Unbelievable as it may be, we are gathering on the last day of May for the very first MNSC tasting of the year. The Ox was hosting and we're back to Amuse Bouche for its tasty food, reasonable pricing, and excellent wine service.
May 31, 2018
La La La La La Latour
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Unbelievable as it may be, we are gathering on the last day of May for the very first MNSC tasting of the year. The Ox was hosting and we're back to Amuse Bouche for its tasty food, reasonable pricing, and excellent wine service.
We started with some saucission to accompany our bubbly aperitif.
Amuse bouche - the smoked salmon tartare came with some good acidity, and outshone the little dollop of caviar on top. Jamón ibérico on the side.
Unbelievable as it may be, we are gathering on the last day of May for the very first MNSC tasting of the year. The Ox was hosting and we're back to Amuse Bouche for its tasty food, reasonable pricing, and excellent wine service.
May 29, 2018
No dim sum for me
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Mama Bear is back in town for a few days, and since she was still suffering from jet lag, we agreed to meet up for lunch near my office. I had always been curious about the quality of dim sum at Restaurant de Chine (中華匯館), so I figured I'd take this opportunity to check it out.
Once Mama Bear picked up the menu, she decided that she would prefer not to have dim sum, but order from the regular menu instead. As she is the visitor, I gave her carte blanche on ordering.
Drunken pigeon with Huadiao wine (花雕醉乳鴿) - this has always been good. The pigeon meat was certainly tender, and the flavors from Huadiao were nice and strong.
Mama Bear is back in town for a few days, and since she was still suffering from jet lag, we agreed to meet up for lunch near my office. I had always been curious about the quality of dim sum at Restaurant de Chine (中華匯館), so I figured I'd take this opportunity to check it out.
Once Mama Bear picked up the menu, she decided that she would prefer not to have dim sum, but order from the regular menu instead. As she is the visitor, I gave her carte blanche on ordering.
May 28, 2018
Austria vs. France
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The Prince of Napa pinged me a few weeks ago to see if I'd be up for a blind tasting dinner tonight. He is showing an Austrian winery which makes pinot noir (or is it spätburgunder?), and wanted us to bring some red Burgs to face off with the Austrians.
I wasn't the least bit surprised to see Hong Kong Cuisine 1983 (壹玖捌參) as the chosen venue, and it was a pretty good place to take the Stiegelmars from Juris. A menu was pre-arranged by our resident regulars.
Chilled burdock with cordyceps sinensis and Japanese seaweed salad (涼拌牛篣蟲草花) - not a fan, as somehow the vinegar didn't really work well with the combination of burdock, cordyceps mushrooms, and seaweed.
Marinated duck tongues (滷水鴨舌) - a treat for our Austrian visitors. These were pretty good, and the spices in the master stock (滷水) marinade were pretty evident.
The Prince of Napa pinged me a few weeks ago to see if I'd be up for a blind tasting dinner tonight. He is showing an Austrian winery which makes pinot noir (or is it spätburgunder?), and wanted us to bring some red Burgs to face off with the Austrians.
I wasn't the least bit surprised to see Hong Kong Cuisine 1983 (壹玖捌參) as the chosen venue, and it was a pretty good place to take the Stiegelmars from Juris. A menu was pre-arranged by our resident regulars.
May 25, 2018
Swedish winter in Hong Kong summer
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V was home alone and in need of some company on a Friday night, so it was time to deliver on my promise to take him out to dinner. Rather than our original plan to get some meat-on-a-stick, I decided to look for something else. Getting a table on a Friday night is a challenging proposition - especially when it's on short notice. I took a chance and contacted Chef Jim Löfdahl at Frantzén's Kitchen, asking whether there was any chance to fit us in. As I would find out later by chatting with Jim, they have actively reduced the number of covers, so I guess that's why it became possible to squeeze the 2 of us in at a late seating.
First thing I noticed was that the chopstick rests had changed. Thankfully the menu format has not, and we ordered up a number of dishes to share between us.
Sea urchin tart - this was a daily special that Jim showed us, with 2 different types of sea urchin... Hokkaido aka uni (赤雲丹) as well as something from the Pacific coast of Russia. These sit on top of a purée of eggplant and fermented soy beans inside a pumpkin tart crust, with strips of nori (海苔) seaweed as garnish. A good start to dinner.
