Recipes

October 1, 2019 Misc

Reflections on a Decade of Blogging: Happy Birthday Tiny Urban Kitchen!

I nearly missed it, actually.

They say when you get older, you start forgetting your own birthday and anniversaries. Just the other day I had celebrated two years in Hong Kong. Yet I totally missed the fact that on September 8, 2009, I had announced that my baby "blogspot" blog had been renamed to Tiny Urban Kitchen.

Here's what I originally said:

I picked this name because it aptly describes the small kitchen that I work in everyday. Not in the far future, I plan on moving the restaurant reviews over to a new blog. This will become more of a cooking/food blog.
Jen on Tiny Urban Kitchen's "first day" - September 8, 2009

It sort of blows my mind that it has literally been a decade since I began this blog. Never would I have imagined that the blog would grow to what it is today. Nor would I have imagine it would still be here, 10 years later.

So I took an opportunity to reflect a bit about this unique journey.

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September 27, 2019 Catalonia / San Sebastian / Girona

Massana Girona - Michelin Star

This is part 11 of the series on San Sebastian, Girona, and Barcelona, Spain. Other parts of this series (as they become available) can be found at this link.

Although El Celler de can Roca (#1 Restaurant in the World 2013, 2015) may overshadow other restaurants in Girona, I can’t emphasize enough how impressed we were with the food in Girona. We ate dinner at 1-Michelin starred Massana our first night in Girona and we were utterly blown away by the quality of the food as well as the amazing value of the meal.

Massana is unique in some ways. This family-owned restaurant has been around for over 30 years and the Chef-owner Pere Massana is a self-taught cook and never formally trained at brand name, award winning high end restaurants. Nevertheless, despite having been in this business for 30+ years, he continues to innovate, experiments, and develop the restaurant’s direction.

The restaurant offers both tasting menus and a la carte options, which I really like. Sometimes it’s nice to have the option to eat a shorter, quicker, or smaller meal. At the same time, it was not a hard decision for our whole table to choose the tasting menu. It just looked a lot more interesting, and - I suspect - has a lot more of the creative, experimental dishes. The menu says that a tasting menu has to be enjoyed by the entire table. Thankfully, we all wanted the “Gourmet Menu”, which is their tasting menu.

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September 23, 2019 Catalonia / San Sebastian / Girona

Girona Spain - Historic City with Fantastic Food

This is part 10 of the series on San Sebastian, Girona, and Barcelona, Spain. Other parts of this series (as they become available) can be found at this link.G

Girona is a small, Catalonian town located about a 40-minute express train ride from Barcelona. It’s a beautiful city, with an old city wall with lookout towers, gothic churches, and a river that cuts through the city. In fact, parts of Games of Thrones was filmed here because of its untouched, timeless appearance of another time.

We stayed in Girona for two days largely because we had secured a reservation at El Cellar de Can Roca, twice voted Number one restaurant in the world according to World’s 50 Best, and now inducted into the Best of the Best list, together with El Bulli (now closed), The French Laundry, The Fat Duck, Noma (original), Osteria Francescana, and Eleven Madison Park.

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September 19, 2019 Catalonia / San Sebastian / Girona

Amelia San Sebastian - French food with a bit of Star Wars

This is part 9 of the series on San Sebastian, Girona, and Barcelona, Spain. Other parts of this series (as they become available) can be found at this link.

Note to self - don’t book two long tasting meals in one day while in San Sebastian. You will regret it.

We had already had pintxos two nights in a row. Even though the pintxos in San Sebastian are excellent, the area where they are located is not large, and it’s easy to get a pretty good sense of pintxos after a couple days eating your way through them.

So, we took the risk of booking a newly minted hot new restaurant in San Sebastian, Amelia. Amelia’s chef-owner Chef Paulo Airaudo was born in Argentina to Italian immigrants and has worked in many well-known places such as Arzak, The Fat Duck, and Magnolia in Italy.

The cuisine at Amelia San Sebastian is international but focuses on seasonal and sustainable ingredients together with biodynamic wines. The restaurant mostly works with small, local producers for the food, even showing on a map (on the back of the menu) the various locations throughout Spain from which the raw ingredients originated. Though most ingredients come from Spain, a small handful of specialty ingredients come from other regions, such as Pecorino and EVOO from Italy and caviar from Denmark.

Amelia, named after Chef Airaudo’s daughter Amélie, has seating for 22 diners and only serves tasting menus. The small, cozy dining space is beautifully decorated with a modern, Scandinavian style. At the same time, Darth Vader, storm troopers, Mario, and other fun, playful themes appear all over the restaurant. It’s clear that Chef Airaudo is a kid at heart and is not afraid to showcase his favorite characters. In fact, they even appear in some of the dishes . . .

If I had to come up with one word to describe the food at Amelia, I would say “sauce.” Chef Airaudo loves making different sauces, and there was a sauce poured table-side in virtually every single one of the dishes.

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September 14, 2019 Catalonia / San Sebastian / Girona

Mugaritz San Sebastian - 2 Michelin Stars

This is part 8 of the series on San Sebastian, Girona, and Barcelona, Spain. Other parts of this series (as they become available) can be found at this link.

