Search Results for: wan chai

Wagyumafia Hong Kong

December 6, 2020 by Jennifer Che

For those obsessed with the top beef in the world, Wagyumafia is at the pinnacle. Wagyumafia started out as a private supper club in Tokyo. Beef exporters Hisato Hamada and entrepreneur Takafumi Horie held private wagyu-themed pop-up dinners in Tokyo showcasing top cuts of beef from the best producers in Japan.

Wagyumafia's claim to fame is the humble beef katsu-"sando" (sandwich). Wagyumafia's version uses the chateaubriand - one of the most highly prizes portions of a cow - and Ozaki beef, from Miyazaki, Japan. Farmer Ozaki feeds his cows mineral water, organic ryegrass, and a 12-ingredient grains mixture that includes barley and corn. He only raises 60 cows a year, 30 for Japan, 30 for the international market.

A full sandwich using this prized beef in Tokyo costs JPY200,000, or close to $200 USD. At Wagyumafia Hong Kong, adding a tasting portion of this wagyu sando (as an optional supplemental to the basic tasting menu) will set you back HKD$1000 (USD$127).

The first WAGYUMAFIA restaurant opened in Tokyo in 2016. This was a members only restaurant, and within a few years, it was virtually impossible to get membership at this exclusive restaurant in Tokyo. In 2018, Wagyumafia opened its first international location in Hong Kong.

As luck would have it, this new Wagyumafia was located just a 5-minute walk from our apartment. We had been curious about Wagyumafia for years (ever since it was open in Tokyo), but never had the opportunity to try it in Tokyo. Now, FINALLY, it was virtually in our backyard.

Bryan signed up as a member and we booked our first Members Only Omakase dinner.

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Ando Hong Kong

December 3, 2020 by Jennifer Che

It's been tough visiting restaurants this year, with the waves of the pandemic ebbing and flowing as the months go by. Back in September, when Hong Kong's third wave finally started to die down again, we had the opportunity to venture out on one of our first restaurants dates in a long time. Our friend Chef Agustin Balbi, who previously headed up Haku in Harbour City, had recently opened Ando Hong Kong under the JIA Group, the same group that oversees 22 Ships, Duddel's, and Chachawan.

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. Balbi 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.

We were excited to see how Chef Balbi, now with complete free reign, would express his Italian and Spanish roots in conjunction with his Japanese training.

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Hello from Hong Kong (again)

April 20, 2020 by Jennifer Che

Dear friends,

Hello from Hong Kong, again. I apologize for the silence this past month. After all, I did promise in early January that I would start to post five blog posts a week to clear up backlog after realizing how little I had posted in 2019.

And I managed to do pretty well, publishing 22 posts in January and 17 posts in February. In March I began with the same fervor, but stopped when things just started to get crazier and crazier in the world. It felt wrong to continue pushing out posts needlessly while ignoring what was going on all around me.

Meanwhile, my life was a bit crazy too. In late January, Bryan flew to Belgium for a one-week business trip. While he was there, the coronavirus situation in China started to worsen significantly. Due to the many meetings Bryan needed to attend in Europe, his boss advised him to stay in Europe indefinitely until the situation got better in China.

At that time, things were getting worse in Hong Kong too. The government closed schools for a month, instructed all civil servants to work from home, and advised private companies to do the same.

HKG --> Brussels

*This is right after I got off a 12 hour flight from Hong Kong and arrived at what would be our temporary home for the next six weeks in Brussels*

After getting clearance from my company, I flew out to Brussels to be with Bryan. I brought him some more clothing, a 2-month supply of contact lenses, and other daily living items he might need for the longer haul.

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A post shared by Jennifer Che (@tinyurbankitchen) on Feb 7, 2020 at 6:51am PST

At the time, things were a bit hectic in Hong Kong. The city didn't have enough face masks, and people were hoarding disinfectants, face masks, and toilet paper. There was even a robbery where the robbers made off with rolls and roll of toilet paper.

I was thankful to be in Belgium with Bryan. At the time, Belgium only had a handful of cases, so life carried on very much like normal. Initially, I thought I would only stay in Brussels for two weeks before heading back to Hong Kong. Because of that, I tried to make the most of those first two weeks in Brussels, packing in recommended restaurants, famous beer destinations, and top museums. (Thank you so much for those who sent me recommendations on social media. I used A LOT of those recs!)

Signature pithivier from Bozar Restaurant in Brussels. This thing takes five hours to make and needs to be preordered in advance!

I plan to blog in detail about the many wonderful places that we visited in Belgium. For now, you can find some on my instagram feed (#tinyurbanbelgium), which I updated from time to time while in Brussels.

My plans for returning to Hong Kong in two weeks changed when it became clear the situation was not getting better that fast. The HK government extended school closures and work-from-home policies. Since I was planning on going to Boston in March, I thought (wrongly, in retrospect) that it would be easier to enter the US from "safe" Europe versus from Asia, which was in the middle of a massive coronavirus battle at the time.

Bruges and Ghent

I canceled my return trip to Hong Kong and booked a new flight to Boston in March. Since things in Europe were still not bad, we took a few short weekend trips to cute little towns around Brussels, such as Bruges and Ghent.

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Bonjour Paris! Mind blown that I am back in #Paris again, even if only for a few days. Bryan has some business meetings here so I tagged along. #tinyurbanparis #tinyurbantravels #tinyurbaneurope #lamadeleine #toureiffel #pinkumbrellas

A post shared by Jennifer Che (@tinyurbankitchen) on Mar 1, 2020 at 12:49pm PST

Paris France

Bryan had some business in Paris so we spent half a week in this city of lights. I had not expected to return so soon, since I had just visited in early December. I mostly worked in the hotel while I was there, but it was still nice to enjoy a few nice walks around the Arc de Triomphe area and enjoy a lovely dinner and my favorite galette.

Trying a waffle from Maison Dandoy, a place known for its speculoos and waffles in Brussels.

In Brussels I continued to work remotely in my hotel during the week. In order to stay closer to Hong Kong's time zone, I woke up at 5:30AM and worked all throughout the morning from 6AM onwards, sometimes straight until 2PM. Then I would finally let myself take a long lunch break after my colleagues turned in for the night.

Bryan commuted to his company's Belgium office every day, and we had dinner together every night in Brussels. Because we stayed in the center of town right near the Grand Place, we had walking distance access to many, many excellent restaurants.

Amsterdam, Netherlands

In early February, we took a short weekend trip to Amsterdam, which I absolutely loved.

This stunning city has incredible museums, beautiful canals, and so much to see. It is a walker's paradise with endless cute streets to explore.

Alas, things started to get worse in Europe starting around the beginning of March. Bryan originally had additional meetings in Europe, but they were getting canceled left and right. Finally, even the Boston meetings got canceled.

London, England

I had already made plans for some business meetings in London. By then, I was feeling quite nervous about the whole situation, but decided to go just for a short 2-day visit. I ended up even shortening that trip to 30 hours. I took precautions, going against the grain by wearing a face mask on the Eurostar train (even though no one else was doing it). I avoided public transportation and crowded restaurants. I even walked from one meeting to the next, even if it took close to an hour!

It's amazing how quickly things change. Part of the reason I cut my London trip short was because the situation in Europe quickly worsened that week. We managed to book the last two seats on one of the few remaining direct flight from Brussels to Hong Kong (flying only once a week). It was seriously quite a miracle it all worked out, and we are so, so thankful.

Belgium Lockdown

The timing was impeccable. The morning of our flight, Brussels locked down the city and closed all restaurants. Even our hotel restaurant, where we had enjoyed breakfast for over 6 weeks, was shut down.

On the morning before our flight out, we took one last "good-by" nostalgic visit to the beautiful Grand Place. It was amazing how empty it was.

Back to Hong Kong (again)

Our flight home was relatively smooth, despite the numerous temperature checks, discomforts of sleeping with a mask, and having my nerves rattled every time I heard a cough nearby.

After nearly two months away, it was so nice to finally be home again. Although we made it back to Hong Kong before they started enforcing mandatory self-quarantine for Europe passengers, we still chose to self-quarantine and actually spent the next four weeks at home.

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Been cooking A LOT lately. 🥣🍽🥘Practicing social distancing for us means not eating out and only cooking & eating take-out at home. Cooking dry-aged USDA Prime ribeye tonight brought back fond memories of the steaks we used to make on our grill in Boston. Actually, HK gas stoves are pretty powerful & I was pleased w/ the sear I got on the pan. 😊 #steak #🥩 #tinyurbanhkkitchen #homecooking #wanchai #socialdistancing #usdaprime #tinyurbancovid19

A post shared by Jennifer Che (@tinyurbankitchen) on Mar 21, 2020 at 10:04am PDT

After being away from home for sooooo long, I actually really enjoyed being home for the self-quarantine. It was nice to revisit cooking again, something I hadn't done in a very long time.

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So thrilled with how my pretty floral chives pies (韭菜盒子) turned out! Having all this time at home has re-ignited my creative self. I made dough from scratch and cut out & embedded flower shapes using purple scallions. Recipe for chive pies on the blog. I am also working on a video version! #comingsoon #tinyurbancovid19 #homecooking #chivepies #韭菜 #韭菜盒子 #🌷 #🥟 #韭菜花 #dumplings #healthy #socialdistancing #beautifulfood #foodisart #tulips

A post shared by Jennifer Che (@tinyurbankitchen) on Apr 5, 2020 at 9:24am PDT

You can see some of my post-Brussels home cooking projects on Instagram or Facebook.

So now that things are finally settled back in Hong Kong, I think I can finally get back to blogging regularly. I hope to write about the many wonderful places in Belgium, Amsterdam, Paris, and London that I visited. I may also write a few posts that are timely for our current situation, such as our experience with great restaurants offering delivery in Hong Kong during this pandemic, or just new ideas for cooking.

I hope you all are staying safe during this crazy time. I am very, very thankful to be OK despite my recent crazy travel schedule. I am so touched by the numerous acts of kindness and generosity I have seen around me. I pray daily for our front line workers, the patients, those risking their lives to make our cities run, and our leaders.

Stay safe everyone. "See" you again soon.

Fukuro Hong Kong

February 14, 2020 by Jennifer Che

Fukuro calls itself a "spirited izakaya" where tired salarymen go to "eat, drink, and escape everyday life." A member of the Black Sheep Restaurant Group (whose restaurants we really enjoy), Fukuro was most certainly spirited the day we visited. The place was packed, buzzing with energy. We even waited a bit for a table, though thankfully the wait was not more than 15 minutes.

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Happy New Year 2020 - Wow a new decade!

January 4, 2020 by Jennifer Che

Happy New Year!

