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Din Tai Fung Taipei - 2024 update

December 16, 2024 by Jennifer Che

There's no shortage of Din Tai Fung articles on this blog (Taipei original Sydney London Hong Kong Orange County Bellevue Arcadia Shanghai Beijing). Still, I thought it would be a good idea to give a brief update of our experience dining at Din Tai Fung in Taipei in 2024.

First, the original Xinyi location is no longer seating customers. It is purely a take-out business. You can walk up and order and pick up takeaway, but there is no seating. They recommend everyone go to the Xinsheng location, which is about a 10 minute walk away from the old location.

The new location is also multiple floors (similar to the old location), but it has an elevator and is much more disability friendly. The old one had these tights staircases that you would have to walk up.

The menu is pretty much the same. Of course, the menu in Taiwan has several extra dishes that we can't get in Hong Kong, such as certain local seasonal vegetables, such as stir fried fiddlehead-like greens (see above) or fresh bamboo shoots with mayo.

In general, the prices are also significantly lower than what we pay in Hong Kong. Ah, Taiwan is such a good deal!

One of my relatives is gluten-sensitive, so Din Tai Fung was able to make a version of their Beef Noodle Soup with rice vermicelli instead. He loved it.

Swag!

And the super cute SWAG! I couldn't resist, I bought the mug on the left. My nephew got the plushie dumpling guy. I might have to go back and get the plushie dumpling sometime. Gah, why is everything so cute??

But What About the Lines?

All in all, we were extremely impressed with the efficiency of Din Tai Fung's entire operations. Yes, the lines are long, but the restaurant does a fantastic job of managing it all. Be prepared to wait 1-2 hours depending on the time of day. If possible, plan ahead.

We were lucky. Our uncle and aunt live really close to the restaurant. So . . . they stopped by about an hour before our planned lunch to grab a ticket, and then told us when to show up.

If you don't have a relative that lives next to the restaurant? No worries! One time I grabbed a ticket at 11AM and then we went to the nearby Dongmen Market (which is awesome) to explore until our table was ready. Dongmen Market has a dizzying array of fresh local Taiwanese vegetables, fruits, and all sorts of other fun things. I actually love wandering it, even if I am not waiting for dumplings!

Although you can't grab a ticket online, you can monitor the progress of your ticket on the Din Tai Fung app. You can also check out wait times at all of their locations throughout Taiwan, which is quite handy.

It's crazy, but I went to Taiwan four times in the past year and a half. Perhaps not a surprise, but I made sure to eat at Din Tai Fung (usually this Xisheng location) every single trip. I love it. I guess dumplings is comfort food for me, and I think Din Tai Fung makes one of the best and most consistent dumplings in the world.

Din Tai Fung Xisheng Branch
No. 277, Section 2, Xinyi Rd, Zhongzheng District, Taipei City, Taiwan 100

Din Tai Fung Hong Kong

November 30, 2016 by Jennifer Che

This is the thirty-fourth post in the Around the World Birthday Extravaganza Series. Please scroll to the bottom to see all the other posts in this series.

Yes, here I am, seeking out Din Tai Fungs around the world again.

There's just something I love about this Taiwanese dumpling chain that has now spread pretty far around the world. I've personally visited close to ten of them worldwide, including ones in
Australia, China, Taiwan, Singapore and all over the U.S. (Arcadia, Los Angeles, Bellevue). And now, Din Tai Fung Hong Kong.

Interestingly, I still haven't visited the one in Tokyo, even though I've been to Japan probably more times than all those other countries combined, excluding the U.S.

We met friends for dinner at Din Tai Fung our second night in Hong Kong. Our friends have a baby so we decided to meet at Din Tai Fung around 4:30PM to avoid the lines (as expected, there was no wait at that hour).

The Din Tai Fung in Hong Kong is the only one to have ever official received a Michelin star (2010 guide to Hong Kong and Macau). In the new 2017 guide, it no longer has a Michelin star, but is still listed as a bib gourmand (good quality, good value cooking)....

Din Tai Fung South Coast Plaza

December 26, 2014 by Jennifer Che

Happy Boxing Day!

Can you believe Christmas is already over? I swear this year whirled by.

Bryan and I spent Christmas with Bryan's family in Orange County where he grew up. I always love coming to California during the holidays. The weather is fantastic; it's always so nice to see his family (they treat me just like one of their own, if not better!); and . . . the food!

In the past, his parents have always made a point to take us to Din Tai Fung in Arcadia, which they knew to be one of my favorite restaurants. This year, we didn't need to make the 45-minute trek to Arcadia. Instead, for the first time, the newest Din Tai Fung at South Coast Plaza was open.

We knew that the mall would be crazy during the holiday shopping season, so we tried showing up right around 11:15am.

Despite the fact that there was a line wrapping around the outside of the restaurant (with waits hovering around 45 minutes), we were able to walk in and immediately be seated.

How?...

Din Tai Fung (Singapore - Marina Bay Sands)

November 14, 2014 by Jennifer Che

We had just gotten off the plane and it was only 11AM. Bryan had wanted to maximize his time in Singapore after having spent a week in Malaysia, so he booked the earliest flight he though we could tolerate. Check-in took awhile, since our early arrival meant it was harder for them to find a room for us. By the time everything was all set, it was closed to lunchtime.

"Where shall we go?"

Just for fun, I did a search for Din Tai Fung, one of my favorite dumpling chains, and did a double take.

There's one less than 500 feet away!

Could it be? It turns out we were staying in a massive hotel complex called Marina Bay Sands that was connected to a fancy mall. Din Tai Fung was connected to our hotel right inside that fancy mall.
We immediately started walking....

Din Tai Fung (Sydney, Australia)

May 17, 2014 by Jennifer Che

I've talked for ages (almost two years!!) about starting my Eating Down Under Series, which would highlight the three week trip that Bryan and I took with his parents at the tail end of 2012 to celebrate both of his parents retiring. Usually I like to start out a new food series with a bunch of teaser photos giving you a glimpse of what's to come. However, in this case, we were in the southern hemisphere for THREE WEEKS, which is just too many teaser photos to fit in one post. So instead, I am just going to dive into this series. Enjoy!

My birthday happened to land on one of the first few days of our trip down under, while we were still in Sydney, Australia. Bryan's family was so sweet.

"It's Jen's birthday! She gets to choose where to eat tonight."

Ooh, where to eat? Honestly, for me, the answer was easy.

You know about my little mission, right?
My goal is to eat at every Din Tai Fung in the world, that's all. I've made reasonably progress to date. I visited the original one in Taipei, of course, as well as the one in Los Angeles opened by the family's son. There are franchises around the world, and I've gone to the ones in Beijing and Shanghai as well as the one in Bellevue, Washington. Heck, I've even been tricked and gone to a knock-off one in Toronto.

I knew that there was a Ding Tai Fung in Sydney. Once I found out that it was reasonably close to where we were staying, my mind was made up.

I dragged Bryan's entire family (his mom, dad, and sister) to Din Tai Fung in Sydney to celebrate with me. What sports they are!

The marinated cucumbers are one of my favorite cold starters. Bryan's dad also loves them, so we got two orders for the five of us.

The spicy wontons are doused in a flavorful, soy-based chili sauce. Though they are pretty tasty, I still think it's best to save stomach space for the steamed dumplings and the soup dumplings (xiao long baos).

We always like to get stir fried vegetables on the side, and hollow heart vegetable (Chinese watercress) is one of Bryan's favorites. In general, I think Din Tai Fung does a great job on their stir fried vegetables. The vegetables are usually very tender, cooked just the right amount, and seasoned nicely.

Beef noodle soup comes in a generous portion, and is pretty satisfying.

One of my favorite steam dumplings is the "Vegetable Pork Dumpling", though to be honest, it hardly has any pork. You can see how green it is even from the outside. I personally love this dumpling because it is so veggie-centric. However, I think the name is confusing, and I've noticed more recently that the servers warn you and tell you that it's like 95% vegetable.

And then . . . the moment of truth. The famous soup dumplings arrived!

Oh no! Bryan picked one up with his chopsticks and the skin broke!

We've always said that the hallmark of a really well made soup dumpling is one which can be easily picked up with chopsticks without breaking. In general these were good, bu we could tell they weren't as good as the best ones we'd had in Asia.

For dessert we got a number of things. Bryan's sister wanted to get some black sesame sweet steamed buns. These are filled with a sweet paste made from ground up black sesame. It's very fragrant and sweet.

I had to get my favorite, the sweet taro dumplings, which are filled with a whipped taro filling that I find crazily addictive. Seriously, I'll often eat just 3-4 soup dumplings and and an equivalent amount of taro dumplings at the end of the meal.

The family also shared a refreshing mango pudding dessert.

I had an excellent birthday celebrating with Bryan's family at one of my favorite chains in the world. The food was delicious, though overall we definitely thought it was a step down from the ones in Asia. It was closer in quality to the one in Bellevue, which we think is not quite as good as the one in California.

So the current order of quality, in our minds, goes like this:

China / Taiwan > Arcadia > Bellevue / Sydney >> Fake one in Toronto

Surprisingly, I have never visited the one in Tokyo. Perhaps there is too much other good, tempting food around that I can never bring myself to go (or more realistically, I can never convince Bryan to come with me).

Stay tuned as we eat our way first around Sydney, before heading to Cairnes (Great Barrier Reef), the Outback, and then to New Zealand!

Din Tai Fung (Bellevue)

October 15, 2012 by Jennifer Che

This is the first post in the Summer in the Pacific Northwest Series, which is sort of being run concurrently with the Oh Canada Series (partly due to some overlap).

I guess you could say I'm on a mission.

It's not a difficult mission, really. I'm just trying to eat at every Din Tai Fung in the world, that's all. I've made reasonably progress to date. I visited the original one in Taipei, of course, as well as the one in Los Angeles opened by the family's son. There are franchises around the world, and I've gone to both the ones in Beijing and Shanghai. Heck, I've even been tricked and gone to a knock-off one in Toronto.

And then they finally decided to open a second location in the U.S. I prayed that they would choose the East Coast (why not? There is already so much good Chinese food out west!). Alas, they decided to open in Bellevue, just outside of Seattle.

Disheartened, I really had no idea when I would be able to go.

As it turned out, Bryan's cousin decided to get married in Seattle. Better yet, his aunt (with whom we stayed) actually lives in Bellevue.

It's not hard to guess where I wanted to go for dinner.

Unlike some of the older Din Tai Fung locations (like the original one in Taiwan or even the original one in Los Angeles), this one is prettier and "swankier" inside, with hard wood floors, cute hanging lights, and prettier dishware. It reminded me more of the slightly more upscale ones in Beijing and Shanghai (where Din Tai Fung is regarded as a really pricey restaurant).

Your food comes out on prettier, slightly more stylish dishware. The marinated cucumbers, always a refreshing starter, were great.

The spicy wontons were average and probably worth skipping. After all, if you're coming to Din Tai Fung, you should really be getting their xiao long baos!

Speaking of which, we ordered several dozens of the dumplings. These were solid, definitely serviceable, but we noticed a quality difference between the ones here and both the ones in California (slightly better) and Asia (noticeably better).

The skins aren't supposed to break, but I think we had one or two break on us.

But really, I'm arguably splitting hairs here. The dumplings were still delicious and very, very enjoyable. The soupy pork filling is still very flavorful and satisfying, and people still gobbled it up. If this exact restaurant opened up in Boston, I would still go at least once a week!

Sauteed Green Beans

Other non-dumpling side dishes, such as the stir fried green beans, were all fine. It's nice that they have a variety of offerings on their menu. After all, if you're a local, you may not feel like eating xiao long baos all the time.

Stir Fried Rice Cakes (chao nian gao)

Of course, I think Bryan would differ. He's pretty particular about what he will eat when he's at Din Tai Fung. In short, he only eats the crab roe xiao long baos. He thinks everything else is a "waste of stomach space."

Wonton Soup

Most people aren't like Bryan, so I still think it's nice that they have a variety of dishes. We found most of their dishes, such as the stir fried rice cakes (two photos above) and the wonton soup (above) to be pretty tasty. I would definitely consider ordering a bigger variety if I lived close by and came every week.

However, if I'm only coming to visit it as a destination restaurant, I would focus mostly on the dumplings, which are still their main specialty.

Definitely try the dessert dumplings if you've never had it before. My personal favorite (by far) is the taro dumpling. Often I'll eat the same number of taro dumplings as normal pork ones! Black sesame is also pretty good. We did not try the red bean one here, but we've noticed a difference in sweetness and texture between the Los Angeles and Taiwan ones, so I can't recommend one from a particular restaurant unless if I've tried it, and we didn't try it here.

Overall, I am still very, very jealous of all you people that live in the Seattle area. You are so lucky that Din Tai Fung picked another West Coast city in which to open their second restaurant.

This Din Tai Fung is very popular, just like every other Din Tai Fung in the world. We arrived early, around 5:30PM, so we did not wait in line. By the time we left, however, the line was super long. The restaurant is inside of a mall, so if you do have to wait a long time, I guess there's at least stuff you can browse while you wait?

I still hope that someday, they will come to the East Coast. The odds of Boston may seem low, but then they picked Bellevue over San Francisco, so we can always dream, right?

Din Tai Fung
700 Bellevue Way NE Ste 280
Bellevue, WA 98004

Din Tai Fung (Arcadia, California)

January 6, 2010 by Jennifer Che

This post is Part II of the larger mini-series titled "A California Christmas." The posts in this series include: Part I: Ten Ren Tea Station, Part II: Din Tai Fung, Part III: Sushi Gen, Part IV: Mrs. Knott's Chicken Restaurant, and Part V: Melisse.

I love love love dumplings. When I was in Taiwan back in April, we went to Din Tai Fung three times!! And we were only there for five days! Yeah, exactly. I even passed on beef noodle soup while I was there to have more dumplings. Call me crazy. I know, I know, beef noodle soup is like Taiwan's national dish. *sigh* Maybe next time. ANYWAY . . I digress.

The soup dumplings at Ding Tai Fung are amazing. The skin is super thin, yet does not break. It holds the hot soup perfectly (look at the picture above!). When you bite into the soup dumpling, a gorgeous chorus of pork-crab soup flavors explodes into your mouth. Finish the experience by chewing on the perfectly thin, stretchy-yet-unbreakable, "Q" skin that has been lovingly hand-rolled multiple times to achieve this texture. Soooo delicious.

So when I found out that the son of the Din Tai Fung founders wanted to open a new outpost in the US, I was beyond excited. Finally! I could taste these heavenly dumplings in my own country! And only a 45-minute drive from Bryan's parent's home. Definitely do-able.

It's interesting to note that only the Taiwan and US locations are owned by the family. The remaining Din Tai Fung locations throughout the rest of Asia are actually franchises. Fortunately, the rules and training requirements for opening a franchise are very strict, so I'm sure the dumplings at all the locations are delicious.

If you go . . .
Of course the soup dumplings are a MUST-GET, but there many other dumplings that are delicious as well. My favorite steamed dumpling is the vegetable pork dumpling, which actually is mostly finely chopped vegetables, with only a hint of pork for flavor. Since I love vegetables and I hate oily dumplings, this one is perfect for me. It tastes relatively light, yet is still so flavorful. And of course, the texture of the skin is fantastic. The vegetable dumplings are also pretty good too. They are filled with finely chopped vermicelli, greens, and possibly tofu.

Bryan's mom really likes the wonton soup. The broth is delicious - clear, clean, yet flavorful at the same time. The wontons are also really good. The skin is delicate and almost melts in your mouth, while the meat is moist and very flavorful.

Their signature dish is the juicy pork/crab soup dumpling, and is definitely worth getting! If you love crab, you'll love the flavor of the soup inside this dumpling. (Note, the more orange dumpling in the picture is the pork/crab soup dumpling while the other ones in the picture are the normal pork soup dumplings).

Like at all Din Tai Fung locations, you can watch the dumpling cooks hard at work hand-rolling out all the skins, filling the dumplings, and steaming them. The operation itself is amazing to watch, as these guys churn out thousands of dumplings a day. One noticeable difference between the Arcadia restaurant and the ones in Taiwan are that most of the workers here are Hispanic.

How Does This Compare to Taiwan?
The food is definitely very close. The menu is a bit more limited, though. For example, my brother-in-law's favorite dumpling, the dessert taro dumplings, are not available in the US location. Also, there's a particular charm about the original Din Tai Fung in Taiwan that is a bit lost here. Nevertheless, the dumplings seem to be made with the same recipe and technique, and thus are still very delicious. Definitely worth the trip - especially since it's a lot cheaper than buying tickets to Taiwan!

Note: There are two addresses because they recently opened a new annex right next door (yes it's THAT popular!) Don't worry! All of the food comes out of the same kitchen. I would recommend going early, especially on weekends, as the line gets really long!

Din Tai Fung
1088 and 1108 S Baldwin Ave
Arcadia, CA 91007

Din Tai Fung (Taipei)

April 23, 2009 by Jennifer Che

I love Ding Tai Fung. It's one of my favorite restaurants, period.

Pictured above is my favorite dumpling: the meat and vegetable dumpling. As you can see, it's mostly vegetable, which I love! It's not greasy at all. It's moist and flavorful on the inside and it's got that AWESOME skin on the outside . . . sooo good (can you tell that I love this restaurant???)

We ate at this restaurant three times during our four day stay in Taiwan since I love this restaurant so much. Perfectly kneaded skin; small, delicate xiao-long baos (soup dumplings) whose skins miraculously don't break even though they are filled with hot, juicy soup.

Heavenly eating experience. I would eat there every day if I could.

Prices are quite reasonable too. Dinner cost about $20 for three people - and we were really stuffed!

We went to several different locations. It's worth trying out the original one just because the ambiance seems more authentic. There is a newer one in the basement of Sogo, but it's just a bit more upscale, and thus you lose a little bit of the character.

In both places, you can watch the guys make the dumplings:

Even their other non-dumpling dishes are very good. We tried their hong-yo chao shou (hot oil wontons), Fried rice, Wonton soup, and Hot & Sour soup [yes, I know these sound like American style Chinese dishes, but honestly, we ordered them based on recommendations from our Taiwanese relatives!]. Although these other dishes were pretty good, I probably wouldn't order them again when I could just order more dumplings instead!

