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A long-lost friend of mine was in town and wanted to get together. I suggested Island Tang (港島廳) as an alternative venue to his favorite Peking Garden, since I've always liked the food on my previous visits. I let my friend do the ordering so that I don't end up eating the same dishes again.
We started with deep-fried frog legs with chili garlic and seasoning salt (椒鹽田雞腿). For some reason I wasn't quite happy with this dish. Not that it was done poorly, but I felt there was something missing.
Then came wagyu beef cubes with garlic (蒜片和牛粒). Yes, the beef cubes were fatty and tender, but they didn't cook it enough and the center was just too raw, making it hard to chew. This was simply poor execution.
The stewed sliced goose with bean curd stick and lotus root (家鄉炆狗仔鵝) was OK. The goose was tender after having been cooked in a claypot, and the addition of lotus root was interesting. But where was the tofu?
Oven baked silver cod fillet with Peking scallions (京蔥燒焗銀鱈魚) was probably the best dish of the evening. The thick cuts of cod were lightly battered and were very juicy, tender and tasty, as were the leeks.
My friend's young daughter loves rice, so we had some beef fried rice (生炒牛肉飯). The fried rice here was done properly, with the individual rice grains separated and remaining a little chewy. This is the proper Cantonese way and I'm glad they got it right.
I brought a bottle of 2002 Comtes Lafon Volnay Santenots-du-Milieu 1er Cru. This also turned out to be a little disappointing. The nose was very muted initially, taking a good hour to open up in the decanter. Hint of caramel and a bit of fruit and game. Reasonable concentration with a slightly acidic finish.
Despite the mediocre food and wine, I was glad to have caught up with my friend and met his family. Hopefully I'll see him again when I'm up in Shanghai next week.
October 31, 2009
October 30, 2009
Another 3-star day
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Today was another big day in terms of dining. Both my lunch and dinner appointments were at Michelin starred restaurants, and I was really looking forward to a great Friday.
Our Lunch Club has been kinda falling apart lately, and two of the four members didn't make it today. Nevertheless, the resident Froggie and I had an immensely enjoyable lunch at L'Atelier de Joël Robuchon.
Our amuse bouche was a shot glass of foie gras and pumpkin custard with bacon foam. Maybe my taste buds were on strike today, but I really didn't taste much - if any - foie in the glass. The resident Froggie also declared that it was butternut squash, not pumpkin. The bacon foam on top was pretty nice, though...
The first course was le foie gras - which was 5 alternating layers of foie gras terrine and caramelized eel. The eel was definitely Japanese, and pretty much a cold version of 浦焼き. The dish fully showcased the creativity of Robuchon, as the flavors of both elements - which were simultaneously sweet and savory on their own - melded together perfectly. And there was even a bit of shichimi (七味) on the side. I was oohing and aahing by this point...
My main course was le canard - duck confit topped with buttered mash and Comté. How could I possibly resist both duck confit and Comté? I was already licking my lips in anticipation when the dish arrived in front of me. Unfortunately, this was not a perfect experience. The contents were lukewarm, and I was expecting things to be piping hot. Disregarding the serving temperature, the dish was a success. I was thinking that whoever invented duck confit should be given a place in the Légion d'honneur... and who could ever complain about the mash at Robuchon, especially when Comté is involved?
We decided to have a bit of wine, and I took a glass of 1998 Bacio Divino. This was pretty fruity and a little earthy. The Sangiovese was immediately apparent. Initially the nose was a little alcoholic, but this faded to reveal smoke, toasted nuts and sweet fruit. The tannins were soft and supple, with good concentration on the palate. A very nice wine to drink.
My dessert was le citron - lemon tart with coconut sorbet topped with raspberries. I love a good lemon tart, and the execution here was flawless. The sweet coconut sorbet softened the tartness of the lemon, and the dabs of gold foil and sprinkle of pistachio provided the finishing touches. Oh and the hazelnuts were a nice surprise.
Yet another very satisfying lunch thanks to Joël...
For dinner we went back to Fook Lam Moon (福臨門) to celebrate a friend's birthday...belatedly. There were only five of us tonight, and we were trying to stay away from the usual selection of dishes.
We first had a couple of steamed xiaolongbao with crab roe (蟹粉小籠包). Initially I was a bit skeptical just looking at the skin. It looked a little overdone and not very appetizing. But the skin was actually reasonably thin and soft, although still not at the quality of the best xiaolongbao specialists. The flavor of the crab roe was a bit weak, though...
The one obligatory dish while dining at Fook Lam Moon must be the roast suckling pig (大紅片皮乳豬). It is without a doubt one of the best suckling pigs in Hong Kong. The crackling was just amazing, and I got a little taste of heaven while gnawing on one of the legs as the crispy skin gave way to semi-liquified fat underneath...
I brought a bottle of 1996 Troplong Mondot to go with the pig, which was drinking well. Nose of coffee and smoke, and a bit alcoholic at the beginning. Good concentration but very smooth on the palate. Pretty classic Bordeaux.
Then came a huge bowl of snake soup (菊花燴蛇羹). I wa shocked when the bowl was placed in front of me, as it could have easily served two people. It is beginning to be the season for snake soup, and this was pretty nice with the usual condiments of fritters, chrysanthemum petals, coriander and shredded kaffir lime leaves. The lime leaves along with citrus rind in the soup would provide a strong and refreshing taste.
I also brought along a bottle of the 2002 François et Antoine Jobard Meursault En La Barre. This turned out better than I expected, with ripe nose of sweet corn and butter that was pretty wonderful. Initially the finish was slightly acidic, but then turned into something that reminded me of the classic French candied soft citrus jelly.
I could have gone home after the soup...it was THAT filling. But we still had a couple of small dishes to come. The stir-fried prawns (油泡大蝦球) had a light starch coating with a nice garlic sauce and springy texture. The stir-fried beef cubes with garlic (蒜茸牛柳粒) were pretty decent, too.
It's hairy crab season and we had a plate of stir-fried pea shoots with crab roe (蟹粉扒豆苗). The pea shoots were young and tender, and the starchy crab roe sauce was pretty yummy. We finished with a simple bowl of noodles in superior broth (上湯生麵) to wish longevity to the birthday girl. The broth from Chinese ham was just awesome, and I would have drunk a large bowl of it if I wasn't already bursting.
The final touches came with fresh fruit and the steamed longevity buns (壽桃飽) - with a yummy filling of lotus seed paste and egg yolk. Needless to say I carried my stomach out of the restaurant, yet again...
Today was another big day in terms of dining. Both my lunch and dinner appointments were at Michelin starred restaurants, and I was really looking forward to a great Friday.
Our Lunch Club has been kinda falling apart lately, and two of the four members didn't make it today. Nevertheless, the resident Froggie and I had an immensely enjoyable lunch at L'Atelier de Joël Robuchon.
We decided to have a bit of wine, and I took a glass of 1998 Bacio Divino. This was pretty fruity and a little earthy. The Sangiovese was immediately apparent. Initially the nose was a little alcoholic, but this faded to reveal smoke, toasted nuts and sweet fruit. The tannins were soft and supple, with good concentration on the palate. A very nice wine to drink.
Yet another very satisfying lunch thanks to Joël...
For dinner we went back to Fook Lam Moon (福臨門) to celebrate a friend's birthday...belatedly. There were only five of us tonight, and we were trying to stay away from the usual selection of dishes.
I brought a bottle of 1996 Troplong Mondot to go with the pig, which was drinking well. Nose of coffee and smoke, and a bit alcoholic at the beginning. Good concentration but very smooth on the palate. Pretty classic Bordeaux.
I also brought along a bottle of the 2002 François et Antoine Jobard Meursault En La Barre. This turned out better than I expected, with ripe nose of sweet corn and butter that was pretty wonderful. Initially the finish was slightly acidic, but then turned into something that reminded me of the classic French candied soft citrus jelly.
The final touches came with fresh fruit and the steamed longevity buns (壽桃飽) - with a yummy filling of lotus seed paste and egg yolk. Needless to say I carried my stomach out of the restaurant, yet again...
October 26, 2009
High end dim sum in my neighborhood
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A couple of friends were coming over to the Valley to check out Dim Sum (譽滿坊) for - what else - dim sum. Thankfully there was a long wait (as is usually the case on weekends) so I was able to convince them to try out Sun Tung Lok (新同樂) just down the street.
Sun Tung Lok is a revered name in Cantonese cuisine in Asia, and will forever be associated with the bull market excesses of the 80s and 90s where punters regularly spent loads of dough dining on shark's fin, abalone, bird's nest while downing bottles of Cognac, Whisky or wine. With the onset of the Asian Finance Crisis after 1997, the various outlets gradually closed down and it became all but a memory for some of us.
Then all of a sudden they reopened about two years ago just a block away from me, and I've been wanting to check it out ever since. I wanted to finally see for myself whether it lives up to the hype (or the name).
Crystal prawn dumplings (水晶鮮蝦餃) - these were very, very good. The prawns were fresh, firm and sweet. The diced bamboo shoots inside were also nice and sweet. Most importantly, the outer skin was soft yet able to keep the filling wrapped up inside. We're off to a good start!
Pork and prawn siu mai (蟹子燒賣皇) - I didn't see - nor taste - the usual crab eggs on top. Rather there were bits of tasty Chinese ham on top, and of course the whole siu mai was very yummy with bamboo shoots.
Steamed char siu bao (蜜汁叉燒包) - this was also really good, with delicious bits of real char siu and a nice, runny sauce inside. So now I've got two restaurants in my neighborhood which does this very well.
Pan-fried rice flour rolls with home-made spicy sauce (XO醬煎腸粉) - I think we left this dish alone until it kinda cooled down, but it wasn't very popular with the crowd. I thought it was not bad, but needed the extra serving of XO sauce to give it enough flavor.
Baked abalone puffs (特色鮑魚酥) - this was the waiter's recommendation and it took about 20 minutes to prepare. I thought this was very good, too. The nice puff pastry gave way to fillings of abalone slices and mushrooms. Very tasty indeed.
Steamed jade scallop dumplings (玉蘭帶子餃) - this was one of the highlights of the meal. The skin was as soft as the ones on the har gau (蝦餃), and inside was a delicious mix of diced scallops, kailan (芥蘭), crab eggs, bamboo shoots and minced ginger. The combination was not just delicious, but also an interesting blend of textures - with a good mix of soft and crunchy ingredients. I think most of us liked this.
Fragrant shogun oysters in claypot (奇香將軍生蠔煲) - the giant Japanese oyster was coated in corn starch, which reminded those of us who are Taiwanese (in the majority today) of oyster pancakes (蠔仔煎). Interestingly there was liberal use of basil in the claypot along with glass vermicelli, probably to overpower any potential unplesant smells from the oysters.
