasses, and lifted mine to take a whiff.  Whoa!  Nothing but bleach in the nose, like I was smelling Chlorox!  After smelling the other glasses I felt sure it wasn't the wine, but the detergent or whatever cleaning agent left in my glass.  I was pretty bummed about wasting that first pour as they gave me a new glass.

I still thought the wines were too warm, so I dunked the bottles into an ice bucket for a few minutes, and they drank a little better.  The Specialist agreed that the wines got better on the palate, but felt that the nose became more "restrained" at the lower temperature.  I respectfully disagreed but, hey, what do I know anyway... She's the one with the famous boss!

2001 Colgin Cabernet Sauvignon Herb Lamb Vineyard - alcoholic, smoky, almost like burnt candle wick and wax.  Pretty sweet on the palate, but burns as it goes down the back of the throat.  Also coffee grinds and toffee notes.  Drinking pretty nicely.

2003 Colgin IX Estate - really explosively sweet nose, full of strawberries.  Very typical Cali nose, with minerals and caramel notes.  Hot and burns the back of the throat.  Would be lovely after a few more years of cellaring.

Now for someone who normally can drink me under the table just by lifting her pinky, what happened tonight was completely out of the ordinary.  It's true that the Specialist drank a little more at the pre-dinner tasting than I did, but after about 2 sips of the Colgins she declared that she was getting drunk!  She declared herself defeated by the alcoholic Californians - which weighed in at 15.4% and 15.6% alcohol... She found the Herb Lamb a little more palatable, so we finished about 60% of the bottle.  The IX Estate didn't fare as well, as there was easily 2/3 of the bottle left...  Guess I'll try to finish the wines tomorrow.

Spaghetti carbonara - this was kinda eggy and less creamy than I expected.  The sauce wasn't too watery, which wasn't bad.  

The Spanish pork chop was a complete disaster.  I had thought about asking the kitchen to cook it a bit on the rare side, but bit my tongue.  As it turns out I should have, since the pork chop was soooo overdone.  My friends were amazed as the table shook violently each time I tried to cut the meat, and they ended up waiting for me to put down my knife before it became their turn to cut their steaks...  There were still some juices inside, but the texture was really hard.  They also gave me spinach instead of the broccoli I asked for, and the water from the spinach was all over the plate...  I didn't want to waste the piece of meat so I ate it as is, instead of sending it back and getting a new piece.

I opined that the club's members are mostly old fogies and they prefer their meats a little more well-done.  Pretty glad I'm not a member, as I'm not inclined to come back anytime soon...

I realized tonight that it didn't matter whether the Californian wine I brought cost $40 a bottle or $400 a bottle - the Specialist would end up drinking a few sips and I'd end up taking half the bottle home.  Guess I'll be bringing $40 bottles for her in the future...

Muddy waters

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I joined a group of chefs and foodies for dinner tonight at Ming Court (明閣), the Michelin 2-star restaurant.  I had never been here due to its location, but figured I'd check it out after its promotion from 1 to 2 stars.  The menu was preset ahead of time, including a few special requests.

Chilled bean curd sheet with shredded duck meat in chili sauce (井岡山腐皮火鴨絲) - definitely pretty yummy.  The shredded duck was very tasty with just the right amount of spiciness, and a very nice bite.  What a great way to start the meal.

How to woo your lover with wine

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We got together for another MNSC tasting tonight.  The format was "open", meaning each of us brought a bottle to fit a theme and the evening wasn't scored.  Our current convener paired us up, and asked each of us to bring a bottle to "woo" the other person.

We held the tasting at Summer Palace (夏宮) for the first time, and will most certainly be our last.  Honestly, the only time I've dined here in the last 8 years or so was the Araujo dinner - and I came for the wine, not the food.  I never understood why people liked the food here, and laughed my head off when the Michelin people gave this place 2 stars.

Baked stuffed crab shell (焗釀鮮蟹蓋) - once again this was very, very yummy.  I refrained from using any sauces at the beginning, since the taste of crab meat was good enough by itself.  I could also taste the butter... slurp...

Sautéed prawns and scallops in crispy nest (雀巢海中寳) - honestly very ho-hum.  I had one scallop and one prawn, with lots of celery along with part of the deep-fried dough that made up the nest.

Double-boiled sea whelk soup with US ginseng (花旗參燉螺頭湯) - the smell and taste of ginseng was overpowering.  Normally this wouldn't be a problem, but our evening was about wine and this would be distracting.  Then there was the whelk... We asked for a menu that would work well with red wines, and we get whelk?!  I accidentally took a sip of  wine after chewing on a piece of the shellfish, and my mouth was filled instantly with that "fishy" taste.  What a disaster!

Pan-fried fillet of tiger garoupa in gravy (燒汁煎老虎斑扒) - WTF?!  Tiger garoupa isn't exactly a cheap fish, and they choose to fillet it and then pan-fried it with batter on the outside?!  Why can't they just steam the damn thing?!  And that sauce... so much sugar I thought it was syrup...  I had joked earlier about my last dinner here being very "gweilo", and here's a perfectly gweilo dish!  I guess this is why the Michelin people like the place...

Braised black mushrooms with seasonal vegetables (北菇扒時蔬) - this was OK.  Mushrooms were nice.

Deep-fried crispy chicken (脆皮炸子雞) - didn't find this memorable, but that might have been thanks to the amount of alcohol I've had by this time...

Braised flat noodles with shredded barbecued pork and ginger (薑蔥叉燒撈粗麵) - we finally blew up, and called the waiter over.  While the scallion and ginger-flavored sauce was tasty, there was no trace of char siu  in any of our bowls...  The waiter subsequently brought us a plate of fatty char siu (半肥瘦叉燒), and the quality of the meat made things even worse...  This pretty much put Summer Palace off our approved list of restaurants.