Be prepared to wait almost anytime you go. Our wait times varied between 10 minutes to 50 minutes depending on the time of day. I think it's virtually impossible to show up and not have to wait.

Bryan thought that he couldn't tell the difference between the one in Taipei and the one in California (Arcadia). I'm not sure I'm convinced of that, but I will say that the one in Taiwan is AWESOME!

Original restaurant:
194 Xin Yi Road, Section 2
Taipei 106 Taiwan

"Fake" Ding Tai Fung (Toronto)

October 3, 2012 by Jennifer Che

This is the fifth post in the Oh Canada series, summarizing some of the great eats I had when visiting various Canadian cities this past year. We're moving from Montreal onto Toronto now! Other posts in this series (Montreal posts) include St. Viateur Bagels, Le Bremner, Schartz's Smoked Meats, and Joe Beef.

I was most definitely totally fooled.

I mean, I'd vaguely heard about this happening. My mom has told me anecdotal stories about my Taiwanese relatives popping into Din Tai Fung in other countries (was it Macau, or maybe some small city in China?), only to be turned off by the clear subpar quality of the food - an obvious knock-off.

But for some reason, I didn't think it would happen in North America, a place where trademarks are typically enforced rather strongly.

I had heard there was a Din Tai Fung in Toronto, so it was actually my idea to get everyone to go there. You know me, trying to hit as many Din Tai Fungs as possible.

It wasn't until after I came back to the US, and after some online research, that I confirmed that I had indeed eaten at a fake Ding Tai Fung.

It's actually a pretty authentic-looking copy. When you enter the restaurant, you see the signature window displaying chefs making the dumplings. This is something you see at every Din Tai Fung, and it affirmed to me even more strongly that this restaurant must be the real thing.

The menu looks the same and the dishes look pretty similar. I didn't even notice that the English name is technically off by one letter. You see, it's confusing because when you pronounce "Din Tai Fung" in Mandarin, the proper phonetic spelling using pinyin (the official method) is actually "Ding Tai Feng." So the spelling with the letter "g" in the title (the way this fake restaurant spells it) actually sounds more correct in Mandarin.

The dishes look identical, and many tasted pretty good.
Pan fried rice cakes with mustard greens, bamboo shoots, and pork were decent - not too gummy and pretty good flavor. The tofu sheets with mustard greens was OK, and I actually quite enjoyed the spicy wontons and I took several helping - there's something about that addictive hot & spicy oil!.

But the dumplings were definitely sub par. They weren't made with quite the same finesse as the real ones. The flavors were OK, but the texture of the skin was not nearly as good. Still, though, it was objectively a decent dumpling, and still better than many dumplings I've had in the US.

Thoughts
I guess it's an interesting question - would you visit a restaurant that you knew was blatantly copying another restaurant (down to the name, trade dress, menu, etc) yet still produced reasonably solid Shanghai-style dim sum?

This Ding Tai Fung has been in Toronto for years, so clearly it's been able to survive in one of the most competitive Chinese restaurant markets in North America. By this point, I'm sure a lot of people know that it's not the real Din Tai Fung, yet they are happy to eat there because it's still a decent imitation and offers them a workable copy of something they wouldn't otherwise get (at all).

It kind of reminds me of all the Pinkberry inspired places ("insert-name"-berry) that started opening in various cities where the real Pinkberry was not available. People still swarmed to these places because they offered something that people couldn't otherwise get in their hometowns. Maybe this is something like that.

I had heard from a friend that this Ding Tai Fung has "gone downhill" in the past few years. Perhaps there was a time when it was really close to the real ones, and maybe no one knew? I don't know the history, but I find it interesting that the real Din Tai Fung hasn't really tried to go after these fake ones. Maybe there are too many? Or is that difference of one letter enough that it doesn't constitute copying? (I would highly doubt that, but who knows!) Or was there some sort of "break up" where before, there was a time when it was "real"?

I find it peculiar that the real Din Tai Fung did not say anything about it until July 2010, when they posted a statement on their website calling the restaurants in Toronto and Macau "imposters."

Nevertheless, most of the guests who were with me that night still enjoyed the food. To this group of out-of-towners (virtually none were local to Toronto), this was still better Chinese food than anything they had in their hometowns. Maybe it's because I've visited too many better Din Tai Fungs that I could quickly tell that it wasn't as good.

However, like I said, it's still reasonably enjoyable. If it had a totally different name and opened in Boston, I'd probably eat there because it competes reasonably favorably with many of Boston's Chinese restaurants. However, the fact that they are blatantly copying sort of puts a bad taste in my mouth, and for that reason alone, I'm not certain I'll return.

Ding Tai Fung
3255 Highway 7 East, Unit 18B
Markham, ON L3R3P9

Ding Tai Fung {China}

December 29, 2010 by Jennifer Che

I must sound like a broken record by now. And you must think I’m a bit cuckoo to be visiting seemingly every Din Tai Fung under the sun.

But haven’t I told you the story of how dumplings are the one food I would choose to eat if I could just eat one thing forever? Or how Din Tai Fung is one of my favorite restaurants in the world?

Is it that crazy to try to visit all the Din Tai Fungs in the world?

Don’t answer that.

Ding Tai Fung in Beijing

The first Din Tai Fung we visited on this trip was the one in Beijing. This is, I think, the prettiest Din Tai Fung I have ever visited. It is located at the top floor of the ritzy Shing Kong Place shopping center. Just like every other Din Tai Fung, here you can peer through a glass window to watch the dumpling makers (always all men) churning out perfectly formed little xiao long baos (soup dumplings).

Don't they look like they are in a clean room?

Of course we had to get our favorite staples: the classic pork xiao long bao (58 RMB for 10) and my favorite vegetable pork dumplings. But there were some new and unusual flavors we’d never seen before.

Black truffle and pork soup dumplings? Goose liver dumplings?

Well, we both love truffles and Bryan loves fois gras, so we went with one of each. Hairy crabs were also in season, so we decided to get the famous crab dumplings as well.

My opinions still hold.

Din Tai Fung is still one of my favorite restaurants in the world. Everything was executed perfectly. The black truffle dumplings were to-die-for: a perfect bite of heaven filled with black truffle earthiness and the savory, juicy umami of pork. At 88 RMB ($13 US for 5 pieces), they weren't cheap. In fact, they cost just about 23 times more than the pork dumplings at Jia Jia Tang Bao.

Hairy Crab Dumplings

Bryan enjoyed his goose liver dumplings very much (68 RMB for 5 pieces), and we both though the hairy crab dumplings were better than any other crab dumpling we’d ever had. It’s hard to describe it . . . the crab flavor was just really sweet, rich, and . . . incredibly flavorful.

Perhaps it's because they were in season at the time.

I even told Bryan, “this crab dumpling might replace the pork-vegetable dumpling as my favorite dumpling at Din Tai Fung.”

Pork Vegetable Dumplings (58 RMB for 10)

Ha ha, that was before I tried the black truffle one.

Now I have no idea which one is my favorite, they are all so good!

Mini Pork Xiao Long Bao (78 RMB for 20 pieces)

We also tried the mini-soup pork xiao long baos. Though these are cute and fun, they don’t compare in flavor to the crab, black truffle, or even the pork xiao long baos at Jia Jia Tang Bao.

Stir Fried Pea Shoots (45 RMB)

We also got some non-dumpling dishes, all of which are excellent. In general, I love how stir-fried vegetables at Din Tai Fung are crispy, not over-cooked, and not that greasy at all. Portion sizes are on the small side, but I don’t mind that.

Everything is well executed at this restaurant. If you only had one day in China, I would pick this place just because you can try such a variety of dishes and be pretty confident that they will all be executed very, very well.

Yes, I know it's bit weird to be trying out a Taiwanese chain in China, but I truly do think they still make the best dumplings.

Shanghai
The closest Din Tai Fung to us in Shanghai was the one at Xintiandi, a popular upscale shopping area not too far from People's Square. Din Tai Fung is on the second floor of the indoor mall in the Xintiandi area.

Din Tai Fung in Shanghai

We came here almost every evening after coming back from the World Expo. This location also had the delicious black truffle dumplings, which we gladly ordered. We found the crab dumplings to be very good, but they did not have the same mind-blowing, out-of-this-world flavor compared to those in Beijing. Again, we're not sure why that's the case.

Nevertheless, everything was still excellent and we gladly ate here multiple nights.

Sauteed Morning Glory with Garlic (35 RMB, Hollow heart, Chinese watercress, kong xin tsai)

Don't forget the dessert xiao long baos! We tried both red bean and taro. Bryan preferred the red bean, but I much prefer the taro, which I find a little less sweet. It's the perfect way to finish off a wonderful meal! We also tried the black sesame rice balls, which were good as well.

Red Bean Xiao Long Bao (19 RMB for 5)

Taro Xiao Long Bao (19 RMB for 5)

Black Sesame Rice Ball Soup (30 RMB a bowl)

I clearly love this restaurant and highly recommend it for anyone who is visiting China, Taiwan, or even Los Angeles! I heard they just opened one up in Bellevue, Washington!!! (sooo jealous!!!)

Din Tai Fung (Beijing)
6/F Shin Kong Place, China Central Place
87 Jianguo Lu, Chaoyang District
Beijing
朝阳区, 建国路87号, 新光天地6楼

Din Tai Fung (Shanghai)
South Block Xintiandi Ln
123 Xingye Lu
House 6 (Huangpi Lu)
Shanghai, China 200031
上海市卢湾区兴业路123弄

This is part 9 of the China Series detailing my recent trip to Beijing, Xian, and Shanghai.

Other posts in this series:

part 1: Wander the Streets of Beijing

part 2: Xian'r Lao Man (handmade dumplings)

part 3: Made in China (Peking duck)

part 4: Noodle Bar (hand pulled noodles)

part 5: Bao Yuan Dumpling (handmade dumplings)

part 6: Da Dong (Peking duck)

part 7: Jia Jia Tang Bao (Soup dumplings / xiao long bao)

part 8: Yang's Fry Dumpling (Pan fried steamed buns / shen jian bao)

China: Lost in Translation

Happy Birthday Bryan: an Ode to Noodles and Ducks

Eating in Taiwan - 2024 Edition

November 3, 2024 by Jennifer Che

富錦樹台菜香檳 Fujin Tree Taiwanese Cuisine & Champagne Jen Bryan

After going to Taiwan in February 2017 and July 2017, I never would have imagined it would be so many more years before I returned again. After all, I lived in Hong Kong, only a 1.5 hour flight away. But then the pandemic came, and before you know it, it was 2023 before Hong Kong fully opened up again.

So . . . . I made up for lost time. Since Hong Kong opened up fully in March 2023, I have visited Taiwan a total of four times. That’s more times than the whole decade prior to this year (!).

Below is a summary of the top, notable places I visited during more recently while "eating in Taiwan". I'll follow up by writing some detailed posts about several of these, but I wanted to at least gather them all up into a single post (so I can share with others if they ask me "where do you recommend eating in Taiwan?").

Yongkang Street

I still love just walking down Yongkang Street. Foodies go there to get Tianjin Scallion Pancakes, delicious mango mochi shaved ice, or the famous Yongkang Beef Noodle Soup (Taiwan’s “national dish”). Of course the food is a huge draw, but even if you don’t plan on eating, it’s still a fun, lively street to explore. There are other small boutiques, and the whole street just has a really nice vibe. I even randomly ran into a friend from the US while walking down that street.

This street is only about a 10 minute walk from our old family home in Taiwan, so one evening my sister and I were tasked with walking here and picking up dinner for the extended family. We had so much fun walking into various shops to try different things. One of my favorites was the scallion pancake from Tianjin Scallion Pancake 天津蔥油餅 with just egg and basil. It was so good!

Fuhang Soybean Milk

This is probably THE most famous traditional Taiwanese “soymilk” restaurant in Taipei. The place is a sight to see, with workers making all sorts of scrumptious Taiwanese pastries from scratch right before your eyes. The lines are looooong, and start early. Basically, if you don’t want to wait in line, you should show up before 7AM. Otherwise, the line could be anywhere from 30 minutes to several hours (!).

Get the savory soy milk (which is kind of like a tofu pudding), fried crueller + sweet soy milk, the rice ball (fantuan) 飯糰, and sesame flatbread. The food is delicious, fresh, and cheap.

Ahong Popiah 阿宏潤餅

I am a huge lumpiah/popiah fan. This is a soft spring roll filled with vegetables that possibly gets it roots from Hokkien (you see it in Malaysia, Singapore, Xiamen, Taiwan . . .). My mom makes an awesome one (recipe here!), and I’m always trying to seek it out wherever I go. I tried one in Xiamen that I thought was phenomenal.

I looked up popiahs online and Ahong was highly recommended. We made the trip out (and even filmed a small video there!). It was my first time having freshly made wrappers! I was mesmerized watching the person hand make each one (watch the video to really appreciate his skills!). The texture of the skin was amazing, and the inside ingredients were fresh. Overall, it was tasty, though the version I ordered wasn’t as flavorful as I had hoped. I actually liked the one I had in Xiamen (as well as my mom’s version) a lot better.

Taiwanese Fruits & Vegetables

Taiwan is an agricultural haven and I LOVE eating fruits whenever I am there. It’s so inexpensive, fresh, and delicious. Depending on the season, some of my favorite fruits to eat in Taiwan include guavas, fresh jujubes, and rose apples. Haha, can you tell I especially like crispy, crunchy fruits?

Taiwan also has a bounty of vegetables, many that you won’t see anywhere else. I love just going to the morning market (the one in Dongmen or on Wuxing Street where Ahong Runbing is located are fantastic) to explore, photograph, and shop!

Raohe Night Market

I’ve been the Shilin Night Market 士林夜市 (the most famous one) and Ningxia Night Market (寧夏夜市) the more “foodie” one. Another famous one is Raohe 饒河夜市. I heard they had the really famous black pepper buns, so I dragged Bryan out there one night to experience this new might market.

I’ll dedicate a separate post about the whole experience, but it’s HUGE! And there are lots of black pepper buns (along with many other choices). Definitely get the quintessential lumpia filled with ice cream, peanuts, and cilantro. It’s surprisingly good! There are many other classic Taiwanese foods you must try. I think this is a pretty good night market. It’s bigger than Ningxia, probably not has huge and crazy as Shilin, but is still reasonable large and has lots of food options, many which seem quite good!

Fujin Tree Taiwanese Cuisine & Champagne

During our trip we visited one Michelin starred restaurant. Fujin Tree offers high quality Taiwanese dishes with a modern twist, optionally paired with champagne. We went to the original Songshan location. Apparently a month after our visit, they opened a new location inside Taipei 101!

Our meal here with food writer Nina Simonds (plus our photo above) was even featured in a Boston Globe article titled 50 Years Later I'm Still Falling for Taipei!

Din Tai Fung

Yes, even though I can now get Din Tai Fung delivered straight to my home in Hong Kong (and I can walk there in 20 minutes), I still love going to the Din Tai Fung in Taipei. There are a few additional items available in Taiwan. Plus there’s just something about this restaurant that makes me happy every time I come. The service was mad efficient yet super kind and friendly at the same time. The food is great, and the dining environment is comfortable. The cute smiling dumpling figures add to the happy vibe of the whole place.

These days, the original location at Xinyi is only a takeout counter. You cannot eat-in there. If you want to eat-in, you can go to the Xinsheng branch which is not too far away. This newer branch is also 3 stories (similar to the original one), but is newer, has an elevator, and a bigger area for those waiting in line to hang out.

There’s a large chance you’ll have to wait in line. One strategy is to show up early, grab a paper ticket, and then show up later. You can also monitor the wait times by downloading the Din Tai Fung app. It shows you the waiting times at each of the branches, which is pretty handy. I think you may even be able to monitor the progress of the line.

Tasting a Streetside Sesame Pastry

And Let’s Not Forget Taichung

My mom’s from Taichung and many of my relatives still live there. Now that it’s only a 45 minute high speed train ride from Taipei, it’s pretty easy to take a day trip there, or to go back and forth. During my summer trip to Taiwan with my sister’s family and my mom, we decided to take the high speed train straight to Taichung after landing at Taipei Taoyuan International Airport.

Train bentos

There’s a nostalgia for the boxed bentos that you can get at a train station in Taiwan. They always come in a paper box that’s held together by rubber bands. Inside, there’s rice, some picked veggies, maybe some meat sauce 滷肉, a soy braised egg 滷蛋, and usually a pork chop, chicken chop, or a vegetarian option. It’s delicious, reasonably priced, and super convenient.

Our family made sure to pick up some bentos at the train station in Taipei before getting on the high speed rail to Taichung.

Qin Yuan Chun 沁園春

My uncle in Taichung knew I was a foodie so he wanted to pick a special place to treat the whole family. He chose Qin Yuan Chun, also recommended by the Michelin Guide, which specialized in Shanghainese food.

The food was indeed excellent. The kids especially loved the deep fried steamed buns with condensed milk (yum!). All of the food was excellent, and I’d highly recommend it if you’re looking for a place to eat in Taichung.

The Most Amazing Danbing (Egg roll)

Taiwan shines in this casual street food, and the made freshly on-the-stop egg rolls 蛋餅 are no exception. Even though this egg roll comes from a chain store and only costs like $2 USD, it is simple, freshly made-to-order, and sooooo satisfying. Better than most Western fast food chains.

Stinky Tofu at Tofu Daddy in Taichung

I’ve learned to like stinky tofu, even though I acknowledge it’s an acquired taste. Stinky tofu connoisseurs will judge the level and type of “stink” that each stinky tofu has. Trust me, they are not all the same, and some have better “stinks” than others.

We tried a few, and all agreed that Tofu Daddy was top notch. Their stinky tofu is light, crispy, and has just the right amount of stink. They punch a hole in each tofu block, fill it with copious amounts of freshly grated garlic, and fill it with their delicious brown secret sauce. It was fantastic.

