The best dishes I had in 2023

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Another year of eating pretty well, now that we've been released from the shackles of the pandemic and resumed travel around the world. Revenge travel, it is called, and I've made no less than 6 trips to Taiwan just to see the Parental Units. Of course, there were other trips, too... and I finally made it outside of Asia towards the end of the year.

Once again I have compiled a list of dishes I've enjoyed during the year which drew the most emotional reactions from me. I've had many, many delicious dishes over hundreds of meals, and as always it is no easy task to pare the list down to a manageable number. The dishes were tasted in Hong Kong unless otherwise indicated.

Golden roast pigs from New Territories Farms (新界農場大金豬), from Red Seasons Aroma Restaurant (季季紅風味餐廳) - it had been four years since I was last able to taste this roast pork... where the pigs were roasted in underground ovens and the very crunchy crackling come with that beautiful smoky flavor. Just so, so happy to be able to enjoy this with friends again.

Not the 50 Best tour day 6: laksa day

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It's my last day in Singapore, and last chance to check someone off the list, so it was laksa's turn. I met up with HaoKouFu again for breakfast this morning at Sungei Road Laksa (结霜桥叻沙). It was a short walk after a one-stop MRT ride for me, so that was perfect.

The broth of the laksa is still cooked in a pot over charcoal, and they still pour the broth into the bowl of cold noodles and strain it back to the pot multiple times before it is finally served. Cockles and slices of fish cake are still standard, as is the generous heap of laksa leaf chiffonade. Noodles are cut short Katong-style so only a spoon is given. I asked for extra broth.

Not the 50 Best tour day 5: peanuts with Thai food

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I haven't properly caught up with Chubby Hubby for quite a few years. I was supposed to have gone to Singapore to join them for dinner when Mauro Colagreco was in residency for 3 months, but as the "travel bubble" between Hong Kong and Singapore never went into effect, I didn't travel out of Hong Kong until mid-2022. As none of us were joining the 50 Best circus this week, it was a good opportunity for us to meet up and throw some peanuts around. And as far as peanuts go, Gastronaut always has plenty... so I figured we should all get together for dinner.

Restaurant Chedi is a Thai restaurant which has just opened not long ago. While I'm normally not in the habit of visiting restaurants this new, and this wasn't exactly "local", but if this where my friends wanted to go... I happily obliged.

There is a single tasting menu offered, and the four of us sat at the counter so that chef K-Jin Lim could have direct interaction with us.

Miang kham (เมี่ยงคำ) - so nestled inside the betel leaf cone were different elements designed to provide the combination of sweet, sour, salty, spicy, and bitter flavors. We've got sugared peanut powder and tamarind for sweetness; bird's eye chili for spicy; lime pulp for acidity while the rind added bitterness; Hokkaido ikura (イクラ) and Rayond dried shrimp for salt... plus many others. Afterwards the liquid in the shot glass underneath is meant to cleanse the palate but delivers a similar combination of flavors.

Not the 50 Best tour day 5: another old favorite

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Roti prata is something I have difficulty finding outside Singapore and Malaysia, at least good ones, so I do like to load up when I'm in town. I was determined to get some crispy ones this morning, and after looking online I thought the Food Centre at 20 Ghim Moh Road would be a good place to hit. There are two stalls which come recommended - Mohd Faisal Seeni Eating House and a branch of ENAQ - the latter was touted by a few bloggers, including one who is a hack whose opinion I don't trust.

I was pretty excited when I arrived that I kept circling the row of stalls, but couldn't find either of them. I double back to make sure. DAMN! ENAQ has closed! Upon checking their website, only the Jurong shop is listed, and another (more trusty) blogger changed their post to mark that the stall at Ghim Moh has closed.

As for Mohd Faisal Seeni Eating House at stall #01-37... they were not open this morning. Did I overlook the fact that it is Ramadan, and Muslims don't eat while the sun is up?

Dejected, I thought about getting some other hawker food... but came upon West Coast Pallakkouly Prata Power at stall #01-46. Figured I'd give them a try and got an order of coin prata.

Not the 50 Best tour day 4: breakfast noodles and old friends

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Two days ago PR8 blasted out a message to a whole group of people, inviting everyone to have breakfast at Hill Street Tai Hwa Pork Noodle (大華豬肉粿條麵). This is, of course, the famous hawker stall that got themselves a little macaron, and I have heard stories of people lining up on weekends for more than an hour for a bowl of their noodles. Well, I have no interest in lining up for an hour for just about anything, so I hadn't planned on coming here. But the promise was that we would 'skip the line' by special arrangement, and suddenly my curiosity got the best of me.

