Rayas does British

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I was a little bummed about missing the MNSC dinner that Pineapple hosted on Christmas Day. He is a perennial generous host and I was envious of my fellow MNSC members for being able to taste the fantastic wines he opened. But truth the told, these days my priority is to spend more time with the Parental Units, and Christmas is just family time for me. I made the same decision to miss the MNSC dinner for Pineapple's 30th birthday in order to travel to Japan with family.

As we hadn't been holding MNSC tastings for a whole 11 months last year, it was decided we needed to catch up this year... and Lord Rayas took responsibility for hosting one tonight at Roganic. I had forgotten that he likes Simon Rogan's cuisine, but I happy to come back after my second visit to 2.0 a few months ago. Tonight I would get to try some of the dishes I didn't choose from my last visit.

Raw Spanish mackerel, oyster emulsion, pickled kohlrabi and smoked roe - very refreshing, almost a little cheesy.

2.0 of 2.0

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I had the good fortune (or was it misfortune?) of visiting the reincarnated Roganic on its second day of opening, and while that meal delivered some very tasty bites, I wasn't sold on the sharing concept for main courses... and it was also a heavier meal such that I felt stuffed for the first time. Well, they've apparently revamped the format, so I guess it's the 2.0 version of Roganic 2.0... or should it be version 2.1?

Once again, I was seated at a table with the ladies - and B Bestie didn't even show up himself and sent Giona instead. No peanuts tonight, then...

We began with three snacks, which were similar or identical to ones I had last time:

Oolong cured Himalayan trout, beetroot sand carrot and hawthorn - the cured trout came coated in smoked Oolong tea oil with some Oolong tea salt (WTF is THAT?!). The roll was made with dehydrated sand carrot, then stuffed with diced trout belly with salt-baked sand carrot with celeriac. Unfortunately the shell wasn't crispy anymore, but the filling was a little sweet thanks to the carrots.

No bluefin no beetroot

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Tonight I accepted an invitation from B Bestie to join a tasting at the brand-spanking-new Roganic, which opened for business yesterday after relocating to a posh new spot. I've paid infrequent visits since Simon Rogan first opened his outpost here in Hong Kong, and always held a favorable impression of their cuisine. So I didn't hesitate when B Bestie came calling.

Some of the VIPs had already tested things out last night, and hopefully provided their feedback. As for me, I was a little surprised at the new format, which no longer provides the option for the diner to have a lighter meal.

Drappier Carte d'Or, en magnum - I could smell the acidity on the nose. The palate was rather soft.

We started with a fixed selection of four snacks:

Organic team

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The year is drawing to a close, and unlike the end of 2020 when Hong Kong was under tight social distancing measures, the situation has improved a lot more these days. So I proposed to have a team dinner to wrap up what has been a very bumpy year for everyone. Having only started the planning some 4 weeks ago, it wasn't a surprise when many places have already been booked out during this busy holiday season. Once again, it was the hardest working F and B PR8 who came to my rescue, and we found ourselves at Roganic tonight.

We had to take the long menu, and I was a little concerned that it would be too much for the ladies. Thankfully the cuisine here is light enough that it didn't leave anyone stuffed or uncomfortable.

Salmon, seaweed, potato salad, togarashi and pike roe - this was OK. Very Japanese in flavor.

Yi-O rice cracker, A4 wagyu, burnt onion and K-Farm mustard - true to the philosophy of the place, they used local Yi-O rice (二澳米) to make their cracker, which carried wagyu tartare. Topped with greens from K-Farm in Kennedy Town. Pretty smoky.

Three Burg night

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We've caught up with the Fergies a few times this year, but haven't dined out with them too much.  After discussing a few options, we ended up choosing Roganic for dinner tonight.  I've had two pretty good meals here before, so I felt pretty good about coming back.

Both my previous visits saw us take the short testing menu, and I felt pretty comfortable about the amount of food we got.  I was ready to do the same again, seeing that this was a cheat meal while I'm on my diet.  But Fergie had other ideas... so the long tasting menu was what we got.

Citrus cured salmon and seaweed tartlet - the nori (海苔) shell carried citrus cured salmon roe along with some yuzu (柚子) gel.  Pretty tasty.

