Cinq années

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Five years ago today, our dear Bro Bro crossed the rainbow bridge. In the immediate aftermath of this devastating loss, Foursheets asked to have dinner at Nikushou because she couldn't be bothered cook, and couldn't think of anywhere to go eat. So we had a few cut of beef at our favorite yakiniku (焼肉) joint and washed it down with a bottle of wine.

We returned to Nikushou for the next 4 years and established the tradition of just having simple, delicious food with a bottle of wine. Unfortunately, Nikushou closed its doors days after Bro Bro's 4th anniversary. Tonight we needed fo find an alternative venue, and I defaulted to La Maison - another place whose food we enjoy without too much fuss. And they don't charge corkage.

I was late to dinner due to a work call, and when I stepped in to the restaurant, every single table was occupied. The space was very lively, unlike the few quiet evenings I have spent here in the past. There was even a singer on stage entertaining the guests.

I've always liked the bread they serve here. It's never anything fancy, but it comes out warm and generally tasty enough.

40-year-old Fortune

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We last saw DaRC and Ro Ro a few weeks ago before they jetted off, and they're about to do that again for a European tour, so we arranged to meet up for a couple of bottles. I asked for a place with decent glassware and decanters, where corkage wouldn't break the bank and, naturally, air conditioned. The decision was made to book us into the Fortune Room (幸運閣) at the Hong Kong Jockey Club, a place I haven't been back to in more than a decade.

This was a rare opportunity for me to completely step back from ordering. In fact, I didn't even look at the menu. At all. Members who know the menu well call the shots.

Crispy Bombay duck fish • fermented tofu (醬豆腐炸九肚魚) - thicker batter than expected, and the batter also had more flavor thanks to the fermented tofu.

Guest of Centurion

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Mr Birdiegolf is normally the silent one, so I was a little surprised when he pinged me... and not in our usual chat group, either. Would I be interested in attending an American Express Centurion gala dinner with him? Ahleeso, not surprisingly, has a date with sushi and would be unavailable. Well... I didn't know what this gala dinner was about, but hey... since I didn't have to pay for it, I was more than happy to be the 'plus one' for an evening.

As it turned out, this was to celebrate the 25th anniversary of American Express Centurion card in Hong Kong. The powers that be asked The Great One to 'curate' the dinner for the evening, but no one knew the details about dinner. So of course I checked with my friend, who mentioned to me that she asked Vicky Cheng (of VEA and Wing), Zaiyu Hasegawa (長谷川在佑, of DEN 傳), and "Pam" Pichaya Soontornyanakij (of Potong) to come and create a menu together. Well... that made things more interesting for me... and I thought it would be worthwhile to show up.

The event was held in the Grand Ballroom at the Rosewood Hong Kong. The dress code was "timeless elegance", and neither Mr Birdiegolf nor I had any clue what it meant. I knew that with this kind of crowd, many of the ladies would be dressed to the nines in cocktail dresses or something more formal, and many of the men would be in suits or black tie. I knew damn well that Mr Birdiefolf wasn't going in black tie, and not even in a boring suit... so I down-shifted on my outfit and wore something nice enough but not quite formal for the evening.

The two of us knew practically no one - and we had zero interest in having photos of ourselves taken with hired models in Roman centurion costumes - so after entering the event space we quickly found our way to the very back of the Centurion Bar like a couple of wallflowers, and just sipped on some Champagne. The one person we did know was The Great One, and I managed to coax her out of hiding to come talk to us for a while. We all felt a little easier in each others' company.

We took our seats at our table as dinner officially started. Guests were asked to scan a QR Code on the table, which initially revealed only the identities of the chefs cooking for us tonight. This had, apparently, been a secret that Amex staff either did not know or could not reveal to Centurion members - in what they called a "Black Box". In addition to the three chefs The Great One mentioned to me, Jonathan Soukdéo - the Executive Pastry Chef of the Rosewood Hong Kong - would be presenting two desserts. There was some fuss made about the "revelation" of the black box, after which the full menu became available after scanning the QR Code again.

Disappointment in the valley

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I find it hard to believe that it's been half a year since I last saw Ms. Hurricane, but such is her busy schedule traversing the globe. We managed to set up dinner for tonight, and she suggested we give Hong Kong Cuisine 1983 (壹玖捌叁) a try. I've tried the cuisine here a few times, but it's been quite a few years... and Chef Silas Li has since taken over the kitchen. I was very curious, then, to see what updates he would bring.

Ms. Hurricane suggested that we take the restaurant's tasting menu, and we thought it made sense to follow the recommendations of the person who knows the restaurant best. The staff then recommended we add the optional fish course, which we readily agreed to. My focus tonight was on the wines, so I was happy to just follow lah...

Right off the bat, we are getting some tableside service. It's been a few years since I last saw a restaurant dip stuff into liquid nitrogen in front of the diner, so this would be interesting...

Frozen salted kumquat parfait with sweet dried tangerine powder (冷凍鹹柑桔芭菲配香甜陳皮粉) - MEH. I was a big fan of molecular gastronomy, and still love it when it's done properly. This was not it.

Salmon roe celeriac purée tart with pickled Buddha's hand (三文魚子西芹頭蓉撻配老香櫞) - this was more interesting because, in the middle of all the cured salmon eggs that I love, we've got a few chunks of pickled Buddha's hand rind adding some sweetness. Quelle surprise!

Goose after wine

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We started drinking around 12ish, and continued past 7pm. Although we had a pretty big lunch, the skies were getting dark and it just felt like dinner time. Having mansplained to Champagne Diva and her daughters about how Cantonese typically chooses roast goose over Peking duck, it was time for us to show her. So we grabbed a couple of taxis and headed to my favorite Yat Lok (一樂燒鵝).

Boss lady is surprised to see Foursheets and I for the second night in a row, and we had a party of five. Thankfully we didn't have to wait too long for everyone to arrive, and we got seated pretty quickly after that.

Half roast goose (燒鵝半隻) - many Europeans never gets the opportunity to eat goose, and this is one of the best places to do it. With this many mouths to feed, half a goose was just about perfect. After all these years, I still love the spices I taste on the skin... and of course the meat, too.