I still haven't found what I'm looking for

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My friend V wanted to catch up before the holidays, and figured we could do with a casual meal.  There are only a couple of people I would normally call on for an occasion like this, and this time I decided to call on RAW Spam Bro again.  As it turned out, our friends at Ginsberg + Chan were doing their staff Christmas dinner at Nikushou tonight, so we had a chance to catch up and try some wines together.

We kicked off with female snow crab (香箱蟹), a seasonal specialty.  In addition to meat from the smaller female, there's also tomalley (蟹味噌), ovaries (内子), and I think some eggs (外子).  Not as decadent as the ones I had in Japan last December, but this will do.  Served with the packaged sushi rice from Sukiyabashi Jiro (すきやばし次郎).

Collared in the Hood

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My Birdbrain Favorite Cousin pinged me a few weeks ago, asking me to take her back to Neighborhood for the so-called "Peter menu".  Knowing that Mr. and Mrs. Birdiegolf also enjoy taking in the "Peter menu" at certain places in town, I figured I should rope them in for this dinner.  After all, I haven't been to my favorite restaurant in a couple of months, and certainly not since the white truffle season started...

Veal tartare / Burrata / hazelnut - Mr. Birdiegolf would have preferred beef over veal, but this was what we got.  And those shaved slices of white truffle certainly didn't hurt...  Very nice.

Days of numbing tongue: Sichuan feast

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Our day started at Kuanzhai Xiangzi Alleys (宽窄巷子), yet another historic touristy area of Chengdu.  After strolling around, exploring and learning a little something about the history of the area - including yet another Starbucks located in an old building - we went in search of something very local to eat...

Wumei Zhuji Intestine Noodles (五妹朱记肥肠粉) sells, you guessed it... bowls of noodles with pig intestines.  The main draw is this huge bowl of pig offal, with a separate bowl of pig intestines which have already been chopped up.

Days of numbing tongue: hot pot experience

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I'm in Chengdu for a couple of days for a work trip, and I'm getting to see the city for the first time.  While it's interesting for me to experience some authentic Chengdu-style Sichuan cuisine, I am a little bummed that I won't get the chance to hit a couple of restaurants that come highly recommended by foodie friends.

To show us - more specifically, me - some local sights, we went to a branch of Da Miao Hot Pot (大妙 火锅) located inside the historic and touristy area of Jinli (锦里).  I guess hot pot is a must when one is in Chengdu...

Knowing a few of us can't handle the heat, we did the traditional double-flavored pot (鸳鸯锅). I mostly stuck to the non-spicy soup base, although I did enjoy dipping some of the ingredients into the mala (麻辣) side.

A classic Bordelais evening

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About two hours after landing in Hong Kong, I found myself back at the Grill Room of the Hong Kong Country Club... ready for another blind tasting with the MNSC boys.  After a weekend of dining in Singapore, I really couldn't care less about the food tonight.  Hell, I came for the wines!

The amuse bouche was crab meat and celeriac.

The sweetbreads were very milky, while the pickled fungus was crunchy and acidic.  There were some blue cheese flavors there somewhere...