Geruhage 2026 tour day 1: white wines with dim sum

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A few hours after sipping on some wines together into the wee hours at our place, I'm meeting up with Geruhage and Tomo-chan for lunch. DaRC had kind of overruled our friend's original wish to try dim sum at a place he hadn't visited before, and the bunch of us ended up at Forum Restaurant (富臨飯店). One could never go wrong here, and I jokingly reminded Geruhage before coming here that we should pre-order the fish maw... which used to be priced at around HKD 30,000 but is now listed as "market price"...

DaRC comes here much more often than I do, so we are guaranteed to have a wonderful experience when we're with him. I left the ordering up to the expert.

Forum steamed premium shrimp dumpling with pork (富臨蝦餃皇) - they do this classic so, so well here. Very plump and full of flavor.

Another home banquet

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A few years ago I had the honor of being a guest at what I called "the ultimate home banquet", and it was an incredibly memorable meal. Well, tonight I answered to another kind invitation from the hosts, and I was just so, so excited!

Before we started, Dashijie (大師姐) regaled us with one tale after another of how things have just not gone her way while putting this dinner together. Well, with everything that happened, I'm just grateful that we still have a delicious meal waiting for us. Given that some of the dishes were on the menu from my last dinner, I'm using the same poetic names for them stylized by our hosts' daughter.

Naturally, once again the serving china used were all from Ruyi Gastronomy and from the Home Banquet Collection (家宴逸品) range.

Classics from Oncle Joël

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After a fun evening out at Caprice last month, the Tea Supplier very kindly invited the gang to dinner at Le Jardin de Joël Robuchon. To be honest, I don't visit the Hong Kong outpost of the Robuchon empire very much, and as they've gone through an extension renovation, this was a great chance for me to see how different the place is.

We were across two tables in their large private room, which was pretty stunning. I was fortunate that the Mushroom Supplier kept us company.

Cream of corn soup with smoked duck and foie gras terrine - there was a spicy kick from the piment d'espelette. Did I mention how bling this dish was? LOVE IT.

The four Italian horsemen

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More than 3 months after our last gathering around wines from Years of the Horse, our foursome is back popping a few more bottles. When it was suggested that we open some Italians, I suggested to the group that we bid on a particular lot of wines from top Italian producers that I saw at an auction. There were exactly four bottles, and they were all top cuvées from renowned producers. Well, we managed to win the lot.

I saw a few dishes on social media posted by Chef Liu Zhen (刘震) of Yong Fu (甬府), so I suggested that we pay the restaurant a visit - especially since the others haven't been in quite some time. Thankfully the team could accommodate us, even when I insisted that they include a dish from their set dinner. Thank you so much, Yu zong!

I LOOOOOVE mahua (麻花), and it's even better when they come covered in powdered seaweed. Oh, and their peanuts come with seaweed, too!

No more meat

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Andō has recently undergone a renovation of its premises, and Goldfinger also took the opportunity to revamp the menu. One of the most notable points is that it no longer features any meat - unless guests specifically asks for an alternative to what's on offer. I had accepted the invitation from B Bestie some time ago, but when he suddenly asked me to find myself a companion for the meal, I knew that he didn't want to put me near any of the Bs he loves to invite... so I brought Foursheets along.

We started with the bocaditos:

Mid-Autumn with the team

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One of the bosses had asked me about booking at Wing (永) some time last year, but as someone who does not abuse his privileges, I offered to arrange for a team dinner but made it clear I would not book for others without being present. Well, the time finally came to take the team out, and I was very grateful that Vicky could accommodate us.

The hospitality here really is world class, and for regular customers, they tailor the menu so that they don't keep serving the same dishes and bore the diners. For this occasion, knowing that I'm bringing a group of newbies, Vicky asked whether I would want to have a mix of classic dishes along with new, seasonal offerings. Of course I said "YES"!

As usual, our welcome drink is tailored to one of the twenty-four seasons (二十四節氣), and tonight this was made with upright ladybells (沙參) and dried longans (桂圓).

Three 3-stars in France day 1: transit through Doha

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I'm off to France for a week, and unlike previous trips, I've chosen to transit through the Middle East rather than fly direct. While look at airfares a few months ago, I realized that Business Class fares on Cathay Pacific were just shockingly expensive. All of the major Gulf carriers were charging fares which were 50-65% less, but of course it comes with a layover. And given what happened in March of this year, there is concern about flight disruptions resulting from the US-Iran war. Nevertheless, I chose to fly with Qatar Airways and transit through Doha. I figured the savings was worth the extra hours I would have to endure.

I finished checking in for my flight just before midnight, and since Qatar Airways is a member of the Oneworld Alliance, I was given access to the Cathay lounges at Hong Kong International Airport. There are A LOT of flights departing Hong Kong late at night, and The Bridge lounge was very, very packed. So as I headed waaay to the back of the lounge and settled there, I discovered that "The Nook" was not serving the usual noodles but a completely different menu.

