Principal Aikens

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It was finally my turn to host an MNSC dinner tonight, and we settled on the date back at our last dinner.  I had called around to a couple of the best places in town to secure a private room for ourselves, and was looking forward to going back to a place I hadn't been for a long time, when Lord Rayas suggested that I host it at the Principal.  As it turns out, Tom Aikens would be doing a guest chef stint on that very evening.   We had a pretty good experience last year when Jason Atherton came to the Principal, so I had happily agreed.

For some reason, the menu did not include amuses bouches from Tom, so we got them from the Principal's own kitchen...

Watermelon and sangria

Truffle puff and Anchovies

Completing the trio

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Peter Lam opened a trio of Japanese restaurants in the same location a couple of years ago, and I've had the opportunity to try out both Rozan (魯山) - which serves up some of the best sushi in town - and Gin Sai (吟彩), with a well-rounded variety of Japanese cuisines.  But Wagyu Takumi - the sole recipient of macarons from the Rubberman - was a place I never had occasion to visit.  So when a friend from out of town suggested that we meet up there, I heartily agreed with his choice of venue.

Like its adjoining sister restaurant Rozan, the seating was pretty much limited to a small L-shaped counter along with a separate private space.  Chef Mitsuru Konishi was already prepping when I arrived, and soon the strong smells from the teppan and the grill were filling my nostrils.  As the ventilation really wasn't strong enough, I could see that my ability to smell the wines would be greatly diminished tonight...

Boston lobster tartar with dill cream, lobster jelly and caviar (ロブスターのタルタル、ディルクリーム、ロブスターゼリー、キャビア) - a pretty good start to dinner.  There was surprising crunch inside the lobster tartar thanks to some finely diced chives, and all the flavors from the jelly, caviar, dill cream...etc. worked together perfectly.

Shanghainese, my ass...

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Like my good friend Tigger, I am really a cheap bastard at heart.  So it's rare that I find myself attending organized wine dinners since the cost is often prohibitive.  Why shell out beaucoup dinero when I've got enough wines in my own cellar to make me a happy camper?  But once in a while, someone will come along with a proposition that looks interesting at a more reasonable price, and tonight was just such an occasion.

L'Imperatrice Fine Wines has an interesting roster of grower Champagnes, including one that is a favorite of mine.  A few weeks ago I received an email about a dinner they were putting together that featured these growing Champagnes, and the venue chosen was Yu Lei (玉蕾) - the one KO Dining outlet I have yet to try out, with a macaron, no less!  And since the pricing didn't give me sticker shock, I roped in a friend who loves Champagne and signed up for it.

Unlike my experience with lunch today, I didn't really know anyone other than my friend.  And we were both feeling a little antisocial tonight.  No matter... I cared more about the food and wine that I came for.

One took at the preset menu, though, left me puzzled.  This place was always billed as a "modern take on traditional Shanghainese cuisine", but as far as I could see, NONE of the dishes were actually Shanghainese.  In fact, almost all of it was Cantonese.  This was most puzzling...  I felt more than a little disappointed, since a good part of the reason behind coming here tonight was to check out the food.

Chartogne-Taillet Rosé - very nice, a little caramelized, sweet, lots of fruit with very prominent raspberry notes.  Almost a little pungent, possibly from sulfur.  Just about my favorite wine of the evening.

Chef's signature appetizer platter (三彩特式拼盤) - the plating is attractive and creative, but this is where we see the only Shanghainese element in the entire meal.  The pig trotter terrine (肴肉) was a little more mushy than what I'm used to.  The quail egg was not bad, and the prawn and pretty decent.  I was so hungry by this point and needed some food in my stomach, so I started eating the garnish... and was this close to eating the chrysanthemums...

Headless 3-star lunch

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I came back to Hong Kong from my trips to the US and Taiwan bearing gifts for the Tiggers, so they very kindly allowed me to crash their usual lunch date at 8½ Otto e Mezzo Bombana.  It's been quite a while since I was last there, and I happily accepted their invitation.

I'm a creature of habit, and when I revisit restaurants that are old favorites, I tend to go back to the same dishes that I love.  And so it was that I decided to forgo the normal set lunch and ordered up one of two dishes that I had been missing dearly...

Artisanal chitarra with tomato and red king prawns - ah... one of my favorite pastas in town.  That wonderful al dente texture from the thick pasta... the gorgeous shellfish and tomato sauce that I tried to pick up with the chitarra as much as possible.  And when the pasta was all gone but there was still sauce left in my bowl, I picked up the leftover bread on my plate and dutifully scooped up the rest.  (Tigger suggested that I do an I Love Lubutin and use my index finger instead...)  The carabinero was delish, but wait... WHERE THE HELL IS THE HEAD?!

Another Simple birthday

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After the pre-birthday dinner last night, tonight it was time to keep it small and just spend it with the parental units.  For the third year in a row, I chose to dine at STAY for this occasion, as the simple yet delicious food and the low-key atmosphere is exactly what I'm looking for.

It's my fourth visit, and still I chose not to do one of their several set menus.  For a simple meal, I am happy to do à la carte and get a little more of what I wanted.  Mom of course did the same, and dear old dad picked the cheapest set menu despite our objections - not wanting to spend too much of his son's money.

As usual there was a trio of bites as our amuses bouches:

Chicken with chicken mousse coating

Salmon with sour cream

Tomato with sun-dried tomato and crisps