Man, it's been a discombobulated start to 2020, which could explain why I'm several days late to posting my annual New Years update. We "missed a day", leaving for Boston's airport the evening of January 30th and arriving into Hong Kong on January 1, 2020.

Jetlag plus a head cold got the best of me, and I've been slowly recovering since the holidays.

In any event, that's no excuse, and I still would like to spend a little bit of time reflecting on 2019. I'm thankful for a few lazy days at home (between New Years holiday and this weekend) to give me some time to reflect and write.

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11 Westside Kennedy Town - Hong Kong

February 20, 2019 by Jennifer Che

11 Westside Kennedy Town

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....

Chengdu China - Sichuan Food

February 3, 2019 by Jennifer Che

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!...

Finished! 50 Posts in 50 Days - Take 2 Challenge

December 19, 2018 by Jennifer Che

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....

Okonomiyaki Dohtonburi Hong Kong

November 9, 2018 by Jennifer Che

Okonomiyaki Dohtonburi Hong Kong

The very first time I saw or tasted okonomiyaki was during college when I spent a summer working in Tsukuba, Japan as part of the MIT-Japan Program. I had befriended the friendly church bus driver who drove all the way out to various neighborhoods to pick up car-less people like me to attend a local Japanese church. After getting to know him through weekly (broken) Japanese conversations, he invited me to visit his family at his home. I met his wife and their beautiful baby, and they made okonomiyaki for me.

I still have very fond memories of my time in Japan. Although I have long lost touch with that friendly bus driver, I have not forgotten the warmth and hospitality this family showed to a young, clueless college student. I also never forgot the meal.

Years later, I finally went to the place that invented okonomiyaki, Osaka, Japan, and got to try some fantastic restaurant versions of this Japanese cross-between-a-pancake-and-an-omelet.

Now I can get my fix in Hong Kong anytime. A popular Japanese okonomiyaki chain, Dohtonbori Okonomiyaki, has six locations in and around Hong Kong. On a rare night when I actually decided to dine out solo, I stopped into the one at K11 in Tsim Sha Tsui....

Old Bailey Hong Kong - Jiangnan Cuisine

October 26, 2018 by Jennifer Che

Old Bailey Hong Kong

Inside Tai Kwun, the former prison and police station remodeled into a newly opened center of the arts, is a new Jiangnan restaurant called Old Bailey Hong Kong. The newest restaurant from the JIA Group (also behind well-known great restaurants such as Duddell's, 22 Ships, Ham & Sherry), Old Bailey represents the old Jiangnan idea that instead of going out, people would go to each others' homes and enjoy meals "diligently sourced and prepared by private chefs."

Dining at Old Bailey is meant to embody those concepts. The space has been carefully designed by Basel-based architects Herzog & de Meuron together with Hong Kong partners Adonian Chan (Trilingua), Mina Park (Sook) and Nana Chan (Teakha), to evoke the warmth of a home with furniture inspired by the Ming Dynasty.

Ingredients are most certainly "diligently sourced." 80% of the restaurant's vegetables are organic and their pickles and fermented condiments are made in-house. They source from a network of artisan producers for their noodles, vinegars and beancurds. They are very aware of dietary restrictions. Menu items are marked as being vegan, vegetarian, or gluten-free, for example....

50 Posts in 50 Days - Take 2! Exploring Hong Kong in 2018

October 21, 2018 by Jennifer Che

Time flies!

Back in January of 2018, after my first 100 days in Hong Kong, I took a challenge upon myself to write 50 blog posts in 50 days. It was modeled after similar challenges I had done in the past (31 posts in 31 days in May of 2014; posting every weekday for the month in 2015). In both cases, the commitment to post caused me to write many posts I never would have gotten around to writing.

Writing those 50 posts back in January was a lot of work and took a lot of discipline! What helped a lot was that I wasn't working a full time day job yet, nor had I started studying Mandarin Chinese intensively (that happened in April, when blog writing activity slowed down for a couple months).

After accomplishing the 50 days of straight posting in Hong Kong in mid-March, this blog took a "break" from Hong Kong and traveled to other parts of the world, such as Tokyo and Hakone (Japan), Sonoma (California), Yunnan, Shanghai, Shenzhen, and Xiamen (both in China).

Well, now my backlog is HUGE and in much great need of another boost. So, I've decided to do ANOTHER 50 posts in 50 days, starting tomorrow! 😬😱

This time, I'm working a full-time job, still trying to study Mandarin Chinese, and taking conversational Cantonese lessons. Heh, I have my hands full, but I'm committed to doing this. I know that if I commit to it, it will get done.

I may play around with different formats of writing up posts for restaurants, so don't be surprised if things look a bit different sometimes. Heh, if I'm really inspired, I may even write up a recipe or two. I've resolved to start cooking more again, so we'll see where that goes. The richness of the produce that is available in the farmers markets around here is too tempting . . .

Anyway, enjoy the ride! There will be lots of new posts about cool day trips within Hong Kong as well as all the various restaurants I've tried in Hong Kong in the past six months!

Ngong Ping 360 Cable Car - Lantau Island Hong Kong

DONE! COMPLETE LIST OF ALL 50 POSTS
Cheung Chau Island (Hong Kong day trip)
Kin's Kitchen (Cantonese)
Mercedes Me Brunch (European)
Kwan Kee Bamboo Noodle (Cantonese)
Old Bailey (Jiangnan, China cuisine)
Saravanaa Bhavan (Indian)
Mott32 (Peking duck)
ICHU (Peruvian)
Tsukiji Yamataka Seafood Market (Sushi)
Mercato Hong Kong (Italian)
Tsukado Nojo (Japanese beauty hot pot)
Santorini Hong Kong (Greek)
Day Trip to Tai O Fishing Village (egg waffle, HK seafood)
Lantau Island and the Ngong Ping 360 Cable Car (Hong Kong day trip)
Brass Spoon (Vietnamese)
Galician Beef at La Ramba (Spanish)
Chifa Dumpling House (Chinese Peruvian)
Yardbird (yakitori) (Japanese grill)
Okonomiyaki Dohtonburi
The Chairman Four Person Set Menu
Northern Yuan Dumpling
Zhejiang Heen (Jiangnan, China)
Crabtain (crab congee)
Fishteria (Western style seafood)
Chachawan (Northern Thai / Issan)
Ning Po Restaurant (Shanghai area)
IM Teppanyaki (Japanese grill)
Che's Cantonese Restaurant (Cantonese)
Frites Belgian on Tap (Belgian mussels and fries)
Madame Ching (modern Chinese)
The Flying Elk (Scandinavian)
Putien (Fujian Chinese)
Xiangshu (Sichuan, Hunan Chinese)
Xihe Yayuan (Peking duck, Chinese)
Town by Bryan Nagao (Japanese, French, Spanish)
Ovo Cafe (Vegetarian)
Kyoku (Teppanyaki)
Santé Wine Bar (Spanish/French)
Arcane (European)
8 ½ Otto e Mezzo Bombana (Italian)
Sushi Nakamoto (Edomae Sushi)
Shiwei (Knife Shaved Noodles)
Wai Kee Bowrington Road (Cooked Food Centre)
Epure (French)
China Tang
Sohofama (modern Chinese)
Motorino (Neapolitan pizza)
The Yuan 原汁原味 (Cantonese)
TeppanRoom Grant Hyatt (teppanyaki)

Day Trip from Xiamen to Hui'An County in Quanzhou China

July 29, 2018 by Jennifer Che

This is the fourth and final post that's part of a larger series about my trip to Xiamen, China. Other posts in this series include A Weekend Trip to Xiamen China, Xiamen Street Food - From Oyster Pancakes to Worm Jellies! and Visiting the Che Family Home and a Home-cooked Feast

It's tough trying to travel to a popular vacation spot in a country as big and populous as China during one of their national holidays. Basically, the whole country goes on vacation at the same time, which means the entire country is trying to cram into the best vacation spots all at once. Xiamen is well-known for its warm weather, great beaches, and good street food. As a result, the city was mobbed during our visit.

It's times like this that I want to take the off-the-beaten-path and pursue the road less traveled. After a couple days in Xiamen city proper (including a day visiting Bryan's old family home in China), we took a three-hour bus ride to Hui'An, a county about 30km outside the city center of Quanzhou, Fujian in Southern China.

Hui'An "maidens" are famous for their unique dress and culture. Although they are not a minority group per se, their colorful costumes and unique head covering are reminiscent of some of China's minority tribes. The women wear thin, short jackets that don't use enough cloth to completely cover the belly ("thrifty jackets") yet they wear these huge billowy pants that seem to "waste cloth."...

Visiting the Che Family's Home in Xiamen + an Authentic Home Cooked Feast!

July 23, 2018 by Jennifer Che

This is the third post that's part of a larger series about my trip to Xiamen, China. Other posts in this series include A Weekend Trip to Xiamen China and Xiamen Street Food - From Oyster Pancakes to Worm Jellies!

There is something special about the authenticity of an old, untouched village that preserves an older way of life that is quickly disappearing. This uniqueness is magnified when that village also holds a deep, personal connection to family roots and history.

This sort of village came upon us unexpectedly during an unplanned trip to Xiamen, a coastal island city in Southern China....

Tung Po Dai Pai Dong Hong Kong 東寶小館

May 25, 2018 by Jennifer Che

Tung Po Dai Pai Dong North Point Hong Kong

Tung Po Dai Pai Dong (Seafood Restaurant) 東寶小館

In Hong Kong, you can really experience food at all different levels - everything from the hole-in-the-wall which specializes in just one dish to the extravagantly decorated Michelin-starred restaurant located on the umpteenth floor of some luxury hotel boasting stunning harbour views.

One way of really experiencing dining like an old school Hong Konger is to dine at a dai pai dong (大排檔). Literally meaning "big license", it refers to a specific type of restaurant that has a bigger license than a typical street vendor. These special licenses were originally issued after World War II to family members of those who had been killed or disabled in the war.

In 1956, the government stopped issuing new licenses to open air street stalls due to complaints about these outdoor restaurants causing traffic and noise issues. More recently, the government started building indoor "cooked food centres" to move these outdoor restaurants to more sanitary indoor locations.

The atmosphere inside these cooked food centres still feels decidedly authentic. It's loud, crowded, and efficient. Conversations are lively, food is fresh and delicious, and diners often sit on plastic chair while sharing large, round tables with strangers.

One of the most popular and admittedly "touristy" places to enjoy the dai pai dong experience is at Tung Po in North Point. Tung Po specializes in seafood and is located on the second floor of the Java Road Wet Market in North Point. The restaurant is famous because its outgoing owner Robby Cheung livens up the atmosphere of the restaurant by playing fun music, acting crazy in front of the dining guests, and being all around fun. Furthermore, Anthony Bourdain ate there during an episode of his television show, No Reservations.