Delicious deep-fried veggie balls

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Neither Hello Kitty and I are fond of restaurants who don't take reservations, and we don't care to line up for food beyond, say, a 15-minute wait.  As a result, we have been strangers to one of Hong Kong's most beloved restaurants - among a certain crowd, at least.  My first and only visit to Yardbird came nearly 3 years ago, and Hello Kitty has never tasted their regular dishes.  We are much more familiar with the group's sister restaurant Ronin, as the latter is open for advanced booking.

But Hello Kitty felt like giving Yardbird a try, and it turned out there were seats available on a walk-in basis at lunch.  So off we went and got ourselves seats at the bar counter.  In fact, I sat in these very seats on my first visit.

Sweet corn tempura, sea salt, pepper - one cannot come here without ordering up a serving (or two) of this.  This is the second day in a row I'm having some deep-fried corn, and I absolutely love it.  I did find it a tad on the greasy side, though.  Delicious on its own, but even better with Yardbird's house blend shichimi (七味).

Relaxing and comfy dinner

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It's been a few weeks since we last saw DaRC and Ro Ro, so we made plans to catch up over dinner.  DaRC thought about trying some place new to him and threw out Roganic as a suggestion.  Since I had a pretty good lunch there last year, I was more than happy to go back.

As it's Sunday night and Ro Ro didn't feel like taking the long tasting menu, we chose to have the short tasting menu while adding a supplementary course for the rest of us.  We figured that would actually work out better.  And it did.

Ragstone tart, pickled onion, shallot confit - nice sweetness from the confit shallots, along with some acidity from the pickled onion jam.  The goat cheese was decent.

Lunch at Dinner

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We had two meetings back to back and no time for lunch in between, so we were starving when we got done after 2 p.m.  I was told to find some place a little nicer for lunch, and since we were in Knightsbridge, I figured we could pop in to the Mandarin Oriental Hyde Park for a bite.  Surely we could find something there?

Which is how I found myself back at Dinner by Heston Blumenthal. For lunch.  After having dinner here last night.  A few of the staff who served me last night were, no doubt, surprised to see me back so soon...

Thankfully, the set lunch menu looks completely different from the dinner menu.  So at least I won't have to repeat dishes...

Since we were done for the day, we decided to have a glass or two at lunch.

Krug Grande Cuvée, 167ème édition, ID 218020 - can't go wrong with the Grande Cuvée.  Always that lovely, toasty nose.

Dinner at Dinner / The kindness of strangers

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I never got the chance to try Heston Blumenthal's food.  Years ago after we had visited elBulli together, Mrs. Locust told me that The Fat Duck paled in comparison.  And since I hadn't bothered to visit the UK ever since, I resorted to living vicariously via Heston's TV shows.  Now that I was in London, I figured I would go check out Dinner by Heston Blumenthal at the Mandarin Oriental Hyde Park.  The idea of tasting dishes whose recipes date back a few hundred years sounded intriguing.

I was greedy and wanted to try so many dishes, but eventually I settled on picking out 4 items from the menu.  I figured it was no big deal...

And seeing that my friend ditched me, and having failed to charm someone else into dining with me, I felt like Steve Martin in The Lonely Guy... This also meant that I couldn't order a whole bottle of wine, so I picked out a glass each of white and red instead...

2010 Dagueneau Silex - the first glass I was poured didn't seem fresh, and the staff poured me another glass from a different bottle which was nice and fresh.  Surprisingly ripe and sweet on the nose, almost candied pineapple, a little muscat.  Later the nose was more flinty.  Good acidity on the finish, and a little grippy.

Meat fruit : mandarin, chicken liver parfait and grilled bread (c.1500) - this is, no doubt, the most iconic and photographed dish of the establishment.

The kindness of friends

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At the top of my hit list for London in terms of dining sits The Ledbury.  The restaurant spent 8 consecutive years on The World's 50 Best Restaurants, rising as high as No. 10.  A number of friends are fans.  So I figured I owed it to myself to check it out.

Tonight there was a significant percentage of diners who were of Asian heritage, some of whom were big spenders.  We could have been categorized as such, but we chose to stay low-key.  Well... that attempt failed miserably when General Manager Darren McHugh showed up and asked for me by name.  I had forgotten that The Dining Austrian had informed the restaurant about my visit.  I guess we would be well-looked after.

After a pretty heavy (and unsatisfying) meal last night, we decided to take things easy and chose the 4-course option.

We started with a glass of bubbly...

Bérêche et Fils Brut Réserve, dégorgée le juillet 2019 - beautiful, nice and yeasty, with good ripeness and yet some acidity in the back.

