Que pasa

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Following our last successful expedition to NUR, ILove Lubutin decided that she wanted to hit another restaurant with me.  Neither of us have tried Quest by Que, although we've both heard good things about the place.  As luck would have it, she knows Chef Que's wife... so it wasn't a problem for us to get a table.

Grilled octopus, watermelon, pickled watermelon skin, ice lettuce - the octopus was smoky from grilling, and had a very tender texture.  But it lacked any seasoning whatsoever, therefore it was imperative to take the octopus with plenty of other ingredients in the same mouthful.  The watermelon provided some juicy sweetness, while the pickled watermelon skin added acidity.  The crispy rice paper added additional texture, while the kaffir lime leaf chiffonade and turmeric foam both contributed some fragrance, and the sauce came with a little spicy kick.  Pretty enjoyable dish to start with.

Deep-fried nobodies

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Another month, and another review for the South China Morning Post.  Interestingly, when I received the list of suggested restaurants for me to check out, there was something from my hood.  Since very few of the other restaurants looked interesting, and the chance of reviewing something else in my hood in the future is likely to be slim, I jumped on this rare opportunity.  I also roped in my neighbor e_ting, who had just returned from a prolonged absence from our hood.

Jin Cuisine (晉薈) in the Holiday Inn Express Hong Kong Kowloon East (that's a real mouthful!) isn't exactly a new restaurant, but it qualifies for a new review as it changed from serving Shanghainese to Cantonese cuisine.  So off we went!

Not wanting to monopolize things, I asked e_ting to share the ordering duties with me.  Many of us tend to order very specific items when visiting restaurants for the first time, which we use as "litmus tests" to gauge whether a kitchen can deliver on the basics.  I got to see what her tests were.

Sweet and sour pork (菠蘿咕嚕肉) - yes, boys and girls, your eyes aren't deceiving you.  Two Chinese people, who aren't gweilos, walked into a Cantonese restaurant in Hong Kong and voluntarily ordered sweet and sour pork.  This is her test, and to be honest, it's a pretty good one.

Out in the 'hood

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Hello Kitty felt that some flag-planting was long overdue, and decided that she would not let the opportunity slip by again.  Since she has never been to any of Chef David Lai's restaurants, she requested that the ceremony take place at Neighborhood, because... who else would be in a better position to take her there?

We decided to sit at the bar tonight, as we wanted to sit next to each other instead of across.  This also made it easy for us to talk to David, as he spent a good amount of time behind the bar hanging out with to entertain us.  We decided to take it easy on food tonight, as we really just wanted to hang out while casually munching on the simple dishes.

Yellowfin tuna toro / fennel / fava bean / bottarga - this came highly recommended, and was OK.  At least it wasn't bluefin...  The fennel added a light touch of flavors along with the basil, while it was a new experience for me to have the fava beans raw...  There was plenty of anchovy sauce and balsamic vinegar on the side to add a little ooomph to the dish.

Pasta dinner

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A friend and I were getting together for dinner over a bottle of wine, and as usual we were racking our brains trying to choose a venue.  Wanting something simple, the choice eventually came to Gradini.  This was pretty perfect for me because it's just literally across my office, so I ended up working a little before dinner.

The menu featured plenty of classic dishes, which was just fine with us.  It's always good to gauge a kitchen by how well the classics are executed...

Cesare salada - I was a little disappointed that the salad wasn't prepared tableside, given that the chef originally came from Nicholini's, and that's how Caesar's salad was served there.  Anyway, this was fine, but nothing special.

A very Good Friday

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It's the first day of the long weekend, and I had the privilege of being the "plus one" (and brought along a "plus two"...) of my friend as he hosted a winemaker over lunch.  I had briefly met Etienne de Montille on our MNSC trip to Burgundy a few years ago, and was very happy to make his acquaintance again today.  We were having dim sum at Seventh Son (家全七福) today, and having done a very poor coordination on wines with my generous host, I brought along a very casual bottle.  It's a decision I would soon regret...

We ordered a round of dim sum and quickly went back to the wines on hand.  This was definitely a mistake and I should have known better.  Since this place is just like Fook Lam Moon (福臨門), it means that the kitchen will just send out every single dim sum item in the space of 5 minutes... and you'll end up with 10 plates in front of you that you can't finish without things getting cold.  I had long ago learned to order dim sum in multiple rounds at Fook Lam Moon, but I was totally distracted today...  So we had to send a couple of items back while I grumbled about this service issue.

Puff pastry with barbecued pork (蜜汁叉燒酥)

Spring rolls with shredded chicken (雞絲炸春卷)