So what's it like to dine there?...

Yung Kee Restaurant (Yung Kee Roast Goose)

March 1, 2018 by Jennifer Che

Yung Kee Restaurant (Yung Kee Roast Goose)

This is post #39, 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.

Roast goose is one of those quintessential Hong Kong foods that definitely falls on the "must-try" lists for any visitor to Hong Kong. Goose is generally hard to find in a lot of countries. In the US, I hardly ever see it in the super market or on restaurant menus. Even in Hong Kong, it's noticeably more expensive than duck or chicken, so it's still a special treat here too.

The most iconic, historic, and well known roast goose restaurant in Hong Kong is Yung Kee Restaurant.

Founded by the late Mr. Kam Shui Fai in 1942, Yung Kee Restaurant has served all sorts of people for generations and is synonymous with roast goose in Hong Kong. The historic building has one of Hong Kong's only charcoal fired ovens (grandfathered in before new regulations) and its roast geese have that unique flavor.

Yung Kee imports its geese from a very specific farm in China. The restaurant uses traditional cooking techniques passed down from founder Kam Shui Fai.

Yung Kee was awarded one Michelin star in 2009 but lost it in 2011, and has failed to regain it since, though it is still recommended in the Michelin guide. An ugly battle between the founder's two sons following his death in 2010 may have contributed to this alleged drop in quality. You can read more about this in my post about Kam's Roast Goose, one result of the "split" that occurred after Mr. Kam Shui Fai's death.

We booked lunch at Yung Kee Restaurant because we had a large group of visitors from the US. We needed a place that served an excellent version of Hong Kong's quintessential roast goose yet also took reservations for large parties (in our case, including a 5-year old child). Yung Kee fit the bill perfectly. The restaurant is large (two stories!) and has lots of larger tables that can easily accommodate a group our size. Furthermore, the service is good and we had plenty of space to spread out....

Tsui Hang Village Hong Kong

February 21, 2018 by Jennifer Che

Dim Sum at Tsui Hang Village, Miramar Shopping Center, Tsim Sha Tsui

This is post #31, 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.

Tsui Hang Village is a well-known Cantonese restaurant specializing in food from the Guangzhou region, more specifically Hakka and Shunde cuisine, as well as Cantonese roasted meats. In fact, their signature honey glazed BBQ pork is fantastic - a perfect combination of rich flavor and ultra tender meat.

"The best charsiu I've ever had," proclaimed Bryan after tasting it for the first time.

Although we haven't eaten at all the top roast meat places in Hong Kong, we've had several top notch charsiu, including a fancy iberico version at Man Wah, as well as many excellent versions at Fu Sing, Kam's Roast Goose, and Joy Hing.

Tsui Hang Village has been around since the 1970's, and was THE place for "movers and shakers" as well as top celebrities to dine and do business meetings while dining on high end Cantonese fare (shark fin, abalone, bird's nest and the like). Many new places have popped up since then for that purpose, but it's still well-known locally.

The restaurant, named after Dr. Sun Yat-sen’s birthplace, is run by the Miramar Group and has been recommended by Michelin Guide as having a "Good Standard".

We stopped by this bustling place during Saturday lunch, the time when it seems like all Cantonese families come out for dim sum. Thankfully, the place is huge and lines move quickly. We waited only about ten minutes for a table....

Ho Hung Kee (Michelin-starred wonton noodles)

February 3, 2018 by Jennifer Che

Ho Hung Kee Causeway Bay

This is one of many posts that are part of the series Jen's Guide - Best Places to Eat in Hong Kong for Visitors
This is also post #13, 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.

I'm a big congee fan, and Bryan loves noodles, so together we are pretty happy dining at the many excellent congee and noodle shops around Hong Kong.

Opened since 1946, Ho Hung Kee originates from one of the four well-known wonton noodle families that emerged after World War II. The Ho family started Ho Hung Kee as a roadside stall on Hennessy Road in 1946. The restaurant moved a few times in the past half century before settling in its current location inside Hysan Place at Causeway Bay.

The son has gone on to open the very popular and casual Tasty Noodle and Wantun restaurants, while Ho Hung Kee continues to draw crowds and crowds of people to its centrally located restaurant inside Hysan Place.

Ho Hung Kee has been recommended in the Michelin guide since 2009, and has had one Michelin star since 2012 (with the exception of 2014 when they had to adjust to moving from their more humble digs to fancy Hysan Place). Bryan likes to say it's one of the cheapest Michelin-starred meals you can get (a bowl of their signature wonton noodle soup costs around $5 USD).

The space is white and bright, with teal colored whimsical lanterns and booths. At the back you can watch the chefs preparing each individual bowl of wonton noodle soup.

I think the most fun way to dine here is to come with a larger group and share a bunch of dishes. We came with a group of 10 people, and thus had the chance to try most things on the menu. Thankfully, the menu is in English and includes lots of photos, so it's quite easy to order.

The house special wonton noodle soup comes with four wontons for a small ($39 HKD) , or six wontons for a large ($56 HKD). The noodles are nicely al dente, with almost a crunchy texture. There's that familiar alkaline flavor in the broth, and the wontons are juicy and flavorful.

Although the classic wonton noodle soup was good, one of the favorites at the table was actually the noodle soup with pork liver ($65 HKD).

Wonton noodles with chu hau brisket of beef ($54) came with an assortment of tender brisket and tendon.

I ordered the shrimp roe noodles (left) which was fine but not super interesting. It's mainly their wonton noodles topped with a generous sprinkling of dried shrimp roe. I did really enjoy the stir fried rice rolls, which had a nice, charred flavor and good texture.

Although the wonton noodle soups were good, my favorite was the congee, which had a wonderfully creamy texture and a robust, rich flavor. I ordered the lean pork and preserved duck eggs (aka "century eggs" or "thousand year old eggs") congee. Frankly, my guess is that the flavorful congee base is the same and you can enjoy it with a variety of different toppings.

Chinese fried cruller wrapped with rice sheets is something I tend to order a lot because I never could get it in Boston. These were quite good as long you ate it while it was fresh.

We always get vegetables to round out any meal. I appreciated being able to order something other than poached bok choy with hoisin sauce. Here, we had poached romaine lettuce tossed with fermented bean curd sauce, which was nice.

General Thoughts - Ho Hung Kee Causeway Bay

All in all, food at Ho Hung Kee is quite enjoyable. My personal favorite is probably the congee, which has a great creamy texture and excellent flavor. The wonton noodles are good, though I'm not sure if it's necessarily better than the many other good wonton noodle soups around (e.g., Mak's or Tsim Chai Kee, just to name a few others that I've visited).

Expect to pay a bit of a premium at this place compared to more casual wonton noodle places, probably because of it's fancier location and Michelin star status.

Ho Hung Kee
Hysan Place 12/F
500 Hennessy Rd
Causeway Bay, HONG KONG

On-Yasai Shabu Shabu (Japanese hot pot) On-Yasai Hong Kong

January 31, 2018 by Jennifer Che

On-Yasai Hong Kong

This is post #10, 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.

Hot pot seems to be huge in Hong Kong, and I love how there are so many different varieties. Back in the US, I find hot pot places try to cater to multiple types of hot pot lovers, melding together Japanese shabu and Chinese hot pot into the same restaurant. Here in Asia, I've reveled in the countless types of unique hot pots available, even types I'd never heard of in the US (have you ever heard of coconut water hot pot or soy milk hot pot??!).

On-Yasai Hong Kong was one of my first Japanese hot pot experiences, and I really, really enjoyed it.

Any restaurant with the word "yasai" (literally "vegetable" in Japanese) will undoubtedly peak this vegetable-lover's interest. (I eat A LOT of vegetables during hot pots.)...

Happy New Year! A look back at 2017

January 1, 2018 by Jennifer Che

Happy New Year!

Oh what a year it's been.

I feel like I've been so busy with my cross-global move from Boston to Hong Kong that I haven't really had time to reflect upon this past year. For sure the move has made 2017 the most eventful year (maybe ever) in my life. I've only moved/uprooted one time before - at the age of 18 when I moved from Ohio to Boston for college. That was eventful, but not like this one. At that young age, I was ready and excited to move. Settling in was easy because I was amongst a whole class of freshmen who had also moved to Boston from all over the country.

This move is different. After 20+ years in Boston, there's a lot more to uproot, move, and resettle, both physically and emotionally.

It's been a whirlwind three months since I landed in Hong Kong in early October. We've been living in a serviced apartment for several months, but finally signed a lease for a real apartment at the end of 2017. Our stuff from the US arrived in mid-December (yay!). We worked tirelessly throughout the weekend to unpack as much as possible before flying out to the US for the holidays. On New Years Eve, we spent our first night in the new apartment.


Loving my Totoro painting done by a friend	view from the kitchen window!

Finally, I'm starting to feel a bit settled! It's nice to have all of my own kitchen stuff back. My new kitchen is smaller than my old one, so I'm back to having a true tiny urban kitchen again. 😉

Here's a look back at 2017. I realized that this was the first year in about a decade that I did not visit a new country, though I did re-visit many favorite ones multiple times (hello Japan and Taiwan!). Here's a recap of this crazy, crazy year. I have no idea what 2018 will bring, but I'm excited for the endless possibilities, especially being out here in Asia!
...

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....

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)....

An Exploration of Asian Food in Vegas

July 6, 2016 by Jennifer Che

Las Vegas has an interesting relationship with food. For the longest time, it was known for its crazy cheap all-you-can-eat buffets, meals that were heavily subsidized by the gambling at the associated casinos.

But then the seedy, rougher Vegas started to change. Cirque du Soleil appeared, A-list performers set up permanent shop at casinos, and more and more family-friendly shows came onto the scene. Before long, people were coming to Vegas not to gamble, but to enjoy all these other forms of entertainment. And these other people really enjoyed good food.

The Strip began exploding with a new genre of high-class, celebrity chef restaurants. Wolfgang Puck started it all, taking a risk with the Strip by opening a second location of his flagship restaurant Spago at Caesar’s Palace in 1992. His success caused others to come. Now, Las Vegas has become one of the best places to sample food from celebrity chefs and top restaurants around the US.

Although buffets are still a signature item, they have gone up in price and offer much more luxurious items like king crab legs, wagyu beef, sushi, and elegant French pastries.

More recently, the casinos have started modifying things to suite the multitudes of Asians who visit every year. In the past five years, I’ve seen more and more places make a huge splash during Lunar New Year - elaborate casino decorations, special meals, you name it. A lot of luxury stores now have staff who speak Mandarin Chinese as well.