Dining at Mugaritz San Sebastian was unlike any restaurant experience I’ve ever had. After all, it is not so much about creating a fantastic gustatory experience. It’s a thought-provoking, mind-bending, fascinating exploration of food, wine, and the intricate interplay between the two.

Garden outside of Mugaritz San Sebastian

Chef Andoni Luis Adurizis, who previously worked at El Bulli, opened Mugaritz in 1998. Since then, he has devoted himself to continually pushing the boundaries of creativity, constantly studying, learning, and conducting research and development. In fact, Mugaritz closes for four months each year so that the team can focus on exploring, brainstorming, and creating.

Many say that to truly appreciate the brilliance of Mugaritz, you have to get the wine pairing, and I totally agree. At Mugaritz, the wine is not chosen to pair with the food, which often takes center stage. Instead, wine and food selection and pairing is done as a whole, or sometimes, the wine could even be chosen first.

The wine pairings at Mugaritz are really at another level. Instead of just having one glass of wine that is paired with a dish, you might taste through a flight of five different vintages of the same wine to pair with one dish. It’s so interesting to experience how a wine changes over the years, even while paired with the exact same dish.

Reviews for Mugaritz are mixed. I can totally understand why it’s a polarizing restaurant. First of all, if you don’t get the wine pairing, I do think you are missing out on half the meal, since the pairings are so intricately tied to the food. (Having said that, the restaurant did tell us that the food selection changes if a customer does not order the pairing, since certain courses really don’t work without the wine).

Second, a large part of what makes Mugaritz fun is how the menu creatively plays with expectations and how it surprises and delights along the way. If a diner is merely looking for foodgasms (for lack of a better word), Mugaritz is not that. There are some courses (which you will see later), which may not intrinsically taste that amazing, but they speak volumes about the relationship between a particular wine and the dish with which it is paired. Dining at Mugaritz is not just a taste experience, it is as much an intellectual and thought-provoking experience.

Which is not to say that the food isn’t good. The food is impeccably presented and flavors are dialed in with precision. It’s clear that every element of every dish has a purpose, and it’s fun to explore that purpose. There were many, many dishes that we thought were transcendent. All in all, every single diner in our party absolutely loved the restaurant. In fact, it was all of our favorite restaurant of the entire trip . . . yes, even more than its 3-Michelin starred neighbors who score more highly on World’s 50 Best. Who knows, perhaps we are true food academics at heart and can totally appreciate Mugaritz and his team’s serious study into food and its component flavors, often down to the molecular level (which this former chemist loves!).

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September 10, 2019 Catalonia / San Sebastian / Girona

Arzak San Sebastian - 3 Michelin Stars

Arzak San Sebastian

This is part 7 of the series on San Sebastian, Girona, and Barcelona, Spain. Other parts of this series (as they become available) can be found at this link.

After years of eating at a wide variety of restaurants all around the world, I’ve realized that it’s extremely difficult to nail the perfect symphony of excellent food, warm service, inviting decor, and reasonable price point to continually bring customers back.

Most restaurants never reach the pinnacle of achieving all of these, but yet are able to survive because, at the end of the day, most customers are not so picky, especially if competition is scarce. Even in San Sebastian, arguably gastronomical capital of the world, we still noticed differences in the above-mentioned four key areas.

This is what makes Arzak so special and unique. It’s clear to me why so many people (such as Anthony Bourdain) are so loyal to this restaurant.

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September 6, 2019 Catalonia / San Sebastian / Girona

Topa Sukaldería

This is part 6 of the series on San Sebastian, Girona, and Barcelona, Spain. Other parts of this series (as they become available) can be found at this link.

Topa Sukaldería is a new casual concept from 3-Michelin star chef Andoni Luis Aduriz of Mugaritz. The restaurant celebrates the similarities between Latin and Basque cuisine. It boasts a Michelin bib gourmande designation as well as being one of Eater's 12 hottest new restaurants in San Sebastian in 2018.

Chef Aduriz was inspired by a trip to Latin American with his team, where he discovered the similarities between Latin American and the Basque region specifically. Chef Aduritz tapped Chef Jessica Lorigo to help bring is vision and concept to fruition.

A New York native, Chef Jessica Lorigo previously trained at Mugaritz and fell in love with the region when she moved here.

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September 3, 2019 Catalonia / San Sebastian / Girona

San Sebastian Hiking - Mount Urgall and Mount Igueldo

This is part 5 of the series on San Sebastian, Girona, and Barcelona, Spain. Other parts of this series (as they become available) can be found at this link.

The area around San Sebastian is beautiful and perfect for hiking. Beaches, water, verdant hills, and quaint seaside villages - San Sebastian is just really, really pretty.

A popular route that a friend recommended to me was a 7 kilometer coastal hike to a fishing village called Pasajes de San Pedro. It looks beautiful and I would have loved to try it. However, because we didn’t have enough time to complete a longer hike like that, Bryan and I instead opted to do smaller hikes right within San Sebastian.

