More Favourite Places to Eat?

I am wrecking my brain here. The elusive 10th favourite place to eat...surely there must be a memorable Vietnamese, Indian, or Lebanese place for me?

Well, there is that USD 2 pho place in Ho Chi Minh that I adored, but if I am not even sure of its name or exact location, how can I include it? Bukhara in Delhi was supposed to be the best, but my experience there was very sub par. Forgettful me also has a vague recollection of a fancily decorated Lebanese place in Paris where I had the best falafel.

Then suddenly it occurred to me, that closer to home, there are 2 places I like very much also:

1. 再 興 BBQ Pork Rice in Wanchai, Hong Kong. While there have been incidents of inconsistency lately, this dirt hole's BBQ pork rice is still my hands-down favourite comfort food. I still remember on my first visit, I idiotically asked for extra sauce when the server pointed out a whole jugful of "all-you-can-pour" sat right in front of me. Duh.
2. Main Street Deli, Langham Hotel, Tsim Sha Tsui, Hong Kong. This place serves consistently some of the best and most authentic deli sandwiches and burgers in town. I really enjoy their reuben, because they had turkey meat in the mix, making the package a lighter journey. The decor is original, I get root beer or Dr. Pepper, and even giant American cheesecake or lemon meringue pie! Heaven.
   

Now I can sleep.

My Favourite Restaurants

For what it's worth, below is a list of my favourite restaurants, in no specific order of preference. My key criteria are that it should represent a memorable meal, and that it would be a place that I like to re-visit again and again.

1. Peter Luger's in Brooklyn - I haven't been to this place for ages, but a TV program just reminded me of my love for the "steak for two" (steak for one somehow just doesn't taste the same). More cholesterol? Yes please.
2. Hugo's at the Hyatt Regency Hotel (now torn down) in Tsim Sha Tsui. In my mind, nothing beats its prime rib. Too bad my favourite fantango bread was long gone before the restaurant was closed. I am looking forward to going back when the new Hyatt opens (whenever that may be, given the current economic climate).
3. Sushi Ichi in Tokyo - refined sushi at its contemporary best.
4. A tempura joint next to exit B3, Kamiyacho metro station, Tokyo. This 12-seat family-run restaurant is my favourite lunch spot but I don't know its name! At the price of 1,300 yen for a tempura teishoku, they use fresh ingredients, proper sesame seed oil and quality sea salt. Thinner batter definitely exists in Tokyo, but I think nothing beats its bang for the buck.
5. Cal Pep in Barcelona - simply the best tapas ever. I remember having the sweetest and most succulent green peppers there, and I don't even like green peppers much.
6. L'Atelier de Joel Robuchon - Tokyo branch. My 2nd favourite lunch spot. I always have the steak tartare with frites, and the dish looks the same year after year after year - I appreciate the reliability and consistency.
7. "Fung Lum" Restaurant (楓林小館) in Shatin, Hong Kong. An institution for me since childhood - salt and pepper shrimp, pigeon, braised bean curd, "yeung chow" style fried rice.
8. Toscana at the Ritz Carlton (also torn down), Hong Kong. I love its authenticity, and hope to see the talented Chef Bombana resurface soon.
9. Kahala - Osaka, Japan. Wonderful creativity and diversity from a chef who claimed to have not been out of Japan.

It is getting late, maybe I will come back and think of my 10th place after some snoozing.

My Sushi Journey: from Yamato to Itching for Sushi Ichi

My first recollection of sampling Japanese food was at Yamato, a long-gone restaurant on the 1st floor of a commercial building next to Eldorado Watch Co., Queen's Road Central, Hong Kong. As a 5-year-old, I remembered how I never liked the tonkatsu rice much but yearned always for the tamago (I still do).

Then came the day and age when the also-defunct Benkay at the Landmark was all the rage: miso cod fish, california maki's, toro, hamachi and salmon sushi became staples of my formative growth years.

The world of sushi was much larger of course, as I gradually discovered sans-familie in my food exploits from Causeway Bay to Ginza. Credit to Sushi Hiro for realizing the fickle palette of Hong Kong people, and introducing me to different fish with names unheard of before. I have since become far less fond of toro, in favour of seasonal white fish preferred by the Japanese.
(a nice piece of kimedai from Sushi Hiro)

It was, however, my first visit to Kybei in Ginza many years ago that cemented my current foundation views of what a great sushi-ya should be like - in terms of ambience, chefs' skills, the lack of fish in front of you except for what you are eating, and the quality of the all-important freshly steamed tamago.