Deep-fried salt water dumplings (金牌咸水角) - these were also much better than your run-of-the-mill dumplings from elsewhere. The outer dough wasn't too oily, and was crispy and firm enough to the bite. The filling included chives in addition to the usual mix of minced pork and other stuff, so the flavors were more intense.
Pan-fried soya pigeon (紅燒乳鴿) - this was not a small pigeon! Unfortunately it came at the end of the meal, and we were all pretty stuffed. I had a piece of the breast meat, which was reasonably tender. But I wasn't terrible impressed, as the bird was a little lacking in flavor. Perhaps I needed to dip it into the five-spice powder provided on the side?
We were pretty full to take in any dessert. But I'm certain that I'll be returning to this neighborhood restaurant time and again for some high quality dim sum on the weekends, so I'll be trying out the desserts in the future.
A couple of friends were coming over to the Valley to check out Dim Sum (譽滿坊) for - what else - dim sum. Thankfully there was a long wait (as is usually the case on weekends) so I was able to convince them to try out Sun Tung Lok (新同樂) just down the street.
Sun Tung Lok is a revered name in Cantonese cuisine in Asia, and will forever be associated with the bull market excesses of the 80s and 90s where punters regularly spent loads of dough dining on shark's fin, abalone, bird's nest while downing bottles of Cognac, Whisky or wine. With the onset of the Asian Finance Crisis after 1997, the various outlets gradually closed down and it became all but a memory for some of us.
Then all of a sudden they reopened about two years ago just a block away from me, and I've been wanting to check it out ever since. I wanted to finally see for myself whether it lives up to the hype (or the name).
We were pretty full to take in any dessert. But I'm certain that I'll be returning to this neighborhood restaurant time and again for some high quality dim sum on the weekends, so I'll be trying out the desserts in the future.
October 25, 2009
Macau's Michelin stars
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I've been invited to watch the tennis showdown in Macau today, with the main event being an exhibition match between Andre Agassi and Pete Sampras. Having been away from Macau for more than a year, I took this opportunity to visit a couple of restaurants which got themselves Michelin stars in the inaugural guide for Hong Kong and Macau.
We arrived early in the morning and strolled around a little in the old town center, around the touristy area of São Paulo. As we were in the neighborhood, we used this chance to duck into the famous Leitaria I Son (義順牛奶公司) for some dessert. I was never a big fan of the signature steamed milk curd (雙皮燉奶) of this place, but I thought I'd go along and order something since my friends wanted to try. I had a bowl of chilled egg custard (冰花燉雞蛋), which was pretty good. Consistency-wise it was a little like crème brûlée, and for Chinese palates it's somewhere between steamed egg (蒸蛋) and the filling of the egg tarts (蛋撻). It's sweet and "eggy", and although I enjoyed having it, I did not finish the bowl since we were soon to have lunch.
We were going to have lunch at the Crown Towers Hotel, so we took a cab over and walked around the City of Dreams - a new complex across the street from the monstrous Venetian on the Cotai Strip. To my embarrassment I realized that the restaurant I had booked for was not here at the "new" Crown Towers Hotel, but rather at the "old" Crown which has now been renamed Altira Macau. A friend joked that the name sounds like a hedge fund, and it reminded me of Altria - the former PhilipMorris. So another cab ride was required to take us to lunch.
I was flipping through my 2009 Michelin Guide and came across Ying (帝影樓), the Cantonese restaurant here which earned itself a star in the guide. The description of the guide stated: "...The beautifully styled interior has been designed with real taste and quality; even the beaded curtains - featuring gold cranes and crystal trees - are fantastic..." Uh... good taste by whose standards? Stanley Ho sets the bar pretty low so that doesn't mean much. The Venetian Macao is pretty gawdy and was deliberately so to draw in the mainland crowd. So lots of golden bling-bling is now "real taste"?
OK...let's talk about the food. It was pretty decent, but Michelin star worthy? Not quite. Food was decent but not spectacular, and the serving order of the dishes were all wrong. Some dim sum items came in the middle, and the barbecue meat dish was also served late instead of at the start of the meal.
Steamed crystal prawn dumplings with asparagus (露笋鮮蝦餃) - this was pretty good. The skin was soft and held together, the prawns fresh, and the asparagus gave a slightly crunchy texture to it all.
Cucumber with aged vinegar and garlic (陳醋拍黃瓜) - the cucumbers needed a bit of time to marinate in the vinegar, so the first few pieces I had were a bit more bland.
Fried three flavors rice with pork and chili paste (馬拉盞肉崧炒三色飯) - the three flavor rice refers to three different types of rice grains with different colored husks, including red. Fried with minced pork, corn, chopped kailan (芥蘭) and deep-fried shredded pork on top. The fragrance of the rice comes from belacan (馬拉盞) - the Southeast Asian shrimp paste. Initially I was put off by the lack of flavor here, but on reflection I came to see it as something positive, where the paste made the rice aromatic but you weren't hit with the heavy, saltiness of it all. It was quite an elegant version of the dish.
Poached clams with kuzukini noodles (油鹽水葛絲浸花甲) - not bad. Not sure why the thick glass noodles became part of the dish...
Crispy pork belly (化皮燒腩) - I personally like the skin thick, crispy and crunchy, which was how this was done here. I also thought there was a good balance between the lean meat and the fat... yum.
Deep-fried shrimp spring rolls (蒜茸蝦春卷) - pretty nice with a hint of that garlicky flavor along with the shrimp.
Baby spinach in superior broth (上湯浸菠菜苗) - very nice and tender.
Deep-fried squid with spicy salt (椒鹽吊片) - honestly a little too salty for my taste, but the texture was pretty nice. Not completely deep-fried in batter as expected, but more au naturel and nice.
Overall food was decent and not too expensive. Unfortunately I wasn't able to choose the right number for the roulette game, otherwise we would have eaten the meal for free.
The tennis was a long, drawn out affair with lots of unwanted (by me anyway) entertainment breaks in the middle. As expected Agassi was very entertaining, and Sampras was his usual boring self. I almost got the feeling that Sampras would rather be somewhere else...
After the tennis match, I met up with other friends for dinner at Tim's Kitchen (桃花源小廚) in Hotel Lisboa. I was initially pretty excited to return to this restaurant since it received 2 Michelin stars, one more than its sibling in Hong Kong. Unfortunately I received a message from a friend today, informing me that the chef responsible for the additional star has returned to Hong Kong. Oh well...
The setting here was a little nicer than the small restaurant in Hong Kong, but as expected the service was not great. Not that the staff was rude, but they just could have been better trained.
Steamed whole fresh crab claw with egg white (蛋白蒸蟹鉗) - I wanted to try this preparation for the claw, since I've already had the winter melon (冬瓜) version and was advised against the deep-fried (椒鹽) claw. This was wonderful. The large claw was very, very sweet and succulent. It was fresh and the flesh had a springy feeling when I bit into it. The egg white custard was a little harder than I had anticipated, but was still a nice complement to the starchy sauce flavored with Chinese ham broth. A very good start to the meal.
A friend wanted to try the braised goose web and pork tendon in oyster sauce (豬腳筋扣鵝掌), so I followed her lead and it turned out to be a good call. Surprisingly the pork tendon was not cooked to the point of being soft and gooey (like Chinese beef tendon), but was a bit chewy. The goose web was surprisingly salty. As is typical the dish was served with mustard greens (芥菜).
Stewed bean curd with fresh crab meat and eggplant (鮮蟹肉茄子炆豆腐) - my friend chose this and it was absolutely spectacular for something seemingly so simple. The dish was flavored with stir-fried minced meat, chili and dried shrimps which are the basic ingredients of yuxiang (魚香) - giving everything a wonderful fragrance. The crab meat was fresh and sweet, and the eggplants juicy and yummy. The tofu was also pretty good. I'd order this again in a heartbeat.
Sautéed pork stomach with pickled vegetable and bamboo shoots (七彩炒肚尖) - this was one of the yummy dishes I had earlier this year in Hong Kong, so I was definitely going to have it again. I really enjoyed the different textures of the ingredients, especially the springy feeling of the tripe fighting back against my teeth as I chewed on it. The sweet pickle was very nice.
Steamed pork pie with salted fish (咸魚蒸肉餅) - initially I thought this was a bit too firm, but having had more bites it turned out fine. There were some yummy and fatty bits in the meatloaf, and of course the usual crunchy bits from bamboo shoots and water chestnuts.
The meatloaf was nice on its own, but also great with the fried rice with fresh crab meat and egg white (鮮蟹肉蛋白炒飯). The fried rice itself was nice and light, with just enough deep-fried shrimp/salted fish flakes sprinkled all over to make it fragrant without overpowering the delicate flavors of the crab meat and egg white.
Finally we had leaf amaranth stir-fried with garlic (蒜茸炒莧菜), which was a nice way to finish. Since the restaurant doesn't really do desserts, we decided to do that elsewhere.
I think the quality of the food was very high, although there is definitely a price premium being charged for being in Hotel Lisboa instead of being in the hole-in-the-wall in Hong Kong. I guess I'll stick to the original Hong Kong location in the future.
Later on in the evening, we strolled around old town again and had dessert in a small joint. The dessert itself was forgettable, but I came across the famous street with lots of old shops along with a few famous restaurants, including the original Fat Siu Lau (佛笑樓) and Cheong Kei (祥記麵家). These would definitely be on my hit list for the next trip...
I've been invited to watch the tennis showdown in Macau today, with the main event being an exhibition match between Andre Agassi and Pete Sampras. Having been away from Macau for more than a year, I took this opportunity to visit a couple of restaurants which got themselves Michelin stars in the inaugural guide for Hong Kong and Macau.
We arrived early in the morning and strolled around a little in the old town center, around the touristy area of São Paulo. As we were in the neighborhood, we used this chance to duck into the famous Leitaria I Son (義順牛奶公司) for some dessert. I was never a big fan of the signature steamed milk curd (雙皮燉奶) of this place, but I thought I'd go along and order something since my friends wanted to try. I had a bowl of chilled egg custard (冰花燉雞蛋), which was pretty good. Consistency-wise it was a little like crème brûlée, and for Chinese palates it's somewhere between steamed egg (蒸蛋) and the filling of the egg tarts (蛋撻). It's sweet and "eggy", and although I enjoyed having it, I did not finish the bowl since we were soon to have lunch.