Thankfully, there are many great options right nearby in San Sebastian.

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August 29, 2019 Catalonia / San Sebastian / Girona

Getaria Spain - Quaint Fishing Village + Kaia Kaipe

This is part 4 of the series on San Sebastian, Girona, and Barcelona, Spain. Other parts of this series (as they become available) can be found at this link.

The next morning, we headed to Getaria, Spain, a beautiful, quiet fishing village less than a 20-minute drive away from San Sebastian. Getaria preserves a lot of old world Basque charm. Compared to San Sebastian, it feels slower and more relaxed. The place is home of fashion designer Balenciaga (who has a whole museum dedicated to his work here) and also boasts excellent seafood restaurants.

The seafood in Getaria, especially grilled turbot, is another must-get in this region. We were unable to secure last minute reservations at Elkano, a grilled seafood restaurant that’s been made famous by Anthony Bourdain, its Michelin star, and number 30 spot on World 50 Best.

Grillmaster at Kaia Kaipe

However, our meal at nearby Kaia Kaipe (same owner as Elkano) was fantastic. Kaia Kaipe is also known for its grilled turbot, which was out of this world. We watched with fascination as the grill master deftly handled multiple fish, managing the grilling of each one over hot coals on a massive outdoor grill.

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August 28, 2019 Catalonia / San Sebastian / Girona

Pintxos Bars San Sebastian

This is part 3 of the series on San Sebastian, Girona, and Barcelona, Spain. Other parts of this series (as they become available) can be found at this link.

One of the most famous must-try food experiences in the Basque region is to sample pintxos along the old street in San Sebastian.

The largest concentration of pintxos bars in San Sebastian resides in the old part of the city, a lovely historic series of blocks that takes you back into another time period. The cobblestone streets, quaint little shops, and pinxtos bars all add to the charm of the whole place.

Each pintxos bar has its own signature dishes. Certain pintxos bars are perennially busy and you may have to fight the crowds (which is part of the whole experience).

There’s no pressure on how many pintxos or drinks to order. You can stay for as long or as little as you like. However, for a neophyte, the unwritten rules may be a bit confusing. It took us a few visits before we started to get the hang of how to eat pintxos.

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August 25, 2019 Catalonia / San Sebastian / Girona

Misura San Sebastian -organic farm focused food

This is part 2 of the series on San Sebastian, Girona, and Barcelona, Spain. Other parts of this series can be found at this link.

It was a long overnight (12 hour) flight from Hong Kong to London. After landing in London in the wee hours of the morning, we took another shorter flight to Bilbao, Spain, from which we drove a rental car about an hour to San Sebastian.

The drive from Bilbao to San Sebastian is refreshingly relaxing and a welcomed beginning to our trip in Spain. The roads are quiet, the signs are clear, and the overall journey was surprisingly smooth and pleasant.

After 20+ hours of travel, we decided to "take it easy" and just enjoy a simple, relaxing lunch at a restaurant called Misura located inside the new, eco-focused Hotel Arima, a wonderfully modern hotel with Scandinavian sensibilities located on the outskirts of San Sebastian. It reminded me a lot of Copenhagen.

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August 19, 2019 Catalonia / San Sebastian / Girona

San Sebastian , Girona, and Barcelona Spain!

This is part 1 of the series on San Sebastian, Girona, and Barcelona, Spain. Other parts of this series (as they become available) can be found at this link.

San Sebastian has been on my bucket list for a long, long time.

This small coastal city in the Basque region of Spain is world-renowned for its food. A large concentration of the world’s top restaurants are located within this small region.

The number of Michelin stars is insane, and even the everyday pintxos that you find on the streets are delicious. The people in the region truly appreciate good food, and it shows.

On top of all that, the seaside town and surrounding areas are beautiful and the people are really friendly.

I never knew when I would get to go to San Sebastian, and I certainly really wasn’t sure once we moved to Hong Kong. However, Bryan’s best friend reached out to us about a year ago asking if we were interested in traveling there together.

*First course in the meal at El Cellar de Can Roca in Girona, Spain*

He was interested in making a reservation at El Cellar de can Roca, crowned World's Best Restaurant (2013 and 2015) according to World’s 50 Best as well as holder of three Michelin stars. One of the most difficult restaurants in the world to book, El Cellar de can Roca required an 11-month advanced booking, which would "sell out" in a matter of minutes.

After securing a reservation back in early August 2018, we had 11 months to finalize the remaining details of this epic food trip.

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August 11, 2019 Asian

Le Garcon Saigon Wan Chai - Excellent modern Vietnamese in Hong Kong

When Bryan and I first moved to Hong Kong, we were a bit surprised at the lack of Vietnamese restaurants. The few we had tried were mediocre, which surprised us, considering the fact that Vietnam is only an hour flight away from Hong Kong.

It's quite possible that there just isn't a really large Vietnamese community living here in expensive Hong Kong. Thankfully, we've since found some places that we enjoy, even though they come at a much higher price point than a typical Vietnamese joint.