Seaweed cracker with cream of smoked mussels - topped with some agar agar pearls.  Very smoky.  Delicious.

Puff pastry with guinea fowl mousse - topped with mead jelly.  Very, very delicious.

Two bites into dinner, The Ledbury was already kicking Bibendum's ass.

No nose and no tail

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I'm in Europe for a week on business, and landed in London before sunrise this morning.  I haven't stepped on UK soil since 2006, so lots of things have changed... specially the dining scene.  There are many, many places that have popped up since my last visit, and I was determined to hit a few of them.

It was too early to check in to the Athenaeum Hotel, so we dropped our bags off and went strolling around the area.  We crossed into Green Park, then ran into the Royal Parks Half Marathon circling around the three parks in central London.  it's amazing how clean and fresh the air is in London, compared to Hong Kong...

Lunch time rolled around, and I went to scratch and itch that had been around for a long, long time.  St. John needs no introduction, and Fergus Henderson has long been considered an iconic chef in this country.  I just had to come here.

Roast bone marrow and parsley salad - BUT OF COURSE I had to order this one up!  The dish that has been copied by so many chefs.  Plus I LOOOOOVE bone marrow...

Leisurely holiday lunch

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It all started with a friend posting about her meal at a recently-opened restaurant.  She asked if anyone wanted to go with her, and I put up my hand.  Then we roped in our friend KC, and the next thing I knew, I found myself lunching at Roganic today sitting across from... the owner.

I had known since late last year that Simon Rogan was opening restaurants in town, thanks to PR8.  Actually I found myself seated at the same table as Simon at a dinner last year, although I was half-heartedly thwarting PR8's attempts to identify me to the chef.  After Aulis opened I also repeatedly rebuffed PR8's efforts to get me to join one of his organized tastings, as I prefer to wait until new restaurants are on track and then go on my own dime.

So I was expecting to be under the radar today, and a little flustered to find myself in the situation I was in.  Then we had to run into Curry and Salad on their date lunch...

We decided to take the short tasting menu today, which was just fine with me.  I could do with fewer calories these days.

Pumpkin, nashi pear, bay leaf - the pumpkin tarts came with pumpkin purée, Japanese pear jelly, bay leaves, and topped with flakes of pumpkin seeds and bay leaf powder.  There was a surprising dose of acidity along with the expected sweetness, and almost a hint of fermented flavors.  Definitely tasted the Japanese pear.

Sea, smoke, and sand

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The last time I stepped foot in the Krug Room at the Mandarin Oriental Hong Kong was the last night of service by Uwe Opocensky.  It was a spectacular and memorable evening, not the least because we ended up eating Ingrid - the king crab that Uwe showed us while gently petting it...

Robin Zavou has since taken over as the Executive Chef of the hotel, and is personally overseeing the Krug Room.  It's now been two years, and thanks to an invitation on behalf of the hotel, tonight would be the first chance for me to see what has happened since then.

The twelve of us had assigned seating, and it was clear that the organizer had segregated us to that TVB Pearl was on one side of the table while TVB Jade was at the other.  Knowing the person who extended the invitation, I wasn't the least bit surprised to be stuck in Siberia...

As usual, we started with a glass of Krug Grande Cuvée while we waited for everyone to arrive.  Our first glass was Krug Grande Cuvée, 164éme édition, en magnum, ID 216018.  This was toasty and nicely integrated.

Once our straggler arrived, the snacks were served:

Pea tart - with wood sorrel. 

Smoked eel donut - topped with salmon roe marinated in sake and a sprinkle of shaved yuzu (柚子) zest.  The eel mousse inside was smoky, and very, very soft and smooth in texture.

Not our usual Porn

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Us MNSC boys aren't known for being organized, and when our new convenor is someone who doesn't live in this town... things get a little sloppy.  Which is why we finally took it upon ourselves to set some dates for our gatherings - with the Ox hosting our first dinner of the year at The Porn Pawn.

Marinated scallop with apple, tarragon and young turnip - the diced raw scallops were fairly sweet, and came with the acidity of green apple discs, the sweetness of green pea purée, the fragrance of tarragon, and the crunch of turnip.  A nice dish to kick off the meal with.

Is it really THAT hard?!

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The boys of MNSC gathered for another dinner tonight, and not surprisingly our host the Ox chose the Pawn Kitchen by Tom Aikens as the venue.  The food from Tom Aikens has always been solid, and I wondered what would be on our menu tonight.