V was home alone and in need of some company on a Friday night, so it was time to deliver on my promise to take him out to dinner. Rather than our original plan to get some meat-on-a-stick, I decided to look for something else. Getting a table on a Friday night is a challenging proposition - especially when it's on short notice. I took a chance and contacted Chef Jim Löfdahl at Frantzén's Kitchen, asking whether there was any chance to fit us in. As I would find out later by chatting with Jim, they have actively reduced the number of covers, so I guess that's why it became possible to squeeze the 2 of us in at a late seating.
First thing I noticed was that the chopstick rests had changed. Thankfully the menu format has not, and we ordered up a number of dishes to share between us.
May 20, 2018
Taipei Michelin hop: three stars?! Puh-leeze!
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On the day that the Michelin stars were announced for the inaugural Taipei red guide back in March, just about no one expected Michael Ellis to go beyond announcing the two restaurants receiving two stars. The minute he told the crowd that a new 3-star was born, there was collective shock in the audience. The words "WHAT THE FUCK" came out of my mouth while I watched the live stream of the event from my desk in the office.
When it was announced that Le Palais (頤宮) had won the extremely coveted three stars, I probably shouted "WHAT THE FUCK" at least a half-dozen times. I have some history with the very same restaurant, although admittedly it was quite a few years ago. After all, this was the the place which served us such incredibly crappy seafood - think frozen, treated with baking soda, or possibly something worse - that mom and I didn't think we would ever return. It was yet another validation of my opinion - shared by many in the region - that Michelin simply didn't know Chinese food. Their choice was simply laughable and deserved ridicule.
Shortly after the announcement, The Dining Austrian went into action. SOP dictates that he make a trip to check out any newly-anointed three star restaurant in the world, and this one in Taipei would be no exception. Well, I would have no excuse not to join him on his adventure, as Taipei is both my hometown and a short flight away.
And when he had trouble booking a table via the restaurant's website, I decided to ask my friend Big Mac for a favor. Sure enough, he got us a table for dinner tonight with seemingly little hassle. So I assembled a fitting crew to join The Dining Austrian and I - including The Prince of Napa - for a little attempt at 踢館.
Big Mac pre-ordered 4 of the signature dishes which needed advance notice, and although they seemed a little repetitive, I was loathe to cancel any of them. And no, we did not take the "Michelin 3-star tasting menu" - which cost a ridiculous USD 250 per head.
Barbecue pork (頤宮叉燒皇) - this was their "crispy char siu (脆皮叉燒)", with a caramelized honey glaze on the outside.
On the day that the Michelin stars were announced for the inaugural Taipei red guide back in March, just about no one expected Michael Ellis to go beyond announcing the two restaurants receiving two stars. The minute he told the crowd that a new 3-star was born, there was collective shock in the audience. The words "WHAT THE FUCK" came out of my mouth while I watched the live stream of the event from my desk in the office.
When it was announced that Le Palais (頤宮) had won the extremely coveted three stars, I probably shouted "WHAT THE FUCK" at least a half-dozen times. I have some history with the very same restaurant, although admittedly it was quite a few years ago. After all, this was the the place which served us such incredibly crappy seafood - think frozen, treated with baking soda, or possibly something worse - that mom and I didn't think we would ever return. It was yet another validation of my opinion - shared by many in the region - that Michelin simply didn't know Chinese food. Their choice was simply laughable and deserved ridicule.
Shortly after the announcement, The Dining Austrian went into action. SOP dictates that he make a trip to check out any newly-anointed three star restaurant in the world, and this one in Taipei would be no exception. Well, I would have no excuse not to join him on his adventure, as Taipei is both my hometown and a short flight away.
And when he had trouble booking a table via the restaurant's website, I decided to ask my friend Big Mac for a favor. Sure enough, he got us a table for dinner tonight with seemingly little hassle. So I assembled a fitting crew to join The Dining Austrian and I - including The Prince of Napa - for a little attempt at 踢館.
Big Mac pre-ordered 4 of the signature dishes which needed advance notice, and although they seemed a little repetitive, I was loathe to cancel any of them. And no, we did not take the "Michelin 3-star tasting menu" - which cost a ridiculous USD 250 per head.
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