Le Garcon Saigon is a self-billed Vietnamese "brasserie" serving food inspired by Saigon in a space that's reminiscent of a French bistro. Opened by the Black Sheep Group (whose restaurants I generally enjoy), Le Garcon Saigon serves excellent modern Vietnamese food in a friendly and warm environment right in the Star Street Precinct area of Wan Chai.

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August 7, 2019 American

Morty's Delicatessen Hong Kong - Morty's HK

Morty's Wan Chai — pastrami sandwich from Morty's Delicatessen Hong Kong

The first time we walked by Morty's Delicatessen in the Star Street Precinct neighborhood of Wan Chai we almost did a double take. Is that what I think that is?? Is that a New York deli right in the heart of Hong Kong?

"It's been so long since I've had a pastrami sandwich" Bryan quipped.

Although we had already eaten that day, we promised to come back . . . soon. Within a few weeks, we found an opportunity to come with a few friends who live in Hong Kong now (but whom we knew in Boston). We had a grand time eating nostalgic pastrami sandwiches, poutine, and beer on tap.

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August 5, 2019 Chinese

Cuisine Cuisine Hong Kong

Cuisine Cuisine Mira Place Hong Kong — Cuisine Cuisine Hong Kong

I've lived in Hong Kong for almost two years now. I've been fortunate to have many friends and family visit during the short time that I've lived here. In fact, my mother has come three times already, which is saying a lot considering she's flying here all the way from Ohio, US.

As she comes more and more times, it's getting harder to find new experiences for her. Although we've brought her to one of our favorite dim sum places, we thought it would be fun to try a new place together.

Cuisine Cuisine Hong Kong has been on my list since early last year when we lived in Tsim Sha Tsui. At the time, we tried to walk into the one at The Mira on a Saturday during lunchtime (read: the day that all Cantonese families enjoy dim sum together) without a reservation, which was a bad idea.

This time, we booked in advance in anticipation of my mom visiting, and chose the IFC location because of its views and because we now lived on Hong Kong Island.

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July 21, 2019 Asian

Haku Hong Kong - a second visit

Hello HAKU!

It's been close to a year and a half since we last visited HAKU, soon after it opened in February 2018. We recently visited again, and it was really cool to see how the restaurant has evolved since its early days.

HAKU is a collaboration between 3-Michelin starred Japanese chef Hideaki Matsuo (chef of Kashiwaya in Osaka) and Argentina-born Chef Agustin Balbi, who most recently came from Ocean in Repulse Bay in Hong Kong, but previously worked at various Michelin-starred restaurants in Japan and the US.

Chef Agustin Balbi is from Argentina but his roots are Italian and Spain. His childhood food memories lean towards Spanish food because his Spanish grandmother raised him while he was young. He has also embraced Japanese culture. He spent five years living and working in Japan (at fine establishments like Nihonryori Ryugin!). He speaks fluent Japanese and is married to a Japanese woman.

Furthermore, HAKU sources top notch Japanese ingredients from some of the most exclusive vendors in Japan, thanks to Chef Hideaki Matsuo's special connections in Japan. Chef Agustin's takes these impeccable ingredients and adds his own creative and internationally-influenced twist to the ingredients.

What results is a brilliant series of dishes that are the creative blend of Japanese ingredients (and techniques) with Spanish flavors, ingredients, and cooking methods.

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July 14, 2019 Cuisine

Maze by Gordon Ramsey Hong Kong

I met Gordon Ramsey once.

It was at the filming of one of his many food TV shows, Kitchen Nightmares, where he advises failing restaurants and drastically turns them around on the show. My time on screen was short, only a minute or two. Likewise, Chef Ramsey only spoke a few words to us. "Sorry about the branzino", referring to the fact that the restaurant had sold out of one of its specials. That experience gave me a fascinating peek inside the food TV reality world.

Despite having been on his show, I did not actually try one of his restaurants until recently, when we visited Maze by Gordon Ramsey in Hong Kong.

Gordon Ramsey rose to fame through his cooking first, followed by his TV career. The British 3-Michelin starred chef has built a global restaurant empire, written countless books, and starred in numerous food TV shows. He's known for being foul-mouthed, quick tempered, and insensitively blunt when criticizing others. Yet, his personality draws viewers to his shows and diners to his restaurants. In 2018, he was the 33rd highest earning celebrity in the world, making $62 million US dollars in one year.

He has built a global restaurant empire, including three in Hong Kong. Bread Street Kitchen (Peak Galleria), London House (TST), and Maze Grill (Harbour City) which newly opened in late 2018.

After work one day, I headed over to Harbour City (where Bryan works), to join him in trying out Maze for the first time. Despite it being fully booked, we arrived right before opening to stand in line for one of the few walk-in bar tables near the entrance.

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June 27, 2019 Hong Kong

Cheng Banzhang Taiwanese Delicacy Lai Chi Kok

Welcome to Lai Chi Kok.

Lai Chi Kok is an industrial neighborhood in Hong Kong filled with a diverse mix of factory buildings, converted offices, and lots of local Hong Kong restaurants and shops. It's also a budding area for local artists and fashion designers.

Finally, it's where I work at my day job.

