Asia's 50 Best Restaurants 2016

Pin It

I finally made it.

I received an invitation to attend last year's awards ceremony for Asia's 50 Best Restaurants, sponsored by S.Pellegrino and Acqua Panna, in Singapore.  Unfortunately, I was trying my damnedest to launch a new fund and couldn't afford to fly off for a few days for some partying, and I decided to cancel my trip.

So when I was lucky enough to receive another invitation to attend this year's awards ceremony in Bangkok at the last minute, I didn't hesitate.  I even called off my 8-year self-imposed exile from Thailand for this.

The events were held at the W Bangkok as well as the beautiful House on Sathorn adjacent to the hotel.  The crowd would shuffle back and forth between the two locations.  I picked up my badge at the media registration desk, found the couple of media friends I knew were also attending, and went to mingle inside the courtyard of the House on Sathorn.

When the time came, the organizers ushered us into the ballroom at the W.  My friend had very kindly saved me a seat in the front row of the media section towards the back of the room - making it a little bit easier for us to take photos.

Return to Thailand day 1: 'sup, niga?

Pin It

I've been on a self-imposed exile from Thailand for the last seven years.  After reading about the completely heartless way the Thai government chose to treat the Rohingya refugees (and I thought Thailand was a nation of devout Buddhists?) back in 2008-9, I decided that I would no longer support Thailand by giving them my tourist money.  I stopped coming, and treated the country like a deadzone when I planned trips.  After all, there is so much to see in the world!

But an invitation to attend the awards for Asia's 50 Best Restaurants, which was held in Bangkok for the first time this year instead of Singapore, was to be the one invitation that I couldn't turn down.  Especially since I had turned down an invitation to attend last year's event as I was working to launch a new fund.

I got into the city during lunch time, and dropped off my bags at the Pullman Bangkok Hotel G since my room wasn't ready.  The staff had suggested that I take lunch at the on-premise burger joint, but there was just no way that would work for me.  I's gonna have me somethin' local!

I pinged Chubby Hubby about meeting up later, and he suggested that I go grab lunch at Supanniga Eating Room since it's close by.  Apparently a couple of chefs from Singapore were having lunch there.  I'd seen pictures posted by the Great One of her meal there a couple of days ago, so I figured it wouldn't hurt...

So I walked past W Bangkok, turn in at Soi 10 Sathorn, and kept walking until I saw the sign.  It was now about 1:30 p.m. and the Singaporean chefs are nowhere to be found.  I did see a table occupied by a Japanese contingent, and realized that the guy in the middle was Yamamoto Seiji (山本征治) from RyuGin (龍吟).  I am seated a couple of tables away by the door, and order a few dishes.

Ma hor (ม้าฮ่อ) - little dabs of stir-fried minced pork with garlic and peanuts.  I hadn't seen these things served on butterflied mandarin wedges before, and this was perfect.  The sweetness and slight tanginess of the mandarin orange helped to temper and douse the heat from the bird's eye chili.

Neighborhood harbor front dining

Pin It

I learned a little more about the dining options of my new hood yesterday, thanks to a story link posted by my friend g4gary.  One of the places mentioned was Reiki Small Field (小田料理), a new Japanese place by the ferry terminal, which is literally a stone's throw away from me.  I'd walked by this place numerous times, and had been pretty curious.  Tonight it was time to check it out.

The restaurant occupies part of the ferry terminal building, and the side facing Victoria Harbour is actually open to the water without any windows.  Harborside seats had already been taken when I called to reserve, but it was probably a good thing, anyway... The fragrance of the Fragrant Harbour isn't always pleasant, and there's always a chance of breathing in fumes from the departing ferry boats.

In addition to an à la carte menu offering items from sashimi to tempura, the restaurant also offers two kaiseki menus.  I decided to splurge for the more expensive option which, at HKD 1,000 a head, seems a little steep for a location such as this.

First up was this plate.  Our waitress plopped it down in front of us and walked away.  I tried to ask what it was that we were eating, but I couldn't get an answer.  The cook came out, and he didn't seem to understand my question of "what are these?"  Maybe he thought I was a total idiot... since I couldn't even recognize what was obviously a giant scallop in front of me.

Italian food with gorgeous view

Pin It

I found myself at Cucina in the Marco Polo Hong Kong Hotel tonight.  Hello Kitty was doing some research for a project, and we decided to have dinner here.  This would be my first visit.  In fact, I had never even heard of this place.  But hey, I heard this place has a pretty good harbor view, so why not?

The menu was reasonably compact, with a mix of Italian dishes together with other not-so-Italian choices like lobster bisque, foie gras...etc.  I chose a selection of what I felt would be representative of what the new chef could do.

Cappuccino al funghi porcini con biscotti al parmigiano - this was pretty decent.  Slightly over-seasoned for my taste, but most diners will probably find it perfectly fine.  They even threw in a slice of porcini.  The Parmigiano biscotti are not bad, either.

NOT a birthday dinner

Pin It

I'm taking My Birdbrain Favorite Cousin out for dinner.  She refuses to acknowledge the fact that a big birthday (read: the big figure is changing) is coming up, so she is adamant that we don't call this a birthday dinner.  No cake, no mention of the B-word, and no, we are not having it on the actual day itself.  I did, however, ask her to choose the venue... and she decided that she'd like to go to Ta Vie 旅.

Having found out hours in the wee hours of the morning that yesterday was, in fact, Sato-san and Takano-san's 10th anniversary, I doubled back to the office when I realized that I forgot to bring them my impromptu present.  I brought another bottle of this wine on my last visit to the restaurant, and it happens to be from their vintage.

Meanwhile, My Favorite Cousin and Hello Kitty were sipping on the special bottle of Champagne that I brought while waiting for me to return.  Takano-san remarked that this was also Sato-san's vintage...

The menu tonight offered very different dishes compared to my previous visits, with the exception of the very first item:

Cauliflower puffed mousse with Botan shrimp in shrimp consommé jelly - one of the best dishes to come out of this restaurant was the sweet corn mousse with Botan shrimp (牡丹海老), and this was a variation made with cauliflower.  I love the chunks of lightly-torched shrimp, buried in the cauliflower mousse along with finely chopped chives and tomatoes.  The beautiful consommé jelly, full of umami, was tempered by the slightly sweet and clean flavors of the mousse.