Sushi-hopping became a new hobby, the first meal of each trip to Tokyo had to be a quality sushi dinner at some exotic, hard-to-find sushi-ya. Of all the first class joints in Tokyo, Sushi Ichi is my current favourite. It offers refinement with a contemporary twist, and its relatively casual setting had none of the stiffness sometimes associated with comparable competitors.

Importantly, the chefs understood that less is sometimes more: fatty fish served in a large portion might taste overly oily, but slicing it thinner or cubing it would allow better texture and flavour to come through actually.
(Grilled saba at Sushi Ichi)(Negi toro sushi with a twist at Sushi Ichi)
(Freshly steamed tamago with fish at Sushi Ichi)

I am yearning to go back to Sushi Ichi soon, but life is not always about new favourites. I suppose progression should be balanced by remembering your roots. For a taste of old times, I find Sagano's traditional fare serves me just fine.

Sushi Hiro: 10/F New Henry House, Causeway Bay, Hong Kong. T: 2882 8752
Kyubei: http://www.kyubey.jp/index_e.html
Sushi Ichi: http://www.3567-0014.com/english/sushi/sushi.html
Sagano: 1/F Nikko Hotel, Tsim Sha Tsui, Kowloon, Hong Kong. T: 2313 4215

A Short Musing on Cipriani

I have been craving for some decent Italian food for a while, and decided on lunch at Cipriani. It has been eons since I last visited this establishment, so it would almost seem like a first visit this time.

Lunch turned out to be "Tagliolini Day", as my friend and I both picked pasta as main dishes. Mine was a pesto and shrimp version from the set lunch menu, while my lunch mate took the à la carte tagliolni with crabmeat and zucchini flowers.

I thought my pasta tasted generally authentic, and I quite liked the heavier-than-expected, almost creamy pesto sauce. The shrimps tasted strangely Chinese though, crunchy like the Cantonese speciality "glass shrimp". A set lunch compromise perhaps? My friend's tagliolini was spot on taste-wise, and the crabmeat was fresh and chunky. However, given the high price tag I thought one really deserved a bigger portion.

Service was impeccable, as was expected from a restaurant of this calibre; but I wished the air conditioning was not freezing cold, and my single espresso did not come in a regular coffee cup. Nevertheless, I look forward to my next visit.

Cipriani
12/F Old Bank of China Bulidng, Central, Hong Kong.

My Alternative Take on Nino's Cozinha

Many raving reviews have been written online about the delicious and authentic food at Nino's Cozinha, a family-style Macanese / Portuguese restaurant in Wanchai. I have been a regular since they opened, and got to know the owners quite well. So I suppose my compulsion to take a different view and rant about Nino's here is justified.

Rant #1: What is wrong with the manageress at Nino's Cozinha and why is she still here? She lacks basic courtesy but is ignorant of it, has no phone etiquette, carries a rude disposition, and wants to charge me HK$700 (!) per head for Portugese food by emphasizing the need for me to cover for revenue loss by booking out the whole place. Yes I know that, but this is such a crass
way to talk to a large customer.

Good food coupled with a customer-unfriendly manageress (especially one who doesn't know it!) is not a recipe for long-term success.

Rant #2: food quality at Nino's might have gone south somewhat. I treated my best friend to a belated birthday dinner. While I could not remember all the items we ordered as the dinner was some time ago, one impression that lasted was how salty everything was, including my favourite beef short ribs and fried egg. What happened? I could tell the quality of the ingredients were the same, and I have always embraced the occasional shoddy and slow service as part of the deal with a small, inexperienced family restaurant; but such consistent over-seasoning was unexpectedly unpleasant.

Final gasp: adding more salt to injury, my tennis elbow arm was left hanging in the air for more than 5 seconds with my "credit card + bill sandwich"; the manageress decided to zone out after handing me the damage. Hello? It was a busy night at the restaurant and it was "ka-ching" time! What would I have done if Dear Joe of Nino's hadn't rescued her from the trance? That was the tipping point for me, too flabbergasted to feel anything more about this woman.

I wish Nino's well as it ponders expansion, but for now I think I have to give it a rest.