To be perfectly honest, it's been a bit of a challenge for me to really find restaurants I enjoy in this neighborhood. Factory buildings are prevalent, and most restaurants that operate within these factories are designed to serve the masses, churning out low cost, high volume food that satisfies the appetite but not often the palate.

However, there are some gems.

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June 23, 2019 Hong Kong

Quan Alley Hong Kong 寬巷子 [Harbour City TST]

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.

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June 13, 2019 Cuisine

Rech by Alain Ducasse Hong Kong

Reche by Alain Ducasse Hong Kong — Rech by Alain Ducasse Hong Kong

If you want to experience world class chefs in Asia, Hong Kong is certainly a top destination. We are blessed with top talent from all around the world, with significant representation from France, the UK, Italy, and Japan, just to name a few.

Alain Ducasse is arguably one of the most famous chefs in the world. Bryan and I are no strangers to his cuisine, having tried his flagship, 3-Michelin star eponymous restaurant in London as well as his more casual Las Vegas outpost, Rivea.

The French-born Monaco-naturalized chef received his first three-Michelin star award when he was just 33 for Le Louis XV in Monaco. He made waves back in 1998 when, at the young age of 41, he became the first chef in 60 years to hold six Michelin stars at once (three apiece). He's the only chef to ever have 3 Michelin stars for three different restaurants at once (Paris, Monaco, and New York in 2005 and once again Paris, Monaco, and London in 2010). He currently holds the second most Michelin stars of any chef in the world, second only to Joel Robuchon.

Ducasse has since built an empire, including two cooking schools in Paris (one for the general public, one for chefs), multiple books, and dozens of restaurants around the world, including Paris, Monaco, Tokyo, Las Vegas, Italy, and, yes, Hong Kong.

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June 6, 2019 California

Taco Maria Los Angeles - 1 Michelin Star

Our lunch at Taco Maria Los Angeles was my favorite meal from our southern California trip (Christmas 2018). It is among the best Mexican food I've ever had in California, and maybe anywhere in the world (note: I have not been to Mexico . . . yet).

The Michelin Guide seems to agree. In fact, just a few days ago (June 4, 2019), The Michelin Guide announced its first ever guide to the state of California. It granted over 90 restaurants Michelin stars. Most notably, it gave Taco Maria the unique status of being the only Mexican restaurant to be granted a Michelin star this year.

Chef Carlos Salgado is originally from Mexico but spent over ten years training in some of the best kitchens in the US, including 2-Michelin starred restaurants like Coi in San Francisco and Commis in Oakland. He opened Taco Maria in 2013.

Prior to achieving a Michelin Star, Chef Salgado has been a James Beard Award semifinalist for Best Chef West consecutively for the past four years, and was named Food & Wine Best New Chef in 2015.

I was only able to enjoy a quick lunch here, but the food was so good it made me want to come back and try more dishes the next time I am in Los Angeles. Here is a look at some of the dishes we had!

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June 2, 2019 American

The Crack Shack Los Angeles California

Welcome to Los Angeles!

Bryan grew up in LA and his parents still live in his childhood home, so we have made an effort to go back to California for Christmas every single year since we have gotten married, missing only one year (2012) because we spent 3 weeks in November that year with his parents touring Australia and New Zealand.

This past Christmas, our good friends caught us up on what we have been missing since we moved to Hong Kong. First stop: FRIED CHICKEN!

I love a good fried chicken. Southern fried chicken is one of my favorites. I even love Chick Fil-A and seek it out when I'm in the US now.

Our friends assured us that The Crack Shack was fantastic. They had tried it in San Diego, where The Crack Shack was founded by celebrity chef Richard Blais.

Finally in the summer of 2018, The Crack Shack opened its first location outside of San Diego in Los Angeles. We couldn't wait to try it.

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May 5, 2019 Asian

Sushi Masataka Hong Kong

I have been intrigued to try Sushi Masataka for some time now for several reasons. One, very trusted sources indicated that this restaurant was fantastic, arguably one of the best sushi places in Hong Kong. Second, Sushi Masataka Hong Kong (previously Rozan) has received significant accolades, such as being featured on numerous "best sushi" lists as well as having a Michelin Plate. Finally, it is literally just steps away from our apartment. We knew we would eventually try it, just to find out what our "neighborhood" sushi restaurant was all about.

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May 1, 2019 Asian

Baan Ice Bangkok - Fantastic Southern Thai food

Greetings from Thailand!

Bryan and I spent the Chinese New Year holiday in Thailand this past February. We spent the first half of the week at a resort in a small fishing village about 3 hours outside of Bangkok. We finished off the trip by spending the weekend exploring the food scene in Bangkok.

Our first stop: Baan Ice Bangkok, a very popular favorite among food enthusiasts, this restaurant is the more casual sister of Bangkok's hottest restaurant Sorn. Chef Supaksorn Jongsiri creates Thai dishes inspired by his grandmother's recipes.

A local food writer confirmed to me that Baan Ice is one of the best Thai restaurants in Bangkok, and Chef Supaksorn Jongsiri is one of the best chefs in Bangkok right now....

