Party animals unleashed

Pin It

I was invited to dinner hosted by a friend in honor of a couple of visiting pastry chefs, one of them from a 3-star restaurant in New York.  Naturally it was a gathering of foodies, including - according to the hostess - "the person who can make or break a restaurant in Hong Kong".  There were 3 professional writers, 2 bloggers and 3 chefs - a tough crowd.

So I obligingly dragged my behind back to Fook Lam Moon (福臨門)...again.  The menu had been put together by the two siblings from the second generation who are currently managing the restaurant.

The appetizers consisted of fried pomfret (炸鯧魚), grilled chicken liver (燒雞肝), pig's ear terrine (千層峰) and deep-fried pork neck (椒鹽肉根).  Honestly, I didn't really care for the pomfret...these tiny slivers were just miles away from the whole fish that I'd normally have.  The liver was pretty good, though, and I especially liked the sweet, honeyed sauce. The terrine and pork neck were decent.

The roast suckling pig (大紅片皮乳豬) was up next.  While the skin was as crispy as ever, I thought the pig was a little over-roasted.  The leg that I was gnawing on was definitely a little too charred for my taste.

Conch and chicken feet soup with Chinese yam and wolfberries (淮杞鳳爪燉螺頭湯) - same as it ever was.  Good stuff to cool down my overheated body...

Stir-fried shredded soft-shelled turtle with chinese pickles (炸菜絲炒水魚絲) - this was not bad.  You can't really tell it's soft-shelled turtle... and the shredded pickles (榨菜) and chili really made the dish.

Deep fried live groupa fillet topped with fresh crab and sweet corn (蟹肉粟米扒斑塊) - before we arrived, I had joked about this dish being very cha chaan teng (茶餐廳).  The execution here, of course, was better.  The fillets were nice and crispy, and tasted pretty good.  But I can't shake that feeling about it being the same as what I'd have in a local cafe...

Braised pomelo skin with dried shrimp roe accompanied with chinese mustard green (蝦子柚皮拌芥胆) - not bad, but I found the flavors a little weak... the pomelo skin was simply soaked in too much liquid.

Braised duck with summer baby ginger (子薑炆鴨) - our hostess tried to introduce the dish to her guests, but misunderstood and Cantonese and got confused between "napkin (紙巾)" and "baby ginger (子薑)"... which made for a good laugh.  The duck was not bad, but the baby ginger was pretty nice.

Steamed rice wrapped in lotus leaf (鮮荷葉飯) - a very nice and fragrant way to finish.

Then came the desserts:  deep-fried squares with walnuts (合桃馬仔), glutinous rice balls steamed in apple leaves (豆沙蘋葉角), deep-fried glutinous rice puff (煎堆) and walnut cream (杏仁茶).  The highlight was without a doubt the puffs... they were so perfectly round, and because the layer was thick enough, did not collapse under their own weight as the air inside cooled.  They were also really fragrant... probably the best I've ever had.

I always knew this was not a drinking crowd, so I was pretty reserved when it came to bringing alcohol.  We started with a bottle of 2003 Moët et Chandon Grand Vintage from a friend, then moved on to another bottle of Moët taken from the restaurant.

We then opened the magnum of 1996 Hugel Riesling Vendage Tardive I brought.  Pretty classic Riesling... lots of plastic, floral (osmanthus?) notes, sweet, orange and honey.  Sweet on the palate thanks to this being a late harvest wine.

There was also a bottle of Oka Ichirin (桜華一輪), a very nice daiginjo sake (大吟醸酒).  This offering from Sakura Masamune (櫻正宗) came with a seimaibuai (精米歩合) of only 37%, and was pretty fragrant and slightly dry and spicy finish, despite the slight sweetness mid-palate.

We were all pretty full and getting a little high... and decided to adjourn to a Japanese karaoke lounge for some fun.  What I witnessed in the room afterwards can only be described as the unleashing of a bunch of party animals... but that's another story.

Two down, two more to go

Pin It

The birthday celebration continues... and I got together with some of the boys for dinner at Cipriani.  Four of us are hitting 40 this year, with another old man turning 50...  It's a big year for birthday celebrations, and they were kind enough to buy me dinner.