Bawan from Taichung

My uncle took a special extra trip on his motorcycle to stop by the most famous “Bawan” 肉丸 place in Taichung, called 台中肉員(yes, their version is better than the version I make at home). These chewy, sticky dumplings filled with pork, bamboo shoots, mushrooms, and some special brown sauce and sweet chili sauce (it’s all in the sauce!), is sooo satisfying. Perhaps in some ways it’s comfort food for me, but I love it. Open since 1933, this place is also recommended by the Michelin Guide.

And that's a wrap . . . . for now

I still plan on visiting Taiwan at least a couple times a year, so hopefully I can continue building on this list of places to visit. Please feel free to recommend to me your favorite places in Taiwan!

1963 Tree Taiwanese Restaurant Wan Chai

April 2, 2019 by Jennifer Che

1963 Tree 木十豆寸 Taiwanese Restaurant Wan Chai — *1963 Tree Taiwanese Restaurant Wan Chai [1963 Tree 木十豆寸]*

Hong Kong is one of the densest cities in the world. On the one hand, the crowds can be overwhelming. On the other hand, it means that there are endless places to discover, even within a very small area.

Despite having lived in Wan Chai for over a year, I am still discovering (almost on a weekly basis) cute shops, charming restaurants, and new trendy tea shops. Add to that Hong Kong's vibrant and dynamic environment, there's always something new to find.

...

Crabtain Wan Chai Hong Kong 一番鋒味

November 13, 2018 by Jennifer Che

Crabtain is a no-fuss, casual, Guangdong restaurant in Wan Chai serving excellent food at very reasonable prices. The chef-owner used to work at the well-known Michelin-starred Cantonese chain Lei Garden. The signature must-order dish is definitely the crab congee, which is fantastic. The deep orange congee is filled with crab roe, a whole crab, and crab broth, resulting in a beautiful, richly flavored congee that's filled with crab umami.

Crabtain offers English menus (yay!), though it's hit-or-miss whether the server will speak English. Thankfully, there's usually at least one person who speaks decent English, and they'll flag that person over if you really need to communicate.

The interior is comfortable, casual, and pretty simple. It's not a huge restaurant, but then I've never seen it so full that I cannot get a seat....

A Tour of Top Taiwanese Dishes: Part I – Noodles, Dumplings, and Breakfast

June 27, 2017 by Jennifer Che

Welcome to a new series! This is the first of many posts that will highlight my trip in February 2017 to Taiwan and Japan. Enjoy!

When I’m on a trip, I hate wasting time and stomach space on bad food. This is why I research restaurants religiously before embarking on a trip. If there are restaurants that are difficult to book, I try to book them early. Ideally, we would never be desperately scrambling for food and then settling for expensive mediocre food because we didn’t plan.

This typically works fine. Unless, of course, you are planning on eating casual street food.

It’s still possible to research street stalls. However, it’s much harder to find them in a sea of a night market, especially when it’s dark out and signs are not always written in English. It’s times like this that I really, really wished I had a personal guide.

We lucked out this past February when we flew to Taiwan to attend a wedding. The bride is originally from Taiwan and knows ALL the best eats. A couple days before the wedding, the bride and groom took us around on a tour of the bride’s favorite top Taiwanese dishes.

Here’s a summary of our extensive tour! (Part I)...

Dinner at the Exclusive Kitchen Table at Alinea Chicago

April 7, 2017 by Jennifer Che

Alinea Chicago

This is the eighth and final post in the Weekend Trip to Chicago series. Other post include Topolobampo, Frontera Grill by Rick Bayless, Giordano's Pizza, Portillo's Hot Dog, Lou Malnati's, and Girl and the Goat.

"Exceptional cuisine, worth a special journey."

This is how Michelin defines a three star restaurant.

A special journey is exactly what we did when we secured hard-to-get reservations at the exclusive Kitchen Table at 3-Michelin starred Alinea in Chicago. We built a trip around the restaurant reservation.

I had never dined at Alinea before, and thus had never experienced the "old" Alinea (the one that's showcased in a number of documentaries). Why "old"? In early 2016, Alinea decided to execute a major reboot shortly after its 10th anniversary (its most successful year to date). Co-owners Chef Grant Achatz and Nick Kokonas decided they needed a change, and closed the restaurant for close to half a year to implement the transformation.

Alinea reopened May 2o16 with a completely new look and a revamped menu. The dark, modern, and moody decor has been replaced with a lighter, softer, and cozier feel. Chef Achatz had created a brand new menu from scratch, keeping virtually none of the signature dishes that many have come to identify with Alinea.

For one, there is more optionality. Gone is the single $265 Tour Tasting ticket. Instead, you can choose between three different menus, all of which can be reserved as tickets via the Tock system on their website. There's a 12-course tasting for $165 - $225 (includes food, service, and tax) in the "Salon" located on the second floor. There's also a 16-18 course tasting in the "Gallery" on the first floor for $285 - $345, described as a combination of "fine dining" and "experimental moments".

Finally, you can book the most exclusive option - the Kitchen Table - a private glass-enclosed room located inside the kitchen. Each of these tickets costs $385 and it is only available for a party of six. We booked super early and managed to reserve the kitchen table the Saturday of Labor Day Weekend.

So we made a trip out of it.

And our tasting menu itself felt almost like another trip, this time a culinary sensory exploration of tastes from around the globe.

...

All Things Taiwanese

September 7, 2011 by Jennifer Che

Eating shaved ice with various mochi toppings at Ice Monster in Taipei

"lı́ hó bô? chiah-pá-bô?"

Taiwanese was the "secret" language that my parents used when my sister and I were growing up. While they spoke Mandarin Chinese to us, they spoke Taiwanese to each other all the time.

I still sound like a wako lang (foreigner) when I attempt to speak Taiwanese. However, my parents' plans for a secret language totally failed. Kids absorb languages like sponges, and we were no different. Surprisingly, though I never spoke a word of it growing up, I can actually understand quite a bit of Taiwanese. This proved to be quite useful many times in my life - talking with relatives in Taiwan, ordering Taiwanese food at restaurants, and just getting around in the streets of Taiwan.

Why all this focus on Taiwan all of a sudden?

I'm pleased to announce that TaiwaneseAmerican.Org, a foundation dedicated to all things Taiwanese American, has published an interview with Tiny Urban Kitchen today at their site. Check out the interview here!

As one who grew up relatively isolated from a large Asian American community, I think sites like these are great for helping fellow Taiwanese people connect and share the love of their country, heritage, and culture.

In the spirit of the interview, I've gathered all my Taiwanese content and put them together on a few pages dedicated to Taiwan. Definitely check out the recipes page (where you'll find mouthwatering recipes for Taiwanese classics such as bawan, lo ba bng, and batzhang), as well as the restaurants page, which describes Boston Taiwanese favorites as well as other restaurants I've visited in Taiwan and elsewhere.

Enjoy!

TAIWANESE TAIWANESE
RECIPES RESTAURANTS

A typical Taiwanese breakfast from Yong He Soy Milk Shop

Taiwan Cafe

June 14, 2010 by Jennifer Che

Roast Beef with scallions roll in scallion pancake - $5.95
I'm a sucker for Taiwanese street food. In the end, I think it's what the Taiwanese do best, and I love it. I even tried cooking a whole Taiwanese street food dinner once, complete with Taiwanese meat balls (bawan), tea eggs (ca ye dan), meat sauce over rice (lo bah bng), and pork and bamboo shoot soup (ba genh). Since I'm Taiwanese, these dishes just hit that comfort happy zone that no other food can hit.

It's gotten better in the last few years, but for a long time, Boston had very few Taiwanese restaurants. As a college student, we basically went to Wisteria House (which used to be on Newbury Street), because that was all we had. Thankfully, in the past decade, several new restaurants serving Taiwanese food have opened, including Jo Jo Taipei in Allston, Shangri-La in Belmont, Chung Shin Yuan in Newton, Mulan in Cambridge, and more recently, Formosa Taipei in Lexington and Unique Dumpling in East Cambridge.

Taiwan Cafe was one of the first of these Taiwanese restaurants to open soon after I graduated from college. Now, after all these years, it's still one of my favorites. The food is excellent, the kitchen is insanely fast, (serious, like 3-5 minutes and your food arrives), and it serves all of my favorite Taiwanese dishes.

I'm sure the entire menu is good, but I like to stick to the super traditional Taiwanese brunch / street food type dishes, which are usually listed in the appetizer section. Here's a sampling of what we got on our last trip and also some of my recommended favorite dishes to order.

We saw the Roast Beef with Scallions Roll in Scallion Pancake (picture above) on someone else's table and we told the waiter:

"We want what they're having."

It was fabulous! Imagine a perfectly crispy and flaky scallion pancake rolled around fragrant steak slices decorated with a splash of hoisin sauce and cilantro. I loved loved loved this. It was probably my favorite dish of this meal.

Oyster Pancake with Gravy - $5.55
Oyster pancakes are a classic Taiwanese street dish and you should definitely get this if you've never had it. Eggs are mixed with potato starch to create this unique one-of-a-kind-texture pancake filled with oysters and spinach. It's topped with a sweet chili sauce that pairs quite well with the pancake.

Beef with Longhorn Peppers Pork with Fresh Bamboo Shoots from Taiwan Cafe Boston

Beef with Longhorn Peppers - $10.95
This dish can sometimes be very spicy, so consider yourself warned! I love the fragrant hot peppers and how they pair with the thin slices of beef.

Pork with Fresh Bamboo Shoots from Taiwan Cafe Boston

Sauteed Pork with Bamboo Tips - $9.95
This is one of my friend's favorite dishes. Fresh bamboo shoots are stir-fried with thinly sliced pieces of pork. It's a great non-spicy option for the table.

Hollow Heart Vegetable Pork with Fresh Bamboo Shoots from Taiwan Cafe Boston

Sauteed Chinese Watercress with Garlic - $9.95
I always like to order some sort of stir-fried greens. I guess secretly it makes me feel healthier. There are many ways to order greens, but I like to get mine simply sauteed in garlic and oil. I like how it's not too oily here. Interestingly, Chinese watercress, literally translated as hollow heart greens, are actually considered a "noxious weed" by the USDA. They are Bryan's favorite Chinese vegetable, so we order it a lot.

Soup Dumplings (xiao long bao) from Taiwan Cafe

Mini Steamed Buns with pork & crabmeat (8) - $6.95
The soup dumplings here are pretty good. Bryan likes them better than the ones at Gourmet Dumpling House, though they are still no comparison to my favorite dumplings in the US and my favorite dumplings in the world.

Sticky Rice with Sweet Chili Sauce from Taiwan Cafe Boston

Steamed Pork & Mushroom Sticky Rice with Gravy - $3.50
Another typical Taiwanese dish, this is sticky rice with that same sweet chili sauce used in the oyster pancake.

A Sampling of Authentic Taiwanese Dishes
The menu here is huge, and I have not come close to trying all the dishes. However, I would recommend trying some of the authentic Taiwanese dishes since you can't get those in as many places. Here are some classics.

House Special Pork Chop over Rice Platter ($5.20)
This is a simple, classic Taiwanese dish that consists of a fried pork chop, rice, and other typical Taiwanese sides such as meat sauce over rice, a soy sauce egg, and some pickled vegetables. This is a very common lunch in Taiwan.

Beef Noodle Soup with Spinach ($5.20)
Beef noodle soup is huge in Taiwan, some calling it the national dish of Taiwan. It's been a few years since I've had this dish here, but I'm guessing it's still good. Has anyone had it recently?

Hearty Noodle Soup with Pork-Fish Drop and Mushrooms ($5.20)
This is Bryan's favorite noodle soup. It's hard to find in Boston, so we often order it here. It's thick, has tons of umami, and is a great hearty soup to enjoy in the wintertime. I often make it at home too.

Braised Pork with Peanuts & Sour Mustard Green in Steamed Bun ($3.75)
David Chang's famous Momofuku pork belly buns are based off of this traditional Taiwanese version of the dish. The Taiwanese version uses peanuts and sour mustard greens instead of hoisin sauce and pickled cucumbers. It's a fantastic appetizer. I actually recently tried making it at home for the first time. Stay tuned for an upcoming post about it!

And if you are an adventurous eater . . .

Chilled Spicy Pork Ears ($4.75) - Crunchy and chewy at the same time, I've always loved this authentic Taiwanese appetizer.

Stinky Tofu ($5.95) - If you are really really adventurous, you can try their stinky tofu. Taiwan Cafe is one of the few places in Boston that carries this very authentic Taiwanese street food. This is not for the faint of heart. You are essentially eating tofu that's fermented and basically gone bad. For a more detailed scientific explanation of what stinky tofu, click here.

Simmered Three Essences Duck Tongue in Hot Pot ($15.95)

This grossed me out, so I had a hard time eating it, but my Chinese friend swears by it, and honestly it is tasty if you can get over the fact that you are eating duck tongues!

Even if you are not adventurous, you can still enjoy a great meal here.

Taiwan Cafe has something for everyone. Definitely try to come on a weekend when they have the expanded brunch menu. Then you can try other favorites, such as sweet soy milk with deep fried crullers, salty soy milk, scallion pancakes, and chive pies, just to name a few. The best way to enjoy this restaurant is to go with a group of people (at least four but preferably more) so that you can order a bunch of stuff family-style and share!

Taiwan Cafe
34 Oxford St
Boston, MA 02111

A Look Back at the Past 3 Years - Part III: 2024

January 8, 2025 by Jennifer Che

This is a 3-part series where I look back at the past 3 years (coming out of the pandemic) that just somehow seemed to whiz by.

I used to be really disciplined about reflecting back upon the year. I took a brief look back, and noticed I was quite consistent, publishing virtually annual, even publishing a series of reflections during my "peak" years of 2014 and 2015 (2010, 2011, 2013, 2014-1 2014-2, 2015-1 2015-2 2015-3, 2017, 2018, 2019, 2020, 2021-1 2021-2).

And then suddenly *POOF* it’s 2025?? Where did my summaries for 2022 - 2024 go? The pandemic sort of killed all that discipline as I fell further and further behind in blogging, largely due to the long extended trips I was taking during that time.

I’ve since largely caught up, and hope to be completely on top of my blogging backlog by the end of this month! As part of this greater catch up project, I've decided to kick-start 2025 by writing up annual summaries for 2022, 2023, and 2024 in these first few days of 2025. (Phew!!)

January:

2024 began "quietly", without any major travel. It's always nice to have a quiet month to catch up from the intense festivities of the fall/winter. On New Years Day while jogging along the Wan Chai Harbour front, I discovered a decommissioned East Rail Line MTR subway train, right on the seaside! It was decked out in holiday decorations, and everyone could go inside, sit down, and enjoy the ocean views.

January consisted of hosting out of town friends, hiking, and work. I also took a short trip to Shenzhen to visit our colleagues & friends there.

February: Thailand

In February we visited Thailand for the first time since 2020. It was strange to remember the last time we were in Thailand (January 2020). We were just starting to consider wearing masks, though still not aware of how scarce and precious these resources would soon become.

Our visit this time included plenty of mango sticky rice, sunshine, and relaxing time with friends. We spent a whole day exploring Bangkok with a Thai friend who showed us all her favorite local spots.

March: Taiwan with Mama!

In March my mom went to Taiwan, so I met her there! We lined up at one of Taipei’s most famous soy milk shops to train their famed salty soy milk. It was fantastic, as was their shaobing youtiao (燒餅油條), fried cruller sesame flatbread sandwich. I also hung out in Taichung, my mom’s hometown, where I had some incredible street food, such as the best stinky tofu I’ve had in recent memory (filled with gobs of GARLIC!), amazing egg pancake, and insanely sweet and crisp jujubes, guavas, and rose apples (all are my favorites!).

March: Brussels + Paris + London

It was so nice to visit Brussels, Paris, and London again. In Brussels we went back to Bozar (which now has 2 Michelin stars) to enjoy Bryan's favorite pithivier. Interestingly, this classic pithivier (which includes duck, foie gras, and mirepoix) is no longer on the menu, but they did specially make one for us.

Golden Poppy Dominique Crenn Paris France

One of our favorite meals in Paris this trip was at Golden Poppy by Dominique Crenn. We also ate at David Toutain (which I loved the first time), but this time we were quite disappointed with the pace of the service, which took waaayyy too long (the tasting menu took over 5 hours . . . .)

My favorite memories from this trip involve walking around Paris, jogging along the Eiffel Tower, and meeting up with various European friends & business contacts.

April: Tokyo Cherry Blossom

In late March/early April we traveled to Tokyo to visit friends of ours who had recently moved there. The weather was unseasonably cold earlier that month. Despite it being April already, most of the cherry blossoms were still not out!

Thankfully, my favorite park for cherry blossoms (Shinjuku Gyoen) had plenty of cherry blossoms. I love this park because it has over 1000 cherry blossom trees that all bloom at different times. You pretty much won’t miss the season completely if you visit Shinjuku Gyoen.

Meals I enjoyed this trip included Sushi Suzuki, Shinjuku Hoshi No Naru Ki (kaiseki), and Tawanmarai (soba).

April: Chaozhou, China

We have friends in Hong Kong - a husband and wife duo - whose are originally from Chaozhou, China. Chaozhou (or Chiu Chow in Hong Kong), is especially well-known for its beef. They cut beef into so many different types of cuts that are completely different from US beef cuts.

It was SUCH a fun foodie trip, made even more special because we had locals take us around. Some of the most interesting bites we had included yougan citrus juice, char kway teow (炒粿條), freshly made rice rolls, and Chaoshan beef hot pot. We also visited a tea garden in the Feng Huang mountain area, and we tried the local Kungfu Tea. To read all about what we ate and saw, you can read about Weekend in Chaozhou Part I and Weekend in Chaozhou Part II.

May: Xiamen, China

Earlier this year, Bryan’s Granduncle messaged him and said, “I am coming to Xiamen in early May. Come and meet me there.”

Bryan’s Granduncle is 88 years old (!!!) and was the person who showed us Bryan’s ancestral home in Xiamen the first time we ended up there (sort of happenstance). Granduncle Carl does not know if he will have the physical stamina to make another trip, so this was a very important trip. We knew we could not say no.