Word was that this outing was "limited to 15 people", but I know how PR8 works, and sure enough, I counted more than 30 people spread out over at least 4 tables. Even Wakuda Tetsuya (和久田哲也) showed up...

Of course, my day in Singapore can't begin without kopi C... Others, though, took advantage of the offer of beer at 10 a.m.

Not the 50 Best tour day 3: a day of disappointments

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The Man in White T-shirt pinged me last night about breakfast at a hawker stall, and we agreed to get some grub this morning. Unfortunately the skies were a little wet this morning, which made a proper food crawl a little more difficult than usual. Nevertheless, we headed over to Joo Chiat for a few bites.

Mr. Mohgan had sadly passed away since my last visit in late 2019, but I still went to Mr and Mrs Mohgan Super Crispy Roti Prata for my prata fix. But first, a proper start to the morning with a kopi C.

Not the 50 Best tour day 2: pandan day

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I got up this morning and pondered what to have for breakfast. Surely I would go grab a cup of kopi C, but the question is where. Do I go back to an outlet from one of the established chains, or do I wander into an unknown local shop and try my luck? In the middle of checking out the area around my hotel, I remembered that Goldfinger was staying nearby, so I pinged him and asked him about breakfast. This is his first trip to Singapore, so I figured I could take him to one of my favorite places for breakfast.

I have been coming to Killiney Kopitiam for about 25 years, and it was a ritual for me on my frequent trips to Singapore back in the day. It may not have the best coffee or kaya toast in town, but I'm a sentimental guy and a loyal customer, so I've never batted an eyelid about paying more for the taxi ride there than the cost of the actual breakfast.

I started us off with a couple of soft boiled eggs, adding a few drops of soy sauce, of course.

Not the 50 Best tour day 2: Gogaden

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The whole point of me flying myself down to Singapore for a few days was to come to lunch today. It has been almost exactly 5 years since the last time I saw Fukuyama Goh, Gaggan Anand, and Hasegawa Zaiyu together at the GohGanDen pop-up in Macau. The fact that borders are now once again open and chefs can once again come together for collaboration dinners is, of course, very good news. I was so excited that this was happening that I immediately messaged Gaggan to get myself booked.

I'm flying solo this trip since Foursheets stayed home to catch up on work, so I invited my friend L to come join me. She loves going to DEN, and also enjoys Goh-san's cuisine, so she was only too happy to come along.

The event was held at Ms. Maria and Mr. Singh, and this branch was opened when the team left Bangkok during the pandemic. I strolled in and greeted Vlad, Goh-san, Zaiyu, and Rydo. I also ran into a couple of friends, and noted the presence of one Academy Chair.

Papdi chaat (पापड़ी चाट) 💥 - an evolution of Gaggan's iconic "yogurt explosion", the yogurt spherification sat on top of a papdi (पापड़ी) with some tamarind chutney, pomegranate seed, and a sprinkling of sev (सेव). Cumin was very obvious here and this was a little spicy, but the yogurt helped to temper the heat. This... is a dish that's normally on the menu here at Ms. Maria and Mr. Singh. Not what I was expecting.

Not the 50 Best tour day 1: I'm with Emma

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I'm back in Singapore for a few days, on my first trip since that short weekend just before the pandemic hit. A certain segment of the world's population are in town for a few days for events surrounding this year's edition of Asia's 50 Best Restaurants, but I won't be going to the festivities or the numerous collaborations and pop-ups. I'm in town to catch up with friends, and to taste the local food that I've been missing so badly.

I did happen to be on the same flight as the Great One, Goldfinger, and Giona, and as some of us were staying in hotels near the Great One, we were offered a ride into town by the Great One. We temporarily parked our luggage at the Raffles Hotel as Giona was intent on getting some coffee and grabbing some bak chor mee (肉脞面).

Our first stop was Pinhole Coffee Bar, where they thought it would be cool to have different names for their coffees. This is how I came to have a csold brew...

Earth Hour 2023

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I'm observing Earth Hour for the 15th consecutive year, and tonight I found myself in Singapore, which happens to be hosting a summit for the event. As usual I wanted to be under the stars and have the lights off in my room, and I figured going to the Esplanade would be a pretty good idea. I would be able to see the downtown skyscrapers go dark, and as it happened people from the World Wildlife Fund were hosting an event at the Esplanade Outdoor Stage.

