The saffron club

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The new MNSC cycle actually started at the end of last year, but I had to skip Pineapple's customary Christmas dinner so I could be with the Parental Units. While it definitely was a bummer to have missed out on some fantastic wines, these days I wouldn't miss spending Christmas with mom for the world.

We needed to get another session done early in the new year, so a few of us gathered for a quiet tasting hosted by Juliano. I'd never had the chance to check out the Hong Kong Golf and Tennis Academy Town Club right in the middle of Central, so I was kinda looking forward to dinner tonight at Saffron.

Hokkaido scallop tartare, uni, avocado - this was probably my first time coming across avocado balls, and we've got a few tongues of creamy sea urchin, what seemed to be crème fraîche at the bottom together with the scallop, along with some crunchy cucumber and ice plant. The chilled soup delivered a healthy dose of fruity acidity, which made this a very refreshing dish and helped stimulate our appetites.

The most delicious wines I tasted in 2024

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I've been doing a annual "best of" list of dishes since 2016, and a few years ago someone asked whether I would also do one for the wines I tasted during the year. I didn't do anything about it then, but when someone asked again recently, I figured I could try to do a review this year... even though I had missed out on some fantastic wines during the year by being absent from a couple of key MNSC dinners. Nevertheless, I still think I drink pretty well when I don't compare myself to the 0.1 percent...

2018 Egon Müller Riesling Scharzhofberger Trockenbeerenauslese, tasted at the Trimbach/Egon Müller dinner at Caprice in Hong Kong - I don't think it's possible for any TBA from Egon Müller not to be amazing, and this was only the second time I've had the pleasure of tasting a bottling of this rare nectar.

The best dishes I had in 2024

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2024 was a strange year for me. While the borders had been fully-open since late 2022, I went on a self-imposed travel ban for 6 months in the middle of this year, thereby missing out on a few amazing culinary trips my friends undertook. I told everyone that I was staying in town to support Hong Kong's economy, and I hope my chef and restauranteur friends appreciated that...

As I have done each year since 2018, I have compiled a list of dishes I've enjoyed during the year which were the most emotional experiences for me. There have been no shortage of delicious dishes over hundreds of meals, and making a concise list of the best of them remains a difficult task. So here they are in chronological order:

Sweet and sour pig tails (菠蘿咕嚕豬尾), from The Chairman (大班樓) in Hong Kong - as someone who loves pig tails and who also enjoys a good sweet and sour pork this combination proved insanely delicious. The light and airy batter was especially bewitching.

27 Michelin star chef x 7-Eleven

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Pretty much the first thing I do after I get back to my apartment in New Taipei, after dropping off my luggage, is head to the 7-Eleven downstairs to pickup some supplies. This would usually be drinks, junk food, and maybe breakfast for the next morning. This time around Foursheets noticed a big poster in the window of our local 7-Eleven with the face of Olivier Elzer in a prominent position, along with smaller pictures of a bunch of products.

Apparently Olivier - who opened Seasons by olivier e. at the W Taipei last year, has created a series of ready-to-eat meals exclusively with 7-Eleven Taiwan. Olivier is being introduced as a "27 Michelin star chef", and now you can get a taste of his "star rated cuisine (星級饗宴)" at an estimated 7,000 outlets on the island.

Girlie drinks in a girlie izakaya

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We are back in Taiwan to spend the holiday season with the Parental Units, but have alternating days off when we are on our own. I had planned exactly zero meals out for this trip, so as tonight was our first night off, we didn't have any idea of where to eat. Foursheets asked to go to an izakaya (居酒屋), and after doing brief research online, I decided we should try a place literally just across the river from our apartment. In fact, I could hypothetically hit it with a Stinger from my living room window if I could get one...

As my research was very brief, I thought Tokyo Skewer (東京串燒。酒場) would just be some old school izakaya since the words I remembered were "old mansion (老宅)". The key words I missed were actually "hipster (文青)"... And while we entered through the door of Tokyo Skewer, we were actually led to seats inside the connecting space next door at Old Town West (老城西。酒食製作所), with a feminine, farmhouse charm.

We were seated at the bar lined with potted plants and flowers, and watched the two mixologists work their magic all night. The drinks here were pretty elaborate, which took us completely by surprise. Since the house rules impose a minimum spend with the added condition that customers must order at least one drink, we started with an alcohol order...

Rose in lychee garden - as Foursheets exclaimed... "IT DOESN'T GET MORE GIRLIE THAN THIS!" With Glendalough Wild Rose Irish Gin as the base together with lime juice, garnished with both canned lychees and dried rosebuds... and finally finished with a blooming red rose plus baby's breath on the stem of the martini glass.