I brought a magnum of 1970 Bollinger R.D. for the occasion.  This has got to be the freshest, most vibrant example of Champagne from this vintage that I've ever tasted... the reason being very obvious once you remember that this is an RD - "recently disgorged".  There were lots of bubbles still... Nose of salty plum... you can smell the acidity and the saltiness.  Caramelized with peach notes.  A little acidic on the palate with some orange marmalade on the finish.  After an hour, the wine was really beautiful and a little toasty on the nose.

I saw tiger prawns wrapped with lardo di Collonata and immediately knew that this was the dish I wanted.  Anything with lardo is bound to be good.  They pan-fried the prawns until the lardo became crispy, and honestly a little more salty than I'd like, but the prawns were very, very delicious.  The arugula was a surprising touch. 

I reverted to my old standby yet again... and got with baked tagliolini with ham but with spinach tagliolini this time.  It's been a while since my last visit, and how I have missed this wonderful dish!  Impeccable execution on a simple and straightforward pasta.

The other wine I brought was a magnum of 1998 Chateau Montelena.  This wine is still very young, and it would have been better if I aged it for another 10 years...  But it was very enjoyable.  Nose of mint, pine needle, a bit smoky, ripe and sweet fruit with cedar.  I could still feel the sharpness of the alcohol.  Full-bodied and concentrated, but the tannins have started to soften so it was actually pretty smooth on the palate.

For dessert I once again reverted to the usual, ordering the vanilla meringue cake.  Can never go wrong with this...

'Twas a good evening... Two more 40th to go this year, and of course there's that big five-O coming up...

Four sheets

Pin It

Today was the big day, and while I got lots of heart-warming birthday wishes, a few people seemed intent on making an issue about my age...  I was ambushed in the office by a few of my friends, including a three-year-old who sang "Happy Birthday" to me.  I'd already gotten a call while having breakfast, when an 18th-month-old sang "Happy Birthday" over the phone...  What does it mean when your friends' kids are now the ones doing the singing?

Dinner was celebrated with Tigger, Piglet and co.  I was secretly hoping to go back to Pierre, but we ended up at Otto e Mezzo.  Nevertheless, I was looking forward to more of Bombana's yummy cuisine, since my previous samplings ended up with smiles all around. 

My first course was risotto with mushrooms and beef tongue.  This was perfectly al dente, with a nice blend of mushrooms, creamy but not too rich and heavy... I was surprised at the cube of beef tongue, though... but it was so soft and tender.  Now, if they had given us two (or maybe three) cubes... that would really make my day.

I debated with myself about having the same dish again, but in the end I chose to have the Colorado rack of lamb again.  It was such a mind-blowing experience that I wanted to do it again.  And I was not disappointed on my birthday.  Two smaller pieces were served tonight, but still just as tender and juicy.  I used my knife to play with it, showing the others how soft and wobbly it was... only to get scolded for playing with my food at my age...  The fat was very, very yummy...and oh-so-lightly charred to impart the right amount of flavor.  I wasted no time in cutting off all the meat, then picked the bones up to strip them clean with my teeth per SOP.  I couldn't be happier.

Of course Tigger got me a cake on my birthday.  Yes, it had to be peach.  And yes, he got it from the Mandarin Cake Shop.  The boy is predictable... The whipped cream was very nice, but the cake itself was a little rough in terms of texture... and the peaches were not fully ripe.  But it's still a very nice birthday cake.

As is traditional, we drank a bottle of wine from my vintage.  My last bottle of 1970 Latour drank pretty well.  It was so classic... smoke, spicy, peppery and minty on the nose.  Actually spicy on the palate, too, with a very long finish.  Latour is Tigger's favorite wine, and I hope he liked this bottle...

A very nice way to spend my birthday...  Thanks to everyone who showed me some love today...and there were many of you.

My last night as a thirtysomething

Pin It

Today is the last day in my life with a three-handle to my age. It was also my turn to host the MNSC dinner, and I finally got a chance to open up some of the nice wines that I'd been saving up for this occasion.  But the day started off badly... both of the female guests for dinner - within minutes of each other - informed me of their illness from recent travels and bailed out of dinner.  That left me with a party of all guys, and once again it was gonna be a sausage party...