It is against this background that I visited Las Vegas about a month ago to explore the Asian food in Vegas. Although it’s probably true that Vegas was not historically known for its Asian food, things have changed a lot in the past decade. Many Asians has chosen to settle or retire in Las Vegas instead of staying in California, mostly due the lower housing costs. Las Vegas has a vibrant Chinatown, and there are even popular California chains like Ranch 99 Supermarket, Tea Station (Ten Ren Tea Shop) and Sam Woo’s, just to name a few.

Furthermore, the Strip has exploded with numerous Asian restaurants. Although I have visited a few in my previous trips to Vegas (most notably Lotus of Siam, Lee's Sandwiches, and Beijing Noodle No. 9), I had never fully explored the wide range of Asian food that Las Vegas has to offer.

Four days is nearly not enough time (even with two lunches and a dinner every day!), but Bryan and I managed to experience a really interesting cross section of the Asian food scene in Vegas during our last trip (thanks to Las Vegas Convention and Visitors Authority for setting it up for us!).

Here's a sneak peek at the places we visited. I will most certainly follow up with more detailed post about many of the restaurants listed below....

Winsor Dim Sum Cafe

May 4, 2016 by Jennifer Che

Best dim sum in Boston?

Usually, I hear two places mentioned. One is Hei La Moon, a huge, bustling two-story restaurant in Chinatown that serves dim sum the tradition way, where servers roll carts full of dim sum to all the tables, tempting diners with visual displays of all the enticing dishes. It's a place that's popular for weddings as well as large group functions.

The other place, which I only heard about more recently, is Winsor Dim Sum Cafe. Winsor is completely the opposite of Hei La Moon. It is a tiny, unassuming restaurant in the middle of Chinatown. There are no carts. Instead, you order dim sum items individually, and the kitchen makes each item to-order. Furthermore, dim sum is available anytime of the day, every day of the week (not just weekend brunch!). Imagine, you can stop by on any random weeknight to get your dim sum fix.

After hearing more and more people declare that Winsor had the best dim sum in Boston, I knew that I had to go try it. This past year, I finally had a chance to visit while my mom was in town, and subsequently went back several times....

Ogawa Coffee

September 17, 2015 by Jennifer Che

This doesn't happen very often, but when it does, it's super exciting.

The first Japanese coffee chain to ever open in the U.S. has chosen Boston as the lucky city.

Ogawa Coffee, a well-known coffee roaster from Kyoto in Japan, opened its first U.S. location on Milk Street in downtown Boston. Though Ogawa did consider New York initially, it ultimately chose Boston because of its similarity to Kyoto in its size, huge student population, and rich history. In fact, the two cities are sister cities (I had no idea!).

...

Weihenstephan Brewery Munich - oldest brewery in the world

August 11, 2015 by Jennifer Che

This is the tenth post in the London & Munich series. Other posts in this series include The Square, Dinner by Heston Blumenthal, Exploring London by Foot, Alain Ducasse, Marcus Wareing, Classic Munich Beer Houses: Hofbrauhaus & Wirtshaus, Viktualienmarkt and De Pschorr, Chinesischer Turm Beer Garden, and Visiting the Residenz and lunch at Spatenhaus

Living in a country that's less than 250 years old, I'm not used to seeing buildings or establishments that have been around for close to a thousand years. At most, we have certain well-known places, like Harvard University (right near my home), that have been around for maybe closer to 500 years. And that is already really old for us!

On our last full day in Munich, based on a recommendation from a beer-obsessed bartender friend, we hopped on a train (the S-bahn) and traveled 45 minutes to the outskirts of Munich to a cute little town named Freising.

There, we would visit the site of the Benedictine Monastery, Weihenstephan Abbey, which, to this day, houses the oldest continuously serving brewery in the world....

Sketch London

July 8, 2015 by Jennifer Che

We continue the London & Munich series with another solo meal from Bryan.

Bryan often travels for work. Occasionally, armed with his trusty little Sony camera (affiliate link!), he takes photos and sends me his thoughts on some of the more note-worthy restaurants he has visited. Other posts I've written for places he has visited (but I have not!) are Sushi Yoshitake (3-Michelin stars) and Sushi Kanesaka in Tokyo, Luce in San Francisco, Olo in Helsinki, and The Square in London.

Other posts in the current London & Munich series include The Square, Dinner by Heston Blumenthal, Exploring London by Foot, and Alain Ducasse.

Going to Sketch in London is so much more than just a trip to a restaurant.

It's about entering the wild imagination of David Shrigley, the artist who designed the crazy, whimsical space. It's about tasting the handiwork of one of the most talented chefs in the world, 3-Michelin starred master chef Pierre Gagnaire from France. It's about letting yourself pretend, even if just for a moment, that you're living in another world.

London's most expensive restaurant is hardly subtle or understated. It's famous for its over-the-top treatment of everything, from its multi-course meals (where each course further comprises multiple additional courses) to the plethora of wacky art that adorns its walls, ceilings, and floors.

Writers have used terms like "sensory overload" and "gastronomic playground for the well-heeled scenester" to describe the restaurant.

And that's really not far from the truth.

The space is huge and is an adventure to explore. One moment you think you're Alice in Wonderland. Turn the corner, and you're in a forest with what looks like overgrown trees over your head. Hopscotch your way down the hall and up a set of stairs into a room decked out with plush pink chairs and jewels on the walls. The entire two-story building includes multiple bars (all with different themes), dining rooms, and a bakery cafe (five separate establishments). In the afternoon, you can even enjoy a fancy afternoon tea.

But it's not just about the space.

The food here is exquisite and similarly extravagant. The Lecture Room and Library is where the upscale dinners are held. This is also the restaurant that holds two Michelin stars.

Let's live vicariously through Bryan as we enter the whimsical land of Sketch and spend an evening dining solo here.
...

Be Our Guest Disneyworld

May 21, 2015 by Jennifer Che

This is the sixth and final post in the Weekend Getaway to Orlando series. Other posts include Eating Around the World at Epcot World Showcase, L'Artisan des Glaces (Epcot Center), Via Napoli, Jiko, the Cooking Place, and Bluezoo Orlando by Todd English. This post is the 15th post in the #21PostsInMay Challenge.

This was it.

This was the original reason I had wanted to go to Disney World.

Back in 2012, I received wind of the fact that a new castle had been built at the Magical Kingdom in Disney World. Belle's castle, or more accurately, the Beast's Castle, was perched high on a rocky mountain in Fantasyland.

Now, I'm not really a princess type of girl, and a new castle alone is not quite enough reason to entice me to visit a park.

However, the castle had a restaurant inside, called Be Our Guest. The inside of this castle was modeled meticulously after the one in the movie. There was a West Wing, the room with armored knights, and most importantly . . . the grand ballroom.

The first time I saw a photo of the grand ballroom I knew I had to go. It took my breath away.

We didn't end up going to Disney World in 2012 due to other reasons. So this year, when Bryan's business trip took him to Orlando, I happily jumped at the chance to go, and immediately (after some amazing luck and persistence - more on that below) secured a dinner reservation at Be Our Guest....

New May Challenge - Posting Every Weekday #21PostsInMay

May 4, 2015 by Jennifer Che

Has it already been a year?

One year ago I took on this crazy challenge of writing a post every single day for the month of May. I was wondering if I still "had it", the ability to focus and execute posts in a disciplined and regular manner. Although it was a ton of work and resulted in at least a few sleep-deprived nights, I managed to pull it off, publishing 31 posts in the month of May.

I can't believe it's May again already. They say time goes by faster and faster as you get older. Man, is that true! It really feels like just yesterday I was churning out those posts. Yet, at the same time, as I look back on the year, I realize so much has happened. Like our phenomenal trip to the Canadian Rockies (which I still have not finished writing about!), Unforgettable tour of Malaysia and Singapore, our relaxing diving trip to Hawaii, and even my two-page Boston Globe spread in the month of March!

Do I dare try the same thing this month?

I decided I would try a modified version.

I still have so much I want to share on this blog. I still want to tell you about some really cool places we visited while in New Zealand and Australia. Similarly, there's this amazing tea house in the Canadian Rockies at the end of a challenging hike that I've been meaning to share about. Add to that the rest of the Disney World posts and some of the cool meals we had in Boston while entertaining Bryan's parents, I have plenty of content to share.

So I am going to try to post every day, Monday to Friday, in the month of May. I will give myself the weekends to recharge and catch up. That way, hopefully, there will be no sleepless nights this month.

Hope you enjoy!

Just for fun . . a sneak peek at a few!

The dollar is so strong now that meals in Europe feel crazy cheap. Here's a look at a really fancy Michelin starred tasting meal that Bryan enjoyed in Helsinki, Finland a couple months ago for only 55 Euros.

This new Chinese restaurant in Lexington (a suburb of Boston) is actually a chain from China and has become one of my regular haunts ever since I discovered it this past year.

When Bryan's parents visited, we had the most decadent Shabu meal I've ever had in Boston.

We sat at the special Pasta Table at Giulia on Marathon Monday and enjoyed a lovely multi-course tasting meal in celebration of Bryan's sister, who had just run the Boston Marathon!

Can't wait to share these posts (and more!) in detail with you over the course of the next few (intense!) weeks!

Santouka Ramen Harvard Square

February 23, 2015 by Jennifer Che

Hello Santouka!

A popular ramen chain from Japan finally arrives in the East Coast, with its first location in Harvard Square. I cannot tell you how excited I was to see the window on Bow Street with the plastic models of all the different ramen. It totally reminded me of Japan!

Santouka began as a single ramen shop in Hokkaido back in 1988. Founder Hitoshi Hatanaka was inspired to open a ramen shop after watching the Japanese movie Tampopo, a comedy about a ramen shop.

Santouka began with just one item on the menu - the Shio Ramen. Guests absolutely loved the flavors of the creamy, elegant broth together with the thin noodles. The ramen shop quickly grew in popularity, and pretty soon was basking in all sorts of media attention. As time went by, Santouka expanded to more and more locations. Currently, there are locations all over Japan as well as internationally, including Vancouver, Toronto, Hong Kong, Taiwan, Singapore, Malaysia, Indonesia, Phillipines, Thailand, and the U.S.

Up until recently, there was only location in the East Coast: a shop inside the Mitsuwa Market Place in Edgewater, New Jersey. Hungry patrons in Boston who craved Santouka would have to drive a good four hours for their fix.

Then just a couple weeks ago, in February 2015 amidst Boston's numerous snowstorms, the first New England location opened right in Cambridge, in Harvard Square.

We showed up on day two of the soft opening!
...