We were going to have lunch at the Crown Towers Hotel, so we took a cab over and walked around the City of Dreams - a new complex across the street from the monstrous Venetian on the Cotai Strip. To my embarrassment I realized that the restaurant I had booked for was not here at the "new" Crown Towers Hotel, but rather at the "old" Crown which has now been renamed Altira Macau. A friend joked that the name sounds like a hedge fund, and it reminded me of Altria - the former PhilipMorris. So another cab ride was required to take us to lunch.
I was flipping through my 2009 Michelin Guide and came across Ying (帝影樓), the Cantonese restaurant here which earned itself a star in the guide. The description of the guide stated: "...The beautifully styled interior has been designed with real taste and quality; even the beaded curtains - featuring gold cranes and crystal trees - are fantastic..." Uh... good taste by whose standards? Stanley Ho sets the bar pretty low so that doesn't mean much. The Venetian Macao is pretty gawdy and was deliberately so to draw in the mainland crowd. So lots of golden bling-bling is now "real taste"?
OK...let's talk about the food. It was pretty decent, but Michelin star worthy? Not quite. Food was decent but not spectacular, and the serving order of the dishes were all wrong. Some dim sum items came in the middle, and the barbecue meat dish was also served late instead of at the start of the meal.
Overall food was decent and not too expensive. Unfortunately I wasn't able to choose the right number for the roulette game, otherwise we would have eaten the meal for free.
The tennis was a long, drawn out affair with lots of unwanted (by me anyway) entertainment breaks in the middle. As expected Agassi was very entertaining, and Sampras was his usual boring self. I almost got the feeling that Sampras would rather be somewhere else...
After the tennis match, I met up with other friends for dinner at Tim's Kitchen (桃花源小廚) in Hotel Lisboa. I was initially pretty excited to return to this restaurant since it received 2 Michelin stars, one more than its sibling in Hong Kong. Unfortunately I received a message from a friend today, informing me that the chef responsible for the additional star has returned to Hong Kong. Oh well...
The setting here was a little nicer than the small restaurant in Hong Kong, but as expected the service was not great. Not that the staff was rude, but they just could have been better trained.
The meatloaf was nice on its own, but also great with the fried rice with fresh crab meat and egg white (鮮蟹肉蛋白炒飯). The fried rice itself was nice and light, with just enough deep-fried shrimp/salted fish flakes sprinkled all over to make it fragrant without overpowering the delicate flavors of the crab meat and egg white.
Finally we had leaf amaranth stir-fried with garlic (蒜茸炒莧菜), which was a nice way to finish. Since the restaurant doesn't really do desserts, we decided to do that elsewhere.
I think the quality of the food was very high, although there is definitely a price premium being charged for being in Hotel Lisboa instead of being in the hole-in-the-wall in Hong Kong. I guess I'll stick to the original Hong Kong location in the future.
Later on in the evening, we strolled around old town again and had dessert in a small joint. The dessert itself was forgettable, but I came across the famous street with lots of old shops along with a few famous restaurants, including the original Fat Siu Lau (佛笑樓) and Cheong Kei (祥記麵家). These would definitely be on my hit list for the next trip...
October 24, 2009
Cooking with a Michelin-starred chef: deuxième chapitre
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I've been looking forward to this lunch for a few weeks now. I had the good fortune of being invited by the publishers of the WOM Guide to attend a cooking class - followed by lunch - hosted by Caprice. They have been showcasing the Provençal cuisine of Chef Philippe Jourdin, who is visiting with his team from Michelin 2-star Faventia at the Four Seasons Resort Provence at Terre Blanche. As I wrote in my email response some 2 minutes after receiving the invitation: "Free lunch? At a Michelin-starred restaurant? Cooked by a visiting chef from a Michelin-starred restaurant? Who in the right mind would turn it down?"
The small group of us gathered in the kitchen to to watch Chef Philippe and Sous-chef Stéphanie Le Quellec show us how to cook line-caught sea bass fennel aroma with green asparagus panache and olive oil emulsion. Chef Vincent was given the task of translating Chef Philippe's explanations into English. The group of us watched in wonder as the chefs went through each step slowly, all the while explaining the rationale behind some of them. We remarked to ourselves that we learned more than ever about asparagus in just a few minutes. A lot of thought has gone into the preparation of ingredients so that no unwanted flavors would end up in the final product.
When it was all done, all the components were carefully placed on a plate in a beautiful presentation. Chef Philippe remarked that the area which showed the most progress has been in presentation, and I would not argue with him. Top restaurants around the world present their food like works of art, and sometimes what's put in front of me almost look too beautiful to eat.
Shortly before lunch service starts, we cleared out of the kitchen - so the chefs can actually cook for other customers - and moved into the cellar behind the kitchen. As usual Jeremy and his staff decorated the table beautifully.
Our amuse bouche was a wonderful eggplant gazpacho with tomato sorbet. The eggplants were peeled so that the flavors came from only the flesh and "caviar". The tomato sorbet was so interesting - providing some sweetness to the mid-palate but then kicks in with savory notes just on the finish. A thin strip of bread lay on the side with a bit of tapenade spread on top. Feeling like I'm in Provence already!
For wine pairing Sebastien brought out the 2004 La Courtade Blanc, made on the Ile de Porquerolles just off the Côte d'Azur. The wine is made from a local varietal called Rolle, and showed nose of lemon zest, mineral, flint and a bit of white flowers. Very aromatic and ripe on the nose. Acidity was pretty high mid-palate with a bit of tartness, with a ripe finish.
The first course was quite surprising - warm duck foie gras des Landes, lemon macaroon, candied citrus peel and badian anise. While it's customary to pair the fatty foie gras with something fruity and acidic, I've always thought that lemon would be a bit too much. In this case, there was a pool of lemon curd sitting inside a ring of candied peel. This curd was very, very tart and threw me off completely. But then the genius of Chef Philippe becomes evident as I take a piece of foie, dip into the lemon curd, and top it with a piece of the lemon macaron. The sweetness of the macaron completely neutralizes the acidity of the curd, and it becomes heaven in my mouth. Wow!
The foie gras was paired with the 2005 Mas Amiel. I have always liked this wine in the past, but not today. It was "hot" and high in alcohol, with a bit of citrus notes. Not very sweet today. Short on the finish and quite disappointing.
The main course of corvina fillet, fennel aroma, green asparagus panaché and olive oil emulsion was the dish we had just learned, except the chef substituted the choice of fish. Corvina is interesting in that, like cod, it remains quite moist and tender after cooking, yet there is a firmness about it. It also comes apart quite easily into "flakes" as I cut into it. Needless to say the Australian asparagus was wonderful - sooo sweet and tender. There were four different textures of asparagus on the plate, and we had just finished witnessing the work that went into making all this possible. Yum!
I am grateful that once again Jeremy was generous in sharing his babies with us. We had a selection of four types of cheese, paired with a glass of 2004 Pibarnon Rouge, made from Mourvèdre. It was fine to drink and the tannins blended with the cheese, but this time there was no "wow" from the marriage of the wine and cheese.
Rove Brousse - this fresh cheese from Provençal goats was served with a bit of olive oil. According to Jeremy it has now become uneconomical to produce, as 3 liters of milk is used to produce just a small ball of cheese. It was beautiful with nutty, creamy flavors and just a hint of salt.
Selles-sur-Cher - this beautiful goat cheese from the Loire valley was already runny by the time it came to me. The center was creamy and nutty on the mid-palate, with a bit of acidity on the finish. The outer mold, which separated easily from the creamy center like shedding skin, tasted musty with salty flavors.
Comté - I think this is about 4 1/2 years old by now... just wonderful. Curiously it was a bit sweet mid-palate, with the usual toasty and nutty flavors.
Fourme d'Ambert - a very intense blue, and very salty. Interesting to see that during the aging process the cheese is injected with Vouvray moelleux, one of my favorite types of dessert wines.
Finally we get to the desserts. The tropical coconut express, sablé Breton and coriander jelly, Granny Smith apple sorbet was pretty nice. The tube of coconut mousse was light and not too sweet, with an interesting center of coriander jelly. The sorbet was wonderful and refreshing. In fact this was so light that our hostess practically inhaled the whole dessert before I even had a chance to touch it...
I was tipped off about a certain strawberry-themed dessert, and we were graciously served two of these to share amongst us. The bottom of the tower contained strawberry sponge cake, with a layer of vanilla cream wrapped around it and placed in a pool of strawberry consommé. On top we have some butter biscuit with lemongrass jelly, encased in a kind of strawberry panna cotta. A few halves of strawberries are placed on top of this, along with a thin layer of marzipan. What is most interesting, however, are the letters F R A I S E made from strawberry jelly. OK this all sounds very complicated, but the reality is that this was one of the best strawberry desserts I've had in recent memory. The flavors here were so intense - I didn't taste the lemongrass, though - and I was really loving it.
I was pretty full at the end of the lunch, although thankfully not as stuffed as usual. I am now a big fan of the cuisine of Chef Philippe, and maybe on a future trip to France I'll actually be able to visit him at Faventia.
P.S. Later in the day I ran into Chefs Philippe, Stéphanie and the pastry chef at Wanchai Computer Center shopping for electronics. Pretty funny coincidence...
I've been looking forward to this lunch for a few weeks now. I had the good fortune of being invited by the publishers of the WOM Guide to attend a cooking class - followed by lunch - hosted by Caprice. They have been showcasing the Provençal cuisine of Chef Philippe Jourdin, who is visiting with his team from Michelin 2-star Faventia at the Four Seasons Resort Provence at Terre Blanche. As I wrote in my email response some 2 minutes after receiving the invitation: "Free lunch? At a Michelin-starred restaurant? Cooked by a visiting chef from a Michelin-starred restaurant? Who in the right mind would turn it down?"
For wine pairing Sebastien brought out the 2004 La Courtade Blanc, made on the Ile de Porquerolles just off the Côte d'Azur. The wine is made from a local varietal called Rolle, and showed nose of lemon zest, mineral, flint and a bit of white flowers. Very aromatic and ripe on the nose. Acidity was pretty high mid-palate with a bit of tartness, with a ripe finish.
The foie gras was paired with the 2005 Mas Amiel. I have always liked this wine in the past, but not today. It was "hot" and high in alcohol, with a bit of citrus notes. Not very sweet today. Short on the finish and quite disappointing.
Rove Brousse - this fresh cheese from Provençal goats was served with a bit of olive oil. According to Jeremy it has now become uneconomical to produce, as 3 liters of milk is used to produce just a small ball of cheese. It was beautiful with nutty, creamy flavors and just a hint of salt.
Selles-sur-Cher - this beautiful goat cheese from the Loire valley was already runny by the time it came to me. The center was creamy and nutty on the mid-palate, with a bit of acidity on the finish. The outer mold, which separated easily from the creamy center like shedding skin, tasted musty with salty flavors.
