Four Seasons in Hangzhou day 2: ode to mountains and seas

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For our lunch at Song (颂) inside the Four Seasons Hotel Hangzhou at Hangzhou Centre (杭州中心四季酒店), we were hosted inside one of the restaurant's private rooms. It wouldn't be a meal with Mr. Chichi without a long menu, and today the menu went all the way down the back of the menu card... The poetic title was Ode to Mountains and Seas, A Summer Feast of Ningbo (山海颂•甬浙夏宴), as the restaurant specializes in Ningbo (寧波) cuisine. This was a deliberate choice to avoid direct competition with Jin Sha (金沙厅) at the other Four Seasons in town. Chef Neil Zeng (曾东海) - who was previously the head chef at Jin Sha - would be taking good care of us today.

We were meant to have started with something else that served as the first stanza, but the kitchen had other ideas... So let's go with the second stanza, entitled Terroir (越溪风物):

Marinated crab | ginegar | vinegar | soy sauce | liquor (招牌宁式十八斩) - I tasted more ginger and less chili. I also think this was less savory, maybe because the soy sauce-based marinade had just been poured tableside.

Journey to the mansion

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I felt like a lucky boy tonight. I had the privilege of being invited to a dinner where Ta Vie 旅 - one of my favorite restaurants - collaborated with Yong Fu (甬府), another one of my favorite restaurants in town. I know PR8 is constantly pushing his clients to put together these 4-, 6-, and whatever hands events. Often they feel contrived, and all you get is different chefs presenting their own dishes. Then there are some collaborations that truly live up to the name, where the chefs actually spend time creating dishes where each one adds their own input. Tonight ran a little different.

I have been looking forward to this meal ever since I found out about it. While I have had the privilege of attending a few collaborations involving chef Liu Zhen (刘震) of Yong Fu, sadly I can't say the same for Sato-san. I had no doubt, though, that any dish these chefs put together would be totally delicious.

We started with some appetizers, where the chefs chose two main ingredients, and each chef created their own expression with them.

Ningbo-style pickled and cooked winter melon with sea urchin, fermented crab, celtuce (雙味冬瓜咸蟹), by Yong Fu - the first main ingredient was chosen by Sato-san, and it's the "white winter melon (白冬瓜)" from Ningbo (寧波). These get covered with powdery wax that gives them names like "wax gourd" or "ash gourd" in English. Yong Fu's dish came with two squares of the winter melon cooked with different methods. The bottom layer was cooked by slowly feeding chicken stock, while the top layer was the traditional fermented winter melon (醃冬瓜) from Ningbo. Topped with sea urchin from Zhangzi Island (獐子島) off Dalian (大連), and some fennel flowers that came through with their anise-like scent. We were asked to make sure that we taste all the ingredients together, which led some of us to do it all in one bite. Well... if you do everything in one bite, then there will be a couple of flavors dominating and drowning out the others. In this case the winter melon won.

Diamonds and stars

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A little over 3 hours after running into Chef Liu, I walked through the doors of Yong Fu (甬府) in Hong Kong for a collaboration dinner B Bestie invited me to. I'm cognizant of the fact that I was just slagging off some of these collaboration dinners with multiple chefs across different countries and cuisines, but this one seemed a little different. Yong Fu Hong Kong and Yong Fu Shanghai are from the same group and serves dishes from the same cuisine, while I felt there can be real synergies among Ningbo cuisine and the Cantonese cuisine featured in Jade Dragon (譽瓏軒) as well as the Chiuchow cuisine showcased at Selection by Du (菁禧薈). In spite of my misgivings about the kind of stuff B Bestie gets up to in terms of these "x-hands", I have supreme confidence in Chef Liu Zhen (刘震)'s and Ms. Yu's ability to put together a fantastic menu.

The real VIPs were in the private rooms upstairs, while the KOLs sat in the main dining room downstairs. It's been a few years since I last saw Natalie from the City of Dreams, and of course she was here accompanying Chef Kelvin Au Yeung (歐陽文彥). I also got a chance to greet some old acquaintances I haven't seen in a couple of years.

While the four head chefs have put together a 10-course menu - where most of the dishes were individual efforts and one course included input from all of the chefs - there was a wine pairing featuring solely wines from China. This is definitely more of the trend these days, as restaurants from China are eager to feature wines from up-and-coming producers from their own country.