Happy New Year - A Look Back at 2014 (Part II) - Recipes + Boston restaurants

January 7, 2015 by Jennifer Che

Making authentic Malaysian chicken curry at a cooking class in Kuala Lumpur

This is Part II of a two-part series summarizing my look back at 2014. The first part of the series can be found here: Happy New Year - A Look Back at 2014 (Part I) Travel

Cooking + Recipes

Where did all the recipes go?

Good question. Travel most certainly took up a lot of 2014, which is why Part I of this series is so long! Bryan's been traveling like crazy for work the past several years, so the best way for me to see more of him is to follow him on some of his trips. As a result of this, however, I've had less time to spend in the kitchen. When it's just me at home (i.e. Bryan's away on a business trip), I don't feel like cooking up anything really fancy. I tend to cook really simple, often vegetarian, healthy dinners for myself - nothing that's remotely exciting or blog-worthy material.

Thankfully, time to time I did find some opportunities to cook. I entertained large groups a couple times, once making a huge, beautiful (easy!) oven roasted prime rib, and another time conquering David Chang's famous Bo Ssam.

I also learned how to make a bunch of Malaysian dishes at a cooking class I took in Kuala Lumpur, like chicken curry, roti jala (lacy pancake), otak otak (fish dumpling in banana leaf), and onde onde (rice dumpling dessert).

Below I've shared a couple of my favorite recipes that I wrote about this year.

Chive Pies are among my favorite dishes to order in a Taiwanese restaurant, partly because I just love Chinese chives, but also because it's fun to eat things in little packages (I'm a sucker for dumplings, if you haven't already noticed). I made these after having leftover ingredients from a Chinese New Year dumpling party. They turned out to be surprisingly easy to make! For the full recipe and tutorial, click here.

I finally adapted my Taiwanese Beef Noodle Soup recipe for the pressure cooker, and it's been life changing. I used to not make this dish because it would take a minimum of two to three hours to make. Now, with the pressure cooker, I can squeeze everything under an hour, which has made this a very possible weeknight meal.

My mom makes these soy sauce Braised Beef Shanks almost everytime she visits us in Boston. I finally got the recipe from her and was able to make it on a weekend. It's actually pretty easy. The biggest factor is time: it involve braising meat for 2-3 hours, which can take up a whole afternoon. I am seriously considering trying this in the pressure cooker . . .

Of course there are other recipes from the year. Some other notable favorites include the popular Crispy Basil Smashed Potatoes courtesy of Chef Ana Sortun (Oleana, Sarma, Sofra) from my Siena Farms newsletter; the spicy tomato jam I made in partnership with Backyard Farms Tomatoes; and oven baked beet chips (pictured above).

You can always hunt around in the recipes tab on the blog to see what I've been cooking!

Boston Area Restaurants

Though I do travel a fair amount, most of my time is still spent here in my hometown of Cambridge, MA. We discovered lots of fantastic restaurants in the Boston area this year. Below are the highlights.

omakase at Cafe Sushi

We tried our first omakase at Cafe Sushi in Cambridge and totally fell in love. It is now our go-to favorite sushi place. The restaurant serves up amazing chef's specials (both local and from Tsukiji Fish Market in Japan) as well as a phenomenal and reasonably priced omakase. If ordering a la carte, definitely try at least a few things from the specials list.

Thai North, a small family-owned Thai restaurant in Brighton specializing in Northern Thai cuisine, (e.g., Chaingmai) was another incredible find. Make sure to order off of the "Chalkboard Menu" which focuses on regional specialties that you don't typically find on a Thai restaurant in America. My favorite dishes are probably the Chiangmai Sausage and the Chiangmai Noodle Curry (pictured above).

My favorite ramen shop at the moment is Pikaichi in Allston (though I haven't tried Totto Ramen yet). Newcomer Shabu & Mein in Cambridge is conveniently close and serves a very good ramen as well.

New Restaurants

Smoked Uni Toast from Row 34

Several hotly anticipated restaurants opened in Boston this past year to much well-deserved fanfare, such as Row 34 (by the Island Creek folks), Sarma (by the Oleana and Sofra team), Alden & Harlow (from Michael Scelfo, previously of Russell House Tavern), and Ribelle (from Tim Maslow of Strip T's). I even trekked out to Wellesley on the commuter rail to try Juniper, a lovely new Mediterranean restaurant from the folks at Sweet Basil.

Our first meal at Cafe ArtScience in Kendall (on their second night after opening day!) was excellent and I really can't wait to go back. Their drinks and fun molecular-inspired "snacks" are also fun. We tried a tasting menu at the modernist cuisine restaurant Asta, which had a mix of superb courses and near or total misses.

We were thrilled when we heard that newcomer Dumpling House was coming to Cambridge. The media reported that it was related to the very popular Chinatown restaurant Gourmet Dumpling House, though I'm still not positive that is completely true (why does Gourmet Dumpling House have a sign in front saying they are "unique" and there's no one else like them??). In any event, the menus are very similar and the quality of the food is very close. Best thing yet, Dumpling House virtually never has a wait and parking is not too difficult to find.

And Other Restaurants . . .

Paella from Toro

Bryan finally got to try the pig's head for two at Craigie on Main for his birthday (something he's always wanted to try). We visited the super popular tapas restaurant Toro and avoided waiting in line by showing up right at opening time - 5:30PM on a Monday night. We stopped in to try Tasty Burger in Harvard Square one random day and really enjoyed it. "I like it better than Shake Shack" said Bryan. We also had a lovely al fresco dinner at Belly Wine Bar in Cambridge near the end of the summer when they were featuring a ton of different Rosé wines.

For fun, this year I wrote a post about what I thought were Boston's Top 10 Restaurant Dishes. You can also find my recommendation for top restaurants to visit in Boston. Though the post was written in 2013, it's still reasonably current. I would probably add to it several of the excellent new restaurants from 2014, such as most of the ones I've mentioned above.

Miscellaneous

#Totoro100Days Series

I began a fun little series of posts on my social media accounts which I tagged with the hashtag #Totoro100Days. Totoro is a character from the Japanese animation film My Neighbor Totoro. I have loved Totoro since I was a kid and have collected various Totoro themed things throughout my life. My goal was to post a Totoro a day, sort of a photojournalistic record of all the Totoro things that I have amassed or made over the years.

I don't come close to owning 100 Totoro things, so I've had to get a little creative lately to complete my goal (e.g., making sand Totoros in Hawaii, snow Totoros in Boston, or all different sorts of Totoro foods). It's been a fun outlet for my creativity, especially during this holiday time when I have a bit more time at home to create all sorts of fun stuff in the kitchen. I love how these challenges sort of stretch me to cook, make, bake, or even learn new crafts in the pursuit of a goal (even if it's just a silly fun one).

The series is about to finish, seeing that we are on Day 94 today!

If you want to follow the final days of this self-imposed challenge, you can follow along on Instagram, Twitter, or Facebook to get the latest update.

New Blog Look!

In October of 2014, almost five years after christening "Tiny Urban Kitchen" as an official blog, I finally switched my blog from Blogger to WordPress. I had been thinking about doing it for a long time but just didn't have the energy to look into exactly what I needed to do. I finally decided that if I was ever going to get this done, I should just hire someone. Even though I pride myself in being able to learn how to do things on my own (e.g., up to this point I had personally designed, drawn, and built every single aspect of the blog myself), I knew for this project it would be worth the time and money to hire an expert.

I finally decided to work with Lisette from Northern Belle Diaries, who was great. Even though she was super busy during that time, she took time out of her busy schedule to walk me through the migration and answer all my burning questions (I had a lot and she was patient!). Overall, the migration went very smoothly and I was very pleased with the results. Lisette did a great job and her prices are very, very reasonable.

Currently, I am using ~~Bluehost {affiliate link}~~ (update! I now use Synthesis WordPress Hosting, which is pricier but fantastic) as my server and Shay Boch's Foodie WordPress theme. Overall I am very pleased with the performance of everything~~, though sometimes I wish Bluehost were just a tad faster (perhaps I need to upgrade to a more expensive plan - I'm on the most basic one right now)~~. Overall, I love the power of WordPress and how the Foodie theme has made it so much easier for me to make photo galleries of all different kinds. The overall blog is still a work in progress (I have seven years' worth of posts to catalog!), but I've already done a lot of work, and overall I am thrilled with the new look and functionality of the blog. I'm hoping it makes my content a lot easier to find!

I keep saying one of these days I want to write a more detailed post about what I did for the migration. I promise I haven't forgotten - one of these days!

* * * * *

Looking Ahead: 2015

I guess being busy is a good thing. Yes, time flies, but in a good way. I love being productive and I enjoy creating things. Traveling, cooking, photography, and writing this blog all allow me to do that at my own happy pace.

Thanks again all for coming on this journey with me. We'll see where 2015 leads. I don't ever make concrete, specific New Years resolutions. However, I always have general aspirational goals in mind.

I want to really improve my photography. Perhaps that means using a tripod at home (I have one - I usually just can't be bothered to set it up while I'm rushing to get dinner out!) or playing around with different filters and such for my landscape photography. Food stying is something I haven't spent much time on, but is something I know would bring my cooking shots to another level. Maybe this year.

I do want to cook more. I am a bit saddened by the paucity of recipe posts this past year. I'm hoping to dig a bit deeper into my Taiwanese heritage and learn some more classic dishes. I got David Chang's Momofuku book {affiliate link} for Christmas, so maybe I'll start working my way through that one.

Haleakala, Maui during sunset

I definitely want to continue exploring new experiences and new places. This past year I overcame my fear of the water and conquered open water diving (something that wasn't easy for me!). I'm hoping to be less scared and more willing to try new things, even if it's not naturally easy.

In the midst of all this busy-ness, I don't want to forget what's most important: quality time investing in my relationships with friends, family, and God. I want to set aside ample time to develop and maintain relationships I’ve made, both past and present. I think there’s some truth to the fact that it’s harder to make friends as you get older. Cherish (and foster!) the ones you already have.

Here's looking ahead to great new year.

2015 . . . here I come!

Up next . . . we continue series Hopping the Hawaiian Islands!

Food Republic (Indoor Hawker Stalls) - Singapore

November 28, 2014 by Jennifer Che

Food Republic Singapore

It's a new trend that's becoming more and more popular in Singapore and all around Asia: indoor food court concepts that comprise high quality (and highly sought after) hawker stall fare combined with mini restaurants. Food Republic is a well known chain that has established branded food courts at many of Singapore's most popular malls and tourist destinations.

The concept has even spread to other countries in the region. Food Republic has locations in Malaysia, Thailand, Hong Kong, and Taiwan.