Xiamen Fujian China — Che Ancestral Home

The trip was indeed special. We went back to the ancestral home to see what it was like post-pandemic. Sadly, it looked like it was in worse shape. We also heard there may be plans to convert the entire village into a historic preserved area, where the government would take over the homes and make the area into some sort of tourist attraction.

This time one of Bryan’s distant cousins took us around and gave us a really unique and very local street food tour. This cousin grew up in the ancestral home, and thus knows the neighborhood really well. We had all sorts of really great food, such as Fuzhou fish balls, Xiamen popiah (fresh spring rolls), deep fried baby eels, sea worms, and more. It was a really meaningful trip, especially seeing our Granduncle reunite with all his relatives after being separated for so many years due to the pandemic.

Revisiting Xiamen: Xiamen Street Food Crawl

May: Boston + Ohio

Later in May, I flew to Boston to present and exhibit at a patent conference. This time Bryan also came to Boston, so we made many different arrangements to catch up with lots of friends and relatives.

Of course we enjoyed all of our favorite Boston foods, like lobster sandwiches (Alive & Kicking Lobster), Trillium Beer, hot buttered lobster rolls + raw oysters (Row 34), and much much more.

Summer: Doraemon & Friends

Summer of 2024 was so fun because of the Doraemon & Friends event that was happening in Hong Kong throughout the entire summer! It started with an incredible drone show, followed by two excellent Doraemon exhibits (both outdoor and indoor) at Tsim Sha Tsui.

There was also a free outdoor exhibit, including a HUGE inflatable Doraemon that I could see from across the Harbour from my balcony window (on a clear day). Tickets were surprisingly difficult to get (selling out in seconds), so I was happy I was able to grab some tickets for late in the summer.

I totally got caught up in the Doraemon-mania and bought a bunch of swag myself, haha. There are still many reminders throughout my apartment of the fun Doraemon-filled summer of 2024.

June: Lijiang, China

In June a good friend of mine (the same one whom I met in Versailles!) told me she was going to Lijiang, China in the summer and invited us to join her. The stars aligned and we were able to coordinate our schedules to visit this beautiful city together, along with Bryan and one other friend.

Lijiang is a beautiful village in the mountains of Yunnan province. The area is known for coffee and tea. I was really surprised to find sooooo many excellent artisanal coffee shops in this area. In recent years - as the intense pressures of work and life have overwhelmed many Chinese people - places like Lijiang have drawn many due to its unhurried, simple life style.

July: Kunming, China

In July another friend from Yunnan Province invited me to visit her (and her family). This time, I traveled to Kunming, the largest city in Yunnan Province. I got to try the famous Crossing the Bridge Noodles 過橋米線, visit a minority village, and wander the fun night markets in the city.

Other local specialties I enjoyed included mushroom hot pot, high mountain flatbread, wild free range mountain chicken soup (soooo good!), and local “fries” (deep fried potatoes) tossed in local spices.

August: Shunde, China

Shunde (pronounced SHUN - Duh) in Guangdong Province is known to be the original source of Cantonese food. The top chefs came out from Shunde, and many of the dishes in their most original, traditional form, can still be found here. It’s known to be a very foodie city. Local friends offered to drive us to Shunde across the newly built Zhongshan Bridge (which drastically cuts the time it takes to get to Shunde from Shenzhen).

In Shunde, we feasted on so many traditional Cantonese dishes, such as roasted pigeon, clay pot rice, congee seafood hot pot, double skim (buffalo) milk custard, stewed beef offal, dim sum, and my all time favorite, raw fish salad (pictured above . . . soooo good!). To see everything we ate, check out the post that I wrote: Top Foods to Taste in Shunde, China

September: Taiwan

I flew out to Taiwan in September to see my Mom and Dad. It was my Dad’s first trip to Taiwan since 2019.

We visited my Grandfather’s house in Taipei, the one where my Dad grew up. It brought back memories of my visits as a kid (when my grandparents were still alive). I chatted with my 88 year old aunt who was living there, and was so impressed by her sharp mind, devotion to daily exercise, and an endless hunger to keep learning (she still attends Bible studies to improve her English and Japanese!!).

Of course I had to have my Din Tai Fung fix, this time together with all the other aunties and uncles. It was nice to see them all together, especially with my Dad, whom the relatives hadn’t seen in a long time.

September: Vienna

Bryan had a business trip in Vienna in September. I’d never been to Austria before so I decided to tag along. I also figured I could travel to Munich (headquarters of the European Patent Office) and do a bunch of business meetings.

Vienna is a gorgeous city. However, the first several days the area experienced unprecedented rains. It was (frankly speaking) AWFUL walking around the city with the rain and winds whipping at your face. We were so cold! The flooding was so bad that for a couple days NO trains were going in or out of Vienna. My planned train trip to Munich fell through, and I stayed in Vienna for the whole week.

Thankfully, the sun came out later in the week, and we saw a glorious Vienna under full sunshine (which is SUCH a different experience!). I’m glad I got to see this side of Vienna before leaving.

We ate weinerschnitzel (of course), visited cafes serving coffee + cake, and soaked in the culture rich city. We also tried some excellent restaurants like Steirereck, Mast, and Meirer im StadtPark. Certain days we decided we were a bit tired of Viennese food, and opted for cuisines like Italian or Greek.

Stay tuned for the detailed posts about this trip!

October: Bali

I shared about Bryan’s unfortunately passport snafus last year that prevented him from going to Bali. This year, we finally successfully traveled to Bali, Indonesia together! We visited our friend who lives there, and together we spent time in both Ubud and Kuta.

We even re-visited our favorite night market, just to let Bryan try our favorite egg omelet made by this one street vendor. Yes, he was still there, and this year the line was so much shorter!

October: Boston + DC

In the latter half of October, I took my annual fall trip to Boston and DC (for work). The foliage was in full glory during my time in Boston, which was such a special treat.

My friends introduced me to a new restaurant called Amar in the Raffles Hotel. The tasting menu was excellent, and overall I was quite impressed.

I also revisited an ooooold favorite, the Afghan restaurant in Cambridge called Helmand's. I was thrilled the restaurant felt exactly the same, even after 20 years! Back then I loved their pumpkin kaddo bourani so much I tried to make it myself for a food blogging competition (which I won!) back in 2010.

I fell in love with the pizza from Joe's Pizza in Harvard Square, and also made sure to get a bite of grape nut ice cream from Tosci's.

My sister's family threw an early birthday party for me, which was really special. Living abroad, I don't get to see my family nearly as much as I used to, so I do cherish these times.

November: San Francisco and Napa Valley

I had heard that Waymo had rolled out self-driving taxis in San Francisco. I was soooo curious to try one, though a bit nervous about it at the same time. After trying it once, I was hooked! The cars are comfortable, clean, and it’s kind of nice not worrying about how to interact with a human driver. I ended up taking it several times!

It was also nice to spend time with several friends from college, many of whom I have not seen in years. I actually saw THREE of my previous room / apartment mates. It's such a funny coincidence that virtually all my past room/apartment mates move to the Bay area.

We also spent a week in Napa. AGAIN, we ran into some pretty heavy rains (I saw flooded vineyards), but thankfully had some sunny days in between. Wine tastings at Fialla and Spring Mountain were excellent. On my actual birthday, we had dinner at Auberge du Soleil.

December: San Francisco + Los Angeles + Ohio

I had almost a full month back in Hong Kong before it was time to head out again, this time to visit family for Christmas.

We did a mini family trip out to the Redwood Forests, seeing massive sequoia trees (something I’ve wanted to see ever since I was a kid). Alas, it rained AGAIN during the second half of our hike. Still, the trees were awe inspiring, and we very much enjoyed visiting the park.

We also got to do a really pretty hike at the Marin Headlands, right next to the Golden Gate Bridge. I loved the feeling of the vast expansive sky together with the (seemingly) endless rolling hills. The weather was cool, crispy, and sunny on Christmas morning, and thus hike was the perfect way to start Christmas.

After Christmas we flew down to Los Angeles to see more family before I flew out to Ohio to see my side of the family.

I hadn’t celebrated New Years with my sister since . . . maybe high school?? We taught her kids how to play mah-jong, and then just the two of us (everyone else had gone to bed), stayed up to celebrate the New Year (YES, with orange juice and milk!! - we couldn't find any alcohol at our parents' house, haha).

It was special to be together for New Years for once.

Now I am on the plane finally heading back to Hong Kong after a truly whirlwind year of travel! It'll be nice to slow down during the month of January. I do hope to catch up a bit on blog posts for trips I took in 2024, including trip reports for Vienna, Lijiang, Bali, Bangkok, and California.

Happy New Year!!!! Here's to 2025!

Related Posts

A Look Back at the Past 3 Years - Part I: 2022
A Look Back at the Past 3 Years - Part II: 2023
Eating and Travel Guides
Trip Reports
Travel Posts: by Location

A Look Back at the Past 3 Years - Part II: 2023

January 6, 2025 by Jennifer Che

This is a 3-part series where I look back at the past 3 years (coming out of the pandemic) that just somehow seemed to whiz by.

January: Post Covid Month in China

January, 2023. This single photo sort of captures how the Chinese were out in FULL FORCE after 3 years of being cooped up due to the pandemic.

Just a month before (December 2022), Mainland China had opened up suddenly, surprising everyone. Covid-19 spread like wildfire, and by mid-January, the country had mostly recovered from its massive bout of the disease. The first Chinese New Year (where people could finally travel after THREE years) was finally here, and people were SO READY to travel.

Crazy us, we decided to go to the Mainland for the first time (since 2020) as well. Even crazier, we chose to travel within China during this first Chinese New Year holiday TOGETHER WITH THE REST OF THE COUNTRY.

Foreigners navigating a post-pandemic China

We spent a week working in Shenzhen, heading off to the nearby manufacturing city Dongguan over the weekend to visit a friend. We then flew to Yunnan Province, where we traveled to a number of less-known cities (in an attempt to avoid the crazy crowds during the CNY holiday).

It’s hard to summarize a month of travel in a few sentences, so hopefully the below photos give you a general sense. To read more detailed reports, check out the posts I’ve written about the city of Jianshui (ancient walled city known for its well water tofu), Xishuangbanna (where we experienced the bold, spicy, and flavorful cuisine of the Dai Minority Group and Hani, our tour guide's minority group), and Kunming (largest city in the area).

All in all, it was a fascinating trip and we survived! As one of the few foreigners who was actually in China during that time, we did run into some snafus, especially with getting the proper Covid tests needed to return to Hong Kong (alas, Hong Kong hadn’t fully opened up yet!). However, overall it was a really unique and special time that I won’t forget.

Xishuangbanna Yunnan China — Xishuangbanna

Song Hotel Kunming China — The Beautiful Song Hotel

February

February we stayed put in Hong Kong, spending (what would be) our last month having to wear masks in public. As Hong Kong was finally opening up, we started to host more and more visitors to Hong Kong. We didn’t know it at the time, but we enjoyed our last meal at Ecriture (Valentine's Day!) before they closed for good later on in the year.

March: No More Masks! + Hangzhou, China

Hallelujah!!! On March 1, 2023, the Hong Kong government FINALLY removed the pandemic-era mask mandate in Hong Kong. It took a couple months, but by the summertime, most people had stopped wearing masks in public. I suspect the hot Hong Kong summers had something to do with it. XD

In March I visited Hangzhou with several other friends for a “girls trip” of sorts. It was a refreshing time of catching up with old friends and enjoying Hangzhou’s beautiful West Lake (by bike) and the tea terraces (by foot).

April: Guilin & Yangshuo

Guilin Yangshuo China — Yangshuo Fadai Retreat

In April we took the high speed rail (~4 hours) to the beautiful areas of Guilin and Yangshuo. The mountains in this area of Southern China are really stunning. It was such a relaxing few days of exploring this unique mountainous region and the local food + culture.

Memorable meals included freshly peeled locally harvested mountain water chestnut, Guilin rice noodles, Yangshuo beer fish, Guilin oil tea, and food cooked in bamboo!

April: Boston

In April I traveled to Boston for a work conference and business meetings. It was great to be back in the city again. I made sure to enjoy plenty of Tosci’s grape nut ice cream, raw oysters, and time outside along the Charles River.

May: Greek Wedding in Athens

Yes, a Big Fat Greek wedding, for real! We flew all the way to Athens to celebrate the wedding of one of Bryan’s colleagues. It was such a unique experience. Do you know they START the wedding around 7PM, the dinner around 9PM, and the dancing goes on until deep into the night? Haha, the invitation actually said the wedding ended at 4AM (!!). We lasted until around 2AM, and even when we left, there was still a small group of die hard party-ers who were still dancing.

It was Bryan’s first time in Greece, so we visited a lot of the famous ruins In Athens. We sampled all sorts Greek food, from traditional gyros at tavernas to some amazing modern high end meals.

June: Boston for MIT Reunion

In June I flew BACK to Boston to attend my 25th (!) college reunion. It was such a joy to get together with several good friends from my college days. We re-lived a lot of our favorite Boston experiences, like visiting the “Make Way for Ducklings” ducks in the Public Garden, eating Italian food in the North End (Monica’s Ristorante), and even visiting our old dorm (Next House).

June: Taiwan Trip with the Family

At the end of June, my sister and her entire family (plus my mom!) flew to Taiwan for a multi-week trip. Of course I had to join them! It was so fun hanging out with our relatives in Taiwan and visiting some local sites together. Highlights included street food, dumplings at Din Tai Fung, go-kart racing in Taichung, and just spending time with the extended family.

July: Tokyo Through the Eyes of a Tween

In July we ate our way through Tokyo with Bryan’s best friend, his wife, and their 12-year old daughter. Our friends wanted to introduce their daughter to all different types of Japanese food, so we explored the gamut during the trip, tasting sushi, tonkatsu, yakitori, izakaya, ramen, soba, wagyumafia yakiniku, 7-11, and even lining up to go to a Shiba Inu (dog) cafe. Funny thing is, the 7-11 oniri rice balls may have turned out to be one of her favorites . . .

September: Belgium, London, Bilbao

In September we went on another extended European trip, this time to Belgium and Bilbao. I love Spain, and I had fallen in love with San Sebastián the last time we were in this region. At first I was hoping we could go back to San Sebastián, but Bryan’s conference was in Bilbao, and he reasoned that we should explore Bilbao first since we’ve never been there before.

Bilbao turned out to be an amazing place to visit, and I’m glad we gave it the whole week. You still get to enjoy fantastic pintxos, jamon Iberico, and 3-Michelin star cuisine. However, it’s got its own unique attractions, most notably The Guggenheim, and one of my personal favorites, hiking San Juan de Gaztelugatxe (where Game of Thrones was filmed).

Better yet, the Rioja region is very close by. We took a whole day private tour with Tenedor Tours and enjoyed a lovely day (with perfect weather!) out wine tasting.

October: Bali, Indonesia

Ubud, Bali, Indonesia — Sawah Terrace Mandapa Reserve Ritz Carlton

We had a friend who moved to Indonesia in 2022 and she invited us to visit her. Bryan planned out an amazing trip using travel points, including a luxurious stay at the Ritz Carlton Mandapa Reserve.

Alas, a passport snafu occurred with the number of blank pages that were required for a visa-upon-arrival. Sadly, Bryan could not board the flight, and I had to go alone. My friend and I enjoyed a lovely stay in Bali, even though it was really sad Bryan wasn’t able to join us.

Postlude: update! We returned to Bali again in 2024, and thus time Bryan was able to make it! (Blog post about that trip upcoming . . .)

October in Hong Kong

Despite not being able to go to Bali in October, we still managed to celebrate Bryan's birthday in a few ways. We rented a junk boat (on the eve of a typhoon!) and had a Lamma Rainbow seafood outing with a group of friends.

The two of us also enjoyed a lovely yakitori tasting menu at Yamato, so close to our home!

November

November is my birthday month and also prime hiking month in Hong Kong! For my birthday I chose to go hiking to the Peak with Bryan. We started from our home and got egg tarts at the top! My birthday two-part dinner included a lovely steak dinner at BeefBar and a joint birthday meal at David Toutain’s new restaurant in Hong Kong, Feuille.

During the same month, we also took out of town friends to Sharp Island (Sai Kung) and Dragon’s Back (both beautiful and manageable hikes!). Around Thanksgiving, we enjoyed a really fun Pol Roger Champagne dinner at Pang’s Kitchen, where we even took home an autographed Pol Roger bottle from one of the family members who was hosting the event.

December: Taiwan with Nina Simonds

After not going to Taiwan for so many years (despite living in Hong Kong), I felt so fortunate to have multiple opportunities to visit Taiwan in the past 2 years. In December 2023, an old family friend, Nina Simonds (Boston-based James Beard Award winning cookbook author) invited us to go on a weekend food trip of Taipei with her!

She wrote about our trip in a Boston Globe article titled 50 Years Later I'm Still Falling for Taipei.

Back in Hong Kong, We hosted several out-of-town friends and visited Disneyland, checking out the new Frozenland.

December: Christmas in California

Another special Christmas back in California to see family and friends. This time we stumbled upon In-N-Not during their 75th anniversary celebration (so they were giving out hats!). We also re-visited some of our favorite Mexican places that we had discovered during the pandemic, such as Playa Amor. Sadly, Taco Maria (one of our favorite restaurants in LA) had closed in July (boo boo). We were so thankful Bryan’s mom took out the time to make Che family pumpkin cakes, tea eggs (my favorite!!), as well as our traditional family hot pot meal.

We did enjoy an absolutely amazing “Taiwanese Omakase style” meal from chef John Yao at Kato in Los Angeles. It blew me away and I can’t wait to go back again. I can’t believe I still haven’t written up a post for that meal. I will make sure I get around to doing that sometime soon.

2023 . . . .

All in all, 2023 whizzed by. It was the first year where in Hong Kong we actually felt like the pandemic was really behind us. FINALLY, we could travel freely without worrying about having to get clean Covid tests to fly back home. FINALLY, we could host out-of-town guests in Hong Kong again. FINALLY, we could easily go back into the Mainland again, and we went multiple times and visited so many new places.

On a side note, I also took over as Managing Director at my workplace, so even on a professional level, there was a lot going on!