House-made ricotta, broad bean, green peas, sorrel emulsion - the ricotta here has always been tasty, but now they've taken it up a notch by replacing the olive oil with sorrel emulsion - which adds a nice touch of acidity.  They've also introduced some texture to the normally smooth spread with the inclusion of broad beans and peas.  Gone are the dried herbs of old, and now we have chives and pea shoots.  A very, very tasty way to start.

In pork we trust

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We were in Causeway Bay trying to figure out a place to grab a bite for dinner when Hello Kitty suggested that we check out The Fat Pig by Tom Aikens.  It's the latest venture from my friends at the Press Room Group, replacing SML which occupied the same space.  This was, of course, a great idea - since I was salivating over a picture of pig trotter on toast from this place just days ago.

The menu was relatively compact, and of course pretty much all pork.  We decided to order a few small plates but ended up caving in to the lure of a larger main dish.

Drunken Porn

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It's getting to year end and we've still got 4 more MNSC dinners to go, so they're gonna come at a (relatively) furious pace.  We kicked off the season with Lord Rayas once again hosting at The Pawn.

It seems that our MNSC members are increasingly overlooking the food part of these dinners, and since Lord Rayas was very kind and accommodating so that the bloggueuuurrr - that would be yours truly - could taste whatever he wished, we were given the à la carte option.

Charcuterie board: Ibérico shoulder, grape chutney, pickle, grilled toast, home-cured meats - duck breast, salami, pancetta, pork rillettes - as usual we shared a couple of these.  I can't tell you how much I wanted to take the entire quenelle of duck liver parfait and spread it on endless slices of brioche.  Oh, and that quenelle of rillettes, too!  That (onion?) chutney was damn good.

Days without smell: MNSC wine dinner

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It's the third day I haven't been able to smell much of anything, and I'm joining the MNSC boys for dinner.  I already gave them a heads up that my olfactory receptors have been knocked offline, and it would be pointless for me to participate in the regular tasting format.  I did want to try the wines, since I knew that Dr. Poon was bringing out some good stuff as usual, but asked for half pours since any wine was technically wasted on me...  But since I could still taste, albeit with somewhat diminished capacity, I still showed up to dinner at The Pawn.

House-made ricotta, olive oil, dried herbs, aged balsamic - something familiar to start us off.  Not surprisingly the herbs didn't taste as fragrant to me tonight, but I could still tell there were rosemary and thyme.  I took down a nice slice of bread with this.

There was also the usual charcuterie board: ibérico shoulder, grape chutney, pickle, grilled toast, home-cured meats - duck breast, salami, pancetta, pork rillettes.  Plus the duck liver parfait that I love so much.  I must have been pretty hungry, because I had trouble stopping.  I wanted to devour 3 slices of bread with the rillettes and parfait...  And that lardo...

100-point Porn

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Us MNSC boys are a disorganized busy bunch, with a few of us being out of town on a regular weekly/monthly basis, so as the years have gone by, it has become increasingly difficult to pin everyone down for our dinners.  After failing to agree on a date for our annual dinner - where all members would be present - for a whole three months, we delayed that gathering yet again and decided just to have the Ox host a regular tasting dinner tonight.

We also had a last minute change of venue, and ended up - to no one's surprise - at The Porn Pawn.  I was, of course, only too happy to check out the dishes now available this season.

Charcuterie board: Ibérico shoulder, air-dried duck, chorizo, pork rillettes, pickle, grape chutney, duck liver parfait, grilled toast - this was pretty awesome, especially the beautiful lardo, the rillettes, and of course the incredibly smooth parfait.  If I weren't worried about getting stuffed too early, I would have had another piece of toast and spread more parfait and rillettes on top.

Getting drunk at The Porn

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Another month has gone by, and now it was Lord Rayas' turn to host his dinner for MNSC.  No one was surprised when The Porn Pawn was announced as the venue this year.  After all, the place had just re-opened weeks ago to much fanfare after 3 months' of renovations, and now they've got Tom Aikens on board.  True to form, I've deliberately stayed away during the initial opening period - not wanting to pass judgement on the new operation.  Tonight I finally got my chance for a first nibble.

I had seen pictures of the interior posted online by others, and it seems the renovation has met with mixed reactions.  They did manage to rip up the interiors again, and this time the look is decidedly updated and modern.  We naturally found ourselves in the the private room, and with its black marble walls and tables, the mirrored entrance arch, and the newfangled lighting, I think it's only fitting that we now call it The PORN...