It's not hard to see the appeal, especially in a location where outside temperatures and humidity can quickly become unbearable. Access to a bunch of different hawkers stalls in a comfortable air-conditioned space? Sign me up! Bonus: I can stop by for lunch before or after shopping!

My local Singaporean friend took me to a Food Republic at Vivo City /Sentosa Station for lunch before the two of us headed out to Sentosa for the afternoon. It was just the two of us, but we still managed to try several different types of food!...

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....

Thanksgiving Dinner at Daniel (NYC)

November 10, 2014 by Jennifer Che

Thanksgiving dinner at Daniel

What is your family tradition for Thanksgiving?

Being a daughter of immigrant parents from Taiwan, my Thanksgiving tradition was just a bit atypical. Not only did my mom dislike poultry (I ate very little chicken growing up), we just weren't a huge meat-eating family. Our dinners usually consisted of Chinese family-style dishes: two stir-fried vegetables, one meat (usually fish or pork), and a soup. (plus rice, of course!).

For Thanksgiving, we almost always had a hot pot, where family members would sit around a bubbling cauldron of flavorful broth and cook their own meat and vegetables. It was always fun and something I looked forward to every year.Bryan's mom, on the other hand, has always prepared a traditional Thanksgiving meal for as long as Bryan can remember, so that traditional is steeped deeply in his mind.

Thanksgiving is not Thanksgiving without turkey, cranberry sauce, stuffing, and mashed potatoes. Even though we haven't been able to go back to his hometown in California as much for Thanksgiving anymore, Bryan still insists on eating the traditional fixings, no matter where he is.Even if it's at a three star* Michelin restaurant in New York.

...

Little Penang Cafe (and visiting the Petronas Twin Towers and KLCC)

October 6, 2014 by Jennifer Che

This is the fourth post in the Malaysia and Singapore! series. Other posts in this series include Lot 10 Hutong - Kuala Lumpur's Most Famous Hawker Stalls Under One Roof, LaZat Malaysian Home Cooking, and Otak, Otak Fish Dumplings in Banana Leaf.One of the hardest parts of planning a food-oriented trip in a city I've never visited before is coordinating the sightseeing locations with the food. If I am not very familiar with the geography of a destination, I get overwhelmed reading Chowhound posts and various magazine articles which are usually only directed towards what to eat and not so much where they are located relative to the best places to sightsee.

As a result, I find myself struggling to connect the dots and overlay restaurant addresses, sightseeing locations, and subway maps. It's a bit exhausting. I swear, someday I am going to sit down and write a little eating guide for Boston that tells you what to visit and where to eat all in one go.

Anyway, I digress. The whole point of bringing that up was to say that we found a lovely little place to dine right in the middle of a heavily-trafficked tourist area in Kuala Lumpur.

Everyone who goes to Kuala Lumpur will visit the Petronas Twin Towers

These twin towers were the tallest buildings in the world from 1998 to 2004, when they were surpassed by Taipei 101. Currently, Burj Khalifa in Dubai holds the record. The Petronas Twin Towers continue to be the tallest twin towers in the world.

You can go up the elevator and walk across the Sky bridge (right above Domo in the photo above), as well as take the elevator all the way to the 86th floor to the observation deck at the top (RM 80, about $27 USD).

If you don't feel like doing all those activities, you can still shop in the attached mall called Suria KLCC (Kuala Lumpur City Center).

I soon learned something about restaurants in malls in Kuala Lumpur. They are good. Unlike the reputation that mall restaurants often have in the U.S. (mediocre chain restaurants), the restaurants in KL malls tend to be some of the best restaurants around.

We entered the fourth floor restaurant area of the mall and saw several restaurants. I saw Chinese, Japanese, Indian, Indonesian, Taiwanese . . . I was in heaven seeing the amazing diversity of Asian cuisines represented.

We noticed Little Penang Cafe had the longest line out front. Furthermore, it had pretty good online reviews.

When in doubt, follow the lines.

Thankfully, the line moved really, really fast. So fast, in fact, that I hardly had time to take a photo of the line. You can see Bryan is actually yelling at me in the photo, telling me to get back in line because the hostess had just called our name.

Oops! . . .

Service was very good. They must be very used to dealing with long lines. A server gave us menus and took our order while we were waiting in line.

When we sat down they immediately took our drink order. Enamored by the access to fresh fruit, I ordered a watermelon juice just because I could. Soon after, the food arrived.

Char Kway Teow is a Nyonya style noodle dish that consists of flat rice noodles stir fried in a wok over high heat with shrimp, bean sprouts, Chinese chives, egg, chicken in a gloriously flavorful sauce made with hot chili, belacan (fermented shrimp paste), and soy sauce. Here it is served over a banana leaf.

This was one of our first meals in Kuala Lumpur so we had nothing with which to compare it, but we loved it. It exploded with flavor, had a nice smoky wok "char", and the noodles had a good texture.

Penang style Hokkien Mee is a prawn noodle soup. The flavorful stock is made with dried shrimp, prawn heads, white pepper, and garlic. You get a choice of yellow noodles or vermicelli. I wasn't sure, so the server said, "why not both?" I said "sure." You can see both noodles in the photo.

The soup was fantastic, so richly full of so many complex flavors. The shrimp was a bit overcooked, but other than that it was very satisfying.

Pie Tee (also known as kueh pie tee or kuih pie tee) caught my eye the moment I saw a photo of it on a placard outside the restaurant. These are tiny deep fried crunchy spring roll cups filled with your typical popiah filling of jicama, carrots, and deep fried shallots. They were delicious little bites that burst with flavor.

All in all we had a lovely meal at Little Penang Cafe. It's a perfectly fine choice for lunch if you happen to be visiting the Petronas Twin Towers and the KLCC area. If the lines are too long for your liking, you can also consider checking out Madam Kwan's, another restaurant on the same level. Bryan ended up eating there the following day with coworkers (I think he had their signature nasi bojari fried chicken dish) and he said it was pretty good. Unfortunately, I have no photos from that meal since I wasn't there!

Afterwards, if it's not too hot outside, walk over to Bukit Bintang (10 minute walk away), one of the liveliest shopping districts in the city.

Little Penang Cafe
Suria KLCC 4th floor,
Kuala Lumpur City Centre
50088 Kuala Lumpur
Phone:+60 3-2163 0215

My Last Full Day in Argentina

August 7, 2014 by Jennifer Che

This is the tenth post in the Hello Argentina Series detailing my week-long trip in Buenos Aires, Argentina. Other posts include Hello Argentina, La Cabrera, La Rambla, Empanadas, Tamales, and Beer, Oh My!, Cabanas Las Lilas, Buenos Aires - Three Most Famous Ice Cream Shops, Chila, Elena, Oviedo, and Foto Ruta.

One nice thing about staying in a single city for an entire week is that you have lots of time to get to know it. Even though I was nervous about Buenos Aires when I first landed (I even hired a tour guide to take me around because I was afraid of traveling by myself), I got much more comfortable with the area by the end of the week. By the end of the week, I knew which neighborhood were pretty safe, and I even walked through several neighborhood by myself, exploring the vibrant city while checking out ice cream shops.

Tigre

However, my last day in Buenos Aires, I decided to call the woman who had been my guide on our first day. We'd gotten to know Mariana because we spent the whole day together exploring Tigre and Delta Terra in Argentina. She was the one who had shared with me what it was like to be living in a place whose economy is tanking.

I decided it would be more fun to explore Buenos Aires with a friend versus alone.

Since it was my last day in Buenos Aires, I had a very specific list of requests for me. This is what I wanted to do.

1. Have a choripan, a traditional Argentinian sausage sandwich that's typically served on the street.
2. Visit La Boca for the photos. This is one area of town that's not as safe, yet it is super colorful, vibrant, and great for photography. After enjoying photography so much with Foto Ruta a few days earlier, I really wanted to go back and try to photograph it some more with a different eye.
3. Visit the famous cafe, Cafe Tortoni, for churros.

Mariana smiled in amusement and said, "you want to eat a choripan? OK, let me call my friend."

Immediately called one of her drivers and asked him where his favorite choripan place was.

And then we were off.

1. Get a Choripan

We walked about 10-15 minutes from my hotel and stumbled upon a long row of outdoor grill places. It was fascinating to see. So many open-air places grilling up all sorts of meat.

The smell was intoxicating.

After walking a few minutes, we came upon the place that she said was highly recommended. It looked very unassuming from the outside, but the line that formed afterwards indicated and affirmed its popularity. (We came around 11AM so it was still early when I took this photo).

The choripan was phenomenal. I can't even exactly describe why it was so good. The spiced chorizo sausage was juicy and flavorful, and the topping had all sorts of exotic spices. Overall it was just really satisfying.

Seriously, it's one of my most memorable bites of the entire trip.

They had tons of different types of fresh herbs and toppings that you could add on top.

2. La Boca

Getting to La Boca took awhile. We ended up taking a taxi in order to save time. I was a bit nervous because it wasn't one of those more reputable "radio taxis" that they always recommend foreigners get. However, Mariana could speak the language and she seemed to know what she was doing, so it turned out alright. It was cheaper, though I didn't appreciate the fact that the driver basically chain smoked the entire ride.

Anyway, we finally arrived at La Boca.

It was mid afternoon at this point, and the sun was beating STRONG from above. Even though Emma had told us not to be afraid of direct sunlight, I still struggled to get good pictures. I've included a few of the better ones above, but overall I think I was hoping for more interesting backdrops, like the ones I'd seen in San Telmo during my photography workshop.

2. Cafe Tortoni

Cafe Tortoni is one of the most famous cafes in Buenos Aires. This Parisian-style cafe was opened since 1858 by a Frenchman.

It was a place where people came to philosophize, talk about politics, and debate. Many famous people have stopped by here, including Albert Einstein, Hillary Clinton, and the King of Spain, Juan Carlos de Borbón. The interior is huge and beautiful, with tall chandeliers, antique style chairs, and a really warm and authentic atmosphere.

Note: I went at an off time when there weren't any tour buses. I think it sometimes fills with tourists, and the line can go out the door.

I ordered one of their signature dishes, the Churros with a Café con Leche (espresso with milk). Everything was good. Most importantly, it was the combination of the grand space, the storied location, and the delicious authentic food that made the experience very special.

Mariana and I ended up walking back to my hotel, which took about 30-45 minutes. I appreciated her willingness to walk such a long distance in the hot summer sun while chatting with me.

It was a fun afternoon, and I'm glad I didn't do it alone.

When we parted, it felt like I was saying good-by to a new friend.

"I hope to be back someday" I said, "and I hope things get better in Buenos Aires."

I sincerely meant it.

Our front and center mezzanine seats at the Tango show (can you see Bryan?)