Next up: Reflections on 2024

A Look Back at the Past 3 Years - Part I: 2022

January 4, 2025 by Jennifer Che

This is a 3-part series where I look back at the past 3 years (coming out of the pandemic) that just somehow seemed to whiz by.

Happy New Year!

As my sense of time goes haywire due to the pandemic (I think we all feel this way?), I feel much more of need to document time as it whizzes by a bit too quickly for my comfort. Where has all the time gone? And how is it that I've been in Hong Kong for 7 years already??!

What happened? Perhaps whirlwind multi-week (sometimes multi-month!) trips we did during the quarantine-era had something to do with it.

I kept wondering . . . what did I do in 2022 and 2023 that made me fall so far behind in blogging? And could it be that 2024 is almost over as well????

Then it hit me . . .

In 2022, I left Hong Kong in April and didn't return until July. Yes, I took a 4-month extended trip outside of Hong Kong. And then, after spending a summer in Hong Kong, I did it again, taking yet another (shorter) extended trip.

It was a weird period in the world. While many parts of the world (including the US), opened their doors wide open after vaccines became available in 2021, other places (Mainland China, Hong Kong) remained pretty closed, still requiring quarantines, PCR test results, and vaccine passes to get around. As a result, many expat families left Hong Kong, some permanently, others at least for a season.

I’ve since largely caught up, and hope to be completely on top of my blogging backlog by the end of this month!

As part of this greater catch up project, I've decided to write annual summaries for 2022, 2023, and 2024 in these first few days of 2025. (Phew!!)

Winter: Hiking, Online Meetings, and Venturing Out

We came into 2022 after having spent 3 weeks in quarantine the previous month of December (and before that, several months outside of Hong Kong). Needless to say, we were restless to enjoy Hong Kong for a bit. "The Covid" was still going around. Even though a large portion of the rest of the world had opened up, we were still required to wear masks outside, scan health codes to enter restaurants, and take Covid tests.

Despite all that, we managed to enjoy Hong Kong in a lot of ways. Bryan and I went on so many hikes during this time, including visiting Hong Kong’s amazing UNESCO Geopark, Dragon’s Back Trail, Lion Rock, hiking to Victoria Peak from our house, Lamma Island, Peng Chau Island, Sharp Island, and many, many others.

We also embraced the local holidays.

For Chinese New Year, we decked out our house in decorations, and tried to enjoy many traditional expressions of the holiday.

We still ate a lot of take-out, since it wasn't always that easy to go out to eat, depending on the number of active cases, and whether restaurants were allowed to open at night. I personally didn't travel at all for months after our 3-week quarantine in December.

Bryan, on the other hand, traveled to Spain for one week, and then proceeded to quarantine for two additional weeks in Hong Kong after the week long trip. Crazy times. During that time, we ate dinner "together" each night over Zoom.

Spring 2022: A Long Awaited Wedding in Tahoe

In April, we traveled to California to finally attend Bryan's sister's wedding. She had postoned it twice. They were supposed to get married in 2020, but alas Covid-19 hit the world, and they ended up having a basic Zoom wedding inside their apartment. They postponed it to September 2021, thinking that surely the pandemic would be over by then. Tahoe wildfires became the next culprit, causing their wedding venue to close right around the time of the wedding.

Fast forward to April 2022 . . . we flew to the US to attend this long awaited wedding. I cannot even express how special it was to see so many relatives after 3 years. It was an emotional time, with very special and cherished memories.

April - June 2022: First Whirlwind Trip to Europe

We continued on this 3-month journey, from San Francisco to Los Angeles, and then to Boston, Paris, Brussels, Valencia, Brussels, London, Brussels, Berlin, London, Brussels, and Dublin in June!

Phew!

First Europe Stop: Versaille + Paris France

It was crazy. We found out that a really old friend whom we hadn't seen in years was going to be in Paris the same time as we were! In fact, she was going to be Versailles. Bryan and I hadn't been to Versailles since 2005 (!!). We ended up visiting the hotel where we had stayed oh-so-long ago (Trianon Palace) and took "then & now" photos for fun. What was once a Westin (which we could book with points) had now been converted to a Waldorf Astoria. It still felt very familiar, though.

Food in Paris was amazing. For this trip, instead of dining at 3 Michelin star restaurants like earlier trips (e.g., Arpege, Ambroisie), we focused more on 1 Michelin star restaurants. NE/SO (farm to table) and La Condesa (Mexican) were probably my favorites, though Mavronmatis (Greek) and Helene Darroz (2 stars) were also excellent.

The attention to detail in the artistry of the food is evidence the moment you sit down. We began with three intricately latticed leaf crackers. From left to right: pepper, lobster, and olive — NE/SO

Of course I had to visit my favorite galette shop, Breizh Cafe, as well as spend time walking around all my favorite neighborhoods in Paris.

Stop 2: Valencia, Spain

I had never been to Valencia, Spain before, so I was really excited to tag along on one of Bryan's business trips there.

It was so cool to explore a brand new city, especially to try the local specialties. Paellas and agua de Valencia on the beach at Casa Ripoll and La Pepica, wonderfully creative and innovative dishes from well-known chefs like Ricard Camarena and Quique Dacosta . . . the list goes on.

The city itself has so much history and culture as well. Definitely worth a visit!

Tiny Urban Kitchen: Full Valencia trip report

Stop 3: Brussels Belgium

After having spent 6 weeks in Brussels right at the beginning of the pandemic, the city felt like an old friend in a lot of ways. We came back and visited "old haunts", including Bryan's favorite restaurant in Brussels, Bozar, as well as our favorite pasta place, Pasta Divina. We even met up with some of Bryan's colleagues and ex-colleagues, who had now become our friends.

Of course, I had to enjoy my own Brussels favorites, such as a Brussels waffle with whipped cream at Maison Dandoy, a chocolate truffle at Pierre Marcolini, sour beer from Cantillon, and a vegetarian healthy bowl from Yummy Bowl (my lunch spot of choice during the pandemic).

Stop 4: London, England

Our time in London was not long, but it was special to be here during the Queen's Jubilee. The city was decked out in celebration. I was thrilled to try the new Elizabeth Line, which really reminds me of Hong Kong subways! We attended a formal event with a Scottish theme at the House of Commons, which was really interesting. Haha, we even checked out the new (very beautiful) Din Tai Fung right in the heart of the city at Covent Garden.

For full details of that trip (including some recommended restaurants), please check out the full London Trip Report.

Stop 5: Dublin, Ireland

For years I've had an internal goal of going to at least one new country or jurisdiction each year. For 2022, that new country was Ireland. Dublin was amazing. In a lot of ways it actually reminded me of Boston, maybe because Boston has so many people of Irish heritage.

It was really cool to visit two 1000+ year old churches (St. Patrick and Christchurch) plus the stunning Trinity College Library. We took a short excursion to the countryside (gorgeous!!), and just soak in the history and culture of this special city.

Memorable foods include Guinness beer and Murphy's Ice Cream from Dingle!

For more details of this trip, check out the Dublin Trip Report.

Summer in Hong Kong

I stayed put in Hong Kong during the rest of the summer, though Bryan did make yet another Europe trip (and ANOTHER week long quarantine). I ended up going to his hotel to drop off a ton of stuff so that he could enjoy his time in quarantine just a bit more. Haha, we had dinner “together” via Zoom each night.

Jen's quarantine song, written while in quarantine, completed in 2022

Hong Kong lifted its strict quarantine requirements to *just* “0+3”, meaning 3 days at home and no days in a quarantine hotel, so I finished writing my quarantine song and published it soon thereafter.

Autumn Travels: Visiting Jen's Family in Boston + Ohio

In October, I flew to Boston and also to Ohio, my first time back in my hometown since the pandemic began! It was such a special time to see family and friends again, especially my relatives in Ohio. Special memories included tasting my mom’s homemade daikon meat pies 蘿蔔絲餅, which were amazing.

We even visited the Neil Armstrong Museum in Ohio, meeting up with some friends in Columbus at a convenient and fun halfway point.

In Boston, I did work meetings, attended a conference, and caught up with family and friends.

Autumn in Europe

Because Hong Kong was still requiring quarantines and testing to re-enter, Bryan planned another long multi-European country trip in the fall. Since we weren’t really back in the office fully yet in Hong Kong, I worked remotely and came along for the extended Europe trip.

And YES, Paris twice in one year! What a treat.

I celebrated my birthday in Paris, with back to back dinners at Table by Bruno Verjus and Epicure). Other highlights included dining outdoors at Frenchie Wine Bar and the fantastic sandwiches at chez Alain Miam Miam.

Restaurant Table Paris France — sandwich crepes galettes

The next several cities were all new to me: Bergamo and Bolzano (Italy), Berlin (Germany), and Warsaw (Poland).

Bergamo, Italy

Hotel Excelsior San Marco Roof Garden Restaurant Bergamo — Carmen Gelato

Bergamo is a beautiful and fascinating 2-level city that was a joy to explore. One of the coolest things to do in Bergamo is to walk along the Venetian Wall through Porta San Giacomo, which is a big white marble gate, sort of like a doorway into the upper part of the city. We only had a couple days there (mostly the weekend), but we thoroughly enjoyed exploring it!

Bolzano, Italy

I first got introduced to Bolzano during our incredible trip to Solda in 2021 (my first ski resort trip ever!). This time, Bryan had a conference in Bolzano, probably the closest town to Solda. We did a magical hike during sunset close to the vineyards of Bolzano (where they grow grapes for making their local wine, Lagrein). I loved the small town feel, and it was really nice just to soak in the vibe of the Italian countryside.

Warsaw, Poland

Sadly, Warsaw was mostly destroyed in 1944 by Nazi Germany after the Warsaw Uprising. The Polish rebuilt the city between 1950 - 1970 based on old drawings, photos, etc., painstakingly trying to rebuild to restore the former beauty and glory of the city. The Old Town is now completely restored and is also a UNESCO World Heritage site. It is really, really beautiful.

We met a local person who took us around. He shared about how the past several months have been crazy, with so many Ukrainian refugees streaming into Poland. Even his own family was lending a hand, taking in certain refugees for the night. To read the whole trip report: Warsaw, Poland

Berlin, Germany

Although I’d visited Munich before, this was my first time visiting Berlin.

Wow, what a fascinating city with tons of history. I was quite moved by the various museums and tributes relating to Berlin’s complicated history. It’s tough to decide how to tell the story about something as traumatizing as World War II from Berlin’s perspective, but I thought they did a really good job. It was quite sobering, reflective, and meaningful to visit the Berlin Wall, see tributes to the Jews who died during the war, and learn more about East and West Germany during that time in history.

Christmas in California

We flew to San Francisco to visit Bryan's sister and her husband's new home. We had a chance to see so many old friends from the SF, which was a tremendous blessing.

It was also fun to try all sorts of great food, such as Detroit style pizza (at Tony’s Pizza in North Beach, SF!), 1-Michelin star Angler, and crazy popular (huge) galbi with cheese from Korean restaurant Daego Kalbijjim.

We also stopped by Los Angeles, where we enjoyed many favorite “family tradition” meals in quick succession (e.g., Thanksgiving turkey, Christmas hot pot, Che family pumpkin cakes, Brodard’s Vietnamese spring rolls, and more!). So thankful to Bryan's mom for taking such efforts to allow us to enjoy so many sentimental memories.

What a year! It was indeed a whirlwind of travel and seeing many, many friends and family after such a long pandemic-driven separation. Looking back I am extremely thankful for such an enriching and full, full year.

Next up: Reflections on 2023 and 2024

I'm Featured in the South China Morning Post! (SCMP)

July 19, 2023 by Jennifer Che

Hi all!

I'm thrilled to announce that I'm featured in the South China Morning Post (SCMP) today in the Food/Drink Section. I've shared my favorite places to eat in Hong Kong and during my travels. You can read the article at this link. They had to shorten my original interview by a lot because I just had too many places I wanted share! I've included my original responses to the interview below.

Enjoy!

Tell us about yourself

I am a US patent attorney and Vice President & Principal at Eagle IP, a patent firm headquartered in HK with offices in the GBA. I am also a food + travel writer, founder of Tiny Urban Kitchen, a food + travel website/blog that I’ve been writing for over 10 years. I moved to Hong Kong 6 years ago after spending most of my adult life in Boston, MA (USA), where I went to school. I am a second generation Asian American, and grew up in Toledo, Ohio to Taiwanese parents. I also love music and play guitar in my church band.

What did you grow up eating?

In Ohio back then, we didn’t have much access to Asian ingredients, so my mom was really, really creative and resourceful. She loves to cook and try new things, so growing up I actually ate a lot of home cooked Taiwanese foods, such as braised meat sauce over rice 滷肉飯，dried radish omelette 菜餔蛋，tea eggs 茶葉蛋，beef noodle soup 牛肉麵，egg crepe 蛋餅, steamed rice cake in a bowl 碗糕 (“wah guay”), and much much more.

She often modified traditional Taiwanese recipes using US supermarket ingredients. For example, did you know you can make an easy 饅頭 (steamed bun) by using Pilsbury dough? She always cooked from scratch, and every dinner involved 3+1 . . . three dishes and a soup. I still sort of hold myself to the same standard today, though it’s quite challenging to do it every day. I’m not sure how my mom was able to do it AND take care of her work, her aging parents, and us!

I also loved ice cream (I get that from my Dad) and fresh corn (Ohio grows TONS of corn). One particular food memory I have is my mom making her famous grilled Taiwanese street corn while we were at the beach.

What kind of food person are you?

I’ve eaten all kinds of food: slow food, fast food, street food, Michelin meals. I’ve dined at 3-Michelin starred restaurants in Paris, crunched on fried insects in Yunnan, hunted for white truffles in Alba, chewed on snake skin in Hunan, eaten nigiri sushi from the hands of Jiro himself, and the list goes on and on.

After all that, though, I think I actually go back to the basics. Perhaps it’s due to my simple upbringing. Perhaps it has something to do with my slight obsession with health and fitness. I love fresh produce, prepared simply so you can taste their original flavors.

When I’m at home, I am perfectly content just stir-frying or even just steaming or blanching fresh vegetables and eating them with just a bit of flavor. I’m totally OK not having meat, though I do love seafood, and occasionally a really good steak or Iberico pork chop. I also love dumplings of any kind (gyoza, 餃子), raw fish (sashimi, crudo, ceviche, etc.), and milk products, such as cheese, yogurt, and of course ice cream!

I do love cooking, and when I have time I totally get into learning how to make new dishes and acquiring new skills. I won a food blog competition in 2009 where in one of the rounds I learned how to make hand-pulled noodles and produced a video teaching it . . . all in 2 weeks!

If I had to pick a favorite cuisine, it would probably be Japanese, though I also love Chinese, Italian, Spanish, Mediterranean, Thai, and many many more. All cuisines have their unique special elements, and I enjoy many aspects of most cuisines.

In Hong Kong, what are some of your favourite restaurants and why?

Lunch

I told you I love dumplings, and I also love black truffle. Din Tai Fung is one of my favorite restaurants for any meal, including lunch. During the pandemic, I was so thankful that we lived close enough to get delivery of DTF dumplings. My favorites are the black truffle and the pork soup dumplings ( 小籠湯包), pork and vegetable steamed dumpling*, 香干馬蘭頭 dried bean curd + Indian Kalimeris vegetable, and taro dumpling for dessert.

Dinner

Yardbird, a yakitori restaurant that started in Hong Kong, is one of my favorite restaurants in Hong Kong (and probably the one I frequent most regularly). My favorite is by far the skin, but I also love the chicken oyster, meatball, and wing tip. The fruit tomato salad with yuba is fantastic, and the corn tempura is really special. The chicken + egg rice is a great way to end the meal.

For good Cantonese food, I like Kin’s Kitchen. Definitely get their signature smoked chicken and the handmade egg noodles with scallion oil and soy sauce, which are excellent. In Hong Kong, trying steamed garoupa is a must, and I usually like to get the stunning bright green vegetable soup with crab.

For higher end, I really enjoy Simon Rogan’s Roganic. I really like the artful and creative way Chef Rogan showcases vegetables. I also appreciate how the restaurant prioritizes sustainability and supports local farms.

For dessert or coffee, Shari Shari for Japanese kakigori (shaved ice) or Via Tokyo for their delicious matcha ice cream are some of my go-to places. I also love Omotesando Koffee, which I first discovered in Japan over 10 years ago!

Where would you take a new visitor to the city for lunch or dinner?

I’d definitely showcase one of Hong Kong’s most famous cuisines: dim sum! I usually try to book Lei Garden if I can. The food is high quality and consistent, the service is efficient, and the cost is reasonable. Tim Ho Wan is another fun one to visit, but it takes a bit more planning since they don’t take reservations and the lines can get long.

I always take out-of-town guests to one of my favorite egg tart places, Tai Cheong Bakery, to try both types of egg tarts, flaky pastry crust and cookie crust. Honolulu Bakery in Wan Chai also makes an amazing flaky crust version.

Finally, If there’s time, I would take the ferry to Lamma Island and hike from Yung Shue Wan to Sok Kwu Wan, where we’d enjoy Hong Kong seafood specialties at Lamma Rainbow.

For a local “hidden spot”, I might take them to Wong Kee 旺記打冷小菜館, a buzzing Chiu Chow place in Wan Chai that is super local, (menu is only in Chinese!) and makes great Chiu Chow classics like sliced marinated goose, oyster omelette, and many other dishes at super reasonable prices.

I have a soft spot for 1963 Tree 木十豆寸, a Taiwanese eatery hidden away on an upper floor of a nondescript building in Wan Chai. They serve interesting vegetables that are unique to Taiwan, and their Oolong tea smoked chicken is really good. The comfort dishes, like 滷肉飯（braised meat sauce over rice), also make me think of my family.

For a nicer Chinese meal, I might take them to Xin Rong Ji (squid ink rice cakes!), Liu Yuan Pavilion 留園雅敘 (giant sesame bread!), Kin’s Kitchen (smoked chicken!), or Mott32 (best Peking duck!).

Finally, one must try local milk tea. My favorite is Lan Fong Yuen in Central, right next to the escalators. The tea, still made with a sock using the traditional method, is intense, strong, and works great with milk. If there’s time, it’s fun to have a very traditional, local HK breakfast inside.