April 16, 2019 Asian

Four Great Singapore Hawker Centres

Hello Singapore!

It's been five years since I last visited Singapore, so I was excited to experience some more of this richly diverse and vibrant island when I visited in November.

Singapore is famous for its hawker stalls. In fact, the Michelin Guide has awarded two hawker stalls with a Michelin star, and 28 out of the 50 restaurants listed in the Bib Gourmand section of the guide ("good quality, good value restaurants").

More recently, hawker stalls made an appearance in the movie Crazy Rich Asians, where main character Rachel and her fiancé Nick meet up with some friends at Newton Food Centre soon after they get off the plane from the US.

I have hardly tried all of the Singapore hawker centres (that would take a lifetime). However, below are some pretty famous and popular ones that have great food.

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April 12, 2019 Asian

Firebird Japanese Grill & Bar Causeway Bay

Causeway Bay is a mecca for Japanese food. There is a whole street seemingly devoted to ramen, yet another teeming with Japanese dessert shops. Yakitori, yakiniku, soba, udon, sushi, tempura, matcha sweets, kakigori, you name it, it's in Causeway Bay.

In fact, the choices are a bit overwhelming.

In fact, a simple search for Japanese restaurants yields well over 250 results in Causeway Bay alone. I haven't come close to even tasting a fraction of them. However, so far I've been rather pleased with the ones I've tried.

Most recently, Bryan and I enjoyed great food at a fun, casual izakaya right in the heart of Causeway Bay called Firebird Japanese Grill and Bar.

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April 8, 2019 Asian

Le Petit Saigon Wan Chai - Best Banh Mi in Hong Kong

I very well may have found my favorite sandwich in Wan Chai.

I've always been partial to the Vietnamese banh mi. I love how the Vietnamese took a French sandwich and added their own vibrant twist to it. The French first introduced the basic French bread loaf to the Vietnamese in the early 20th century during the French colonization of Vietnam.

Back then, a simple Parisian-style sandwich consisted of a French baguette, butter, and ham. These sandwiches (called “banh mi Tay“) were meant for the French locals living in the area, and were associated with expensive European delis. Soon, the Vietnamese began adding their own local ingredients to the simple sandwich, such as pickled vegetables, cilantro, and other Southeast Asian herbs. It became so popular, it eventually overtook the traditional French version.

Although today the word “banh mi” is today associated with the Vietnamese sandwich, the term actually technically only means “bread”, and a sandwich having meat would have a descriptor after it (e.g. banh mi thit = bread with meat).

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April 2, 2019 Hong Kong

1963 Tree Taiwanese Restaurant Wan Chai

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.

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March 30, 2019 Asian

Lamma Rainbow Hong Kong - Seafood dinner plus a hike

I still remember being stunned by the beauty of Hong Kong's verdant hills and seemingly endless ocean views after moving to Hong Kong. I distinctly remember thinking "this really looks like Hawaii!."

Like many tourists, I only knew of Hong Kong's tall skyscrapers, crowded streets, and vast shopping and eating opportunities - not a lush island that really does remind me Hawaii in some ways. I really do love the numerous hiking trails in Hong Kong, and I've made an effort to start showing friends and family a different side of Hong Kong when they visit.

When my mom came to visit me in Hong Kong last November, I purposely booked a dinner at Lamma Rainbow, a well-known seafood restaurant on Lamma Island that even provides free boat rides for its guests from Central (Pier 9) and Tsim Sha Tsui to Lamma Island....

March 27, 2019 Chinese

Spring Moon Peninsula Hotel Hong Kong

There are a few "musts" that tourists tend to do when visiting Hong Kong. One is visit Victoria Peak. Another is to see the famous Hong Kong skyline from Tsim Sha Tsui Promenade. And another is to have afternoon tea at the Peninsula Hotel, probably Hong Kong's most famous hotel.

This famous, beautifully elegant hotel has been featured in several movies and also boasts the creation of Hong Kong's famous XO sauce, which was supposedly invented at Spring Moon, a high end Cantonese restaurant located inside the Peninsula Hotel....

March 21, 2019 Hong Kong

Sueño Wan Chai - Spanish with a twist of fusion [Sueno Wan Chai]

Despite the plethora of excellent Spanish restaurants in Wan Chai (there are so many options!), we still appreciate trying new ones because menus don't change that frequently here in Hong Kong (at least compared to Boston). It's hard to go back to the same restaurant - even if you really like the food - because the menu will often look exactly the same.

Though we really enjoy the well-established Spanish restaurants in our neighborhood, we were actually lured to try this new restaurant in Wan Chai because they were offering a discount on Eatigo (affiliate link only works on mobile), a booking app that allows you try new restaurants at a discount. Different discounts are offered depending on what time you dine there. In this case, we were able to get 20% off the food.

Sometimes it's a toss up whether restaurants that offer discounts to promote themselves are good, but we were pleasantly surprised in this case. We really enjoyed the food at Sueno Wan Chai and even came back a second time to try more dishes with friends, who were equally impressed. In fact, I think it's become one of our new favorite Spanish places in Wan Chai.

