The best dishes I had in 2019

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It's been a busy year at work, thanks to me changing jobs at the start of the year.  I definitely did not take as many holidays as I had planned, and in fact I ended up eating out less altogether.  That being said, I still found plenty of opportunities to pig out all over the world.

As in previous years, I have put together a list of the dishes which I thought were "the best", in the sense that they elicited the most amount of positive emotions from me.  They are listed in chronological order here:

Deep-fried garoupa filet (吉列老虎班球), from The Sports Club (五陵會), Hong Kong - there's something about battered and deep-fried fish, and this was probably the best version I've ever had.  I was totally amazed that something like this could be executed at this level... with light and crispy batter enveloping very fluffy and soft fish.  And that starchy egg drop and corn sauce was beautiful.

Braised stuffed sea cucumber (海參鑲肉), from mom - OK, so I'll never grow tired of eating this dish from mom.  Soft and wobbly sea cucumber stuffed with minced pork.  I'm so lucky that mom is a wonderful cook.

Last stars of the decade

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I pinged Hairy Legs this morning.  I had something for Bilbaobab, and could I just drop it off with him at the restaurant during my lunch hour?  Being the kind friend that he is, Hairy Legs offered to make me a few dishes for lunch.  While I politely declined and told him that I was happy to eat something simple so that I could return to my desk, he insisted that I should not leave the restaurant hungry.

That's how I found myself sitting at the chef's table behind the open kitchen at Caprice, on the last day of the year - nay, of the decade.  I came delivering a small package of pop corn, and ended up staying for a multi-course lunch.

Victor came in with a magnum of bubbly. I guess it made sense to have some... with less than 12 hours to go.

Vouette et Sorbée Fidèle, en magnum, dégorgée le 16 Octobre 2018 - more pronounced mineral notes, caramelized on the edges.  The acidity on the palate was balanced by some ripeness.

The path continues

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I'm back home spending Christmas with the Parental Units, which I haven't done in a few years.  Much to my surprise, mom suggested that we go out for dinner one night.  I guess she felt that she's been keeping dad on a pretty tight leash over the last few months... and he deserved a little break.  Hello Kitty figured that sushi might be the best fit for mom's dietary requirements, so I booked us a few seats at the counter at Yu Dow Son (魚道生) - my old favorite during the year I moved back to Taipei.

The place was just as I remembered, and the four of us were seated at the corner of the L-shaped counter.  Chef Liu Ji An (劉技安) still mans the counter and makes almost all the pieces.  And the place still has flower arrangements, as one of the owners is apparently a florist.  In fact, the restaurant is named after a type of ikebana (生花) arrangement called gyodoike (魚道生).

Mom was treating us to this dinner, so we decided to forgo the regular set menus and took the basic level omakase.

Olive flounder (鮃) - presented as petals of a rose, and sprinkled with ground shrimp as if it were snow.

Pre-holiday FUK: late-night eats

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Maybe it's that late-night session last month... I don't know... but for someone who very rarely goes out for late-night supper after dinner, I inexplicably felt the need to binge while I was in Fukuoka.  I just felt that there were things I wanted to eat and places I wanted to hit during my slightly longer stay this time around.

On my first night, after a sake session, I was dead set on getting some motsunabe (もつ鍋).  It's something that originated from this part of Japan, and I didn't get around to having some during my short trip last month.  So I's gonna git some!

It was past 1:30 a.m. and many shops selling motsunabe were already closed or closing... and I was by myself.  I left the Grand Hyatt Fukuoka on foot and headed in the direction of Tenjin.  The sign outside the Haruyoshi (春吉) branch of Ryu no Su (龍の巣) advertised motsunabe, since they specialize in horumon (ホルモン), so I sat down and ordered one up.

First, a little appetizer...

Original kasu motsunabe (元祖かすもつ鍋) - I've never had a real authentic motsunabe, so this was all new to me.  We've got mostly cabbage and chives, along with raw cow intestines, and surprisingly deep-fried intestines and fat (かす)... all seasoned with some garlic and sesame.

Pre-holiday FUK: late-night drinks

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There's bound to be drinking when DaRC is involved, and on this trip I went out for drinks each night after dinner - to a variety of bars.

After our dinner on the first night, we rushed over to Shuho (酒峰) for some sake.  We arrived at an earlier hour compared to my last visit, and it suddenly hit me that people do come here for food as well as sake...

We started with a round of something DaRC and I both like a lot:

Azumaichi Junmai Daiginjo Tobintori Show Selection (東一 純米大吟醸 斗瓶取り 選抜酒), BY28 - seimaibuai (精米歩合) of 39%.  Initially served too cold, showing banana notes but kinda oxidized.  Very smooth on the palate.  Sweet at first but gets a little drier.

I've been dying to open a particular bottle ever since my last visit...