We returned to Caprice after a three-week absence.  The restaurant staff were on their toes tonight as it was the first day for the new menu.  Needless to say I was well taken care of by the team.  Many thanks to Vincent and Sebastien for setting up the menu to match the wines, and of course to Jeremy and the entire staff.

I picked a bottle of 1991 Philipponnat Clos des Goisses from the wine list to start us off.  This was an amazingly beautiful Champagne... Nose was very sweet, with lots of caramel, honey, a bit of citrus fruits, nutty and a little metallic. 

The amuse bouche was a trio of crispy toast with melon, deep-fried raviolo with scallop and cream, and finally a very yummy tomato granité with aubergine purée.

Petits Gris snails fricassée, Japanese black garlic emulsion and parsley coulis - pretty nice... and I liked the fact that there was a mix of textures here. 

1970 Heitz Martha's Vineyard - mint, a little oxidized, prunes, a little pine needle and definitely soy sauce.  I served it at another MNSC tasting 3 years ago, and that bottle also drank pretty well.  This was part of the Californian contingent at the now infamous 1976 "Judgement of Paris". 92 points.

1970 Chapoutier Hermitage - nose was clearly oxidized, with orange and sweetness.  A little flat on the palate.  88 points.

Steam duck foie gras, saffron fennel, liquorice, orange blossom foam - always interesting to have steamed foie... as it ends up being very soft and tender.  The orange blossom foam on top was pretty nice.

1970 Jaboulet Hermitage La Chapelle - mint, a little green and vegetal, followed by sweetness, smoke and a little brett.  Even though I knew which wines were in each pair, I actually thought this was the Petrus... 95 points.

1970 Petrus - nose was a little stewed, ripe, smoky, really sweet with honey, syrupy and cotton candy, later on orange, coconut butter, mushroom and wet sous bois.  Very smooth on the palate.  A beautiful wine.  97 points.

Suckling pig rack, carbonara conchiglie and fondant zucchini in sage jus - the suckling pig was just soooo tender... but unfortunately I am not a fan of herbs like sage, so this does not get a "two thumbs up" from me.  I want the full flavor of the pig!  The fondant was very nice, and I liked the conchiglie, too. 

1990 Vogüé Musigny Vieilles Vignes - mint, sweet fruit, some oxidation, concentrated and ripe.  93 points. 

1990 DRC Echezeaux - wow! Nose was explosive, with lots of smoke and toasted/grilled corn on top of the core of sweet fruit.  95 points.

Roasted Racan pigeon, eggplant caviar and morel mushrooms in smoked jus - I really loved this... the smoked jus made the dish for me, and of course I just love roast pigeon, and the morels... yum!  Couldn't resist grabbing the bones with my hands and stripped them bare.

1990 Chave Hermitage - very farmy, with lots of bacon fat, a little orange and even a hint of floral notes.  A beautiful wine.  95 points.

1990 Chapoutier Ermitage Le Pavillon - I have never tasted a bottle of Le Pavillon that I liked, and all of those bottles have carried the "RP 100" designation.  This bottle was no exception.  Initially I just couldn't get anything out of the nose, except a hint of alcohol and a little brett.  Am I genetically wired to dislike Le Pavillon?  Perhaps.  But one man's junk is another man's treasure... My least favorite wine of the evening turned out to be the favorite wine for Mr. Pineapple.  Go figure...  89 points.

Covaillon melon, biscuit de Gêne and aromatic mint cream - very refreshing to have a cold dessert at the end of the evening, and I do love melon... Interesting combination of textures, too.

It was a very enjoyable evening, at least for me.  I'm glad that the MNSC boys were there to share the evening with me.

A fragrant finish

Pin It

I was dragged coerced invited to dim sum today at Man Wah (文華廳).  It's Father's Day and there were two fathers-to-be... one who is actually going to be a father soon, and the other being me as the godfather-to-be.  For some reason, someone keeps trying to prove to me that Man Wah is actually a good place for Cantonese food... and time and again I find something really wrong and unforgivable with the place.  I wouldn't presume to think of myself as an expert on Cantonese food, but the fact that this was only my fourth visit in the 15 years that I've been in Hong Kong says something...

As usual I let the hosts do the ordering and only requested one dish I found intriguing.  The end result was a barrage of dim sum items and I ended up stuffing myself into a dumpling...