Here's a look at some of the dishes we've tried!...

February 20, 2019 Asian

11 Westside Kennedy Town - Hong Kong

Why did we wait a year before venturing out and trying Mexican food in Hong Kong?

We had been under the impression for a long time that Hong Kong was weak in Mexican food. As a result, we went almost a whole year without eating any Mexican food in Hong Kong. It's no coincidence that we sought out Mexican food during our first trip to California after moving to Hong Kong.

More recently, we've discovered there's some pretty enjoyable Mexican food in Hong Kong. Sure, it comes at a price, but if you're hankering for some dare-I-say excellent Mexican food, you can find it.

11 Westside Kennedy Town is so far one of our favorites. The executive chef and owner Esdras Ochoa comes from Los Angeles where he runs a famous and well-regarded Mexican restaurant called Salazar....

February 14, 2019 Asian

Pak Loh Chiu Chow Causeway Bay

One great thing about moving to Hong Kong is the ability to try so many different types of regional Chinese cuisines I had never tried before. One popular cuisine in Hong Kong is Chiu Chow cuisine (Teochew, 潮州 cháo zhōu), which originates from eastern Guangdong Province. The food is related to Fujian Chinese food but incorporates Cantonese influences. Known to be a lighter cuisine, Chiu Chow food focuses more on the natural flavors of the ingredients. The cuisine incorporates cooking techniques such as braising, steaming, and poaching more often and relies on marinades for flavor.

Pak Loh Chiu Chow is a well-established Chiu Chow restaurant in Hong Kong that recently celebrated its 50th anniversary in 2017. This Michelin Bib Gourmand restaurant has multiple locations around the city (two in Causeway Bay alone!) and executes very good Chiu Chow cuisine....

February 3, 2019 Asian

Chengdu China - Sichuan Food

Chengdu is the capital city of Sichuan province and a food lover's dream. Sichuan food is one China's recognized "Eight Great Cuisines", and many think Sichuan is the best of the bunch. The locals here are obsessed about food, and they create a staggering array of flavor combinations using chilis, herbs, vinegars, and other sauces and spices. The cuisine is fiery, bold, and full of complexity.

We had a blast eating our way through Chengdu, though three days was just enough the scratch the surface. Here is a look at what we ate!...

January 28, 2019 Chengdu

Visiting Giant Panda Breeding Research Base in Chengdu Sichuan Province

It's no surprise that giant pandas are at the top of most people's itinerary when they visit Chengdu. After all, Sichuan Province is the giant panda's natural habitat, and virtually all giant pandas in the world live in this region of China. Though pandas are no longer as critically endangered as they once were, they are still very carefully protected in China.

There are several options for seeing pandas if you're staying in Chengdu. If you're willing to drive about 1.5 hours, you can go to the further Dujiangyan Panda Center. This place is special because you can (for a hefty fee) hug a panda or even volunteer to become a panda keeper for the day. They recommended signing up early for the volunteer program, since there are only limited spots per day and spots sell out, especially during peak summer months.

If you're short on time, the most popular place to see pandas is at the Giant Panda Breeding Research Base, which is only a 45 min car ride from Chengdu's city center. You can't touch the pandas here, but you still get to see many different pandas at all different stages of life. We took a taxi early in the morning and arrived first thing in the morning (around 7:10AM for 7:30AM opening). To save time, our Chinese friend helped us pre-purchased our tickets online (~ $8 USD each). I believe there are some English language tour companies that also offer tickets online. I can't personally comment on those since we didn't try it ourselves.

Go early in the morning because that's when the pandas are most active. They eat in the morning while they mostly sleep in the afternoon. Depending on the weather, the pandas may either be indoors or outside. They don't like extreme heat, so if it's too hot out, they won't be roaming around outside as much. We came during August, so unfortunately most of the pandas were inside enclosed areas where we could only see them through a glass window. I heard that during the cooler months they come outside a lot more.

It's worth standing in line to see the baby pandas in the nursery. They are sooooo cute, and the photos really don't do it justice. It's also fun to watch the younger "teenager" pandas because they still like to move a lot more, and it's really cute to watch them.

If you're lucky, you might even get to see newborn panda babies, who are kept in incubators. Newborns are tiny and don't really show much black and white fur yet, though I could see it just starting to show.

The park is pretty big and there are multiple panda houses and outdoor areas where you can see pandas. There's a shuttle bus that goes between locations if you don't want to walk, but it's not a bad walk as long as it's not too crowded.

We spent about a morning (2-3 hours) there before finishing around 10:30AM (Yes, we came right at 7AM!). By the time we left, the park was quite packed full of people and looked a lot harder to navigate! I highly, highly recommend going early in the morning!

Only a marginally successful selfie with a panda. Yes, this was later in the morning when it was starting to get pretty crowded!

All in all, I highly recommend coming to see the pandas. It's pretty impossible to see so many pandas in one park anywhere else in the world. As long as you go early, you should have a relatively pleasant and not too crowded experience. The most popular areas are where the baby pandas are held. Lines can get a bit long there, but it's worth the wait!

Up next - Chengdu food!!