Mariana Jimenez is listed in the Frommer's Guide as well as the New York Times as a recommended private tour guide in Buenos Aires. She took us to Tigre for a day trip and also set us up with an excellent Tango dinner show (not to mention she got us a great discount for the tickets + the best seats in the house).

I found her prices to be very reasonable, especially compared to other tour companies who take a chunk off the top before paying their local tour guides.

You can reach her at mariana.v. [email protected].

Area Four {Snapshot}

July 4, 2014 by Jennifer Che

Area Four

This is a {Snapshot} of Area Four, a Cambridge restaurant that I first wrote about in 2012.

It may be surprising to those who know me that a pizza restaurant would be one of my favorite places in Cambridge. After all, isn't pizza associated with unhealthy things like carb-filled crusts, high fat gooey cheeses, and very little vegetables?

Perhaps.

Interestingly, what drew me most to Area Four (initially) was actually not their pizzas (even though they are also great). It was their salads.

I love Area Four's salads.

City Grower's Mixed Greens
They are chock full of of farm fresh vegetables, perfectly dressed, and just taste really good and healthy. Everything from their simple Shaved Brussels sprouts salad in the winter to their current summer "City Grower's Mixed Greens" is thoughtfully designed and well executed. The menu changes constantly, reflecting the seasons.

I guess it's no surprise, considering that chef-owner Michael Leviton is a huge proponent of local and sustainable produce. In fact, he was recently appointed the chair of Chefs Collaborative, a national nonprofit network of chefs committed to local foods and fostering a sustainable food supply.

A few weeks ago Area Four invited me to come and try their new summer menu. They recently revamped their menu to make it a bit simpler and more focused. The menu now just consists of two sections: "Pizza" and "Not Pizza".

"Not Pizza" includes their excellent salads as well as appetizers (e.g., mac & cheese or Thai squid salad) and even a roasted half chicken ($20). For the first time I tried their "Garlic Knots", soft, focaccia-like bread literally tied into knots and baked. These cheese dusted pillows were delicious, and all too dangerously addictive.

"Pizza", of course, refers to the different types of pizzas available. Although there are some longstanding favorites that will always remain on the menu (like the Sausage and Banana Pepper or the Clam and Bacon pizza), there are always seasonal offerings as well.

Their wood-fired pizza is excellent and one of my favorites in the city (along with Emma's, my other favorite in Cambridge). Chef Mike Leviton (of Lumiere) and co-founder Michael Krupp did a ton of research before settling on this crust which is super thin like a New Haven style pizza but has the puffy edge like the classic Neapolitan-style pizza. The crust is actually a sourdough crust, made from a 12 year old starter which is fermented for three days. The sourdough crust is a bit chewier than New Haven style and is pretty mild in flavor (not too sour at all).

I love the seasonal, farm fresh focus, like this fun spring-themed pizza, which included a green pesto, fresh arugula, pickled red onions, and lots of English peas. It's like having one of their delicious salads right on top of the pizza.

They have a pretty decent beer selection, including many local craft beers. One of my favorites: Night Shift Brewing Company's (located in Everett, MA!) Viva Habanera, a ryle ale brewed with aged habanero peppers.

Desserts are simple but good. They make their own soft serve, and serve it with a bunch of different fun toppings. You can also order excellent coffee from the attached bakery cafe, made with beans from Barrington Roasters (one of my favorites!). I like to order to cortado every time I go as a way to finish off my meal.
Area Four is often my go-to place to visit with friends for a number of reasons.

1) The food is great and can be quite healthy (depending on what you order)
2) It's fun to try more pizzas with a group
3) The prices are reasonable
4) There's parking (if not on the street there is a lot nearby) and
5) I love being able to pick up a fantastic espresso-based drink on my way out the restaurant

Area Four recently opened its second location, called A4 Pizza, in Union Square in Somerville as well as a food truck. The Somerville location is where some of the newest recipe ideas are first tested before they are rolled out in the Cambridge location. So if you want to try their more experimental pizzas, definitely check out the Somerville location!

I've yet to visit either one since the Cambridge one is so convenient for me, but hopefully someday if I'm in Somerville I'll stop by.

Area Four
500 Technology Square
Cambridge, MA 02139

Disclaimer: this meal was paid for by Area Four. All opinions are my own.

Napa Wine Train

June 5, 2014 by Jennifer Che

This is the fifth post in the Quick Weekend Getaway to Napa / Sonoma Series. Other posts in this series include: Benzinger Family Winery, Jack London State Park, Mayo Family Winery, and Crisp Bake Shop.

The year was 1859.

Samuel Brannan, California's first millionaire, had just discovered the amazing hot springs in the area of Napa valley now called Calistoga. He built a resort there, named the area Calistoga, and in 1864, built a railroad to bring people from San Francisco to the resort.

Napa Wine Train

The railroad had a rocky and unstable history. It was sold at a foreclosure sale, bounced around different owners, and hobbled along serving a variety of purposes until 1987, when it was petitioned for abandonment. A company called Napa Valley Railroad decided to acquire rights to use the railway as a tourist wine train.

The Napa Wine Train, which leaves from the city of Napa, has been operating since then. It runs up and down the heart of Napa Valley, passing through the towns of Yountville (Hello Thomas Keller!), Oakville, Rutherford, and ending in St. Helena.

Bridge you walk down as you board the train.

The company has set up various types of "tours" which typically consist of a gourmet multi-course meal on the train and then a wine tasting, a winery visit, a castle tour, or some other fun excursion. These tours are done inside different types of restored antique railcars from the turn of the century.

Bryan and I had a chance to check out the Napa Wine Train during our visit to Napa a couple months ago. The train station was conveniently located right across the street from our hotel, the Westin Verasa in Napa, and thus it was a cinch to just roll out of bed and walk over to the train in the morning.

We enjoyed a Champagne Vista Dome Lunch ($149). The Vista Dome is one of the more private rail cars that offers a special multi-course meal prepared by a separate kitchen dedicated just to this car.

Here's the special kitchen that just serves the Vista Dome car. You can see they are working on the first appetizer.

There are many different types of cars that each have different themes. This fancy dining car is part of the "Gourmet Express Package" ($119), which involves having part of your meal in this car, and then switching to the more interactive "lounge car" (pictured below) for dessert.

The comfy chairs in the middle swivel around so it's quite interactive. If you were here with a bunch of friends, it would be a cool place to just hang out and chat.

There's also a dedicated wine tasting car, where you can taste a flight of four different wines (out of their collection of over 30 wines) for $10. Here's our wine educator, Miyuki, who ran the wine bar on our ride.

There's a the more casual Silverado Car, which has open windows and tons of light. I love light, so I was personally drawn to this car even though it was more casual.

The windows open, so it's really refreshing when the weather's good. During the summer the Silverado Car also serves fun themed meals, such as barbecue or other summer-inspired menus.

Here's the large kitchen that serves the Petit Gourmet and the Gourmet Express cars.

They decided to put a window along the entire hallway so that diners could walk by and watch the chefs at work.

We started our Champagne Vista Dome Lunch with a glass of "champagne". I put that in quotes because they mostly feature California wines (for obvious reasons!), which are technically not champagnes since they don't come from Champagne, France. For this meal, we started with a Domaine Chandon Brut from Yountville, one of the cities that the train passes through.

Our first appetizer was a Smoked Salmon Crepe which came with creme fraiche, American caviar, and a honey onion marmalade. he crepes were nice and soft, and the classic combination of smoked salmon, creme fraiche, and caviar was delicious. Overall, the balance of flavors and textures was quite nice.

We then had a Red and Green Apple Endive Salad which was tossed with Gorgonzola cheese and hazelnuts in a mustard vinaigrette. I'm not a huge fan of Gorgonzola, so I didn't love it, but Bryan thought it was pretty good.

The Soup du Jour was a cream of asparagus soup with cheese and croutons. The flavor reminded me of cream of broccoli, but made instead with asparagus.

I got the Special of the Day, which was a white fish (halibut maybe?) served with shrimp, fresh avocado, spinach, asparagus, and carrots. This dish was well executed - perfectly seasoned and cooked just enough that it was done but still very soft. The portion size was generous and the flavors were very enjoyable. In fact, Bryan actually liked it better than his own dish.

Bryan got the Roasted Beef Tenderloin (aka filet mignon) because it was highly recommended by our server. It came on a vegetable-potato saute served in a Zinfandel reduction and topped with horseradish cream. Bryan asked for his beef rare but received what he thought was medium rare (pictured above). It's possible he should have asked for "blue", because the second tenderloin that they sent out was still cooked a bit more than he preferred. Overall the dish was OK. It's not the most interesting preparation, but it is reasonably safe and would appeal to a wide audience.

We tried two desserts. The Classic Creme Brulee came with an assortment of berries. I've always been a fan of creme brulee, so I really enjoyed it.

The second dessert, Chocolate Tiramisu, is one of the most popular desserts.

Imagine a normal tiramisu covered in chocolate and then served with a mound of thinly sliced almonds and a dusting of cocoa powder. I thought it was pretty good and we easily finished off both desserts.

The train ride is about three hours long, but seemed to go by much more quickly because of the multi-course meal.

The scenery is gorgeous.

Essentially, the train follows Route 29, which is lined with beautiful vineyards and cute towns along the way. The day we went, the weather was perfect, and thus we enjoyed beautiful views for miles. The Vista Dome Car is nice because there are a ton of windows but they are just slightly tinted, allowing you to enjoy the vast views without having to wear sunglasses. The servers were friendly, and often would point out landmarks or tell us historical tidbits.

Bryan and I had picked up a really nice bottle of wine from a local wine shop in Napa to enjoy on the train. There's a corkage fee, but it's only $15 a bottle, which isn't too bad. The wine train itself offers a small collection of 30-40 bottles they sell on the train as well.

I wasn't sure what to expect, but I was really surprised how much I enjoyed the train ride and meal. Iwas afraid the experience would feel touristy, but it wasn't really like that. Instead, it felt like a long and relaxing lunch with good wine, enjoyable food, and stunning scenery around us.

We ended up having some really good, solid conversation during those three hours. The Vista Dome Car is especially good for conversation because it is a bit quieter and more private than the other cars. Unlike the other cars (which encourage visitation), the Vista Dome car is roped off and can only be accessed by the people dining there. This means you won't have random people walking up and down your car as much.

I didn't get a chance to try any of the tours, but they sound like fun. There are tours that include a nice multi-course meal and a stop at winery like Domaine Chandon (gorgeous winery by the way - $169), Grgich Hills Winery ($149), or Raymond Vineyards ($169). There's another tour that includes a visit to a castle, Castello di Amorosa ($209). One of the most popular dinners during the summer is one that's served during the sunset.