This was the first time I get to see downtown Singapore looking so dark at night, although not everyone got the memo to switch off. I overheard some WWF officials near me talking about getting SingTel and The Fullerton Hotel on board, although One Raffles Place, WeWork, and The Sail at Marina Bay also kept some of their lights and signage lit.

3-star trip to Singapore: 3 stars too many

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We were meeting one of The Dining Austrian's old friends for dinner, but only after a few drinks first.  The last time I went to Que Pasa was probably around the year 2000, so it was nice to see that after all these years, the place was still thriving. After a quick round of cocktails - which turned out to be a more modified, more masculine Cosmopolitan - our host ordered a bottle of wine.

2014 Réserve de la Comtesse - ripe fruit, lots of dried herbs in the first whiff, then turned smoky and minty.

We moved on to dinner at Les Amis.  I haven't stepped foot in this restaurant for almost 20 years, and I also haven't tasted Sebastien Lepinoy's cuisine since just before Cépage closed 6 years ago.  Frankly, I haven't had much desire to come here.  I'm sure the cuisine is fine, but just from looking at all the pictures posted online, it just seems that the dishes and the plating still look like they belong at Robuchon.

But I'm playing the role of wingman, so here I was... hoping for surprises on the upside.  I couldn't have been more wrong.

We started with a little bubbly, and I chose a glass from a familiar name...

3-star trip to Singapore: local food crawl

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While the main purpose of our trip was hitting the two 3-star restaurants, we also wanted some simple, local food to balance things out.  I could have taken The Dining Austrian to a few of my old favorites, but it's always more interesting for someone local to show you places you've never been to.  So I roped in Gastronaut to show us around.

Our first stop was Da Dong Prawn Noodles (大东虾面) in Joo Chiat.  I have been hearing about this place so I was glad this was on our itinerary.  But first, my friend brought us some otak otak...

3-star trip to Singapore: revisiting grandma

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I'm on the road again this weekend, flying into the Lion City to spend a couple of days with The Dining Austrian.  Two months ago, the Rubberman announced the promotion of two establishments to the ultimate, 3-macaron level.  So naturally I had to prod my friend into making a trip - even though he had already visited both places earlier in the year.  Having done that, it was only right that I accompany him on his dining adventures.

My flight landed a little late, and by then it was Friday evening rush hour, with some rain earlier in the day to boot.  It became impossible to get a taxi or limo from the airport.  I did finally get transport via Grab, but ended up getting stuck in traffic on my way to Parkroyal on Pickering.  By the time we arrived for dinner at Odette, we were more than an hour late.

There were two dégustation menus to choose from - one was basically vegetarian, and the other "terre et mer".  Guess which one we picked?

A week ago, I found out through a post on FB that Julien Royer will actually be in Hong Kong this weekend, cooking at his restaurant Louise.  This was, of course, a little annoying.  You never want to fly in somewhere specifically to dine at a 3-star restaurant, only to find that the head chef isn't in the kitchen.  However, 3-star restaurants should run as well-oiled machines... so arguably nothing should be any different even without the head chef being in the kitchen.

First, a little bubbly to quench my thirst!

Henri Giraud Fût de Chêne MV13 - nice and ripe, good depth on the palate, and almost a little bitter.

Grignotages - the nibbles came pretty quickly, before we had much time to settle in...

The best dishes I had in 2018

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2018 was particularly good to me from a culinary perspective.  I made a long-overdue return to Europe and hit a few places I had been meaning to visit, and I also managed to scratch a few itches in Japan.  I'm grateful to all the chefs who, no doubt, have spent countless hours creating amazing dishes for us to enjoy.

As in previous years, this is simply listed by chronological order.  These were the dishes which brought out the strongest emotional response from me.

Le canard : Challans duck breast and foie gras duo, mango with ginger vinegar and fresh coriander from Robuchon au Dôme, Macau - I had the proper "tournedos Rossini" a few weeks earlier, but the version made with Challans duck was arguably even better than one made with beef... as the duck breast fused with foie gras seemed more "natural".

Singapore hop 2018: cinq chariots sur l'île

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It has been a few years since Sébastien moved to Singapore to take up his post at Oncle Joël's restaurants, but I had never managed to pay him a visit on Sentosa due to scheduling conflicts.  But since we met up recently in Hong Kong over dinner, and I was introduced to Chef Kim Joinié-Maurin, I figured it was high time that I checked the place out.  So I ended up overruling Hello Kitty on her request to dine at Odette, and we took a ride to Resorts World Sentosa.