Comté - I think this is about 4 1/2 years old by now... just wonderful. Curiously it was a bit sweet mid-palate, with the usual toasty and nutty flavors.
Fourme d'Ambert - a very intense blue, and very salty. Interesting to see that during the aging process the cheese is injected with Vouvray moelleux, one of my favorite types of dessert wines.
I was pretty full at the end of the lunch, although thankfully not as stuffed as usual. I am now a big fan of the cuisine of Chef Philippe, and maybe on a future trip to France I'll actually be able to visit him at Faventia.
P.S. Later in the day I ran into Chefs Philippe, Stéphanie and the pastry chef at Wanchai Computer Center shopping for electronics. Pretty funny coincidence...
October 20, 2009
Pasta is best
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I caught up with my friend Ed over dinner tonight. We both really like what Harlan's doing at Tuscany by H, so we decided to pay him a visit.
I started with a plate of cold cuts, as I didn't find anything else inspiring to go with my bottle of red. This was pretty decent and the quality was certainly high. I particularly liked the spicy sausage.
For main course I chose the slow-cooked Iberico pork rack, Italian red pear, black fig, parsnip purée, raisin and port wine reduction. What can I say? I just can't resist good pork and this would definitely work with the red. But truth be told, I was a little under-whelmed. I guess I'm more used to having Iberico pork belly, which is a lot fattier and more flavorful. The pork was nice with a touch of garlic but the meat itself did not wow me. The highlights came from the combination of everything else: the parsnip purée was yummy, and a lot more interesting than just plain potato mash; the pear sauce on top of the pork also introduced a different degree of sweetness into the mix - working well with the parsnip and raisins.
Dessert was awesome - chocolate panna cotta, crunchy crunch, fior di latte gelato and amaretto foam. The almond taste of the amaretto was upfront and slowly gave way to the latte gelato, and the extra layer of amaretti (I think that's what it was anyway) gave it more texture. Of course the panna cotta at the bottom would have a different consistency altogether, so in total you've got four different layers - each providing a different feel in your mouth.
I brought a bottle of 1997 Antinori Pian delle Vigne. This was a bit smoky, with a good fruit core and concentration, and notes of ripe prunes and sous bois. At one point I thought I detected a good amount of perfumed, floral notes but I suspect that the glass was quietly collecting the air freshner used in the restaurant... The wine seemed to have gone downhill about two hours after opening, starting to turn acidic on the palate. This Brunello was a perfectly good wine to drink with the meal. Although it wasn't a knock-out, I wasn't going to complain too much given how little I paid for the wine on release.
My friend had a fantastic pasta of red prawns with prawn roe sprinkled all over, and couldn't stop raving about how it was even better than the pasta we had on our last visit. I guess Harlan really does his pasta well, and it means that I just have to come back another time to get it...soon!
I caught up with my friend Ed over dinner tonight. We both really like what Harlan's doing at Tuscany by H, so we decided to pay him a visit.
I started with a plate of cold cuts, as I didn't find anything else inspiring to go with my bottle of red. This was pretty decent and the quality was certainly high. I particularly liked the spicy sausage.
For main course I chose the slow-cooked Iberico pork rack, Italian red pear, black fig, parsnip purée, raisin and port wine reduction. What can I say? I just can't resist good pork and this would definitely work with the red. But truth be told, I was a little under-whelmed. I guess I'm more used to having Iberico pork belly, which is a lot fattier and more flavorful. The pork was nice with a touch of garlic but the meat itself did not wow me. The highlights came from the combination of everything else: the parsnip purée was yummy, and a lot more interesting than just plain potato mash; the pear sauce on top of the pork also introduced a different degree of sweetness into the mix - working well with the parsnip and raisins. 
Dessert was awesome - chocolate panna cotta, crunchy crunch, fior di latte gelato and amaretto foam. The almond taste of the amaretto was upfront and slowly gave way to the latte gelato, and the extra layer of amaretti (I think that's what it was anyway) gave it more texture. Of course the panna cotta at the bottom would have a different consistency altogether, so in total you've got four different layers - each providing a different feel in your mouth.I brought a bottle of 1997 Antinori Pian delle Vigne. This was a bit smoky, with a good fruit core and concentration, and notes of ripe prunes and sous bois. At one point I thought I detected a good amount of perfumed, floral notes but I suspect that the glass was quietly collecting the air freshner used in the restaurant... The wine seemed to have gone downhill about two hours after opening, starting to turn acidic on the palate. This Brunello was a perfectly good wine to drink with the meal. Although it wasn't a knock-out, I wasn't going to complain too much given how little I paid for the wine on release.
My friend had a fantastic pasta of red prawns with prawn roe sprinkled all over, and couldn't stop raving about how it was even better than the pasta we had on our last visit. I guess Harlan really does his pasta well, and it means that I just have to come back another time to get it...soon!
October 17, 2009
Shanghainese birthday
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It's kinda weird spending dad's birthday at a Shanghainese restaurant, since I'm so used to doing the small, private dinner at Paris 1930. But we're here with the extended family so Shanghainese it is. Yishang Garden (溢香園) isn't far from home so it was easy to get to.
Jellyfish, celery and pan-fried cashews (西芹海蜇拼腰果) - a bit of an unusual combination. The jellyfish bits were from the head so they were hard and crunchy.
Lobster salad (沙律龍蝦片) - there was so much mayo on top we had to take off half of it.
Steamed ox tripe in abalone sauce (鮑汁蒸牛肚) - this was really good stuff... The claypot was full of very tender tripe, beef tendons, radish and onions all in a sauce full of black pepper. Not very Shanghainese I must say, but yummy nonetheless.
Stir-fried freshwater eel Ningbo style (寧式炒鱔糊) - need to do a bit more studying to figure out exactly why this is Ningbo (寧波) style, since it's done the way I'm used to - with shredded ginger and yellowed chives (韭黃). Pretty good stuff and disappeared in a hurry.
Pancakes with scallions (蔥花鮮餅) - never had it done like this before... basically flat pockets with lots of yummy scallions inside, then cut into long pieces. I can probably eat four of these but stuck to only one...
Prawns in Chinese wine (宮廷花雕蝦) - this is similar to what I had two nights ago, except that the taste of Chinese herbs was milder tonight, and the soup was fairly salty so I couldn't taste the Huadiao wine (花雕酒) as much. Prawns were fresh and sweet, though, and the wolfberries (枸杞) were nice.
Sea cucumber with mushrooms (百靈菇烏參) - not bad, with nice and yummy mushrooms (百靈菇) and sugar snaps.
Steamed crabs (原味鮮肥蟹) - crabs are in season and I think these were 處女蟳. Every time I have crabs like these, I'm reminded of the reasons why I stick to hairy crabs (大閘蟹), Sri Lankan crabs and king crabs...
Steamed red snapper (清蒸鮮紅條) - the presentation here deserved high marks. The snapper was filleted but the head and skeleton had been curled up and presented in the middle of the plate. Around this we find pieces of the fish, together with slices of ham, ginger, shiitake mushrooms and clams - all over a bed of tofu. Unfortunately the fish was a little overdone, so it wasn't that juicy and succulent.
Sponge gourd with conpoy (干貝綠角瓜) - classic combination and nicely done.
Chicken soup with mushrooms (養身菇雞湯) - very nice soup with tender chicken and lots of brown beech (bunashimeji in Japanese) mushrooms.
Steamed bun with pork and shepherd's purse (薺菜鮮肉包) - didn't taste much meat but the veggie was nice.
Wok-fried crêpe with date paste (棗泥鍋餅) - I just loooove the Shanghainese style paste made from dates... I was a good boy and only took one piece, even though I could have finished the whole plate by myself.
It was a decent dinner, with some winners and some mediocre offerings. But the whole point was about getting together as a family, so we didn't really need top-notch food...
It's kinda weird spending dad's birthday at a Shanghainese restaurant, since I'm so used to doing the small, private dinner at Paris 1930. But we're here with the extended family so Shanghainese it is. Yishang Garden (溢香園) isn't far from home so it was easy to get to.
Jellyfish, celery and pan-fried cashews (西芹海蜇拼腰果) - a bit of an unusual combination. The jellyfish bits were from the head so they were hard and crunchy.
Lobster salad (沙律龍蝦片) - there was so much mayo on top we had to take off half of it.
Steamed ox tripe in abalone sauce (鮑汁蒸牛肚) - this was really good stuff... The claypot was full of very tender tripe, beef tendons, radish and onions all in a sauce full of black pepper. Not very Shanghainese I must say, but yummy nonetheless.
Stir-fried freshwater eel Ningbo style (寧式炒鱔糊) - need to do a bit more studying to figure out exactly why this is Ningbo (寧波) style, since it's done the way I'm used to - with shredded ginger and yellowed chives (韭黃). Pretty good stuff and disappeared in a hurry.
Pancakes with scallions (蔥花鮮餅) - never had it done like this before... basically flat pockets with lots of yummy scallions inside, then cut into long pieces. I can probably eat four of these but stuck to only one...
Prawns in Chinese wine (宮廷花雕蝦) - this is similar to what I had two nights ago, except that the taste of Chinese herbs was milder tonight, and the soup was fairly salty so I couldn't taste the Huadiao wine (花雕酒) as much. Prawns were fresh and sweet, though, and the wolfberries (枸杞) were nice.
Sea cucumber with mushrooms (百靈菇烏參) - not bad, with nice and yummy mushrooms (百靈菇) and sugar snaps.
Steamed crabs (原味鮮肥蟹) - crabs are in season and I think these were 處女蟳. Every time I have crabs like these, I'm reminded of the reasons why I stick to hairy crabs (大閘蟹), Sri Lankan crabs and king crabs...
Steamed red snapper (清蒸鮮紅條) - the presentation here deserved high marks. The snapper was filleted but the head and skeleton had been curled up and presented in the middle of the plate. Around this we find pieces of the fish, together with slices of ham, ginger, shiitake mushrooms and clams - all over a bed of tofu. Unfortunately the fish was a little overdone, so it wasn't that juicy and succulent.
Sponge gourd with conpoy (干貝綠角瓜) - classic combination and nicely done.
Chicken soup with mushrooms (養身菇雞湯) - very nice soup with tender chicken and lots of brown beech (bunashimeji in Japanese) mushrooms.
Steamed bun with pork and shepherd's purse (薺菜鮮肉包) - didn't taste much meat but the veggie was nice.
Wok-fried crêpe with date paste (棗泥鍋餅) - I just loooove the Shanghainese style paste made from dates... I was a good boy and only took one piece, even though I could have finished the whole plate by myself.