The food is not the primary reason to take this train. It's fine, but it's not that interesting. Napa Valley is one of the best food destinations in the country. There are plenty of better restaurants to visit if incredible food is your primary goal.

You come here for the overall experience. I think it would be a great venue for a large group of friends or an extended family gathering. The food is fine, not super adventurous, and reasonably safe, which means your parents, grandparents, and kids should all find something to enjoy.

It could even be nice for a couple who just wants to have a few hours alone - away from everyone else - in order to enjoy wine, stunning scenery in a unique setting, and great conversation.

Cheers!

Disclaimer: This trip was set up for me by the Sonoma Valley Visitor's Bureau. Bryan and I did not pay for the dinner. All opinions are my own.

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!

Buenos Aires - Three Most Famous Ice Cream Shops

April 25, 2014 by Jennifer Che

This is the fourth post in the Hello Argentina Series detailing my week-long trip in Buenos Aires, Argentina. Other posts include Hello Argentina, La Cabrera, La Rambla, and Empanadas, Tamales, and Beer, Oh My!It's no surprise that an area known for its beef will also be known for its leather and milk-based products. Although I had always heard about Argentina's famously good beef, I never quite made the mental connection to ice cream (or leather, for that matter).

It wasn't until I arrived in Argentina that I realized that Argentinians are obsessed with good ice cream, and the standards are ridiculously high here.

Although I only had a week in Buenos Aires, I made it my mission to at least try the three most famous spots (and then some).

I purposely made a point of trying flavors that are not as readily available in the U.S., such as anything with dulce de leche, alfajores, or other more local flavors. The summer weather made my ice cream project all the more fun, and I came away with the conclusion that you almost can't go wrong when it comes to ice cream in Argentina.

1. Freddo

Freddo is one of the most well-known and largest chains in Buenos Aires. It started as a family-owned business in 1969. According to most reports, Freddo changed the landscape of ice cream in Argentina, raising people's standards and expectations of what good ice cream should be.

Freddo is most famous for its dulce de leche ice cream, which is fantastic. It's super thick, creamy, smooth, and has a lovely rich flavor. It's most similar to the texture of Toscanini's ice cream back home.

What I love about all ice cream shops in Buenos Aires is that they have a whole section devoted to dulce de leche, a rich, caramel-like Argentinian sauce made from cooking milk and sugar over low heat for hours until it slowly caramelizes. It's fabulous and Argentinians are obsessed with it. They put it on everything!

At Freddo, dulce de leche serves as a base for a variety of flavors, including ones that incorporate chocolate, nuts, brownies, or all other sorts of mix-ins.

Of course, if you can't find the mix-in you want, Freddo offers a variety of additional toppings.

One fun special item they had were ice cream alfajores. An alfajor is a popular sandwich cookie in Argentina that contains dulce de leche sandwiched between two chocolate cookies. The entire cookie can be covered in chocolate, but not always.

Freddo offered a fun ice cream version that contained dulce de leche ice cream inside instead of the traditional dulce de leche. Although it was fun to try, I soon realized that I don't actually really like the flavor of the alfajor cookie (I'm not sure what spice they use, but it's something that I don't like).

I still loved the dulce de leche ice cream from Freddo, which became my benchmark.

2. Un Altra Volta

Interestingly enough, the top three ice cream chains in Buenos Aires are all influenced by the same family. The original founding family sold off Freddo in the 1990's to a corporation. They then opened Un Altra Volta in 2002, which sold that same fantastic ice creambut also offered coffee and pastries.

The ambiance at Un Altra Volta is modern and chique. There is a nice assortment of fun cone sizes (I love the waffle bowls!) as well as many flavors, including (again), a separate dulce de leche section.

I couldn't help but get one of those super cute waffle bowls as well as a couple different flavors. It's perfectly normal in Argentina to order two flavors, even if you're only ordering one "scoop." I always took advantage of that feature.

This ice cream was very tasty too, but for some reason I slightly preferred my ice cream at Freddo. I'm not sure why - I think this one had a slightly less dense texture, which was something I really liked about the one I had at Freddo.

In some ways it's not fair the way I'm comparing these ice cream shops because I am not ordering the exact same ice cream at each location. I also think I didn't like this particular scoop as much because I found it to be too sweet. Instead of ordering a plain dulce de leche scoop, I ordered one that had extra nuts, caramel, and all sorts of other sweet goodies. For some, this would be heaven. For me, it turned out to be too sweet.

I still think the ice cream is generally excellent. I would just stick with my favorite, plain and simple flavors.

3. Persicco

Persicco is the third rung of the ice cream triumvirate in Buenos Aires. Also opened by the family that originally opened Freddo (yes, this family has revolutionized ice cream in Buenos Aires!), Persicco offers different types of waffle bowls (just as cute, but slightly larger) as well as an assortment of cute bean-shaped take-out containers.

We stopped by Persicco on our second full day walking around Buenos Aires. The first day I had tried the dulce de leche at Freddo so I wanted to try something completely different.

Our tour guide, Nestor (who took us to some fantastic food places a well), highly recommended the marscapone with strawberries ice cream flavor, which he said was another one of his favorites.

The marscapone ice cream was good, but for me, the fruit jam was way too sweet. I think in general the Argentinian palate is sweeter than a typical Asian palate, so it's generally harder for me to adjust. I found that I most preferred the plain flavors, most notably dulce de leche.

I wish I'd had a chance to try more of their flavors. Many people cite Persicco as their favorite of the top three chains. If I'd had more time, I would have loved to try their version of dulce de leche or other interesting flavors.

4. Banova Helado Artesanal
Banova Helado Artesanal {website} was an ice cream shop we just stumbled upon while walking around in Buenos Aires. I was craving an ice cream cone at the time (it was hot there!) and this place seemed pretty good.

At this point in the week I had learned my lesson about my ice cream preferences and stuck with dulce de leche. It was delicious here, which makes me wish all the more I'd had time to go back to all the other ice cream places again to try their dulce de leche.

Next time.

Revisiting Freddo

No, I'm not doing the Asian "peace sign" thing. I'm actually indicating that it was my second ice cream that day. On our last day in Argentina, we took a day trip across the water to visit Colonia City in Uraguay. It was there that I had my first really bad ice cream cone. I can't even remember the name of the place anymore. I was just so disappointed that deep down inside, I felt like I wanted another good ice cream cone to make up for it.

Domo in Colonia City

At the end of the day (right before we had to board the boat to cross back to Argentina), we spotted a Freddo in Uraguay. I was hesitant, but Bryan knew my deep down desires and dragged me into the Freddo so I could get my redemptive cone.

And it was so worth it.

And that was my last ice cream cone in South America before we boarded an airplane to head back to the States.

* * * * *

I really can't complain about not having access to Argentinian ice cream now. Boston has some of the best ice cream in the country and I'm very happy eating at my local favorite places. However, I've never seen such a variety of dulce de leche ice cream flavors under one roof; nor are there countries I've visited (with maybe the exception of Italy - mmmm, gelato), where ice cream everywhere is just really, really good. It's truly something unique to Argentina which I'll miss a lot.

Sweet potato ice cream from Chila

Morton's Steak House (Boston)

January 23, 2014 by Jennifer Che

My company offices just moved to Fan Pier in Boston, right on the waterfront. I'll be starting a new, ongoing series on the Seaport District of Boston as I begin exploring all the restaurants in this new neighborhood!

Bryan travels a lot for work and it comes in waves. Fall is typically bad. The spring has pockets of intense travel as well. It's during those times that I tend to hunker down at home, cooking random stuff alone since I don't really enjoy eating out by myself.

It was at the end of one of these long business trips that Bryan told me he really wanted steak. He had been traveling all over the world, visiting many foreign countries where steak (or meat, for that matter) was not really a part of the local diet. By the end of his two week trip, he was craving a good steak.

One of Bryan's co-workers had kindly given him a gift card to Morton's, a well-known high-end steakhouse chain based out of Chicago. So the day after stepping off that plane, we headed into Boston to check out one of the last few remaining steak houses in Boston that I had yet to ever try.

For years Morton's was located in Boston's trendy Back Bay neighborhood. Bryan had eaten there numerous times for work dinners and such. More recently, Boston's Seaport area has slowly become more and more developed. The Boston Convention Center opened up a few years ago, bringing in many restaurants to the area. In early January 2014, even my own workplace moved out to that area.

Morton's is now in the Seaport area as well. In fact, the Seaport area seems to be filled with many expense-account friendly restaurants that are safe for business dinners. Other businesses in the area include Legal Harborside, Del Frisco's, and Smith & Wollensky.

We started with their signature loaf of onion bread, which is huge (especially for two people), but a great way to curb the growling hunger pangs.

We had the Jumbo Lump Crabmeat Cocktail as an appetizer, which was highly recommended by our server. The crabmeat was fresh and high quality, though the overall dish itself was not particularly exciting.

Bryan got his favorite - the bone-in ribeye. A signature steak preparation at Morton's is the use of butter on the steaks. You can choose from a variety of flavors. We both chose the black truffle butter, which was very nice.

All the steaks at Morton's are USDA Prime and are dry-aged 23-28 days. Our steaks were cooked a perfect medium rare (check out that grilling in the photo above!) and tasted great with the butter sauce.

We were pleased to find that they offered wine from Jarvis Estates, one of our favorite wines from Napa Valley (the tour of their winery is super fun and the wine is delicious!). Because Jarvis wine is so hard to get here in Massachusetts, we decided to order a bottle to go with our steaks.

For fun we ordered a basket of Parmesan and Truffle Matchstick Fries, which was pretty good, but still not the best truffle fries in the city.
The sauteed Brussels Sprouts with bacon were solid, a nice healthy counterpoint to everything else we were eating.

Their desserts are huge and can easily be shared. Even though I'm always a sucker for key lime pie, we decided to go for their signature item, Morton's Legendary Hot Chocolate Cake (the sacrifices I make for this blog!).

It was like a classic molten chocolate cake, and it was well executed.

To celebrate his return to Boston (or may just to celebrate life?), Bryan ordered a nice scotch for dessert (I believe it was a MacCallan 25).

All in all, it was a fun outing. The steaks are definitely high quality, the service was good, and the overall experience is pleasant. This is a good, safe place to have a work dinner or a client meeting. I can totally see why it would thrive in this location, right next to the convention center.

The menu basically never changes, so if you want creative, innovative cuisine, this is not the place for you. This is the type of place you go to for familiarity, comfort, and safety. You come here after you've been traveling the world and just want to feel like you're home again.

For Bryan after that crazy international trip, this was just the thing he was looking for.

Morton's Steak House
Seaport Ln
Boston, MA 02210