They had scallion pancakes (蔥油餅) and even Shanghainese rice rolls with pork floss, fried dough stick and pickled vegetables (上海粢飯), but I was more curious about the spicy lamb pastry (香辣羊肉肉夾饃). Gotta say it was pretty good! The pastry was nice and flaky, and the filling was juicy with a nice kick. And yes, the lamb fat tasty goooood!

Dim sum for a short visit

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Mikacina's back in town for a short stopover, and The Great One organized a dim sum session for lunch. After rotating through some of the usual suspects over her last few trips, today it was Seventh Son (家全七福)'s turn. The quality of food here has had its ups and downs over the years, but my last visit here earlier this year yielded a good meal.

Even though we're here for dim sum, it's difficult to walk out without being tempted to order "the pig"... so RAW Yeah put in an order for half a piglet.

Barbecued whole suckling pig (大紅乳豬全體) - instead of the usual version where the crackling is separated from the meat, today the whole pig has been chopped up into pieces.

Clueless at the club, part 2

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We're having our third MNSC gathering in a month, and tonight it was Curry's turn to play host. After debating whether he could live with the poor stemware at his favorite Seventh Son (家全七福), our host ultimately opted for the more serene settings of the Derby Room at the Hong Kong Jockey Club. It's been nearly five years since I last dined here, when Francky Semblat first started his stint with the club. Word is that the menu has shifted back to a more old-school, "clubby" offering, without much semblance to the refined nibbles from Oncle Joël...

Corn fritters - these were pretty sweet.

Tomato sorbet with pickled cucumbers and crème fraîche - nice acidity to whet the appetite.

Party like it's 1990

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An invitation came to join a group for friends to dinner, ostensibly to help celebrate Giona's birthday. The chosen venue was somewhere the birthday girl has never been, and one that I have also never been. I had heard about SẾP when it first opened some time ago, but while I was somewhat intrigued, I had never heard friends rave about the place. I did join a dinner where Chef DoBee Lam collaborated with other chefs, but as it was a joint effort, I didn't feel it was indicative of what the "true" flavors would taste like.

We were in the large private dining room, so we were not in a position to watch the chefs work over wood fire in the open kitchen... which was supposed to be the attraction. Oh well...

123!! Dzo - there were three appetizers:

Bánh tráng: Phú Quõc dried shrimp, quail egg rice paper - the sakura shrimp here tasted pretty nice.

Mực ống: yobuko no ika basil tartlet - the tartlet came with diced spear squid (槍烏賊) from Yobukocho (呼子町) in Saga Prefecture (佐賀県). The squid flavors were pretty nice, with just a bit of heat and fish sauce, while the pomelo pulp provided a good contrast.

Hokkien in da haus

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We have known about Mr. Chichi's new project for some time now, and a number of us have been looking forward to having a fine dining Hokkien restaurant in town. We know he has high standards and doesn't compromise too much, so the cuisine offered should be fairly authentic. As a (fake) Taiwanese, I must admit that my understanding of Hokkien cuisine (閩菜/福建菜) isn't very deep... although, admittedly, it should still be better than your average Cantonese person. So I'm pretty interested to get myself educated.

We know he has been asking close friends to join him in multiple rounds of taste tests to get things right, so when the invitation came for dinner tonight, I knew they felt ready.

We were led to one of Hokkien House (福上)’s private dining rooms for what would undoubtedly be a feast. There’s no meal with Mr. Chichi that doesn’t involve my stomach being on the brink of explosion, but I was surprised to find ONLY 13 dishes on the menu before fruit and dessert.

Choking smoky sticks

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I had a pretty good first experience at Torikaze (鳥かぜ) - the local outpost of famed Tokyo joint Torishiki (鳥しき). That was, of course, by invitation from B Bestie. After that meal, I thought maybe, just maybe, there is finally a yakitori (焼き鳥) joint that Foursheets could enjoy. In addition to the 3 sticks of veggies - which were watched over by Chef Matsui Ryo (松井亮) himself - there were another 9 different vegetables offered as add-ons. It wouldn't have to be an all-chicken evening.

We managed to rope the Zhongmeister and Winnie the Chew, as they have been a few times and are fans. As our friends have always sat in the private rooms, I thought they should get a different experience by sitting at the counter - like a proper yakitori joint. This would turn out very badly for me tonight...

Appetizer : edamame egg tofu with shiso sauce (前菜：枝豆玉子豆腐、しそソース) - the perilla sauce was not bad, but it wasn't as strong and fragrant as hoped.

Caprice in August, part 2: Le Pin duo

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It's been exactly two days since some of the MNSC boys last saw each other, and here we are again tonight, sitting around a table blind tasting wines. It's my turn again to play host, and for the second time in two weeks I'm back at Caprice with the Hairy Chevalier. With a smaller group tonight compared to last week, we could comfortably fit into the Chef's Table and hang out near the cheese cellar.

With a bunch of old fogeys at the table who bitch about long menus, I asked my friend for a short service. I was serving Champagne to start plus 3 flights of reds, so 4 courses ought to do it for these guys. Focus on quality, not quantity.