It was a decent dinner, with some winners and some mediocre offerings. But the whole point was about getting together as a family, so we didn't really need top-notch food...
October 16, 2009
Opening day bomb
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I met up with some friends for dinner at Suzufuji (鈴籐), a Japanese sushi joint near my old office in Taipei. This was recommended by a friend who used to frequent the joint when it was an izakaya (居酒屋). Unfortunately for us, the owners decided to remake this place into a sushi joint, and tonight was their opening night!
The menu consisted of 1 page on their lunch specials, 2 pages on dinner sets and à la carte items, and about twice as many pages on their alcohol selection. I suppose this is in line with the Taiwanese practice of having omakase sets at sushi joints. I chose the most expensive set menu to see whether this place can deliver. They couldn't.
Yamaimo (山芋)"noodles" - this was very nice. Fresh yamaimo cut into very thin strands resembling noodles, with the typical sticky, viscous "juice" as a lubricant. This was garnished with a dab of wasabi, thin strands of nori seaweed (のり), and chopped okra. Very refreshing and a good way to start dinner on a warm day.
Sashimi platter of seared yellow tail (炙りはまち), sweet shrimp (甘エビ) and red snapper (鯛). Not used to having seared yellow tail but I guess it was OK.
Grilled red king crab legs (鱈場蟹) - pretty decent and juicy.
A series of nigiri sushi : tuna (鮪), salmon (鮭), red horsehead (赤甘鯛), scallop (帆立), squid (イカ) sprinkled with salt, seared flounder (炙り鰈) with yuzu salt.
Tempura platter with shrimp, some white fish, shiitake mushroom, pumpkin and eggplant. This was OK.
Tiger prawn (車海老) sushi with a bit of sweetened cooked egg yolk spread around it. Somehow it just didn't feel right.
Mini omelette filled with eel - I really liked this one. While many other places would make this savory, here they added plenty of sugar to make the egg sweet, just the way I like it. They also made the egg a little watery and creamy.
Dobin mushi (土瓶蒸し) - with cubes of chicken, clams and some fish fillets.
Another set of premium nigiri sushi - salmon roe (イクラ), chopped raw tiger prawn, sea urchin (雲丹), toro with scallions (葱トロ).
We ordered a 300ml bottle of Dassai Junmai Daiginjo 23% (獺祭「純米大吟醸」磨き二割三分). This has always been easy to drink since it's on the sweet side (甘口), but tonight I felt it was lacking a bit of complexity, as there wasn't anything very prominent in the nose other than banana...
There was a decent amount of food to fill me up, but honestly the dishes were a bit hit-or-miss. Being a sushi bar, the quality of the sushi was actually not great. And service was terrible. Our waitress could not remember the correct set menu each of us had ordered, and basically sent the dishes to the wrong person at each round. They also annoyed me with the inflexibility of how to split our bill at the end of the meal. Basically they had useless staff. I normally don't visit a restaurant in the first couple of months of operation, and I would normally never dream of going there on opening night! Oh well... With mediocre food and poor service, guess I'm not going back...
I met up with some friends for dinner at Suzufuji (鈴籐), a Japanese sushi joint near my old office in Taipei. This was recommended by a friend who used to frequent the joint when it was an izakaya (居酒屋). Unfortunately for us, the owners decided to remake this place into a sushi joint, and tonight was their opening night!
The menu consisted of 1 page on their lunch specials, 2 pages on dinner sets and à la carte items, and about twice as many pages on their alcohol selection. I suppose this is in line with the Taiwanese practice of having omakase sets at sushi joints. I chose the most expensive set menu to see whether this place can deliver. They couldn't.
Yamaimo (山芋)"noodles" - this was very nice. Fresh yamaimo cut into very thin strands resembling noodles, with the typical sticky, viscous "juice" as a lubricant. This was garnished with a dab of wasabi, thin strands of nori seaweed (のり), and chopped okra. Very refreshing and a good way to start dinner on a warm day.
Sashimi platter of seared yellow tail (炙りはまち), sweet shrimp (甘エビ) and red snapper (鯛). Not used to having seared yellow tail but I guess it was OK.
Grilled red king crab legs (鱈場蟹) - pretty decent and juicy.
A series of nigiri sushi : tuna (鮪), salmon (鮭), red horsehead (赤甘鯛), scallop (帆立), squid (イカ) sprinkled with salt, seared flounder (炙り鰈) with yuzu salt.
Tempura platter with shrimp, some white fish, shiitake mushroom, pumpkin and eggplant. This was OK.
Tiger prawn (車海老) sushi with a bit of sweetened cooked egg yolk spread around it. Somehow it just didn't feel right.
Mini omelette filled with eel - I really liked this one. While many other places would make this savory, here they added plenty of sugar to make the egg sweet, just the way I like it. They also made the egg a little watery and creamy.
Dobin mushi (土瓶蒸し) - with cubes of chicken, clams and some fish fillets.
Another set of premium nigiri sushi - salmon roe (イクラ), chopped raw tiger prawn, sea urchin (雲丹), toro with scallions (葱トロ).
We ordered a 300ml bottle of Dassai Junmai Daiginjo 23% (獺祭「純米大吟醸」磨き二割三分). This has always been easy to drink since it's on the sweet side (甘口), but tonight I felt it was lacking a bit of complexity, as there wasn't anything very prominent in the nose other than banana...
There was a decent amount of food to fill me up, but honestly the dishes were a bit hit-or-miss. Being a sushi bar, the quality of the sushi was actually not great. And service was terrible. Our waitress could not remember the correct set menu each of us had ordered, and basically sent the dishes to the wrong person at each round. They also annoyed me with the inflexibility of how to split our bill at the end of the meal. Basically they had useless staff. I normally don't visit a restaurant in the first couple of months of operation, and I would normally never dream of going there on opening night! Oh well... With mediocre food and poor service, guess I'm not going back...
Raise the Red Lantern
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I'm back in Taipei for a few days, and the family decided to have dinner outside for once. After my last dinner at Golden Formosa (金蓬萊), I was interested in trying out the restaurant next door - Red Lantern (女娘的店). It looks a little like an old Taiwanese farmhouse, with - what else? - red lanterns hung by the outer gate as well as the entrance to the restaurant.
The whole place was designed to invoke nostalgia, with traditional wooden furniture - long benches around tables instead of individual chairs - and stuff that you'd find in rural farmhouses hung on the walls. I've been to a few of these places and always thought the decor interesting.
I ordered four dishes, which was more than enough for the three of us. The traditional pork belly (古早味烘肉) was a huge, square block of fatty, layered pork. It's basically the same as a block of 東坡肉 but the flavoring isn't as sweet. This was very yummy, as the fat has been cooked out into the sauce, and the lean meat was very soft and tender. If they cook it any more the muscle fibers will simply melt in the mouth. I'm sure I single-handedly devoured at least 60% of this thing...
Herbal shrimp soup in bamboo (竹筒君子蝦) - the medium-sized shrimps were blanched in an herbal soup with ginseng, wolfberries (枸杞), dried yamaimo (淮山), jujube (紅棗)... Pretty strong in taste but obviously very healthy. Served in an open section of bamboo.
Stir-fried chayote shoots (炒龍鬚菜) - these are the young shoots of chayote (佛手瓜), except that tonight the shoots weren't so young.
Crispy pig intestines (脆皮肥腸) - these were very nice and crispy, without being too oily and fatty. Dab a bit of five spice powder and eat with raw garlic shoots. Yum...
I made the mistake of order a bowl of rice with lard (豬油飯). In reality the sauce of the pork belly would have been sufficient, and I ended up not being able to taste the lard. Oh and they didn't sprinkle any deep-fried shallots on top. Bummer.
I was pretty stuffed by the end, and decided to stroll around a bit before heading home. Unfortunately this ruined my chances of having some shaved ice for dessert...
I'm back in Taipei for a few days, and the family decided to have dinner outside for once. After my last dinner at Golden Formosa (金蓬萊), I was interested in trying out the restaurant next door - Red Lantern (女娘的店). It looks a little like an old Taiwanese farmhouse, with - what else? - red lanterns hung by the outer gate as well as the entrance to the restaurant.
The whole place was designed to invoke nostalgia, with traditional wooden furniture - long benches around tables instead of individual chairs - and stuff that you'd find in rural farmhouses hung on the walls. I've been to a few of these places and always thought the decor interesting.
I ordered four dishes, which was more than enough for the three of us. The traditional pork belly (古早味烘肉) was a huge, square block of fatty, layered pork. It's basically the same as a block of 東坡肉 but the flavoring isn't as sweet. This was very yummy, as the fat has been cooked out into the sauce, and the lean meat was very soft and tender. If they cook it any more the muscle fibers will simply melt in the mouth. I'm sure I single-handedly devoured at least 60% of this thing...
Herbal shrimp soup in bamboo (竹筒君子蝦) - the medium-sized shrimps were blanched in an herbal soup with ginseng, wolfberries (枸杞), dried yamaimo (淮山), jujube (紅棗)... Pretty strong in taste but obviously very healthy. Served in an open section of bamboo.
Stir-fried chayote shoots (炒龍鬚菜) - these are the young shoots of chayote (佛手瓜), except that tonight the shoots weren't so young.
Crispy pig intestines (脆皮肥腸) - these were very nice and crispy, without being too oily and fatty. Dab a bit of five spice powder and eat with raw garlic shoots. Yum...
I made the mistake of order a bowl of rice with lard (豬油飯). In reality the sauce of the pork belly would have been sufficient, and I ended up not being able to taste the lard. Oh and they didn't sprinkle any deep-fried shallots on top. Bummer.
I was pretty stuffed by the end, and decided to stroll around a bit before heading home. Unfortunately this ruined my chances of having some shaved ice for dessert...
October 12, 2009
Shanghainese reunion
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I noticed that I've been having a lot more Shanghainese over the last few months. Tonight I went back to the Shanghai Fraternity Association (上海總會) for a gathering of old friends. We used to work together more than 10 years ago, at an institution which has long been bought and absorbed by a bigger bank. It was a lot of fun to update each other about what we're all doing, and also recount stories about the old days.
Appetizers:
Strange-flavored chicken (怪味雞) - this was not bad at all. A little spicy, with the usual sprinkle of peanuts and drizzled with the special sauce. It's a mix of soy sauce, vinegar, sugar, chili oil...etc, hence the name.
Smoked duck egg (薰蛋) - always love this, but the smoky flavor here seemed a bit light.
Vegetarian goose (素鵝) - OK but would be even better if there were some diced mushrooms.
Steamed Reeve's shad with ham in rice wine sauce (清蒸鰣魚) - this was a treat as I love this fish. I took in both the dark (back) and the white (stomach) meat, as I relished the chance to enjoy this. While it was pretty good, this was a bit bland compared to what I had at Fu 1039 in Shanghai.