Nino's Cozinha
Ship Street, Wanchai
T: 2866 1868 (Book well in advance for dinner, and I hope you don't get to talk to the manageress)

普天同慶 "溏心風暴"

There are three facts to string together here:

• My cousin and his family are in town again from San Francisco for Christmas;
• Mom is old-school and is the kind of person obliged to return favours, say, if someone treats the family to a big meal; and
• A pot of dried abalone has been stewing in the electric slow cooker for 3 days.

It actually took me three days to realize that mom was making abalone for my cousin, who loves the stuff. The key question for me was, would I be able to get my hands on some of the lion's share? Thankfully, I was home in the afternoon and gladly took up the role as official taster of the abalone sauce as mom started reducing the jus in a saucepan.

Mom got it right this time. My verdict was that the sauce was totally delicious. It was sticky thick (from the chicken feet in the slow cooker) but not overbearing, and full of the intense flavour of good Chinese ham. We got to kept half of the "loot" and gave the rest to my cousin. Some delighful midnight snacking ensued, and the extra abalone sauce (in easily meltable jello form from the fridge) made rice at dinner taste a whole lot better suddenly. =)

Childhood Snack: Mom's 蟹粉 + Instant Noodles

Excuse the potentially snobby but true headline. What I really wanted to say to start off with, is that eating healthily is a difficult notion, and a somewhat depressing one also. In the summer, I yearn for yummy ice-cream; in winter time, fatty hotpots reign. One would think Autumn is a tame season but hairy crabs (大閘蟹) always creep in to ruin the health run for me.

I think my mom's homemade 蟹粉 (cooked crab meat) is special because of 3 things: mom always uses large, fresh 大閘蟹 so the 蟹粉 is always chunky and never fishy, she has good technique when extracting the meat so there are minimal shell fragments, plus she possesses the correct Shanghainese "taste" when cooking it. I almost despise the paltry, puny and overpriced varieties at restaurants as they simply cannot compare in my biased opinion. Actually, come to think of it there are many picky tongues within the family and friends circle who can attest to her 蟹粉 being indisputably #1.

We can eat 蟹粉 in lots of ways: solo from the fridge (midnight snack), on toast (hors d'oeuvres snack), stir fried with bean curd (dinner dish); but my favourite combo has to be with instant noodles, sans soup (Mom likes it avec soup). It has to partner only with 公仔麵 (replaced by 出前一丁 from Nissin now). Anything else like egg noodles, spaghetti etc. just misses the plot. You see, when mixing 蟹粉 with the piping hot 公仔麵, its ability to soak up the oil and flavour means you end up with a rich and satisfying concoction. I think this is a simple but decadent lunch, or a super after-school snack.

So with a bit of nostalgia, I had exactly this for lunch. Yummy.

P.S.: the westernized foodie in me tried to make 蟹粉 risotto myself many years ago. It was good, but you know what, it was not 公仔麵 good.

Late Surpise at 和幸 Yakiniku Restaurant

For Sunday family lunch my brother suggested a "Japanese place" in Causeway Bay, my dad announced around noon. Having overeaten on Friday and Saturday, especially at Japanese restaurants in Causeway Bay, I was initially a bit reluctant to go. But it was family day after all, so I plodded along eventually.

It turned out that my brother had chosen Wako (和幸), a yakiniku restaurant famous for a walking piece of Kobe beef outside Sogo department store. To me, the human prop was where the attraction ended. My brother had not been to the place before actually; I knew the choice was an nice, innocent gesture to try something different on his part. As such I tried hard to keep my mouth shut in an effort to contain my pre-conceived biases.

Admittedly however, there was really nothing I wanted to write about this place - that is, until our server decided to give us pro bono some homemade cheesecake and started grilling them. "Stop, I will just eat it like this," shrieked my mom - but I sensed something more interesting than the set lunches eaten, and insisted that she let our server continue the task.

The grilled Japanese-style cheesecake was yummy! Toasty on the outside, soft and melty on the inside; it was neither too sweet nor heavy. Kudos to Wako's chef as I had not tried this before at other yakiniku restaurants in HK or Japan. Redemption for an otherwise mediocre lunch menu, or reward for my lip biting? Anyway, the best part of lunch was actually chatting non-sense with my brother, since he is a busy bee at work and I usually only see him once a week.

Wako Yakiniku Restaurant: 3/F 496 Jaffe Road, Causeway Bay. T: 2117 4268

Freshness Burger....Fresh is Not Enough

Like many Hong Kongers, I have been a rather frequent traveller to Japan - for pleasure mostly and until recently, also for business. While I have a bit of a love-hate relationship with the country, I have always enjoyed pretty much everything it offers in the culinary department.