As is the same with every meal, the amuses bouches arrive in la boîte à bijoux:

Foie gras tartlet

Lobster tartlet

Crispy anchovy roll

Beef and Bro Bro

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It's been six years since Bro Bro left us, and we continue to toast him on his birthday. Unfortunately I messed up by choosing to host an MNSC dinner on his birthday this year, so tonight we're doing this a day early. Since we had a pretty good meal a few months ago to remember his passing, I decided to go back to Gyu+bar by Miyoshi for more beef.

For our second visit we chose not to take the set dinner menu, and opted to pick and choose à la carte. This way we could get exactly what we wanted.

This bread has a distinctive shape that looks awfully familiar... Sadly the texture is a far cry from the original I'm thinking of.

Clueless at the club

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The MNSC boys are doing two dinners this week, two days apart. We almost made it three in a row, but alas, it wasn't meant to be. The Ox played host tonight, and we found ourselves back in The Grill at the Hong Kong Country Club.

After a weekend of stuffing myself in Shantou, I was more than happy to take things easy tonight and order à la carte. Soup and salad for me, then... But our host ordered a few starters for us to share.

Jambon persillé - a classic dish I am always happy to see. So nostalgic to see aspic with ham, and the fragrance of parsley just works so well with the gribiche sauce.

Mushrooms and peppers

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The Compatriot was back in town for a couple of days, and we agreed to catch up over dinner. Lately he hasn't been getting as much good Chinese food as he would like, so he requested for a visit to Xinrongji (新榮記). I've always had a good time here, and I do miss some of their seasonal specials - which can be pretty special. As there were only four of us tonight and I had my heart set on the Chinese mushrooms which were in season, I had to dispense with some of the perennial favorites when ordering tonight.

They always serve up some amuses bouches, which will have a seasonal fruit along with some baked cookies or crackers...

Almond crakers (杏仁脆片) - always very tasty, as the flavors of almonds and butter come through.

Caprice in August, part 1: magnum party

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I'm seeing the Hairy Chevalier two weeks in a row, as I play host to two different crowds. I had been wanting to treat Dashijie (大師姐) for dinner for some time now, and also repay the favor of some others who have very kindly included me among the lucky recipients of their generosity. The advice given to me when planning this meal was to choose a venue where I would have "home court advantage". Well... one of those places is definitely Caprice, so I roped in the Hairy Chevalier for this.

I chose this time to host this dinner because I knew that it would be tomato season, and Monsieur Tomate would be shipping their bountiful harvests from France into the arms of the Hairy Chevalier. I even saw the Hairy Chevalier post on social media with some of those beauties while he was on summer holiday. So I pinged my friend last week and requested that we have a few special dishes based on those tomatoes. Imagine my utter shock being told that it would be unlikely for us to have ANY of those tomatoes, because Monsieur Tomate had lost about 85% or more of the crop, due to the wildfires raging through France. I had been focusing on the events in Bordeaux in advance of my upcoming trip, so it came as a total surprise that the heat had also killed off produce in the Loire Valley.

My "home court advantage" suddenly took a blow...

Nevertheless, I have full faith in the Hairy Chevalier and his team. I also trust them implicitly to tailor a menu to match the wines I had prepared for tonight.

But first, la boîte à bijoux:

Foie gras tartlet

Champagne and dim sum

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We have been fans and supporters of Sato-san and Takano-san for years, and one of the things we admire about Sato-san as a chef is his curiosity, on top of his obvious creativity. During the pandemic years, he spent a lot of time testing recipes for roast Peking duck, and I've even had his "duck ramen" and "charsiu" once or twice. So... we've seen a glimpse of his "Chinese cuisine" before.

When I found out that Ta Vie 旅 was doing a special menu with Cantonese dim sum, I immediately messaged them and asked for a table. I needed to see what his interpretation of dim sum looked (and tasted) like. As it turned out, this was an event in conjunction with Champagne RSRV, for which Sato-san is chef ambassador. So we'll be sippin' on bubbly while nibblin' on dumplings.

Casual in the hood

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It's been about 10 years since someone last dined at Neighborhood, and a request was made to make a return visit on the back of the Chairman dinner. So I duly made a booking for tonight.

A couple of days ago The Kitchen Nazi pinged me to tell me that he won't be in town tonight, as he will be on vacation. No problem, I said. I've been to the restaurant plenty of times when he's not around. In fact, sometimes I prefer for him not to be around, since I could then order whatever dishes I felt like having. That's not really happening when he's in the kitchen...

I tried to get the group to order what they thought they wanted to eat, because I don't want to keep ordering the same dishes over and over again. I also kept the amount of food reasonable, as we had pre-ordered a large main course.

Fried escargot / basil / garlic - I've always loved this dish, as the combination of garlic and escargot is just so classic.

The watery Chairman

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This is the first of two nights out that I’m spending with the King. I had promised months ago that I would get a booking at The Chairman (大班樓) so that some of their friends from Taipei could get to try it, so here we are. I had asked the visitor to choose the dishes tonight, with a couple of inputs from me. Some of their choices were a little surprising, but as we would find out later during the meal, the regular customer isn’t always right.

Crispy taro cake with smoked duck (荔甫鴨盒) – flavors from the Chinese celery were pretty noticeable.