What is your splurge or celebration preference?

Sushi Shikon is my favorite high-end restaurant in Hong Kong, and I have gone there many times to celebrate a birthday or anniversary. The meals never disappoint and I do feel like I’m transported to Japan for a few hours, yet with a chef who can speak perfect English (Chef Kaki-san lived in the US for some time) and greets us with such warmth each time we come.

In terms of travel, where do you enjoy going for food?

Japan is hands down my favorite destination for food, and I’ve traveled there over a dozen times. One particularly favorite memory is my meal at Shoraian/Syourian, a tofu restaurant located on the edge of a mountain in the bamboo forest of Arashiyama in Western Kyoto. You need to hike a bit to get to the restaurant, but it’s so worth it. We had a fantastic multi-course menu focused just on tofu prepared so many different ways, even ending with a tofu ice cream!

Getaria — One of my favorite casual meals was enjoying freshly grilled seafood at Kaia Kaipe, a family-owned seaside restaurant with great views of the ocean. Must order the grilled turbot (enough to feed 2-4 people). #getaria #getariaspain #spain #tinyurbanspain #tinyurbantravels #grilledfish #grilledturbot #basqueregion #michelinplate

Spain is another favorite destination. The country is cutting edge on the high-end scene, and their local food is also fabulous. One of my favorite food memories is eating grilled turbot from Kaia Kaipe, a seafood restaurant in a tiny fishing town called Getaria (not far from San Sebastian). Even though we couldn’t get a reservation at its more famous cousin Elkano, we loved our meal and vowed to come back to San Sebastian again in 2020 . . . (which never happened due to this thing called the Pandemic).

I travel to Boston at lot. It’s the city where I lived for 20+ years before moving to Hong Kong, and I still have a lot of family and friends there. In terms of food, whenever I’m in Boston I seek out raw oysters, lobster, and local beer. One of my favorite off-the-beaten-path places is a tiny shack in Cambridge called Alive and Kicking Lobsters. They make a great lobster sandwich (don’t call it a lobster roll, they’ll correct you!) that you can eat on picnic benches right outside the shack. I also like going to Row 34, where I can get a hot buttered lobster roll, raw New England oysters on the half shell, and a fantastic selection of local New England beers all at one place.

*as far as I know, this version is only available in Asia. In the US, Din Tai Fung used to serve the version I like, but then one year started warning guests that the pork and vegetable dumpling was 90% vegetable. They eventually gave up and switched to a version that had more meat (which I don’t like as much). I guess even Din Tai Fung had to “localize” their dumplings for the American palate!

36 Hour Stopover in London

May 29, 2022 by Jennifer Che

London is one of those cities of which I never tire. Although I've been there numerous times (I used to go every year for work), every time I went back I would revisit my favorite streets, squares, and shops. During our whirlwind US/Europe trip in the fall of 2021, London was our stop-over city. We flew in and out of Heathrow, stopping through and saying hello to London TWICE while passing through on the way to cities in Europe, such as Brussels or Paris.

What does one do on a 36-hour stopover in London?

We stayed at the **St. Pancras Renaissance**, a lovely, lovely hotel (highly recommended!). It is located right at St. Pancras train station, so it's amazingly convenient if you are taking the Eurostar here (from, e.g., Brussels or Paris). The lobby incorporates parts of the beautiful train station exterior, and you can take an elevator directly into the train station without even stepping outside. I enjoyed a lovely brunch in this airy and spacious lobby. When I tried to come back in the evening to meet a colleague for drinks, they told me it was fully booked. I didn't even know you had to book this place. Mental note: make a reservation next time!

Covent Garden

During our first visit, we arrived in London in the morning and had a few hours to kill before our train to Brussels in the evening. We decided to walk around Covent Garden and perhaps find some lunch.

Din Tai Fung Covent Garden London

This is where we broke down and had our first Chinese restaurant meal in over 6 weeks (*at Din Tai Fung, no less*!). The decor was beautiful, and this DTF was a bit more upscale, offering cocktails and some dishes we hadn't seen on other menus. We stuck with the basics, ordering various types of dumplings. Though it hit the spot and was very enjoyable, the overall quality was supbar to the ones in Hong Kong (and it was more expensive!).

The River Cafe

We had one nice meal in London, an Italian outdoor dinner at The River Cafe. Situated right on the Thames River, this Italian restaurant from Ruth Rogers has been around for 35 years and is famous for training up several well-known British chefs, such as Hugh Fearnley-Whittingstall (River Cottage), April Bloomfield (Spotted Pig, Breslin Bar & Dining), Theo Randall and Jamie Oliver.

London’s the type of place where it’s easy to stop by for just a short amount of time. If you need to take the train somewhere, I highly recommend staying near St. Pancras station. It’s super convenient, and there’s a lot of fun stuff to do right around that area, such as jog along Regent Canal or shop/eat at Coal Drop Yard.

The next day we hopped onto the Eurostar and took the 2-hour journey to Brussels, our next stop. Good-by London, until we meet again!

Traveling during Covid: Our 3-Month Trip Around the World

December 20, 2021 by Jennifer Che

Dear Friends,

It has been so long!!!! I am so sorry for the extended silence here. I swear, in the 12 years since I started this blog, I have never had such a long silence before, and for that I sincerely apologize. After almost two years of being “stuck” in Hong Kong, Bryan and I finally flew back home to the US to see our family, friends, and business contacts.

It was a tough decision to stay away for so long, but we live in a very different world now. Hong Kong currently has one of the most stringent quarantine requirements on this planet. We knew that by traveling to the US, we would have to quarantine for 3 weeks upon return. As such, we wanted to make the absolute most out of our time outside.

And thus we embarked upon a whirlwind trip that included multiple cities in the US and in Europe. We visited so many old friends, re-visited our old haunts, and also traveled to some brand new places.

Traveling During Covid

Traveling during Covid is very, very different, but still doable. Different countries have different requirements for Covid tests, vaccinations, and (in the case of HK), quarantine bookings. It’s a maze to figure out, and all the more complicated because the situation changes sometimes daily. We ordered boxes of Covid tests that we kept in our suitcase and carried along with us just so we could self-monitor, and (at least for the US), even use those test results to comply with official requirements.

We wore KN95/KF94 masks on flights, but felt comfortable enough to take them off for short durations while we ate. If our travel time was longer than 12 hours, we would change out for fresh masks. We tried to keep a distance from people at airports, and most certainly kept our masks on at all times except while actively eating or drinking.

The Quarantine Life

I have now finally returned to Hong Kong after 3 long months, and am currently serving out my 3-week quarantine. Not surprisingly, I took thousands of photos during my time away. I am methodically working through them, and hope to share with you all the things I experienced (and learned!) while traveling during this pandemic time.

For now, below is a snapshot of things to come. Happy Christmas, Merry New Year, and have a wonderful holiday!

...

Happy 20th Anniversary! A look back . . .

September 1, 2021 by Jennifer Che

20 years???

In some ways it's really hard for me to believe that I have been married for 20 years (the years flew by!). Yet in another way, when I look back and think about all the different things we've gone through together -- how we've both grown, changed, and experienced so many different chapters together in so many different ways -- then it does feel like it's been a long time.

I met Bryan when he was 17 and I was 19. We were mere kids, not really knowing anything about our futures, where we would go, what we would become. We got married soon out of college, still figuring out our directions in life.

Marriage is truly a step of faith and also commitment (especially when you're really young and you still don't really know yourself!).

We got married on September 1, 2001. It was ten days before the horrific attacks on 9/11 that changed America and our lives forever. We were on our honeymoon in Italy at the time, and started out our marriage stuck in Brussels for days before finally catching a flight to Montreal and driving down the Boston.

I thought it would be fun to reflect upon how we have celebrated our anniversary over the past 20 years. Of course, our 20 years of marriage is defined by so much more than just food or annual celebrations. However, it has played an important part of how we enjoy time together as a couple, and (of course), it is the focus of this blog. 🙂 Enjoy!

2002

2002 was a different time, define by a post 9/11 world and yet pre-digital and pre-social media. Although we received our first digital camera as a wedding present, I woefully have very few photos from that era, and I can't remember for the life of me how we celebrated! All I remember is that I gave Bryan a coffee grinder and Illy espresso cups for our first Valentine's Day, which we use to this day.

2003 - 2007: Staying Put in Boston

I changed careers in 2003 and started attending law school at night and working full time during the day. Needless to say, we started out our marriage being quite busy! Although my weeknights were filled with classes and weekends full of study, we still played in our church band together, ran a Bible study group at our home, and enjoyed local trips around New England.

2003: *Outlet shopping in Freeport Maine*

2004: *Hiking, lobsters, and blueberry pie at Acadia National Park in Maine*

2005: Attending a friend's wedding and celebrating in Boston's North End at Prezza for dinner

2006: I love biking, and one of my favorite activities is to bike the minuteman trail (from Cambridge to Lexington) for ice cream at Rancatore's, and then bike back for a nice dinner in Cambridge. This time, we took a day off of work and ended the day with a French meal in Harvard Square.

2007: Tiny Urban Kitchen is Born

When I graduated from law school, I was so ready to explore a plethora of hobbies (after being "cooped up" for 4 years studying law during my freetime). I threw myself into trying new activities, such as sewing handbags, oil painting, running, capoeira, cooking, and starting a food blog.

In the early days, the blog had no photos (!). I really just wanted to keep a journal of the restaurants I ate at, and also my mom's recipes. Because of that, my write-up of our 6th anniversary meal at Craigie Street Bistrot (one of the earliest blog posts at Tiny Urban Kitchen) is shockingly photo-less.

As life would have it, as I became "freer", Bryan started traveling more and more for work. At our first anniversary apart in 2008 (due to one of Bryan's many business trips), Bryan sent me roses at work for the first time.

Tiny Urban Kitchen is Christened

In 2009 I started to blog more seriously. Bryan had bought me a lovely little camera that took really good photos of food. I changed the name of the blog, joined an ad network, and started to write more seriously about both my cooking and my dining out.

That year, we celebrated our anniversary with a lovely meal at Boston's classic No. 9 Park.

2010: 9th: Menton

2010 was a momentous year. I won Project Food Blog: The Next Food Blog Star, and I started blogging a lot more. We celebrated our 9th with a lovely meal at Barbara Lynch's flagship restaurant Menton, where we enjoyed New England inspired food elevated to the highest level Boston had ever seen.

2011: Las Vegas

For our 10th anniversary we did something crazy. Our friend, a wedding photographer in Las Vegas, offered to treat us to a photoshoot in the desert! We brought along my wedding dress and took all sorts of fun photos, the below being one of my favorite.

We also enjoyed a mind-blowing meal at 3-Michelin starred The Mansion at Joel Robuchon. Truly an unforgettable meal.

2012: 11th Uni Sashimi Bar!

2012 was a special year because Bryan's parents retired that year. Bryan had so many airline miles from his years of travel that he gifted his parents a choice of two first class tickets anywhere in the world.

They looked on a globe and picked the farthest location they could find: Australia and New Zealand. Oh, and they wanted to go together as a family. In 2012, we took a 3+ week vacation (longest we'd ever taken!) and traveled around that stunning region. I woefully have never given it a proper write-up on the blog, but there are a few food posts I was able to write.

Due to the crazy travel in November that year, we took it easy for our anniversary (and also for Christmas), not traveling at all but just resting and staying put. We celebrated 11 years of marriage with a lovely Japanese-inspired meal at Uni Sashimi Bar, back when it was just a small corner of Clio, pre-Tony Messina. How things have changed!

2013: 12th Sonoma!

I have such, such fond memories of California's wine region. I got to know the region when I used to travel there annually to cover the S. Pellegrino Almost Famous Chef competitions. For years we went back annually, savoring the beautiful scenery, amazing food, and in Sonoma and Napa. I have many, many fond memories of those trips, and am so thankful for the numerous opportunities we had to visit that amazing region.

2014: 13th Berkshires!

Boston's own backyard, the Berkshires, is a lovely place to visit in the summertime. For our 13th anniversary, we finally enjoyed a picnic while listening to a concert at Tanglewood, the quintessential New England summer experience!

2015: 14th in the Midwest and Around the World

Our friends asked us months earlier whether we wanted to make a special trip to Chicago just to dine at Alinea, one of the most famous fine-dining restaurants in the US. It had been years since I had visited Chicago, and I fell in love with the city! I guess my Midwestern roots are still strong, and perhaps a part of me felt at home there. The meal at Alinea was also really special, especially because we got to spend this anniversary with some of our best friends.

2015 was also memorable for me because that fall Bryan took me on an "Around the World" trip to celebrate my 40th birthday. It was a momentous and crazy trip. We visited wineries in Bordeaux, explored museums in Paris, sampled white truffles in Alba (even went on a truffle hunt!), learned all about the barbaresco and barolo regions, savored Tokyo's food and culture, and also stopped by Hong Kong, Bryan's favorite city in the world. At that time, we never would have ever imagined that we would move there some day.

Finally, I started a new job as head of IP at a biotech start-up in Cambridge, which was super exciting. What a year!

2016: 15th Saison San Francisco

In 2016 I got to enjoy one of my favorite meals (ever) in the US, our anniversary dinner at Saison in San Francisco. I loved how the chef incorporated so many Japanese concepts and ingredients into the tasting menu.

2017: 16th Bergamot Boston

2017 was an unique year. It was the year I moved to Hong Kong. At that time, Bryan had already moved to Hong Kong first and had returned to Boston right before our anniversary to wrap up our move. For our anniversary, we visited our favorite hangout spot Bergamot and enjoyed a boisterous meal at the bar with close friends.

2018: 17th Bergamot Boston

After moving to Hong Kong, we started to value and cherish our times at Bergamot more and more. We returned again in 2018 for yet another anniversary celebration at the same bar. Little did we know that would be our last time . . .

2019: 18th Anniversary in Amber

We couldn't make it to Boston for our 18th anniversary. Instead, we decided to book Amber in Hong Kong in the midst of an intense time of social unrest in Hong Kong. It was a crazy story of how Bryan barely made it out of the airport (which was overrun with protestors) right before the police locked down the airport. Many people were stuck in traffic for hours. I was so thankful Bryan was able to make it back in time for us to celebrate together. I am even more thankful he had the foresight to book a night at the Landmark Mandarin so we wouldn't have to worry about how to get home afterwards.

2020: COVID-19

It goes without saying that 2020 has been the most upended, unpredictable, and crazy year to date. 2020 meant we had been "locked in" working from home for close to two months. In late August, Hong Kong finally started to open up a bit. We ventured out, cautious, celebrating our first "socially distanced" dinner out at Xin Rong Ji.

2021: Our 20th Anniversary

Happy Anniversary!!! Here we are at our 20th. We are so, so thankful that the Covid situation in Hong Kong is quite good, with no local cases in months. We've been enjoying an extended week of celebrations, visiting some favorites such as Sushi Shikon, Ando, Mott32, and Din Tai Fung, just to name a few.

Sometimes it's shocking to me how little we knew ourselves and each other when we took the plunge and decided to tie the knot at such a young age. However, I truly believe it's because of God's amazing grace that we have been able to grow so much as as couple these past 20 years.

The 20th anniversary gift according to tradition is China, while the modern version is Platinum. It's fitting, considering we currently live in Hong Kong, a special administrative region of China, and Platinum is the material we chose for our wedding bands and my engagement ring so many years ago.

I feel very, very thankful and blessed beyond measure.

Happy Anniversary!

Happy New Year 2021! A Look Back at 2020

January 1, 2021 by Jennifer Che

Happy New Year!

Ever since this blog began I have written something on New Years Day, a reflection of sorts on the past year. Through the years my posts took on a familiar pattern, summarizing top recipes (back when I published more recipe posts) and moving into a reflection of my travels that past year.

When I look at what I wrote last year, I can't help but chuckle. So little did I know . . .

. . . "and all that it brings." Yep, that about sums it up.

This year has been undoubtedly different. We did not step foot in the US for the first time in our entire lives. We have not seen family for over a year. We have not left Hong Kong since March.

Though we can't travel for leisure, Bryan also does not need to travel for work, which has been an unexpected blessing. We have spent a TON of time together - whether it be hanging out at home over home-cooked meals (or delivery!), or exploring lesser known parts of Hong Kong between lockdown waves.

I've also picked up classical piano again, started "painting" with the Apple pencil, and cooked more this year than I have the last two years combined. I've focused on my Mandarin studies and I can actually see progress, especially in my writing, which was so, so difficult for me.

We have re-connected with old friends through Zoom, and I've secretly enjoyed not commuting every day on the crowded Hong Kong subways. One of my favorite aspects of working from home is the ability to enjoy lunch with Bryan every day at home.

It's unclear what next year will bring, and I have no idea if it will be better, worse, or just different. I've learned not to expect anything, nor take anything for granted. I constantly remind myself to appreciate and be thankful for my current situation and what I have now.

Below are highlights of this strange year. Instead of sharing about my various travels, it will be about how we navigated ever-changing pandemic "lockdowns", "re-opens", and various day-to-day restrictions.

January - Thailand and Initial Covid Inklings

In terms of months, January was the most "normal" month of the year. As I look back at what we were doing, I feel a bit nostalgic and sad at how so many of those things came to an abrupt, unexpected stop.

We did things that seemed so normal back then, but impossible since then . . . . like visiting Dafen Village, where we sat in the alleyways of this artist village in Shenzhen and painted with the help of a teacher.

Or our annual trip to Thailand, where we caught up with old friends, tasted fantastic food, and just enjoyed being outside without a mask. Although people still weren't wearing masks regularly at that time, we were already aware of the virus and wore masks during our flight.

I will never forget the fast progression from mask-free to full-on masks. It happened within a week in late January right before Lunar New Year. I distinctly remember looking around me and seeing how many people were wearing masks on the subways. I personally began wearing a mask starting around Wednesday that week. When Bryan came back to Hong Kong on Thursday, he said "maybe I'll wear a mask today." By Friday, the whole city was covered in masks, and every other person seemed to be a disease-carrying suspect.