I noticed that I've been having a lot more Shanghainese over the last few months. Tonight I went back to the Shanghai Fraternity Association (上海總會) for a gathering of old friends. We used to work together more than 10 years ago, at an institution which has long been bought and absorbed by a bigger bank. It was a lot of fun to update each other about what we're all doing, and also recount stories about the old days.
Appetizers:
Strange-flavored chicken (怪味雞) - this was not bad at all. A little spicy, with the usual sprinkle of peanuts and drizzled with the special sauce. It's a mix of soy sauce, vinegar, sugar, chili oil...etc, hence the name.
Smoked duck egg (薰蛋) - always love this, but the smoky flavor here seemed a bit light.
Deep-fried freshwater eel (油爆鱔魚) - these were very, very good. Very crispy and crunchy, with lots of sweet and sour sauce made from vinegar and sugar.
Marinated jellyfish (涼拌海蜇皮) - there was a good amount of the jellyfish's head/body, which meant this was especially crunchy. Taste-wise was only OK.
There was a good variety of main courses:
Stir-fried freshwater shrimp (清炒蝦仁) - a big plate of this and the shrimps were tiny. Pretty good stuff.
Crispy duck stuffed with glutinous rice (八寳鴨) - this was a surprise. The duck was very crispy on the outside, and reminded me of the French duck confit as both the taste and texture were pretty much the same. Thankfully it's not as salty as the traditional confit. But I thought the glutinous rice was too mushy, and tasted a little bland.
Pea shoots stir-fried with garlic (蒜茸炒豆苗) - I was a bit surprised because it seemed too early for pea shoot season (it's more of a winter veg) but the quality was pretty high.
Braised fatty pork leg (紅燒元蹄) - not my favorite. They fried the leg first before braising it, so the outer layer of the skin wasn't smooth anymore. Taste was OK and came with baby bok choy (小白菜).
Xiaolongbao (小籠包) - my member friend told me that he thought this was the best xiaolongbao in Hong Kong. I don't know if I would call it the best but it was certainly up there. The skin was nice and soft, and the dumplings were filled with nice pork jus.
Pan-fried dumplings (生煎包) - this was pretty damn good... the bottom was nice and crispy, even a little charred, but with that light and fluffy texture at the same time. The stuffing fell a little short, though, since it wasn't very juicy.
I was very stuffed at this point, so I just had some fruit to finish off.
It was a lot of fun to catch up with these guys, and even better to enjoy some good food together. A few of us adjourned to Zuma for drinks later, and regaled in outlandish tales of all the shenanigans we've witnessed in the financial industry over the years...
October 11, 2009
Opening the hairy crab season
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It's hairy crab (大閘蟹) season again, and while I was finishing stuffing my face this afternoon at T'ang Court, I received an invitation to join some friends to feast on the delicacy at dinner. We would meet at Farm House (農圃), which is actually a Cantonese restaurant. But these days just about any Chinese restaurant worth anything would jump at the chance to serve hairy crab...
We started with some steamed pork dumpling with crab roe (蟹粉小籠包). These were pretty large, and came in little cups made of tin foil sitting inside bamboo baskets. Unfortunately the consistency and texture of the skin wasn't good, and putting these in tin foil cups was definitely a mistake, as they either stuck to the cups or the skin broke easily on contact.
We went straight to the hairy crabs. I had two of these, which took me a long time to eat. I don't eat a lot of hairy crabs so I'm slow in terms of getting to the meat, but I still find it enjoyable. The crabs today had a lot of roe so I know that the captain were taking care of us. Very, very yummy and a good way for me to start the season.
To finish off, we each had a bowl of abalone udon. The whole abalone had lots of flavors of the sea, and the soup was pretty nice with some choy sum (菜心) in the bowl. But the chef obviously doesn't realize that Japanese udon are supposed to be chewy, not mushy and flabby. Oh well.
Too full to have dessert, and a little bit happy from drinking some huadiao (花雕). I head home satisfied, and thinking about taking a trip to Shanghai for some more crab.
It's hairy crab (大閘蟹) season again, and while I was finishing stuffing my face this afternoon at T'ang Court, I received an invitation to join some friends to feast on the delicacy at dinner. We would meet at Farm House (農圃), which is actually a Cantonese restaurant. But these days just about any Chinese restaurant worth anything would jump at the chance to serve hairy crab...
We started with some steamed pork dumpling with crab roe (蟹粉小籠包). These were pretty large, and came in little cups made of tin foil sitting inside bamboo baskets. Unfortunately the consistency and texture of the skin wasn't good, and putting these in tin foil cups was definitely a mistake, as they either stuck to the cups or the skin broke easily on contact.
We went straight to the hairy crabs. I had two of these, which took me a long time to eat. I don't eat a lot of hairy crabs so I'm slow in terms of getting to the meat, but I still find it enjoyable. The crabs today had a lot of roe so I know that the captain were taking care of us. Very, very yummy and a good way for me to start the season.
To finish off, we each had a bowl of abalone udon. The whole abalone had lots of flavors of the sea, and the soup was pretty nice with some choy sum (菜心) in the bowl. But the chef obviously doesn't realize that Japanese udon are supposed to be chewy, not mushy and flabby. Oh well.
Too full to have dessert, and a little bit happy from drinking some huadiao (花雕). I head home satisfied, and thinking about taking a trip to Shanghai for some more crab.
Impromptu dim sum
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I found myself in TST this morning without plans for lunch, when I remembered that I needed to catch up with a friend lives who nearby. Luckily she was free for lunch, and we met at T'ang Court (唐閣) at the Langham Hotel for some dim sum. The restaurant had gotten itself two Michelin stars, but I had never found a reason to dine here.
Steamed lobster, crab meat, shrimps and pork dumpling (龍皇帶子餃) - this was the premium dim sum item and came in its own bamboo basket. The taste of crab meat was immediately apparent and dominated. The dumpling itself was basically a collection of four different types of ingredients fused together. Interesting texture, but taste-wise it didn't wow me as I didn't see any apparent reason why these particular ingredients should work well together.
Steamed pork, scallop and chive dumplings (韭菜帶子餃) - this was very yummy, as the strong, fragrant chives paired well with the scallops.
Steamed barbecued pork buns (蠔皇叉燒包) - very nicely done. My friend loves char siu bao and these were definitely good enough for her.
Pan-fried rice flour rolls with home-made spicy sauce (XO醬煎腸粉) - now this was a pleasant surprise. I had expected the same type of stuff that I'd normally get from Victoria Seafood (海都), but there was a significant difference. Instead of just simply stir-fried like any rice noodle, these were pan-fried so that the entire outer layer is crispy and crunchy while the inside was still soft. There was plenty of XO sauce encrusted into the outer layer, making it very, very delicious. Really good stuff.
Steamed pastries filled with ham, barbecued pork and spring onions (黃橋焗燒餅) - this was another item which I measured against what I would normally order at Victoria Seafood. The version here was fluffier and lighter, with more oil absorbed into the pastry. While this was also delicious, my preference is for the ones at Victoria Seafood.
For dessert I ordered the mung bean soup (香草綠豆沙), because the Chinese name led me to believe that somehow they decided to add vanilla to it instead of the usual sea kelp found in Cantonese versions of this dessert. Well, I discovered that in this case 香草 did not actually mean vanilla, but some type of herb used sparingly that I didn't even detect any taste or fragrance. And there was still plenty of kelp in the soup. Bummer.
Service was very attentive, which was a nice surprise. The whole dining experience was very pleasant, and I'm left wondering why it took me so long to make my way here. I should have listened to my fellow Chowhounds earlier...
I found myself in TST this morning without plans for lunch, when I remembered that I needed to catch up with a friend lives who nearby. Luckily she was free for lunch, and we met at T'ang Court (唐閣) at the Langham Hotel for some dim sum. The restaurant had gotten itself two Michelin stars, but I had never found a reason to dine here.
Steamed lobster, crab meat, shrimps and pork dumpling (龍皇帶子餃) - this was the premium dim sum item and came in its own bamboo basket. The taste of crab meat was immediately apparent and dominated. The dumpling itself was basically a collection of four different types of ingredients fused together. Interesting texture, but taste-wise it didn't wow me as I didn't see any apparent reason why these particular ingredients should work well together.
Steamed pork, scallop and chive dumplings (韭菜帶子餃) - this was very yummy, as the strong, fragrant chives paired well with the scallops.
Steamed barbecued pork buns (蠔皇叉燒包) - very nicely done. My friend loves char siu bao and these were definitely good enough for her.
Pan-fried rice flour rolls with home-made spicy sauce (XO醬煎腸粉) - now this was a pleasant surprise. I had expected the same type of stuff that I'd normally get from Victoria Seafood (海都), but there was a significant difference. Instead of just simply stir-fried like any rice noodle, these were pan-fried so that the entire outer layer is crispy and crunchy while the inside was still soft. There was plenty of XO sauce encrusted into the outer layer, making it very, very delicious. Really good stuff.
Steamed pastries filled with ham, barbecued pork and spring onions (黃橋焗燒餅) - this was another item which I measured against what I would normally order at Victoria Seafood. The version here was fluffier and lighter, with more oil absorbed into the pastry. While this was also delicious, my preference is for the ones at Victoria Seafood.
For dessert I ordered the mung bean soup (香草綠豆沙), because the Chinese name led me to believe that somehow they decided to add vanilla to it instead of the usual sea kelp found in Cantonese versions of this dessert. Well, I discovered that in this case 香草 did not actually mean vanilla, but some type of herb used sparingly that I didn't even detect any taste or fragrance. And there was still plenty of kelp in the soup. Bummer.
Service was very attentive, which was a nice surprise. The whole dining experience was very pleasant, and I'm left wondering why it took me so long to make my way here. I should have listened to my fellow Chowhounds earlier...
October 10, 2009
Straightfoward Canto
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Some friends are in town and looking for some simple Cantonese food - they were just glad to be able to eat something other than Singaporean... I took them to the Wanchai branch of the Yixin Restaurant (益新美食館), a place where I've always gone for some simple and straightforward Cantonese dishes.
We had to wait for close to half an hour to get seated, as the previous occupiers of the table were slow in finishing, and the restaurant was short-staffed and slow in cleaning up tables. We quickly ordered some dishes as we were all pretty hungry.
De-shelled prawns stir-fried with eggs (滑蛋蝦仁) - the prawns at this restaurant have always been pretty big, and there's a certain amount of satisfaction in biting into and chewing on these things. There's the usual sprinkle of spring onions in the eggs to add some fragrance. This is one of the dishes I always order here.