Appetizers (頭盤):

A night with raw shellfish

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A well-known foodie who happens to be a compatriot of mine is eating her way through town, and DaRC had originally invited me to join them for dinner tomorrow at my favorite private dining facility. Unfortunately I had to schedule a team dinner for tomorrow, so DaRC very kindly made room for me at Yong Fu (甬府) tonight. I know that the restaurant is launching the spring banquet later this week, and I was secretly hoping that some of those dishes would show up tonight...

It's been some time since I last saw Ms. Yu, and when I arrived she was already in the room along with Chef Liu chatting with our guest of honor. I sneaked a peek at the menu, and it was obvious that I hadn't tasted most of these dishes. Yay!

I love these snacks! Mahua (麻花) is something I loved since childhood, and the other puffed rice cracker kinda reminds me of hineriage (ひねり揚げ), or kali-kali (卡哩卡哩) as they're called in Taiwan. I couldn't stop eating these throughout dinner, despite all the delicious dishes we had in front of us.

All set for Friday

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Foursheets was meeting a business contact for lunch today, and for some reason the person really wanted to meet me. Since Yong Fu (甬府) was chosen as the venue, I happily tagged along as the food was always going to be pretty tasty.

After trying out the set dinner a few months ago, this was my first time having their set lunch - which serves up 10 courses. We collectively made our choices for the dishes.

Homemade fish cake with spicy oil (辣拌自製魚餅) - this is their usual fish cake that I like, but they have dressed it up in a light, spicy oil to tingle the tastebuds.

Casual Friday

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It has been a LONG time since the Specialist and I last dined together, and since we would be at the Penfolds Re-corking Clinic tonight, we figured we should catch up over dinner. We would also crack open a pair of decent wines, naturally.

I could not have been more surprised when she suggested that we go to Yong Fu (甬府), since all of her friends know she doesn't spend money on high-end Chinese food. Fortunately the restaurant has been doing set lunches and set dinners since earlier this year, and this provided me with the perfect opportunity to try out the set dinner for the very first time.

Gemma remembered how much I loved their mahua (麻花) on my first visit earlier this year, so she made sure I got a plate of it before our food arrived. And just like last time, I had difficulty stopping myself from reaching for it again and again...

Pickled cauliflower (泡製菜梗) - this is always a good idea. I love how they jazz up cauliflower with a little vinegar and a mild level of chili.

Another rainy May night

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We haven't had a night out with DaRC and Ro Ro in some time, and decided to catch up during the short window that they were both in town. I suggested Jean May for a casual night out, and as it turned out, our friends have never had the chance to go. So we took the early seating tonight, as I have done in the past.

This was a rainy night just like my last visit, but thankfully it was already getting better as we arrived at the restaurant.

Chicken liver parfait, red onion compote - this is always a reliable choice, and the onion compote is a nice touch and helps lighten things up.

A different Chindian, part 2

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I was fortunate to have been invited to an enjoyable meal last year that was a collaboration between Yong Fu (甬府) and Leela. It was a true collaboration between the two kitchen teams, melding the flavors of the two (OK, the reality was more than two, as there's no singular "Indian" cuisine the way there's not just one "Chinese") cuisines. There were quite a few dishes which exceeded expectations, and two of those ended up on my annual list of "best dishes of the year".

So when B Bestie came with an invitation for "round 2" and promised all new dishes, I happily accepted and showed up at Leela tonight with high expectations. A friend had tasted the dishes last night at Yong Fu, but didn't give me much feedback afterwards other than saying he really liking the dumplings...

Khakra - interesting to see khakra here... as I've never seen them anywhere except when I was at Nine One with Samaira. Served with a smoked chili and garlic chutney.

Hungry in Ningbo

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Nine days after my scouting mission, I'm back at Yong Fu (甬府) sitting with The Hungry Tourist and his crew of, well, hungry tourists. This is only my friend's second time organizing a food tour of Hong Kong, and the first since 7 years ago. While they are clearly focusing on the "local" cuisine, we both thought that Yong Fu should be on the itinerary, since it represents the best that Hong Kong has to offer.

The menu tonight included a few seasonal dishes I had tried out last week, as well as some old favorites which have become quintessential. Some of the dishes were also chosen with the consideration that all the diners (except moi, of course) were non-Chinese guests from overseas.

Mud crab with mashed ginger and coriander (招牌十八斬) - this turned out to be more popular than I had expected. As usual, I did not partake when it came to raw crab.