It was in Tokyo a few years ago that I gained exposure to Freshness Burger as an alternative to MOS Burger, whose WOW factor (important for me when visiting Tokyo) had been gradually subsiding. Freshness had soft pumpkin buns, meat sauce and mayo to go with the beef patty, thick tomato slices, and even cute mini burgers - everything was made fresh. Freshness Burger to me equals yummy snacks in a cute package.

Well Freshness Burger was not quite the same though when it crossed the seas to Hong Kong, maybe more than a year ago. I have not really had the urge to retry it since my first experience was bland, which I attributed partially to an operation that was not run-in.

I had no idea what besotted urge came over me , but I decided to give Freshness another shot today. At 5.30pm the place was surprisingly deserted for a location in the heart of Causeway Bay, for good reason I was to discover. I waited more than 10 minutes for a supposedly freshly prepared burger - so much for fast food... Meanwhile I observed 4 or 5 teenagers in the back kitchen pretending to be busy but at a slow pace, slotting small salads in plastic boxes rather unsuccessfully into larger plastic bags. My patience was running out.

The clock struck 5.44pm, it was finally my turn to claim the prize. Alas I was rewarded with a lukewarm piece of beef, a frigidly cold tomato chunk, mediocre pumpkin buns, and onions that tasted distinctly independent from the whole package. To be fair, the store manager was attentive, and I felt the sincerity in her "thank you" when she gave me my burger. Yet something larger was missing. Is it the financial tsunami dampening motivation, or is it that young Hong Kong workers who grew up in this era of "instant gratification" just don't give a damn about anyone but themselves?

Chinese people stereotypically are more flexible than the Japanese, but we should probably learn from their heart, discipline and execution. Cultural and historical differences aside, recession or no, I really respect the Japanese people for their dedication. Anyway, I would rather go to McD's next time for my trans fat fix - at least everything is piping hot and I get instant gratification too!

Freshness Burger
Windsor House, Causeway Bay - ain't worth the wait

Davis - a Hidden Gem

I have known V and D through a friend since a few years back, when they ran (and still run) a quaint, cozy eatery on Gough Street in Soho. Thai fushion food, my friend claimed. Honestly, anything with the word fusion in it I approached with skepticism; but with D's cuisine, I have since been won over, and am a declared fan.

Recently the duo opened a new bar called Davis in the up-and-coming Kennedy Town neighbourhood. At V's urging, I checked out the place one evening, only to discover that D was there too, which meant a full food menu was available at this little bar - I was not expecting that at all.

The small tables and stools precluded extensive ordering, but I was able to sample quite a few new dishes from D. To itemize, V and D served salmon marinated with Chinese "fa diu" and rose wines, sardine bruschetta, warm beef salad, mixed sausages with toast, and M&M's cheesecake.

Nevermind that the sardine bruschetta had absolutely no fishy taste, was complemented well by a tomato sauce that was fresh and absent from normally detestable excess acidity; or that the sausage platter comprised of hearty, flavourful, sweet and salty varieties from Spain; what really impressed me was D's heart in this cooking.

I liked the fact that he seasons strongly but his food is never overly salty or peppery. I liked that he cares about the quality of side salads and garnishes, which were good enough to pass off as a standalone dish but he doesn't charge you extra for it. I appreciated that he is a chef who can make the best out of his ingredients. And I accepted the fact that he can give you a black face sometimes when you have done absolutely nothing more than being a normal customer.

I really hope more people will be able to see through the facade of V and D's rustically decorated bar and discover the real gems of the place. It would be a shame if Davis remained hidden for long.

Davis @ Davis Street, Kennedy Town, Hong Kong

K.I.S.S. Keep it Simple Stupid

Quite a while ago an Italian deli opened in the heart of Sai Kung.

Thelma, the proprietor, is an enchanting and energetic lady from the Philippines who speaks fluent Italian with more fervor than natives. She sells every Italian grocery you can imagine and stocks a kitchen that can whip up a few wicked bowls of pasta. Apparently she can out-swear her Italian husband in his own language too...

Upon a recent weekend re-visit, the place was thriving. I guess the secret is out.