A few days later, Bryan left for a week long business trip in Belgium. I stayed behind, spending time with some friends from China who were seriously considering not going back, due to quickly escalating situation in Wuhan.

And then I got the call. Just like my friends from China, Bryan was also advised by his boss not to come back, but to stay in Belgium instead.

I've never done this before, but I booked an airplane ticket to leave in less than 48 hours. I hastily packed (including packing some more things for Bryan!), and off I went, not knowing when I would return.

February/March - Stuck in Europe

February was an odd month. As we watched the pandemic unfold in China (and the panic that ensued in Hong Kong), we felt a bit insulated from all that. Europe seemed relatively safe at the time, so we actually had the opportunity to be regular tourists. Not only did we explore Brussels (where we "lived"), we also visited nearly towns Ghent and Brugges, as well as took longer excursions to Paris, London, and Amsterdam. I've written about our European adventures in more details at this post.

It was a surreal time. As the situation globally got worse, our original plans (to visit Northern Italy, Spain, and the US) got canceled one by one. As mid-March rolled around, things started to look bad even in Europe.

We scoured around looking for flights and managed to book one of the last direct flights from Brussels to Hong Kong. We arrived back in Hong Kong just in time to enter Hong Kong's second lockdown.

First time coming home after close to 7 weeks away

April - 2nd Wave: A Month of "Lockdown"

Hong Kong locked down soon after we came back, entering its "second wave". It was tough coming back, and I had to figure out how to live under these new circumstances. Jetlag and general pandemic tiredness got to me, and I hardly exercised during those first several weeks at home.

Finally, near the end of the lockdown, we began to hike, and had the opportunity to visit some beautiful places in Hong Kong.

May/June - Opening Up

In May and June, the number of cases in Hong Kong hovered close to zero. People let out a sigh of relief, and life began to get back to normal.

I started physically going back into the office. Churches, movie theaters, and gyms opened for service. We tentatively began dining out again, and eventually, even sharing meals with small groups of friends. I continued to cook a lot at home, making chive dumplings, quinoa chips, Chinese pumpkin cakes, and much, much more.

There was sadness in May, however, as I found out that an old friend from college had died in a plane crash transporting coronavirus supplies to a remote village in Indonesia. It was quite a bit to process. She was a pilot, doing what she loved and serving people in one of the most remote places in the world. She knew being a missionary pilot was her calling in life, and she trained for 10+ years to prepare for this difficult and specialized job. Why did she have to go so soon?

It was therapeutic to grieve together with old friends over Zoom, and we re-connected with so many college friends during that painful time.

A stunning rainbow that appeared during a sunny rainstorm in June reminded me that God was in control and that things would be OK.

July/August: Third Wave Lockdown

In July Hong Kong cases began to rise again, and we entered our "Third Wave." During that time, I began to order organic vegetables weekly from a local Hong Kong farm.

Life in lockdown wasn't that different from our earlier lockdown, though we had gotten more experienced. We knew how to navigate and manage the plethora of take-out and delivery options, which grew and grew as the pandemic worsened and dining restrictions increased. We started to figure out which places we liked the most. Some of my regular go-to lunch delivery spots included my weekly Din Tai Fung fix, falafels from Maison Libanaise, banh mi from Le Petit Saigon, and knife shaved noodles from Shiwei.

In June we also had fun being interviewed on a podcast with my friend Joe from Saverocity Observation Deck. We had a lively conversation about Hong Kong, food, the pandemic, and much more. Here is a complete list of restaurants mentioned in the podcast.

September/October - Opening Back Up

Things finally improved in September and we had a really enjoyable couple of months where life felt like it was returning to normal again. We were thankful that this "safer" period included our anniversary and both our birthdays, allowing us to actually go out and celebrate those moments.

During this golden period, we explored many new restaurants, such as La Castanella, Ando, Roganic, L'Atelier de Joel Robuchon, and the Araki, just to name a few.

During the October Golden Week Holiday, we took a week of "staycation", exploring Hong Kong by hiking, biking, and visiting its small fishing islands and geoparks. It was a much needed time just to get away and enjoy nature.

November - Fourth Wave Begins

My memories of early November are warm and pleasant. Church had re-opened, and we were able to celebrate the baptisms of several friends. Bryan and I even attended our first symphony orchestra concert (masks on at all times!). We also enjoyed other lovely celebrations with smaller groups of friends, such as for Thanksgiving and also my birthday.

Two days after my birthday two things happened: I twisted my ankle and Hong Kong went into its fourth lockdown. In some ways, it sort of worked out that I couldn't walk very well just as the city was becoming less accessible to me anyway.

December - A Distanced Covid Christmas

In December we spent our first Christmas ever in Hong Kong. I ended up getting in touch with my artistic side, making my own Christmas tree out of a yoga mat and collaborating with my Chinese teacher to illustrate a book as a gift for Bryan.

On Christmas Day we Zoomed for hours at various times to connect with family all over the US. We opened presents over Zoom, chatted with some friends, and overall had a very chill day.

We took the whole week off between Christmas and New Years just to relax. This time, because of my (still) recovering ankle, we couldn't take any longer "trips" within Hong Kong. It's tough for an active person like me to sit still (!) but the lockdown does make it easier. Can't wait to get back onto the hiking trail!

And just like that, 2020 vanished into the night. I've learned not to expect anything, because you really, really have no idea what will happen next. Last year, after an unprecedented period of unrest in Hong Kong, everybody was looking forward to moving past 2019 into a new year. Little did we know what was in store for us. Similarly, we really have no idea what next year holds. Therefore, I live day to day, being thankful for each day as it comes.

Let's appreciate those around us, and try to bless others a bit each day. I personally hope to be more mindful of that this coming year.

Happy New Year!

I'm on a Podcast! Complete List of Restaurants & Posts Mentioned

August 2, 2020 by Jennifer Che

Hi all! I just wanted to follow up from my podcast on Saverocity Observation Deck last week by providing the names and links to the specific restaurants mentioned on the podcast. I've also written a brief summary of some of the content from the podcast, though I highly recommend listening to the podcast to get a fuller picture!

Tell us about how you got "stuck" in Europe during the coronavirus pandemic

We unexpectedly ended up spending 6+ weeks in Belgium this past February and March because Bryan had been in Brussels when the coronavirus situation exploded in China. Basically, his boss thought he'd be safer out there and asked him to stay for awhile. Since everyone in HK was working from home at that point, I flew out to join him. You can read more here. I plan to share even more about my whole European experience in the upcoming weeks on this blog.

Name some favorite memories from that time

We had a blast getting to know Brussels during the first few weeks of our stay. We visited several breweries, restaurants, and museums. However, one of my favorite memories from our whole time in Europe was our weekend trip to Amsterdam. I had never been to the Netherlands. As someone who loves water and bridges, I fell in love with Amsterdam, a city built on canals and full of endless waterways along which to explore.

From Belgium, one of my favorite food memories was eating fresh Belgian Waffles topped with whipped cream from Maison Dandoy.

Bryan had fond memories of Belgium from childhood because his father traveled there for work and would bring back Belgian chocolates as souvenirs. It has been 18 years since we were last in Belgium, where we were stuck for three days after our honeymoon due to the September 11 attacks in the US. Back then, we were mostly pre-occupied with getting back home and only had limited time to explore.

This time around, we especially enjoyed trying a huge variety of beers, visiting the Cantillon Brewery as well as tasting a great selection of beers at Moeder Lambic (ha ha, while doing laundry - a great way to pass the time!).

Name some favorite restaurant experiences in the world from all your travels

Kin's Kitchen Wan Chai — Carbonara from Roscioli

Bryan immediate pointed out Salumeria Roscioli, a food market, restaurant, and wine bar in Rome that makes the best carbonara we've ever had.

Chicken in Hong Kong is pretty amazing in general, but the signature smoked soy sauce chicken at Kin's Kitchen 留家廚房 is exceptional and stands out as one of Bryan's memorable favorites.

We both fell in love with San Sebastian. We had a phenomenal trip there where we ate all sorts of memorable food - everything from casual pinxtos to dining at the best restaurant in the world.

Bryan chose Mugaritz as his favorite high end dining experience. There, we experienced one of the most forward-thinking, mind-bending and fascinating explorations of food, wine, and the intricate interplay between the two.

Bryan shared about one course that paired a single green pepper with vintages of fine wines that had "grassy" notes (Opus One and Chateau Haut-Brion) to highlight distinctive "green pepper" notes from the pyrazine molecule, the subject of exploration in this course.

I also shared about Raan Jay Fai, where I enjoyed chef Jay Fai's legendary pad khee mao ("drunken noodle"), full of wok "hei" and absolutely bursting with flavor. She now has a Michelin Star, and (until the recent pandemic), tourists lined up for hours to try her phenomenal cooking.

Sushi Shikon Hong Kong - November 2017 — Kaki-San from Sushi Shikon

Finally, I shared a bit about my love for Japan, especially its food. Sushi Mizutani is one of my favorites. However, since he is now retired, I also shared some other favorite places, such as Sushi Yoshitake (JP) / Sushi Shikon (HK), Sushi Saito, and Sushi Ishiyama (previously at Sushi Ya, Sushi Kanesaka) for lunch.

What is Life in HK like during COVID times?

Hong Kong never had a complete lockdown. Though we both personally worked from home for periods at a time, many businesses stayed open, and restaurants pretty much continued to run, though with limited capacity and opening hours.

We've mostly been cooking at home or ordering delivery. You can see example photos of our take-out and my home cooking meals over on Instagram.

We've enjoyed some pretty amazing take-out, such the perfectly formed soup dumplings from Din Tai Fung or roast chicken from Michelin-starred Asia's Top 50 No. 6 restaurant Belon. Bryan shared about how ramen places are pretty sophisticated in the way they package delivery, separating key ingredients (e.g., noodles, broth, toppings, etc) in a specially designed container so that everything can be put together quickly and easily at the time of eating.

Hong Kong coronavirus numbers have still not fallen, so, for now, we are still stuck in in this "shelter-in-place" limbo for some time. We take things day by day. These days, I mostly stay at home except to go out and exercise (which I do solo with a mask worn at ALL TIMES) or to pick up essential groceries.

Stay safe everyone!

I'm on a Podcast! HK, Food, and Europe during Covid Times

July 29, 2020 by Jennifer Che

Hello friends!

And a warm welcome to any listeners who came here from my recent interview on the Saverocity Observation Deck podcast! Feel free to leave a comment to say hello, or connect with me via any of my social media platforms: Instagram, Facebook, and Twitter .

Yes we were on a podcast! Bryan and I had the opportunity to share about experiences as Americans living in Hong Kong, getting stuck in Europe, and living through this crazy time in history on Saverocity Observation Deck, a travel hacking podcast by one of my Boston friends Joe Cheung.

Here is the link to the podcast.

Joe is a travel and miles/points aficionado. It always amazes me how he is able to go on such incredible trips with his family (THREE kids!) all through his creative use of airline miles, hotel points, etc. Joe has a connection to Hong Kong because his family is from Hong Kong and he lived here for a few years. We also both studied chemistry in college, attended the same church in Boston, and have a shared love of food, travel, music, and Disney!

*Joe and I enjoying our version of comfort food, our church's Chinese rice based lunch, which has not changed in over 20 years.*

Aside from his podcast at Saverocity Observation Deck, which covers all sorts of travel hacking tips, Joe is also producer and co-host on another travel hacking site Miles to Memories, and a Disney planning podcast Disney Deciphered. Definitely check out his podcasts. He has excellent tips for travel, especially traveling with young children.

I'm Back to Blogging Again . . .

*New hobbies I picked up during the pandemic: piano! I've really enjoyed re-learning a piece I studied while I was in high school: Chopin Scherzo Opus 31.*

It's so nice to be back to blogging!

In fact, it's been a looooong time. I'm not sure exactly what happened. I was on such a roll, blogging frequently the first several months of this year working diligently through my backlog of Hong Kong restaurants and our trips to Paris, Tokyo, and Thailand. And then I hit a rut in mid-March, slowing my blogging down to a crawl (by my standards), eking out posts once every 2-4 weeks.

*Being silly while spending a weekend in Bruges and Ghent in Belgium*

OK, I guess a few major things have been going on here. Not only did COVID-19 hit Hong Kong early (resulting in our crazy 6-week long unexpected detour in Europe earlier this year), we're in the midst of our third wave of the coronavirus right now. After tasting near freedom and normalcy for a few months, the world in Hong Kong has reverted back to the lockdown feel we had back in mid-March.

We're also dealing with a trade war between the US and China, a new security law, and political unrest on top of all that. Plus the US (where all of our family live), is going through insane times as well. Needless to say, life has been quite unprecedented and very, very different.

Compared to during the March lockdown (when we didn't know what we were doing), I now feel like I know how to manage this "shelter-in-place" thing. It's pretty clear that this thing won't go away so fast. I've figured out how to do delivery (Hello Din Tai Fung!), where to order organic HK vegetables and excellent meat/seafood, and how to meal plan for a pandemic when you're really trying to avoid going out.

I've gotten surprisingly good at whipping together a four-course meal in one hour. I guess practice makes perfect, and I have plenty of opportunities to practice. In fact, the days are starting to blend together . . .

Having an opportunity to do this podcast re-ignited my motivation to start blogging again. I've been working hard to organize all my photos from our six weeks in Europe. I've got tons of amazing food and travel stories from that surreal time, mostly in Brussels but also including side trips to Bruges, Ghent, Amsterdam, Paris, and London. For now, if you want the quick summary of what my time in Europe was like, check out this summary blog post or my social media accounts.

Stay tuned and stay safe! See you back on this blog!

(A sneak peek at photos from upcoming Belgium posts!)

Quan Alley Hong Kong 寬巷子 [Harbour City TST]

June 23, 2019 by Jennifer Che

Quan Alley Harbour City Hong Kong — Quan Alley Hong Kong

We lived in a serviced apartment attached to Harbour City for the first six months we were in Hong Kong. In some ways, it made for a comfortable transition. We lived above a western supermarket, had walking access to a number of familiar restaurants (hello Din Tai Fung!), and found plenty of other excellent restaurants within walking distance.

It wasn't until I left that I realized what a unique dining destination Harbour City really was. Imagine a single (massive) mall that houses an insanely high concentration of many of Asia's best and most popular restaurants. That's what Harbour City feels like sometimes. This massive complex megaplex houses Japanese favorites such as Tsuta (truffle ramen!) and Sushi Tokami; European big names such as Joel Robuchon and Gordon Ramsey; Singapore darling Crystal Jade La Mian Xiao Long Bao, and much, much more.

For me, I'm always particularly excited when a restaurant from Taiwan comes and open up a branch in Hong Kong. I love Du Hsiao Yueh (also in Harbour City), and of course Din Tai Fung is accessible via a connected indoor bridge.

So it wasn't a surprise that I was excited to try Quan Alley, a very popular hot pot restaurant from Taiwan that's famous for its gorgeous presentation of hot pot ingredients, high quality ingredients, and excellent broths.

...

Crystal Jade Jiang Nan

March 2, 2018 by Jennifer Che

Modern cute dim sim at Crystal Jade Jiang Nan

This is post #40, part of my #50PostsIn50Days personal challenge to document my first 100 days in Hong Kong. Other posts in this series may be found at the bottom of the original post.

Crystal Jade is a well known, very popular dim sum group of restaurants originating out of Singapore with locations around the world. We've been to the ones in Singapore, Shanghai, and Hong Kong, and have always been impressed with their authentic Cantonese dim sum, roast pork, noodles, and other Chinese specialities.

The new concept Crystal Jade Jiang Nan was born in 2016, the 15th anniversary of the original Crystal Jade restaurants. You can think of Crystal Jade Jiang Nan as the contemporary, more health-conscious cousin of Crystal Jade. Crystal Jade Jiang Nan offers both traditional and modern takes on Jiang Nan cuisine, as well as healthier and creative interpretations of classic Chinese dishes.

Jiang Nan, which literally means south of the Yangtze river, refers to a region of China that includes Shanghai as well as parts of Jaingxi, Jaingsu, Zhejiang, and Anhui province. Signature Jiang Nan dishes that Crystal Jade Jiang Nan offers include homemade wine flavored egg (from the Jaingsu and Zhejiang regions), braised pork belly, and braised pork ribs Wuxi style.

We have visited Crystal Jade Jiang Nan a few times and we like it a lot. We like how the menu has a nice variety of Crystal Jade classics such as xiao long bao (soup dumplings) and noodles, while also incorporating Jiang Nan fare and the newer, contemporary dishes. The environment is classy and modern, and the food is all quite good. Here's a look at some dishes we've enjoyed....

Crystal Jade La Mian Xiao Long Bao

February 13, 2018 by Jennifer Che

Crystal Jade La Mian Xiao Long Bao

This is post #23, part of my #50PostsIn50Days personal challenge to document my first 100 days in Hong Kong. Other posts in this series may be found at the bottom of the original post.

Two restaurants in Harbour City always have the longest lines: M & C Duck and Crystal Jade La Mian Xiao Long Bao. I guess it's not a surprise, considering these restaurants serve Peking duck, hand-pulled noodles, and dumplings.
"La Mian" (拉麵) means "pulled noodles" in Chinese, and Xiao Long Bao (小籠包) means little steamed dumpling. Crystal Jade is a well known restaurant chain that comes from Singapore which features Sichuan, Shanghainese, and northern Chinese specialties. The restaurant has locations all over Asia, including Singapore, China (Beijing, Shanghai, Hangzhou), Hong Kong, Thailand (Bangkok), Malaysia (Kuala Lumpur), Vietnam (Ho Chi Minh City), Korea (Seoul), Indonesia (Jakarta) and Japan (Tokyo). There are many location in Hong Kong, including one inside Terminal 1 at Hong Kong International Airport! The location in Harbour City, with the words "la mian xiao long bao" in its name, is more specific in its focus, honing in on hand-pulled noodles and dumplings.

Mapo tofu at Crystal Jade La Mian Xiao Long Bao

I personally love Crystal Jade La Mian Xiao Long Bao for a couple of reasons. First, they do make a really good soup dumpling as well as great noodles. Additionally, they have a pretty diverse menu that features a lot of other things, so you don't get bored just eating the same few items every time. Finally, they like to rotate in fun seasonal items to vary things up. The overall quality of their food is quite high, so you don't worry too much when you're exploring the menu. It's likely to be quite tasty!...