Scouting mission

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I have the distinct misfortune of dining with B Bestie for the second in three nights, as I accepted an invitation to taste the new, seasonal spring dishes Chef Liu Zhen (刘震) has been developing at Yong Fu (甬府). As I am accompanying The Hungry Tourist on his visit next week and also responsible for helping to set the menu, I figured I should come on a scouting mission.

As I took a look around the table tonight, I realized that all but one of the Peanut Gang was here. We did have a couple of ladies with us, so we had to behave ourselves.

It must have been a while since I last had some mahua (麻花), and tonight I just couldn't stop eating this! I even ladled some of the house chopped chili sauce (主廚青椒醬) on top at one point...

A very different Chindian

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For the last few years it seems that PR8 has been working overdrive to promote "4 hands" collaboration between kitchen teams, sometimes with very different cuisines. At times it almost appeared to me that nothing was out of bounds and the crazier the better. This cultimated in a joining together of Forum Restaurant (富臨飯店) and Chaat. I was not a participant and, honestly, was somewhat skeptical of the results. PR8 was, of course, adamant that it was genius. But as the old Chinese proverb says, "A dog cannot spit out ivory from its mouth (狗嘴裡吐不出象牙)".

Now that Chef Manav Tuli has set up Leela, there is a new collaboration with a Chinese restaurant - this time with Yong Fu (甬府), one of my favorite restaurants in town. Regardless of whether the idea did actually come from Chef Manav or Chef Liu Zhen (刘震), I will always blame the hare-brained idea on PR8...

Tonight was meant to be a preview of the actual event so a few of us guinea pigs were invited and placed in the private dining room at Leela. I did ask PR8 whether there would be any bitches in the room, but he wasn't very forthcoming beyond giving me a couple of names he knew I wouldn't have issues with...

The menu looked pretty long, so I was glad I had a light lunch in preparation for the onslaught tonight.

Bollinger Special Cuvée - good acidity but pretty simple and flat on the palate. Later on this showed a little bit of Chinese salted plums.

Kosher in Ningbo

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The Hungry Tourist is working his way through restaurants on his next tour, and one of the places that I've recommended to him is Yong Fu (甬府). While it's not Cantonese and therefore not "local", in my opinion it's one of the best restaurants in town for Chinese food, and often on the list of places I recommend to friends visiting from overseas. As I was one of the people who recommended the place to him, I felt kinda obliged to join him for dinner so that he would be able to taste through more dishes. So... in spite of a heavy week of eating, and the fact that I had already indulged in a big lunch earlier in the day, I dutifully showed up to dinner.

We were set up in one of the small private rooms upstairs, with a menu pre-set by Ms. Yu the manager. This would be really interesting, as one of the guests requires food to be kosher and it just happens to be Rosh Hashanah (רֹאשׁ הַשָּׁנָה). So we would have neither shellfish nor pork - two types of ingredients the restaurant is known for.

Chinese kale's heart ball (芥蘭球) - I do love the way they created a dish out of something that is often overlooked as too tough to be served at a nice establishment. These local kailan (芥蘭) stems were peeled, fermented in brine, and cut to break the fibers in order to tenderize them. The flavors from fermentation were definitely noticeable, and we've got some acidity as well as a hint of spicy kick. Such a great way to whet our appetites to start our meal.

Geruhage HK tour day 4: spring roll one

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While it seems like having Cantonese food would be de rigueur when visiting Hong Kong, I generally make sure that I take visitors to experience other types of cuisine when they're in town - time permitting. The last few years have seen two of China's high-end restaurant groups plant the flag in Hong Kong, and they're interesting enough to warrant taking Geruhage for a taste. The first stop would be Yong Fu (甬府) for lunch today.

By way of unfortunate circumstances, we did not manage to pre-arrange the menu, so we made do by trying to order up a few old favorites, and took some of the recommendations coming from the restaurant manager. I had to put my foot on the brakes during the ordering process so that DaRC does not do his usual thing of ordering half the menu. In the end, though, we had just a liiiittle bit too much.

Stir-fried baby broccoli balls (熗炒芥蘭球) - DaRC and I absolutely wanted to have this again. It's amazing how much care is taken by this restaurant on humble ingredients like vegetables. The stem of local kailan (芥蘭) is peeled, fermented in brine, tenderizes by cutting to break the fibers. The end result is a aesthetically pleasing presentation of a common ingredient, where the slightly acidic and spicy flavors and the tender texture are incongruous with what we normally associate with this green vegetable - thereby delivering a whole new experience for something we normally take for granted.