Four Seasons in Hangzhou day 1: back at the lake

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A couple of months ago Mr. Chichi asked whether I would be interested in joining him on a trip to Hangzhou (杭州). Well, I had missed the opportunity to revisit the city 2 years ago during my self-imposed travel ban, and I've been wanting to tick a few restaurants off my list. Of course I said "Yes" immediately. Later on I discovered that beyond visiting a few restaurants represented by the local PR contact, the trip was also sponsored bythe two Four Seasons properties in the city, so we would be immersed in luxurious surroundings during our stay.

My morning started with meeting The Great One at the airport, where she waited for me to check-in for our flight together. Then it was a trip to the CX lounge for some breakfast. It's been a while since my last bowl of the dandan noodles (擔擔麵), and I swear they've diluted the sauce. I also took a bowl of biang-biang noodles (𰻞𰻞麵) for variety. After all, this would be better than anything I would get onboard during the flight.

We landed in Hangzhou and were whisked to Four Seasons Hotel Hangzhou at West Lake (杭州西子湖四季酒店) by hotel car. As I would tell everyone repeatedly over the next couple of days - including the Four Seasons team who welcomed us - Four Seasons didn't exist in Hangzhou when I last stepped foot in the city. In fact, the only international hotel brand operating in Hangzhou in 1998 was Shangri-La.

Birthday in the summer

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It’s no secret that Mr. Chichi is a superfan of Chef Vicky Cheng’s, and he’s been to both VEA and Wing (永) countless time… although I’m pretty sure he actually does keep count. He recently asked me to join his dinner table at Wing, and since I was kinda curious about how much more food Vicky gives him on top of a “standard” menu, I said yes.

We started, as usual, with a seasonal drink to suit the 24 seasons. Currently we are in Summer Solstice (夏至).

Sine Qua Non toast, part 10

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It's been more than 2 years since this gang sat around a table and guzzled bottles of a beloved cult wine. I guess we were just all busy with our own stuff and no one got around to organize something. Once again I became the instigator, and this time we managed to round up enough people for a proper dinner. I was pretty happy that H-man was around and could join this dinner, and we've shared a few bottles of Sine Qua Non over the years.

I didn't want to be the one picking a restaurant this time, so after a few rounds of suggestions, we settled on Jiangsu Club (江蘇銘悅). I was once a big fan in one of its former incarnations, but I haven't been back in almost 9 years. I was really looking forward to seeing how the food would be after all this time.

A couple of the guys seem to be regulars here, and we collectively put together a pretty big menu for this big night.

I can't resist these seaweed peanuts (苔菜花生), especially when I'm hungry.

Chilled chicken in chilli peppercorn sauce (江南麻辣口水雞) - this is... not exactly Jiangsu cuisine... and normally I would expect this to be pretty spicy. Not the case tonight.

Tiny sprinkles of rainbows

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Gastronaut is back in town to hang out with his best buddy, and has very kindly allowed the rest of us riff-raff to occupy a few of his remaining eating slots. While he had asked about "new restaurants worth checking out", apparently he also really wanted to dine again at Yong Fu (甬府)... which is understandable, as the cuisine could be outstanding sometimes.

I wasn't scheduled to see him today, but a couple of days ago DaRC asked me whether I wanted to join them for lunch. Given that it's lunch and not dinner, where I wasn't planning on drinking (much) wine and therefore wouldn't get pissed off at their poor service, I decided to join them to see what new, seasonal dishes are in store.

I wasn't surprised to see manager Ms. Yu in our private room, but today chef Liu Zhen (劉震) also spent a lot of time with us. VIP service, then, for the visiting VIP.

Bayberries (楊梅) - as always, we started with some fruit. Not sure these were the same water chestnut bayberries (馬蹄楊梅) I had on my very first visit, but these were delicious nonetheless.

Mom's HK Michelin tour day 6: Excursion to Ningbo

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The last time mom was in Hong Kong I arranged a dinner at Xinrongji (新榮記), which served up a lot of familiar flavors from Zhejiang Province. In the time since her last visit, Yong Fu (甬府) has opened up a branch here, and in general I've been pretty happy with the food barring a few exceptions. I figured I should also take mom here, especially since one of their signature dishes is something she doesn't get in Taiwan.

With just the 3 of us, there was no need to get a private room and customize a menu, so we sat in the open dining area and I just picked a few items from their trimmed-down menu. I do miss the old menu which offered more choice of dishes, but for some reason the restaurant management decided to listen to PR8 - which is usually a mistake...

Drunken crab (招牌十八斬) - I normally wouldn't go near this stuff, but I had to order a half-portion for mom. I was kind of surprised that dad, too, chose to partake. The important thing is that mom was very happy with this.

Mooncakes 2022

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Another year of spending Mid-Autumn in Hong Kong, without the ability to reunite with the Parental Units and bringing them mooncakes. This year I just about stuck to my guns and bought a very limited selection of mooncakes, while trying to get people not to send me any gifts. The last thing I want is to consume a ton of unwanted calories, especially if I'm not sure the mooncakes are actually any good!

I still managed to taste through a decent variety over the last 2 weeks, and for the first time in a while, I even tasted savory versions.

Someone sent us a box from the Rosewood Hong Kong, which included 3 different types of mini mooncakes.