22 Ships Wan Chai - Spanish Tapas {HONG KONG}

February 6, 2018 by Jennifer Che

22 Ships Wan Chai

This is post #16, part of my #50PostsIn50Days personal challenge to document my first 100 days in Hong Kong. Other posts in this series may be found at the bottom of the original post.

One of the joys and benefits of living (and eating!) in Hong Kong is that you don't really have to travel to enjoy food from the world's top chefs and restaurants. They come to you.

Hong Kong has outposts of many of Asia's well-known restaurants, from Taiwan's famous Din Tai Fung and Singapore's well-loved Crystal Jade to high end Japanese places in Japan like Sushi Yoshitake (re-branded as Sushi Shikon in Hong Kong to avoid confusion) and Ryugin.

Many of the world's top chefs have opened restaurants here, like Joel Robuchon, Gordon Ramsey, and Alaine Ducasse (just to name a handful).

Chef Jason Atheron, Michelin-starred chef from the very popular Pollen Street Social in London was thrilled to open his first restaurant in Hong Kong. He saw Hong Kong as a melting pot of diverse cultures that really made the city come alive.

His first endeavor, a casual Spanish tapas bar called 22 Ships, has been tremendously successful. The food is good, the prices are reasonable, and the vibe is fun. This place is super popular, and lines can get long, so we stopped by one evening around 7PM (considered early in Hong Kong!), and grabbed one of the few remaining open seats for a nice, casual Spanish dinner....

Merry Christmas!

December 25, 2017 by Jennifer Che

Greetings from Los Angeles and Merry Christmas!

This Christmas holiday Bryan and I returned to the States (first time for me since moving to HK!) to visit both of our families. We stopped in Southern California first to spend time with his parents. We indulged in our favorite California treats that we can't get in Hong Kong, like In n Out Burgers, baja fish tacos, and Costco! For the first time, we did not go to Din Tai Fung in Los Angeles since there's one a 5-min walk from Bryan's workplace in Hong Kong, ha ha.

Bryan's mom cooked us all of our favorite foods. We got to see extended family, and overall it was a wonderfully blessed time to catch up with friends and family, reflect upon our time away, and just rest.

We head next to the East Coast to visit my family. Can't wait to visit some of my old haunts.

Happy Holidays everyone, and have a wonderful Christmas!

Wrapping presents

Turkey on Christmas Day!

Getting our In n Out fix!

The best! Baja fish tacos. We had these at Taco Surf really close to Bryan's parents' home.

Jen's Guide - Best Places to Eat in Hong Kong for Visitors!

November 9, 2017 by Jennifer Che

This post was originally published on November 9, 2017. It has since been updated multiple times
[latest update, May 17, 2018]

Has it been one month already?

Temperatures are finally cooling down here in Hong Kong to tolerable temperatures. People are starting to go outside, and I’ve enjoyed hiking the many beautiful trails that exist all over Hong Kong. I’m still looking for a permanent apartment, and our shipment from the US has not arrived yet. Despite still feeling a bit temporary, I am definitely starting to get a feel of Hong Kong and what it’s like to live (and eat!) here.

I’ve only been here for a month, but I’ve already started receiving requests from friends who plan on visiting Hong Kong for recommendations on where to eat.

So . . . I decided to write this post!

I will caveat this entire post by saying that I’m still learning. However, I have also done a sizable amount of research, and I think I have a decent handle on many of the best places to eat in Hong Kong for visitors.

Please enjoy the list! I fully intend on writing more detailed write ups on most (if not all) of the restaurants listed in below. Over time, I’ll continually update this post with new favorites, as well as add hyperlinks to posts that describe each restaurant in more detail.

Enjoy, and feel free to recommend your own favorites for me to try in the comments!
...

Lei Garden Hong Kong

November 2, 2017 by Jennifer Che

Lei Garden Hong Kong - TST branch

Dim sum is such a part of Hong Kong life.

Originating as tea houses set up along the Silk Road for weary travelers, dim sum has evolved into a feast of small plates and bamboo steamers filled with a dizzying array of dumplings, buns, braised meats, pan fried cakes, noodles, and much, much more.

So it's natural that when my friends came to visit us in Hong Kong, we spent virtually all of our meals exploring local bests that Hong Kong has to offer. We sampled wonton noodle shops back-to-back, tasted our way through traditional Hong Kong breakfast joints (what they call cha chaan teng, literally a "tea restaurant"), discovered roast goose, ate way too many egg tarts, and had lots of dim sum.

After trying several places, Lei Garden has turned out to be one of my favorites for dim sum (thus far!). The food is very good, execution quality is excellent, service is fast, and there are many locations around the city, which makes it super convenient....

Sun Sui Wah Vancouver - world famous roasted squab

March 2, 2017 by Jennifer Che

Sun Sui Wah Vancouver

I've been finding some old, never-published posts in the archives. I still think they have some value, even if the content is a bit dated. I will publish them from time to time, but will let you know that it's older. This particular post is about a classic restaurant in Vancouver that I visited twice: once right after college, and once in 2012.

This is the second post in the Summer in the Pacific Northwest Series, which is sort of being run concurrently with the Oh Canada Series (partly due to some overlap). Other posts in this series include Din Tai Fung, Bellevue. Other posts about Canada can be found here.

I first visited Sun Sui Wah right after I had graduated from college. I was visiting one of my best friends, whose family lives in Bellingham, Washington, about an hour south of Vancouver. Her dad, the ever-gracious host, drove our entire family in his minivan up to Vancouver for a day.

While there, he had to introduce us to Sun Sui Wah.

"This is the most famous roast squab restaurant in the world!" he gushed. "It is so famous, people will fly here all the way from Hong Kong to eat it."

Seriously? People will fly to Canada from Honk Kong for the food?

I was definitely intrigued.

Over a decade later, I came back to Vancouver with Bryan's family. We knew Sun Sui Wah was one of the most famous places in the city, so we stopped by for a dim sum lunch (and the famous squab, of course).
...

California Christmas

December 28, 2016 by Jennifer Che

Merry Belated Christmas!

Ever since we've been married, Bryan and I have spent Christmas with Bryan's family in Southern California. I love getting away from the cold in New England for just a few days to soak up the California sun. Some years we visit Disneyland, other years we go to Knotts Berry Farm. And other years we just chill and spend time with family.

Of course, there is always plenty of good food, whether it be our favorite restaurants or Bryan's mom's great cooking. She always makes an effort to make Bryan's favorite dishes, and we always make a point of visiting our favorite haunts....

Sun Tung Lok Hong Kong - 2 Michelin Stars

December 4, 2016 by Jennifer Che

Sun Tung Lok Hong Kong

This is the thirty-fifth post in the Around the World Birthday Extravaganza Series. Please scroll to the bottom to see all the other posts in this series.

Luxury Chinese.

It's not something I'm really exposed to here in America. When most people think of Chinese food, they think of cheap take-out, tiny hole-in-the-wall joints, or dim sum. Chinese food is casual, inexpensive, and family-style. In fact, when people try to "fancify" and charge more for Chinese food, our natural inclination is to revolt, thinking that it's "over-priced" because we can get equally good versions of the dish at a cheap hole-in-the-wall.

Bryan and I knew very little about Chinese high-end food. Yes, we'd been to China a few times, but we were totally seeking the hole-in-wall best dumpling, best xiao long bao, best Peking duck, etc. We didn't seek out fancy food because that's not what we associated with China.

As a result, were both interested in seeing what high-end Chinese was all about. Honk Kong, which has multiple Chinese restaurants with Michelin stars, seemed like the perfect place to try it.

Sun Tung Lok is a Cantonese restaurant that specializes in dishes made with shark fin. 🙁 It boasts being one of only two restaurants in the world back in 2011 to earn three Michelin stars (Lung King Heen was the other one). It has since dropped to two Michelin stars in the most recent 2017 guide.

Sun Tung Lok Hong Kong

Interestingly, even before I went, I knew many people questioned why Sun Tung Lok ever received three stars. Neverthless, we decided to try for ourselves and find out....

Mr. Chow Las Vegas

August 29, 2016 by Jennifer Che

This is the fifth post in the series titled An Exploration of Asian Food in Vegas. Other posts in this series include Red Rock Casino and Resort, Blue Ribbon Sushi Bar and Grill, and Exploring Downtown Las Vegas.

I must confess, I'm a bit embarrassed to say that I first heard of Mr. Chow's not because of its food, but because of the numerous celebrity sightings there. For some reason, it seemed like rich and famous celebrities loved dining at Mr. Chow, and paparazzi were always ready to snap a photo or two. The restaurant name came up so often that I started to recognize it. I didn't live in Beverly Hills, so I had no clue what kind of Chinese restaurant would command such popularity with Hollywood's hottest stars.

Years went by. I totally forgot about Mr. Chow. I probably got busy with things in life like law school, the blog, and other activities.

And then one day about 4 years ago, we spotted it in Beverly Hills while touring Los Angeles with my parents, sister, and brother-in-law. I snapped a photo of it, remembering that it was famous. I proceeded to forget about it again until this past Las Vegas trip. I found out that a Mr. Chow had just opened a new location at Caesar's Palace in 2015. I was very curious to see what made Mr. Chow so popular with celebrities who could afford pretty much anything for dinner....

Who is Tiny Urban Kitchen?

Hi! My name's Jen and welcome to my blog!

Tiny Urban Kitchen was born out of a tiny urban kitchen in my tiny urban condo located between my alma mater and the other school in Cambridge. Despite the size, I till managed to do tons of crazy kitchen experiments there - everything from learning my mom's Taiwanese recipes and creating cute Totoro foods to exploring complex techniques like sous vide and molecular gastronomy.

To read more about how the blog started, check out my entry for round 1 of Project Food Blog, which describes not only how this blog began, but really the core of what motivates me and what defines Tiny Urban Kitchen.

Cooking?

If this is your first time here, welcome! Here are some quick tips to help you navigate the site.

If you're interested in cooking, definitely check out the Recipes Index , where you can search a visual gallery of all the recipes on this site by various categories. Some fun recipes to check out include the delicious Thai recipes from my cooking classes in Bangkok, Malaysian recipes from a cooking class I took in Kuala Lumpur, and my large collection of Taiwanese / Chinese recipes.

Interested in the sous vide technique? Here's a primer on sous vide, including links to several recipes I’ve made from famous chefs like Thomas Keller and David Chang.

The top ten recipes I personally used on the blog are Taiwanese Grilled Corn, Grilled Bok Choy, Taiwanese Meat Sauce over Rice, Tea Eggs, Taiwanese Three-Cup Chicken, Milanese Veal Osso Buco, Baja-style Fish Tacos, Crispy Basil Smashed Potatoes, Authentic Roman-style Pasta Carbonara, and Matcha Mochi Cake.

Need Boston Dining Recommendations?

If you're visiting Boston, definitely check out Jen's Picks, a list of all my restaurant recommendations for anyone visiting Boston. If you still want to explore more, check out the Boston Page, which leads to many surrounding neighborhoods. Click on any one and explore the visual gallery that leads you to individual restaurants.

For day trips from Boston, consider the Berkshires (Boston Pops in the summer, foliage in the fall), Cape Cod, Cape Ann, or Portland, Maine.

Travel

I travel A LOT, and I always do extensive research about food before going to a new location. Therefore, if you're planning on visiting a new place, definitely check out the places I've visited and written about in these locations when you're planning your trip.

Start with the Japan Guide if you're visiting Tokyo. There are lots of posts about Japan, since I've been going almost every year for the last 8 (!) years. In Asia, I've also eaten my way around China, Taiwan, Hong Kong, Thailand, Malaysia, and Singapore.

In Europe, we have eaten in some phenomenal restaurants in London, experienced the local cuisine in Munich, spent unforgettable weeks exploring Rome and the Piedmont region in Italy, visited Greece's numerous ruins and gorgeous islands, and spent a week in the resilient country of France just one week following the Paris attacks. We've eaten our way around Spain (both Barcelona and Madrid) and spent a week on a cruise of the fjords of Norway ending in Copenhagen.

There's a ton of really good food in Montreal, Canada, and tons of stuff to see in Australia and New Zealand.

I've traveled extensively throughout the U.S. The cities with the most posts would probably be Las Vegas (I go annually for the CES conference), Napa and Sonoma (wine country!), and New York City (it's just so close to Boston!). In 2014, we went on an extensive 2+ week trip to the Hawaiian Islands (one of the most memorable trips I've taken recently), and we still regularly visit Los Angeles and San Francisco to see friends and relatives.

For a fun photo gallery of all the Michelin Starred restaurants I visited, check out the Michelin Stars Gallery.

What has surprised you most about food blogging?
I think everyone says the same thing, and I have to agree. The community is AWESOME. Most people start food blogging to share recipes with friends and family, or to keep a record of all the restaurants they've visited - at least that's why I started my blog. You never really realize how food blogging can connect you to so many like-minded people around the world. I've had the great privilege to "meet" people from Europe, Asia, Australia, Canada, and, of course, all over the US. Things like the Foodbuzz Festival are great ways to connect with other food lovers. I never would have thought that starting a food blog would open the door to so many other friendships, opportunities, and experiences.

What has been the most amazing food opportunity that you've had as a result of food blogging?

One that is up there is definitely my trips to Napa Valley to blog about the S. Pellegrino Almost Famous Chef Competition. In 2010, Foodbuzz and S. Pellegrino had hosted a contest to send one person there. I was thrilled and beyond belief that I had actually won the contest. The trip really opened my eyes to what the food industry is like. The food industry, especially the restaurant industry, is grueling, and it takes a ton of hard work and perseverance to make it. I was so privileged to be able to see this up close. It really gave me a new perspective and added respect for those who choose to follow this career path. Of course, Napa Valley is also beautiful, and I had a fabulous time there just checking out the vineyards and trying some amazing restaurants!

What camera do you use? What's your process in photography?

I switch between my Sony DSC RX1R (which is more pocket-sized so I carry it around with me everywhere I go) and my Canon 5D MKIII depending on the situation. The SLR is really big and heavy, so I use it more during vacations and food events that are clearly "camera-friendly." I would say 80% of the pictures on my blog are taken with the pocket sized cameras. For social media, I mostly use the iPhone 7. I use Adobe Photoshop Lightroom 3 to catalog and work up my images, which are all shot in raw format. I then export them to WordPress.

I got the Canon 5D MKIII in 2012 and the Sony DSC RX1R in 2015, so any photos before those dates were taken with either a Sony DSC RX1, Panasonic Lumix GF1, Canon 5D MkII, or Canon 5D , all of which are excellent cameras.

Which posts did you have the most fun creating?

Man, that’s a tough question! Before Project Food Blog, there was a really fun post I worked on called Kyaraben on Steroids. I spent the day making sushi and other foods in the shapes of my favorite Japanese anime characters. It was a ton of work and took all day, but to this day I still love looking at the pictures of the cute Hello Kitty, Domokuns, Totoros, and Keroppis that I made for this post.

I had a lot of fun creating posts for the numerous rounds in Project Food Blog. My favorites would have to be a toss up between the final post in the last round (Final Reflections where I made a moving stop-animation video of Boston constructed out of vegetables (and sang a song!)) and the hand-pulled noodle instructional video that I made for Round 7.

What have been some of your favorite dining experiences ever? In the world?
There's no better place for sushi than in Japan, and all of my favorite sushi experience are there - from the world famous Sukiyabashi Jiro and Sushi Mizutani (Jiro's disciple) to many, many others.

Some of my favorite high-end meals were from places like Le Bernardin in New York City, The Ledbury in London, and Saison in San Francisco, where the phenomenal Japanese-inspired food, warm ambiance, and exquisite service really made for an unforgettable experience.

I love dumplings. Nothing beats a freshly wok-crusted shenjianbao (pan fried bao) from Yang's Fy Dumpling in Shanghai or a steaming black truffle pork dumpling from Din Tai Fung in Taiwan (or China!). The baked chasu pork bun at Tim Ho Wan blew me away the first time I had it (with its flaky, almost butter crust).

In Rome, I will never forget the pasta carbonara at Roscioli or the paper-thin pizza crust at Pizzeria Dal Paino. I will always remember the smoky wok-hei from the drunken noodle at Raan Jay Fai, an an open-air stall in Bangkok. I still dream about the white truffles in Alba, and I fondly remember the chili crab and Hainanese chicken rice in Singapore. And don't forget the delicious freshly baked bagels from Montreal, a treat that is available 24 hours of the day.

Final Thoughts?

I love interacting with my readers through my various social media platforms. Although I offer lots of information on the blog, I have also learned a lot of things from my readers. The communication totally goes both ways, and I love it that way! I realize in the age of social media that people are moving those conversations to a wider variety of platforms.

So please, feel free to say hello via any of my numerous social media channels.

Thanks for visiting!

Warmly,

New Series! Around the World Birthday Extravaganza Trip

January 6, 2016 by Jennifer Che

Happy New Year!

This is a continuation of my post reflecting on 2015, A Look Back at 2015, Part I. This is Part II, and essentially is a very condensed summary of my three week around-the-world trip. It's hard to fit three weeks worth of content in a reasonably-sized blog post, but I'll try my best!

Bryan had seen a sale for "around-the-world" tickets on American Airlines over six months ago. At the time, we had toyed around with the idea of planning a big trip in celebration of my milestone birthday. Since I'm one of those people who can never commit to anything, Bryan went ahead and booked a general itinerary which included Alba (I've always wanted to go to Alba during the White Truffle Fair in November), Bordeaux (a trip we've been meaning to take with friends for years now), Paris (beautiful & romantic + the food!), Japan (my favorite!), and Hong Kong (one of Bryan's favorite cities in Asia).

I promise I will write about all these places in much more detail in the upcoming months (yes, I actually believe it will take that long to cover everything). Of course, I will intersperse those travel posts with Boston restaurant posts and some cooking posts as well.

For now, here's a preview of how we spent our time from mid-November to early December!
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