Forget the food.  The wines this evening were pretty interesting.  We started with a bottle of 2000 Penfolds Yattarna - something I realized I liked a few months ago.  Lots of toasty popcorn, nutty, honey, a little oxidized and some minerals.  The color was kinda deep, and while it wasn't as fresh as some would like it to be, I thought it wasn't bad.

First pair: Pineapple and Dr. Poon

2003 Harlan - Wow!  This was so powerful on the nose.  Lots of minerals, iron/rust, coffee, walnut... Sweet but not overpowering, and a little alcoholic on the nose.  The edges are starting to round out, but it was still tannic on the finish.  Also some exotic spices and tea leaves.  94 points.
Pineapple brought this to woo Dr. Poon, since we all know Dr. Poon to be a (former) enthusiast of top Californian wines.  We think he was trying to send a message for the return of the prodigal son (浪子回頭)...

1982 Le Gay - smoky, definitely more mature than the other wine.  Still kinda alcoholic on the nose with herbs.  Round and delicious on the palate.  93 points.
There was a screwup by Anthony, the so-called "sommelier" of the restaurant.  This wine was brought by Lord Rayas to woo Juliano, and was supposed to be part of the second flight.  When I dropped off my bottle during the day, I suspected that Anthony didn't seem to have a good grip on what we were trying to do here... and sure enough, there was a mix-up.  The gang was pretty livid.  The evening's funniest comment came from Dr. Poon, who remarked that this was likely a message from God, since the Le Gay (a wine we always associated we Pineapple in the past) found its way to him in the end...

Second pair:  Juliano and Lord Rayas

1976 Petrus - notes of plum, spices, sweet with a little soy sauce.  Soft and silky on the palate, and a little floral at the end.  93 points. 
This was the wine Dr. Poon wanted to woo Pineapple with, as it's from his birth year and the only "drinkable" wine from that vintage after trying a few candidates.  Definitely a commendable effort!

1991 Guigal La Landonne - a little "stinky", a little ginseng and medicinal... nose was kinda muted and not really showing much fruit.  Later on there was a little sweetness and toffee.  91 points.  Once again Pineapple and I had completely opposite reactions to a wine.  His wine of the evening was my least favorite...
We all expected Juliano to bring a bottle of Rayas to woo Lord Rayas, but I guess he didn't want to be so predictable...

Last pair: Alexandre and I

1983 Guigal La Mouline - lots of violet, initially a little dusty and dirty.  Nose was a little oxidized and mature, with some ripe fruits.  Really smooth on the palate.  To be honest, this wine performed below my expectations... I thought I'd be blown away by one of my all-time favorite vintages of my favorite wine, but it was not to be...  94 points.
I brought the wine for Alexandre because it was part of the Syrah vs. Shiraz tasting which we did back in 2001.  That dinner saw us pitting the '83 La Mouline against the '83 Grange, and once the La Mouline opened up it completely kicked the behind of the Grange.  That dinner was essentially the start of what would become MNSC...  Even though it's not a Beaucastel, it's still "definitely my shit" as Alexandre said...

1998 Sine Qua Non E-raised - typical of an SQN Syrah, this had tons of iron, minerals and smelled "bloody" on the nose.  Still really alcoholic, with some coffee notes.  Totally up my alley.  Decanted for 8 hours (!) and still going strong...  95 points.
Alexandre brought this for me since the group knows how much I like Californian wines, and Sine Qua Non especially.  He actually bought the bottle from me a few years ago, after our all-Sine Qua Non dinner. 

This was definitely a good evening as far as wines go, and the group thought that the open format was actually a lot of fun.  I actually always felt this format was more fun than our usual "totally blind" tastings...  We'll be doing our next tasting next month, and I am really looking forward to it!

Definitely not a happy meal

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It's iPad day, and I went to pick up my new toy from friends who were staying at the W. As they just came back from a grueling few days at the Shanghai Expo, we decided to find somewhere close to the hotel for dinner.  For one reason or another we ended up at Xĭ Yàn Flavours (囍宴 滋·選).  What a mistake it turned out to be!

Cold tofu with shrimp and crab relish (蝦兵蟹將凍豆腐) - I took one bite and knew instantly it was gonna be a disaster.  I was thinking to myself that the dried shrimps (蝦米) were some of the toughest I've ever chewed on, when my friend blurted out the exact same thought.

Greenhouse tomatoes in wasabi sesame sauce (芥末胡麻醬拌日本溫室蕃茄) - one of two dishes that tasted OK.

Sichuan spicy chicken (招牌口水雞) - the only other dish that tasted OK to me.  Nice chunks of cold chicken marinated with spicy vinegar, served with mung bean pappardelle, century eggs and some peanuts.

Crispy stuffed duck with glutinous rice (香酥糯米鴨) - this was so bad but somehow I ended up having two pieces, and I had to ask myself why I bothered with the second piece.  These were really hard as bricks... the duck was tough, made into blocks with glutinous and deep-fried.  My friends were smarter...they refused to eat a second piece.

Radish patty in XO sauce (囍宴XO醬炒蘿蔔糕) - another dish when it took one bite to know we're heading into disaster territory.  The cubes of radish cake - stuffed with mushrooms and sausage - were hard.  I ended up eating everything else but the radish cake.

Fried spring rolls with radish and dried oysters (原隻蠔豉蘿蔔絲春卷) - the only dish I ordered, and wasn't great either.  While I liked the flavor of the dried oysters, the thing was just too salty.

This really was a disaster.  I remember a time when a meal at Xĭ Yàn was something to look forward to.  Has the franchise over-expanded to the point where quality control simply  went out the window?  After this meal, I can't imagine any of us wanting to come back.  Ever.