I stepped out of the elevator at Hotel Michael, and was greeted by Sébastien immediately.  He gave us a quick look of L'Atelier de Joël Robuchon - which was closed this evening - before seating us inside the fine dining, 3-macaron Joël Robuchon Restaurant.

We were offered a glass of complimentary bubbly to start our dinner:

Pierre Péters Cuvée La Perle - a blanc de blancs.  Nice and caramelized nose, lovely fragrance, with yeasty notes.  Ripe and rounded on the palate, with good acidity and lean on the back end.

We had been eating quite a lot over the last few days, and I had another weekend of heavy eating coming up, so we chose not to take the full dégustation menu.  We opted for the combination which offered us 2 entrées and 1 plat to try to keep it "light".  I should have realized that it was never gonna happen...  not when you know the people who run the restaurant...

Singapore hop 2018: the hot new club

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I'm meeting up with Chubby Hubby while I'm in town, and he very kindly invited me to dinner at the brand-spanking-new Straits Clan.  The building used to house the New Majestic Hotel until it closed down and was converted to the private members-only club that it is today, and the official opening was less than 2 weeks ago.  So I changed my original plans for tonight to get an early peek.

We started with a drink upstairs, and ordered a cocktail that triggered something in me.  I think this was an old fasioned, but it had the words "gula melaka" in front.  And I'm like Pavlov's dog when it see those words...  Don't think the chocolate was necessary...

The satays were pretty good.

Singapore hop 2018: ModSin tasting

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For a long time now I have been enamored with cooking which tries to modernize traditional cuisines by bringing new twists to classic dishes while keeping the familiar flavors, and they are often among my favorite restaurants to discover.  Over the last few years in Singapore, more and more chefs have emerged who are planting the flag for modern Singaporean cuisine - or "Mod Sin" - and I'm slowly getting around to try them.

Labyrinth has been on my hit list for the last couple of years, as I found the pictures being shared on social media intriguing.  My interest level only went up after Chef LG Han's restaurant earned a coveted Michelin star.  So I made sure to allocate a slot for dinner on this trip, and asked my friend L to join us.

We were running a little late, and didn't have much of a choice except to walk brisky from Marina Bay Sands across the Helix Bridge to the Esplanade Mall.  We were the last table to seated, and I was pleasantly surprised to see that the restaurant was full.

There's a map on the table showing the source of the ingredients for dinner.  This I like very much, as it demonstrates the chef's commitment to sourcing locally.

Droning Boy: Marina Bay

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This was my first trip to Singapore since I acquired my drone, and I've been dying to fly it around the landmarks around Marina Bay.  I've got a fairly busy schedule on this trip, so I figured that the only time I could fly it would be in the mornings this weekend.  Well, the weather was absolutely gorgeous yesterday but we chose to sleep in.  And it started raining this morning...

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[4K version of the video is available here]
Thankfully the skies cleared up in the afternoon, and after checking into Marina Bay Sands, I decided to take advantage of some time before dinner to get some flying done.

Singapore hop 2018: hawker center hopping

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In addition to all the nice meals I planned with friends on this trip, I left a little bit of time to explore some local eats.  I was determined to check out a few dishes that I had been sorely missing while being away, and did a little research to figure out where the popular stalls serving the respective dishes are.

I started by going back to Tiong Bahru Market (中峇魯市場).  This is one of the more famous - and touristy - hawker centers.  When we arrived, we were greeted by the not-so-melodious vocals of an uncle playing on keyboards - right in front of the escalator.  Later on we would realize that he wasn't the only uncle busking today...

Our first order of business was coffee, and I ordered up a cup of kopi for Hello Kitty and a kopi-C for myself from 238 Coffee.  I do have to admit that the roast was noticeably heavier, but this resulted in lovely aromatics once you add in the evaporated milk.

Singapore hop 2018: Naked and delicious

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It's Saturday night in Singapore, and that usually means dinner with Mr. and Mrs. Ho.  Mrs. Ho, as always, requested we avoid any fine dining venues.  Hello Kitty, for her part, requested we check out The Naked Finn - which had been recommended by our friend Chubby Hubby the last time we were in town.  So off to Gillman Barracks we went...

But first, we visited the kiddies at the Ho residence, and even managed to pet the bunny again... all the time snacking on some charcuterie Mr. Ho brought back from France and sip on some bubbly.

2005 Louis Roederer Cristal - floral nose.  Easy to drink, but otherwise unremarkable.