The sun rises from the west

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It was in September of 2014 that I last walked down the steps to the dining room of Ho Lee Fook (口利福). By that time I had already decided not to patronize outlets run by Black Sheep Restaurants, but made an exception to join The Great One on her review of the then-newly-opened restaurant. I managed to walk out alive and did not require any trips to the hospital, and since then have chosen not to tempt fate any further. My long-running boycott of Black Sheep continued for the next 10 years, and all my friends knew not to invite me when they chose to give them business.

My stance softened after a meeting with the restaurant group's founder in the middle of last year, and I did pay a visit to one of their restaurants for a casual lunch not long after. But I was otherwise in no rush to explore the restaurants in their portfolio, as I mostly stuck to places I am comfortable going to. There had to be a good reason for me to want to patronize one of their outlets.

That reason arrived on a flight from London today. S is back in town and wanted to check off more places on her hit list, and the first one was Ho Lee Fook. I did tell her that I was no longer averse to patronize Black Sheep Restaurants, and I would be willing to join her if she made the arrangements. So here I am... and I even roped in a couple of guys to come with us.

My friend had been in touch with Gabe about menu arrangements, and since I hadn't been here for 10 years, I left the choice entirely up to her. I knew that we would be getting some seafood from the market, the preparations of which sounded surprisingly traditional for a restaurant with a reputation for serving what Foursheets calls "gweilo-friendly Chinese food".

“Prawn Toast x Okonomiyaki”, Kewpie mayonnaise, Bull-Dog Sauce, shaved cabbage, aonori (「蝦多士 x 大阪燒」配丘比蛋黃醬、日式喼汁、椰菜絲及紫菜) - we were told that this has been "on the menu for 10 years", although I didn't manage to taste it the last time I was here.

Wine and goose

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We're back in Hong Kong and Foursheets decided to have a small dinner to welcome in the new year of the snake. We took our house guest to our current favorite Chiuchow restaurant Noble Imperial (尚御潮滷居), as authentic Chiuchow cuisine isn't easily available in Toronto

An order had been placed for flower crab when the booking was made, but the boss notified us upon arrival that they didn't have any decent ones to serve us, so a substitution was made.

Chilled razor clams Chiuchow-style (潮式凍蟶子) - this was something we always enjoyed on previous visits, and tonight the soy-and-chili sauce - with the Sichuan peppercorn oil numbing and tingling the tongue - managed to highlight the sweetness of the razor clams. Really fresh and delicious.

More girlie drinks in Taipei

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We're back in Taiwan again to spend more time with the Parental Units, and after running around shopping for ingredients and some cooking prep, Foursheets needed a place to unwind and meet up with Little Rabbit. During our last trip home, Foursheets took a liking to the girlie izakaya we discovered, so she decided that's where we should have our first dinner on this trip, before most of Taiwan shuts down for the Chinese New Year break.

We were once again seated in the Old Town West (老城西。酒食製作所) part of the space, but not at the bar counter this time. With an additional mouth to feed, Foursheets's secret plan was to order up a storm so that we could try more dishes. Alas, someone had already stuffed down a bowl of Taiwanese shaved ice and a softserve ice cream just before meeting up with us, so... not at full capacity, then.

But before we get started with the food, girlie drinks are in order. I asked for something that caught my eye on our last visit, and it turned out just as girlie as what I ordered before.

The nocturnal scent of riesling (麗絲玲的夜香氛) - with late-harvest riesling and vodka as the base, this had the scent of morning-harvest jasmine tea, along with white champaca (玉蘭花) essence and the sweetness of white grapes. Very fruity and refreshing. Of course, it's the decor on the stem that caught my attention when the drink arrived...

A catty lunch

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A mere 45 minutes or so after I finished devouring my breakfast sandwich, I sat down for lunch at Trattoria Felino for the very first time. Well... I booked our table days before I decided to go out for breakfast this morning, and I hadn't expected that my breakfast would arrive so late... so here I am, not really hungry at all, but nevertheless ready to chow down.

I had heard about this place from a few chef friends, including Juve Fan - someone who wouldn't hesitate to promote his compatriots. It seemed kinda difficult to book, and I never had any success for my first few tries... at least not on a few days' notice. So when I managed to get a booking for today, I felt pretty happy about it.

Knowing this is "just a trattoria", I wasn't expecting lots of fancy dishes. What I wanted first and foremost is a place with good pasta at a price point that won't burn a hole in my wallet. I needed somewhere that's kinda between Estro - which currently makes my absolute favorite pastas in Hong Kong - and Pici, whose offerings are OK but leave much to be desired. In any case, I wasn't really hungry today so we kept it simple and short.

Cannolo di tonno - interesting presentation. Why does the guy on the box look like Maradona?

The 68-month wait

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I had hoped, nay, dreamed of this happening for YEARS. The day finally came.

It was 68 months ago that I last sat down at Yue Hing (裕興) and had my last sandwich prepared by Dan (福哥). At the time Dan was already undergoing chemo for his cancer, and with the onset of the pandemic and Hong Kong shutting down dining, that would turn out to be my last visit. They served a sandwich that was BY FAR my favorite in the world, so much so that I wrote about having a last bite just days before I temporarily moved away from Hong Kong back in 2011.

Sadly, Dan lost his battle with cancer in 2021. At the time I wrote about my loving memories with this daipaidong (大排檔), fully knowing that this chapter of my life was over. While Elaine sporadically mentioned plans of re-opening, fans like myself felt our hopes fading with each passing year. The stall at the end of Stanley Street remained empty, and there were no signs of it coming back.

That changed 4 days ago. I woke up to discover a post on Yue Hing's Facebook page, announcing that they were doing a "trial run" this week, starting Tuesday. I immediately made plans to visit my beloved stall, but not on the first day. I figured they would be too rusty and needed some practice.

After some unexpected delay, I finally arrived a little after noon yesterday. For the first time in more than 5 years, I sat down at one of the tables and took in this view. I AM BACK!!!