Lemon chicken (西檸煎軟雞) - another of the restaurant's signature dishes. Even though lemon chicken smacks of American Chinese food, they do a really good job here. The chicken is nicely battered, crunchy to bite into.
Pan-fried meat patties with preserved fish (煎咸魚肉餅) - the captain made a mistake. I wanted to order the steamed pork patties, which would have been much more tender and succulent. But I guess the fried version was also OK, although I wish the taste of the preserved fish were more pronounced.
Eggplant and minced meat in claypot (魚香茄子煲) - the skin has been removed from the eggplant, and the mixture of minced pork with other yummy ingredients make this dish easy to go down with some rice.
Choy sum in superior broth (上湯浸菜心) - not bad.
Grouper filet in claypot (斑腩煲) - this was the most expensive dish of the dinner, and also the most disappointing. I normally wouldn't order this dish as I've had many misses over the years on this one, but the captain recommended it. First of all it wasn't just pieces of filet... there were plenty of pieces of the grouper's head. There was the usual mix of spring onion and ginger, but not enough was used and the "fishy" taste of the camouflage grouper was very evident. I did like the pieces of tofu skin they threw into the claypot. Oh and a quick check on the WWF website comes up with a recommendation to avoid consuming this overfished species.
This was certainly a lot of food to fill our bellies. I think we could have done without the grouper claypot, which came out to be over 30% of the bill... But I still like the food at Yixin overall, and will be sticking to the simple dishes in the future.
Some friends are in town and looking for some simple Cantonese food - they were just glad to be able to eat something other than Singaporean... I took them to the Wanchai branch of the Yixin Restaurant (益新美食館), a place where I've always gone for some simple and straightforward Cantonese dishes.
We had to wait for close to half an hour to get seated, as the previous occupiers of the table were slow in finishing, and the restaurant was short-staffed and slow in cleaning up tables. We quickly ordered some dishes as we were all pretty hungry.
De-shelled prawns stir-fried with eggs (滑蛋蝦仁) - the prawns at this restaurant have always been pretty big, and there's a certain amount of satisfaction in biting into and chewing on these things. There's the usual sprinkle of spring onions in the eggs to add some fragrance. This is one of the dishes I always order here.
Lemon chicken (西檸煎軟雞) - another of the restaurant's signature dishes. Even though lemon chicken smacks of American Chinese food, they do a really good job here. The chicken is nicely battered, crunchy to bite into.
Pan-fried meat patties with preserved fish (煎咸魚肉餅) - the captain made a mistake. I wanted to order the steamed pork patties, which would have been much more tender and succulent. But I guess the fried version was also OK, although I wish the taste of the preserved fish were more pronounced.
Eggplant and minced meat in claypot (魚香茄子煲) - the skin has been removed from the eggplant, and the mixture of minced pork with other yummy ingredients make this dish easy to go down with some rice.
Choy sum in superior broth (上湯浸菜心) - not bad.
Grouper filet in claypot (斑腩煲) - this was the most expensive dish of the dinner, and also the most disappointing. I normally wouldn't order this dish as I've had many misses over the years on this one, but the captain recommended it. First of all it wasn't just pieces of filet... there were plenty of pieces of the grouper's head. There was the usual mix of spring onion and ginger, but not enough was used and the "fishy" taste of the camouflage grouper was very evident. I did like the pieces of tofu skin they threw into the claypot. Oh and a quick check on the WWF website comes up with a recommendation to avoid consuming this overfished species.
This was certainly a lot of food to fill our bellies. I think we could have done without the grouper claypot, which came out to be over 30% of the bill... But I still like the food at Yixin overall, and will be sticking to the simple dishes in the future.
October 9, 2009
The 2009 Nobel Peace Prize...WTF?!
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I was busy working on a project at home today, so I didn't have my eyes glued to the TV or the internet. Imagine my surprise when, later in the evening, a friend told me that US President Barack Obama had won the 2009 Nobel Peace Prize.
My initial reaction was very straight forward - WTF?!
Not that I don't like Obama. He's a very likeable guy. Is he a good President? He's certainly making a lot of effort in many different areas, and I have high hopes for him. But in all honesty, it's too early to tell. He's only been in office for less than a year.
My understanding - being a layman - is that Nobel Prizes are awarded based on the achievements of the laureates. So what, exactly, did the people at Norwegian Nobel Committee think Obama has accomplished since his rise to fame in the last couple of years? I'm still scratching my head on this.
Out of 120 laureates awarded the Peace Prize - 97 of them individuals - 15 of them have been heads of state, including 4 US Presidents. Most awards were handed out while these heads of state were in office, and we can easily point to specific achievements for most of the awards - Teddy Roosevelt for negotiating the end of the Russo-Japanese War; Woodrow Wilson for establishing the League of Nations; Anwar al-Sadat and Menachem Begin for the first Middle East peace treaty...
What has Obama done? Well...he's extended the olive branch to numerous enemies and estranged allies of the US. He has shown the world that he wants to talk, which is a hell lot better than Dubya's attitude towards the rest of the world. But there's still nothing concrete that we can point to.
Hong Kong TV interviewed a few local "scholars", and one of them used to phrase "the biggest joke in the world (天大的笑話)". I can't say I disagree...
I was busy working on a project at home today, so I didn't have my eyes glued to the TV or the internet. Imagine my surprise when, later in the evening, a friend told me that US President Barack Obama had won the 2009 Nobel Peace Prize.
My initial reaction was very straight forward - WTF?!
Not that I don't like Obama. He's a very likeable guy. Is he a good President? He's certainly making a lot of effort in many different areas, and I have high hopes for him. But in all honesty, it's too early to tell. He's only been in office for less than a year.
My understanding - being a layman - is that Nobel Prizes are awarded based on the achievements of the laureates. So what, exactly, did the people at Norwegian Nobel Committee think Obama has accomplished since his rise to fame in the last couple of years? I'm still scratching my head on this.
Out of 120 laureates awarded the Peace Prize - 97 of them individuals - 15 of them have been heads of state, including 4 US Presidents. Most awards were handed out while these heads of state were in office, and we can easily point to specific achievements for most of the awards - Teddy Roosevelt for negotiating the end of the Russo-Japanese War; Woodrow Wilson for establishing the League of Nations; Anwar al-Sadat and Menachem Begin for the first Middle East peace treaty...
What has Obama done? Well...he's extended the olive branch to numerous enemies and estranged allies of the US. He has shown the world that he wants to talk, which is a hell lot better than Dubya's attitude towards the rest of the world. But there's still nothing concrete that we can point to.
Hong Kong TV interviewed a few local "scholars", and one of them used to phrase "the biggest joke in the world (天大的笑話)". I can't say I disagree...
October 5, 2009
A very Taiwanese Japanese meal
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I finally had a chance to go back to Mitsui (三井) tonight after a few years. This is a Japanese restaurant that is popular with locals in Taipei, as the food is pretty good, although I never found it terribly authentic. Instead there is a strong Taiwanese twist to the cuisine, which is just fine with most Taiwanese.
We took one of the cheaper set dinners, which was good enough for me in terms of quality.
First came a plate of sashimi, with toro (トロ), yellow tail (はまち), scallop (帆立), humpback shrimp (牡丹蝦), some fish I didn't recognize and squid and seaweed roll. Pretty fresh stuff, and the shrimp was particularly crunchy and bouncy.
Next we had a bowl of abalone salad (アワビサラダ). This is where the "fusion" element comes in. It was a nice and refreshing salad, with ingredients like apple, yamaimo (山芋) and alfalfa sprouts in addition to the usual suspects. The abalone was tasty and served out of the shell.
Some green sea urchin (馬糞雲丹) was served on a bed of shredded yamaimo (山芋). This was pretty sweet, and perfect with a couple of drops of soy sauce. The combination of the two elements worked pretty well, as both the sea urchin and the root had creamy and viscous elements in their textures.
The grilled red king crab legs (タラバ) were pretty good. The legs were nicely done - not too dry - and there were still juices running down the shell when I tried to peel off the meat.
We were served a burdock hand roll (牛蒡手巻き), and it was surprisingly good. The burdock were cut into very thin shreds, then grilled until it's dry and crispy and wrapped with some mayo.
Braised head of red snapper (鯛) tasted more Chinese than Japanese, but never mind...
We had some cubes of yummy beef, slowly cooked on top of a large leaf over a mini hibachi. The beef stays nice and red in the center, with just enough fat to impart the yummy flavors to the meat.
Finally, we had seafood hotpot with clear broth and red king crab (タラバガニ). I always prefer clear broth instead of miso, as you get this wonderfully sweet aftertaste from the seafood.
The fruit and dessert platter was pretty good, too, with some nectarine, ripe grapes and a very, very yummy dorayaki (銅鑼焼き). A very nice way to finish off the meal.
This was actually too much food for me, as I was kinda full by the time the beef came around. But I really enjoyed the food here. The only drawback was the service. Not that we were ignored by the staff or the staff didn't have smiles on their faces. They were just poorly trained. We had someone who special dietary habits in our group, so a few of her courses were substituted. The staff didn't bother to mark down which person was getting the special dishes, and we had to correct the serving waitress repeatedly. The kitchen also sent out food at a really fast pace, without allowing us enough time to finish the previous dish. This became annoying, and marred what was otherwise a great dining experience. I guess it really is hard to get good service in Asia...
I finally had a chance to go back to Mitsui (三井) tonight after a few years. This is a Japanese restaurant that is popular with locals in Taipei, as the food is pretty good, although I never found it terribly authentic. Instead there is a strong Taiwanese twist to the cuisine, which is just fine with most Taiwanese.
We took one of the cheaper set dinners, which was good enough for me in terms of quality.
First came a plate of sashimi, with toro (トロ), yellow tail (はまち), scallop (帆立), humpback shrimp (牡丹蝦), some fish I didn't recognize and squid and seaweed roll. Pretty fresh stuff, and the shrimp was particularly crunchy and bouncy.
Next we had a bowl of abalone salad (アワビサラダ). This is where the "fusion" element comes in. It was a nice and refreshing salad, with ingredients like apple, yamaimo (山芋) and alfalfa sprouts in addition to the usual suspects. The abalone was tasty and served out of the shell.
Some green sea urchin (馬糞雲丹) was served on a bed of shredded yamaimo (山芋). This was pretty sweet, and perfect with a couple of drops of soy sauce. The combination of the two elements worked pretty well, as both the sea urchin and the root had creamy and viscous elements in their textures.
The grilled red king crab legs (タラバ) were pretty good. The legs were nicely done - not too dry - and there were still juices running down the shell when I tried to peel off the meat.
