Deep-fried in a hurry

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I haven't seen a business associate for quite a few years, and he very kindly offered to treat me to lunch while he's in town. I was a little taken aback when Ippoh (一宝) was suggested, but I figured this was a good opportunity to return and see how I feel about the place after a few years.

We didn't have a lot of time, so I suggested we switch from the special menu that had been booked to the short course Yuki (雪) - cutting the restaurant's revenue in half. I felt bad for the chef, but we would not have finished lunch in time otherwise.

I know I was 10 minutes late to lunch, but I don't think that warranted the lack of explanation for the appetizer. We have some broad beans, Chinese yam (山芋), and a soft-boiled egg together with ponzu (ポン酢) jelly.

No baseball bat tonight

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One is meant to give a gift made of wood to one's spouse on the fifth wedding anniversary. I only remembered about the tradition of anniversary gifts some time this morning, and briefly contemplated trying to buy a small, wooden mallet as a joke to give to Foursheets. When I told her about it later in the day, she scoffed at the idea of a mallet and suggested that I get her a baseball bat instead, since it's much harder and would do much more damage thanks to its mass. Well... I'm glad there isn't one around the house.

My day actually started with me singing the Bee Gees' hit Stayin' Alive - my anthem for having survived another year of marriage. Besides a little celebratory dance with me tryin' a little move from Tony Manero, the main celebration would be dinner at Caprice. It was, in fact, where we exchanged our vows and got married... and Hairy Legs had very kindly moved our booking to the Chef's Table - the actual place where it all happened 5 years ago.

2025 mooncake roundup

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We had just celebrated Mid-Autumn Festival (中秋節) earlier this week, and that meant I'd been munching my way through a few mooncakes. As was the case in the last few years, I mostly chomp on mooncakes I buy for myself - and for mom - and I'm actually grateful that I don't receive the flood of mooncakes that I see my friends getting. The reality is that I'm the only one in our household who consumes them - well, other than the occasional bits for CC Dogcow - so the only ones I want around the house are ones that I actually want to eat.

This year mom has requested that I bring her some Suzhou-style mooncakes (蘇式月餅) with flaky pastry, specifically with jujube paste (棗泥) filling. This isn't something I buy often, and I don't even have a regular supplier for this... so I figured I would try some and buy them for mom if they passed my taste test.

Jujube paste mooncakes (棗泥月餅) from Siu Ning Bo (小寧波) - I remember buying these a few years ago and they were pretty decent, so I bought them again.

Wagyu in the Valley

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Due to scheduling conflicts, I wasn't able to meet up with my Korean Kohai while we were in Seoul last month. Luckily he and his family were coming back to Hong Kong for a few days, and we managed to meet up over dinner tonight. As it's a very busy week for Foursheets and I in terms of dining out, I chose a place we like very much which doesn't force us to take long set menus... which takes me back to Locanda.

When I asked about pre-ordering dishes, someone practically circled half the menu... orz. We ended up picking 2 main courses ahead of time, and figured we could order the rest after we arrived.

Hokkaido scallop, crispy potato, broccolini purée, fennel salad - this looked a little more charred than I was expecting...

...but turned out pretty well.

Birthday is better without bluefin

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We haven't had good sushi in a while, and part of the reason was Kaki-san leaving Shikon by Yoshitake (すし 志魂) to return to Japan. Foursheets finally got her sushi craving and asked for it for her birthday, and she requested a return to Sushi Fujimoto (鮨ふじもと). We've enjoyed our previous visits there, so it made sense as her default option.

Not everyone arrived on time as instructed, so a few of us had to wait for 10 minutes or so before Fujimoto-san gave up and started service. At some sushiyas (鮨屋) in Japan, these late comers would not be given a scolding or not be allowed to book again, as tardiness is a cardinal sin - especially as sushiyas where the guests are served the same pieces together.

We first started with a cup of abalone soup. This was lovely with lots of flavor.