Hungry as ever, an antipasti misti, formaggio and prosciutto platter came and went quickly. The highlight was a simple trofiette with pesto which looked and tasted like nothing but the real thing from Tuscany! What a pleasant surprise to find this in Sai Kung, of all places. Turns out from later experiences that the chef is a tad temperamental and inconsistent with his cooking – but hey, that’s the charm of the place, in a way.

Indeed I suppose the best thing about this place is that there is nothing pretentious in the package, from food to décor. The food didn’t need to be perfect. Simply it was more about having a rustic, hearty and homey dinner surrounded by racks of wine and pasta galore. As vintage 80’s Duran Duran and Human League chanted from background speakers, the whole experience fell into place.

I cannot forget to mention the Lavazza espresso they served was fragrant and yummy too, biscotti included. Sure beats the hell out of that bland, 1849 HK$40 stingy cup place at the IFC!

Appetito
T: 2791 5666

“Softbank” in Central

I have long relished an opportunity to sample a much-raved private kitchen in Central that serves traditional, bona fide Cantonese banquet dishes ("dai sung" as opposed to "siu choy"). Lucky me I finally had the chance last week. I think the chef descended from the famous “Liu Chong Hing” (now “Chong Hing Bank”) house chefs.

The restaurant was tucked away secretly next to the Softbank Building and looked contrarily unappetizing. After deciding whether to take 4 dangerously narrow flights of stairs or spend 10 seconds in a death-chamber elevator that stank like hell, I entered a pleasantly decorated private room, greeted by the overwhelming aroma of a rare, 30-year Chinese “fa diu” wine (花雕) courtesy of my generous cousin. So, Italians made wines from sangiovese as such because they go well with their predominantly tomato-based dishes. I think “fa diu” is analogous for the Chinese, but why can’t most people in modern times appreciate this simple idea? I don’t believe in, for example, a “perfect Riesling for Sichuan food”.

Since I couldn't drink much, allow me to jump to the appetizer – 3 big slices of giant conch (螺片), cooked to perfection. Flavourful and softly chewy, small dashes of shrimp paste sauce made it even better. The baked crab shell was another classic flawlessly executed. It was all fresh crab meat and contained no distractions like onions or mushrooms. Rightly suggested by my cousin, eating without the accompanying Worcestershire sauce was a superior option.

Then I had the traditional “glass prawn” (玻璃蝦). Almost 2/3’s the size of a tennis ball, it was fresh and almost crunchy in texture. "Tim's Kitchen" (of Hang Seng Bank house chef fame) in Sheung Wan does a great job with this dish as well, but I think tonight Liu Chong Hing won out.

Top quality clear conch soup, stir fried shark's fin (貴花翅), Cantonese-style fried chicken (炸子雞) and veggies all came and went in a swift. Even though I was quite full by then, I just could not resist the final satay beef "cheung fun" (腸粉 rolled rice noodles) and lotus leaf rice. The cheung fun was smooth and slurpy, but I absolutely cherished the rice because its rich lotus fragrance reminded me of my favourite dish when I was little. How I miss this "gau sung" (traditional, old dish) flavour versus dingy nouvelle Chinese cuisine today.

Regrets I did not have a camera with me, but pictures would not do the food justice. Maybe I should wish for the day when we can capture the smell of food on bits and bytes.

Address: 3/F and 4/F, 4 Pottinger Street, Central.

Lei Garden @ IFC, Hong Kong

Celebratory dinners used to mean rowdy gatherings at fancy western or ethnic restaurants, but now I prefer a traditional Chinese meal with family and friends. I suppose this is some innate “Chinese clock” clicking in, and I can relate much better now as to why my mom and aunts insist on Chinese food when traveling even if it is awful.

Such was the mindset as I approached a birthday occasion at IFC's Lei Garden. I have come to enjoy Lei Garden’s consistency in food and quality, especially since the MSG dosage at this place appears somewhat reduced. The night’s menu had some highlights:

A crispy suckling pig complemented by a small, soft flour pancakes. I would be just as happy eating plain pancakes only.

Fresh geoduck slices (cooked by pouring hot fish soup over it) and lobster bits, crackers with noodles were both flavourful yet light on the palette.

The jumbo longevity bun was always a nice touch.

My only complaint is that prices are somewhat unreasonably expensive because of the location. Personally I always feel Lei Garden’s Wanchai counterpart is better value and even tastier.

Address: 3/F, IFC Mall, Central. T: 2295 0238