We were served a burdock hand roll (牛蒡手巻き), and it was surprisingly good. The burdock were cut into very thin shreds, then grilled until it's dry and crispy and wrapped with some mayo.
Braised head of red snapper (鯛) tasted more Chinese than Japanese, but never mind...
We had some cubes of yummy beef, slowly cooked on top of a large leaf over a mini hibachi. The beef stays nice and red in the center, with just enough fat to impart the yummy flavors to the meat.
Finally, we had seafood hotpot with clear broth and red king crab (タラバガニ). I always prefer clear broth instead of miso, as you get this wonderfully sweet aftertaste from the seafood.
The fruit and dessert platter was pretty good, too, with some nectarine, ripe grapes and a very, very yummy dorayaki (銅鑼焼き). A very nice way to finish off the meal.
This was actually too much food for me, as I was kinda full by the time the beef came around. But I really enjoyed the food here. The only drawback was the service. Not that we were ignored by the staff or the staff didn't have smiles on their faces. They were just poorly trained. We had someone who special dietary habits in our group, so a few of her courses were substituted. The staff didn't bother to mark down which person was getting the special dishes, and we had to correct the serving waitress repeatedly. The kitchen also sent out food at a really fast pace, without allowing us enough time to finish the previous dish. This became annoying, and marred what was otherwise a great dining experience. I guess it really is hard to get good service in Asia...
October 4, 2009
Afternoon excursion for local delights
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This afternoon I went out to Ximending (西門町), Taipei's equivalent of Shibuya/Harajuku. It's been a couple of years since I was last here so I was looking forward to taking a look. It's always been a place for the young, and I was thinking that I was getting too old for this neighborhood.
The main objective was to hit Laotienlu (上海老天祿), the store that is most famous for their duck tongue...amongst other things. A good friend from Hong Kong loves these things, and of course I had to get some to bring back as gifts. It's been a long, long time since I've been to the shop, and I realized that there are actually two different stores calling themselves 老天祿 (a pretty common occurrence in Taiwan - just look at how many stores call themselves 太陽堂...). The one that I've always gone to - and the original - is on Chengdu Road (成都路).
The store was busy as usual, and I wasn't surprised at all to see customers from Hong Kong. Everybody wants some of the duck tongue, and they're not cheap! At NT$ 170 per 100g - which yields about 8-10 tongues - I think I can get a better deal at Shanghainese restaurants in Hong Kong. I picked up two boxes of the spicy variety and hand over a wad of cash. I also decided to pick up a couple of small Shanghainese moon cakes, since I haven't had these in a while.
I also stopped by to snack on another Taiwanese local staple - rice-flour noodles (麵線). I've heard about Ay-Chung Rice Flour Noodle (阿宗麵線) for years but never got around to having some. These guys have done so well that they're no longer operating out of a push cart on a street corner, and have moved into some permanent digs. Naturally there is a line, and I figured at any given point in time there are 20-40 customers standing around holding a bowl in their hands. The guy standing behind the counter doesn't ever stop - he just keeps scooping the noodles in the thick, starchy soup into one bowl after another with the same repetitive motion. It takes him 5 seconds to fill a small bowl and 10 seconds for the big bowl. It's gotta be one of the most boring jobs around...
I grabbed a bowl and started to chow down. Was it good? Yeah, it's pretty good. But what was so good about it that tourists - both local and foreign - make this one of their stops? I'm not really sure. Yes, the pieces of pig intestines are yummy and have a distinct fragrance that is often lacking in what one gets elsewhere. And the starchy soup with the usual bonito shavings, vinegar and coriander topping was nice, too. But honestly, I'm not that much of a connoisseur to be able to rate this bowl vs. many other good bowls of noodles. I guess what I'm trying to say is that if you're in the neighborhood, it's worth stopping by. But I certainly wouldn't go out of my way to make a detour for this.
Later on I also grabbed a small bag of popcorn chicken from Ji Guang Delicious Fried Chicken (繼光香香雞), which operates out of a tiny corner shop near one of the subway entrances. I asked for the non-spicy version, which only has sprinkles of five-spice flavors and not the chilli powder. The chicken cubes are deep-fried and they've sprinkled sesame seeds in the batter, which helps make it tasty. This was my pre-dinner snack before boarding the bus and heading home for mom's cooking.
This afternoon I went out to Ximending (西門町), Taipei's equivalent of Shibuya/Harajuku. It's been a couple of years since I was last here so I was looking forward to taking a look. It's always been a place for the young, and I was thinking that I was getting too old for this neighborhood.
The main objective was to hit Laotienlu (上海老天祿), the store that is most famous for their duck tongue...amongst other things. A good friend from Hong Kong loves these things, and of course I had to get some to bring back as gifts. It's been a long, long time since I've been to the shop, and I realized that there are actually two different stores calling themselves 老天祿 (a pretty common occurrence in Taiwan - just look at how many stores call themselves 太陽堂...). The one that I've always gone to - and the original - is on Chengdu Road (成都路).
The store was busy as usual, and I wasn't surprised at all to see customers from Hong Kong. Everybody wants some of the duck tongue, and they're not cheap! At NT$ 170 per 100g - which yields about 8-10 tongues - I think I can get a better deal at Shanghainese restaurants in Hong Kong. I picked up two boxes of the spicy variety and hand over a wad of cash. I also decided to pick up a couple of small Shanghainese moon cakes, since I haven't had these in a while.
I also stopped by to snack on another Taiwanese local staple - rice-flour noodles (麵線). I've heard about Ay-Chung Rice Flour Noodle (阿宗麵線) for years but never got around to having some. These guys have done so well that they're no longer operating out of a push cart on a street corner, and have moved into some permanent digs. Naturally there is a line, and I figured at any given point in time there are 20-40 customers standing around holding a bowl in their hands. The guy standing behind the counter doesn't ever stop - he just keeps scooping the noodles in the thick, starchy soup into one bowl after another with the same repetitive motion. It takes him 5 seconds to fill a small bowl and 10 seconds for the big bowl. It's gotta be one of the most boring jobs around...
I grabbed a bowl and started to chow down. Was it good? Yeah, it's pretty good. But what was so good about it that tourists - both local and foreign - make this one of their stops? I'm not really sure. Yes, the pieces of pig intestines are yummy and have a distinct fragrance that is often lacking in what one gets elsewhere. And the starchy soup with the usual bonito shavings, vinegar and coriander topping was nice, too. But honestly, I'm not that much of a connoisseur to be able to rate this bowl vs. many other good bowls of noodles. I guess what I'm trying to say is that if you're in the neighborhood, it's worth stopping by. But I certainly wouldn't go out of my way to make a detour for this.
Later on I also grabbed a small bag of popcorn chicken from Ji Guang Delicious Fried Chicken (繼光香香雞), which operates out of a tiny corner shop near one of the subway entrances. I asked for the non-spicy version, which only has sprinkles of five-spice flavors and not the chilli powder. The chicken cubes are deep-fried and they've sprinkled sesame seeds in the batter, which helps make it tasty. This was my pre-dinner snack before boarding the bus and heading home for mom's cooking.
October 1, 2009
Shanghainese family gathering...again
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My parents are creatures of habit. They tend to dine at the same restaurants over and over again, especially for family gatherings. Not very adventurous in that sense. So I found myself once again at Shanghai Shanghai (紅豆食府) for a large family gathering, this time with dad's side of the family. We were having an early reunion for Mid-Autumn Festival.
We took one of the set menus and there was really a lot of food. I could never understand how people can finish one of these set meals and not feel stuffed and bloated...
Drunken chicken (醉雞) - pretty decent here.
Celery sticks with mustard sauce (芥末西芹) - I never quite understood why this is considered Shanghainese and served at this restaurant...
Pig trotter terrine (鎮江肴肉) - don't like the version here... too much jelly and too little pork.
Stir-fried freshwater shrimp with sweet peas (豌豆炒蝦仁) - the tiny shrimps were fresh and bouncy, and the peas were pretty sweet - as the name would indicate.
My parents are creatures of habit. They tend to dine at the same restaurants over and over again, especially for family gatherings. Not very adventurous in that sense. So I found myself once again at Shanghai Shanghai (紅豆食府) for a large family gathering, this time with dad's side of the family. We were having an early reunion for Mid-Autumn Festival.
We took one of the set menus and there was really a lot of food. I could never understand how people can finish one of these set meals and not feel stuffed and bloated...
Drunken chicken (醉雞) - pretty decent here.
Celery sticks with mustard sauce (芥末西芹) - I never quite understood why this is considered Shanghainese and served at this restaurant...
Stir-fried wheat gluten with bamboo shoots (烤麩) - not too bad.
Marinated jellyfish and shredded radish (蘿蔔涼拌海蜇皮) - refreshing.
Stir-fried freshwater shrimp with sweet peas (豌豆炒蝦仁) - the tiny shrimps were fresh and bouncy, and the peas were pretty sweet - as the name would indicate.
Stir-fried freshwater eel (炒鱓糊) - a classic Shanghainese dish...and done pretty well here.
Deep-fried diced chicken (炸子雞) - huh? Since when has this become Shanghainese? Poor execution here and we left half of it untouched.
Stir-fried bamboo shoots with fatty winter meat (竹筍炒臘肉) - I just love the 臘肉 with all that hardened fat... really enjoy the chewy texture.
Steamed stinky tofu (蒸臭豆腐) - still refusing to eat this. Maybe one day...
Mustard greens with abalone (芥菜鮑魚) - the mustard green wasn't too bitter, and you could definitely taste the full flavors of the abalone...
Mustard greens with abalone (芥菜鮑魚) - the mustard green wasn't too bitter, and you could definitely taste the full flavors of the abalone...
Stir-fried rice cake with crabs (螃蟹炒年糕) - not exactly the hairy crabs but this was still pretty delish. Especially the rice cake that has soaked up all the sweet, brown sauce.
Braised Dong Po pork and sea cucumber (東坡肉配海參) - the fatty pork wasn't bad, although the sea cucumber wasn't so hot. The texture was OK but it wasn't so tasty.
Steamed dumpling with pork and vegetables (菜肉蒸餃) - actually not so tasty. A little bit dry inside and could use a bit more pork juice.
Chicken soup with wontons (雞湯餛飩) - classic finish to a Shanghainese meal. No need for shark's fin today. Soup was very tasty but the wontons were a bit small and lame...and a little too hard and dry inside.
Chicken soup with wontons (雞湯餛飩) - classic finish to a Shanghainese meal. No need for shark's fin today. Soup was very tasty but the wontons were a bit small and lame...and a little too hard and dry inside.
Stuffed again. I'm hoping that the next big family gathering will see us at a different venue...
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