Sichuan Restaurants in Hong Kong
Chengdu Weekend Trip - Sichuan China
Shaanxi Cuisine: Xian and the Terra Cotta Warriors
Shanghai: Eating at the World Expo
Wandering the Streets of Beijing
The Best of Beijing Street Food: 九門小吃

January 24, 2019 Chengdu

Chengdu Weekend Trip - Sichuan China

Hello Chengdu!

Chengdu is the capital of Sichuan Province and home to the country's beloved pandas and its fiery cuisine. In fact Chengdu was named a UNESCO "city of gastronomy" in 2010 and Sichuan cuisine has long been recognized in China as one of the eight great cuisines of the country.

This vibrant city of over 8 million people is full of fun things to explore -- everything from old, historic streets and beautiful parks to cultural icons like Sichuan opera and the pandas.

Bryan had a work trip in Chengdu this past August, so we extended the trip over the weekend and I tagged along. Here's a quick look at the many things we did during our Chengdu weekend trip....

January 1, 2019 Hong Kong

Happy New Year! Reflections on 2018

Happy New Year!

Wow, what a year it's been. This marks my first full year living in Asia. In a lot of ways, it feels like it has flown by and I am just now starting to get settled. On the other hand, I feel like I have learned so much since moving here and I am sure I have changed in a lot of ways, From that perspective, my life in Boston seems like a long time ago. I started out this year having only spent a few months in Hong Kong. I had no job, hardly any friends, and not a lot of activities or structure around my life. Now - one year later - things look really different. I have a full-time job, I have made some really friends, and I am involved in many different activities. It's nice to have structure, and it's also amazing how long it takes for one to really feel settled.

I'm not fully there yet, but I'm well on my way there. I look forward to what this next year might bring!

For now, here's a brief look at the past year and what I've been up to . . .

...

December 19, 2018 Hong Kong

Finished! 50 Posts in 50 Days - Take 2 Challenge

Finally! 50 posts in 50 days is now COMPLETE.

I apologize for going radio silent right after finishing the posts. I think I really really needed the break.

It's quite a lot of pressure knowing every night you have to write and publish yet another blog post. I had thought that with the added pressure of having to post every day I would somehow simplify the nature of my posts. It turned out I wasn't really able to change my style. Instead, perhaps posts had more typos than normal (I tried my best to fix them the next morning), and some posts weren't given quite the love and care I would give a normal post if I had more time.

In some ways, it felt like law school all over again (which I also did at night while holding a full time job). In law school, I was always distinctly aware of the fact that I should be studying. It was always hanging over your head. I never felt like I could truly just relax. Similarly, knowing I had to post something also hung over my head, though I tried my best not to let it interfere with any of my other activities (heh, except perhaps with my quantity of sleep).

We now go back to our regularly scheduled program. The holidays might be a bit choppy, but come the new year, I still have lots of stuff to share with you all. Surprisingly, I still have about 20 Hong Kong restaurants in the queue (that continues to keep growing, but I'll try to keep better check of it), as well as trips to Chengdu (Sichuan Province), Singapore, and Macau!

Only a few more days until Christmas!

You can click here to see links to all the posts in a photo gallery format. It's all the Hong Kong posts, so the first 50 posts will be the latest from series. Complete list also below....

December 10, 2018 Asian

TeppanRoom Grand Hyatt Hong Kong - teppanyaki

It's odd to think that I've had more teppanyaki in Hong Kong the past six months than I have had in my ten consecutive years of visiting Japan. I think we always prioritized sushi whenever we traveled to Tokyo, and thus never truly explored teppanyaki there, save for one magical experience.

Hong Kong has excellent Japanese food in general, and teppanyaki is no exception. Hong Kong restaurants are able to source a lot of premium ingredients from Japan, and yet they also have the flexibility to incorporate more western elements, due to the very international population that passes through this tiny island.

TeppanRoom Grand Hyatt Hong Kong is unique just for that reason. The menu is pretty Japanese, yet the restaurant incorporates some European influences into the dishes. It's fusion teppanyaki at its best.

The counter-style seating can only fit 16 guests at one time. The guests all sit around the Teppanyaki grill and can watch the chef in action. It's a fun experience for all different types of people....

December 9, 2018 Asian

The Yuan Wan Chai 原汁原味

The Yuan Restaurant Hong Kong 原汁原味 The Yuan Wan Chai — The Yuan Wan Chai 原汁原味

The Yuan/原汁原味 is a cozy, casual Cantonese restaurant located right on Wan Chai Road. The restaurant's Chinese name, 原汁原味 (yuán zhī yuánwèi), is a food idiom that literally translates to "natural juice, natural flavor", and typically refers to an item's original and authentic taste.

The Yuan aims to create such original and authentic "tastes" by bringing out the natural flavors of ingredients without using any MSG. The restaurant focuses on seafood but has many Cantonese classics on the menu.

We first noticed it in our neighborhood because, admittedly, we saw Bibendum (the Michelin man) grinning at us from a poster at the front of the restaurant. We were intrigued and soon stopped in to try it.
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Recipes

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