We started with a plate of barbecued pork belly (脆皮燒腩仔).  This was very nicely presented, and tasted pretty decent.  The skin was very crispy but I wish it would have been thicker.  Interestingly, there was a dollop of sweet soybean paste (甜麵醬) on the plate next to each piece of pork, in addition to a little bit of yellow mustard.

Organic diced vegetable dumpling (有機上素粉果) - this was pretty nice, and the chervil inside really enhanced the taste.

Wild fungus, wolfberry dumpling (杞子珍菌餃) - less interesting than the previous dumpling, even though they were essentially the same thing.  I think the wolfberries (枸杞子) threw me off.

Tiger prawn, bamboo shoot dumpling (筍尖蝦餃皇) - interestingly mild in terms of taste, which I attribute to the kitchen putting less MSG into the dumplings.  A little bland, perhaps, but ultimately better for my body (and taste buds).

Barbecued pork bun (蠔皇叉燒包) - pretty nice.

Lobster, black bean sauce dumpling (豉汁龍蝦餃) - this was the dish that made me wanna scream "WTF?!!!!"  I was warned about it before taking my first bite, and was careful to only take in part of the lobster on top.  The taste of baking soda was so strong it was almost revolting... Why the #%@# would anyone do that to a piece of lobster that is supposed to be succulent and sweet? I know that restaurants sometimes use baking soda when making prawn dumpling/har gau (蝦餃), but this was obviously a real screw up.  I didn't bother to finish the remaining part of the lobster as I had no intention of swallowing or ingesting it.  The bottom half of the dumpling, though, was superb.  The chopped taro bits were pretty tasting after steaming.

Shanghainese soup dumpling, minced pork (南翔小籠包) - the XLBs were actually a little too large for the bamboo carriages, and as I tried to remove mine the skin stuck to the handles and cause the dumpling to break, spilling all the soup.  The weird thing is that the pork filling was mixed with a little bit of ginger.  Aren't we supposed to decide for ourselves whether we wanted some ginger with this?

Green peppers stuffed w seafood paste - long, green chili peppers were halved and stuffed with seafood paste where the seeds would have been.  Then these were pan-fried.  Not bad.

Pan fried turnip cake, preserved meat (香煎蘿蔔糕) - another dish that tasted a little more bland than usual, but again this could be due to a reduction of MSG.  Actually this was not bad.  I did like the topping of dried shreds of conpoy.

U.S. beef, crispy dough (鬼馬牛肉腸粉) - before I talk about the dish itself, allow me to rant about the stupid naming conventions on the menu.  If I didn't read Chinese and looked at the menu, what the hell am I supposed to think when it reads "US beef, crispy dough"??!!  This is not descriptive at all... and methinks they are trying to adapt some of ways fusion restaurants name their dishes, by just listing the ingredients and not being descriptive at all about how the dish is cooked and/or presented.  This annoys the hell out of me.  Anyway.  The dish was not what I expected.  It's essentially the traditional steamed rice-flour roll stuffed with minced beef, except they also stuffed some crispy fried dough inside to add some crunch.  Not a fan.

Wagyu beef puff (千絲和牛酥) - the puffs looked exactly like the deep-fried turnip pastries one would get elsewhere, except here they were stuffed with cubes of wagyu which had been stir-fried with black pepper and onions.  These were OK.

Stir-fried choy sum (清炒菜心) - I had a few stems as I was pretty much at my limit by now...

Fried rice noodles, beef, X.O. chilli sauce (X.O.醬干炒牛肉河粉) - Tigger was apparently still hungry, so we watched him pretty much single-handedly polish off the plate.  I had a little bit so I could try out the dish.  It was OK, but a far cry from the ones I'd normally get at Tasty Congee (正斗) or its sister outlet Ho Hung Kee (何洪記).

I couldn't fit in any more food and passed on dessert, but Tigger asked for - and got - osmanthus jelly (桂花糕) for all of us.  These were very, very good... only mildly sweet with a hint of savory notes from the osmanthus sauce, and topped with a couple of wolfberries.  I didn't hesitate to consume both pieces in front of me, and left the restaurant with that nice, floral and fragrant taste in my mouth...