BonVivant

lots of vietnamese [and chinese] restaurants in the 13th arrondissement. also try everything else on the menu! i tried a couple of places and they both tasted good to me. no doubt the 'best' place has to be vietnam itself but then paris is only a few hours from me by high speed train.

thanks, Hiroyuki. the health effect bit is quite discouraging. it appears no more brackens for me.

i've never seen them in my food hell until i went to mountainous rural China. deep in the mountains and far away from most things civilised one can't really make a fuss so yeah i did eat them a few times. iirc they're always blanched before hand. i very much prefer the green garlic stalks though, which i could eat in copious amounts. some photos of fresh fiddleheads in China: shoulder pole 1, shoulder pole 2, shoulder pole 3

i thought Sichuan food has always been popular besides Cantonese, no? having been to both provinces several times and love the food there i really can't decide which i like more. i've recently returned from my 3rd China oinking trip... visited Fujian province for the first time which was a very interesting experience, also foodwise. 3 days of Hunanese food in Changsha were too short. Yunnan is great all round. Xinjiang was on my itinerary but the event of march 14 ruined it all. however i managed to make it to Songpan county, miraculously in time...between before and after they closed it off to foreigners. one place i know i'd never return is Wuyishan, although i quite like the tea eggs there. Shandong will be on my list next time for sure. China is too vast and diverse it's going to take me many years to see/eat it all 6 weeks at a time [i've had sweet and sour pork only once in my life but it wasn't ordered by me, and not in China.]

Lin Heung is the place for dimsum and that old HK traditional tea house experience. relocated to HK from Guangzhou in the 50's and little has changed since. so busy they don't have time to redecorate, their staff don't have time to take their holidays! i actually found LH by accident, last year. have been to a few other yumcha places but LH leaves them all in the dust! haha... the pics all look very familar. a place in Wanchai has even better goose and char siu than Yung Kee, at half the price. [i picked up a free copy of HK food guide which i used most of the time while in town.] still jet lagged and am nursing Lamma island mozzie bites

what a coincident. as i'm waiting for the site to load [taking aaaaaaaaages and still going nowhere!] thought i'd answer my own question that i've finally found their website. unfortunately the menu button is useless. so long as they have fresh seafood, spectacular views, and {aussie?} bubbly then i'm in heaven many thanks, Pasantrin. gotta pack before the night is over [10pm now]

first sorry if this is slightly off topic... i'm pretty sure this is the correct address for Quarterdeck seafood restaurant in TST Shop OTG53, Ground Floor, Ocean Terminal. i have no success finding their website and/or (wine) menu. all i know is it's Aussie and has stunning views of the harbour. planning to go there next monday to spoil myself and a bottle of Bollinger would be very agreeable for the occasion. [if Cha Xiu Bao is reading this... thank you for that blog entry!]

i love love love [spring] lamb! have tried all sorts of lamb dishes but i still think the simple leg of lamb with rosemary and garlic is best. a couple of months ago i had Franconian knuckle of lamb for the first time in Nürnberg. not the first time i had this cut, but the first time 'Franconian style'. it's frustrating not able to get lamb from Texel [island north of Netherlands], and i live in the south. [this is a small country, you can drive probably 3 hrs to get from north to south, west to east ect] one must go to the island to eat it. the rest is imported to France!

i think just about everyone in CZ Rep. drinks it after a meal and/or beer. i even brought back a bottle. took sometime to finish it though. much prefer Franconian smoke(d) schnapp

ah! no wonder i like all of these most, save for sticky rice in lotus leaves [however i rather like this version of sticky rice parcels. can't decide which i like more though... beef balls or shrimp dumplings. miam miam... other things mentioned are also nice. i like them as breakfast, something i don't take a couple of hours eating while contemplating the universe. besides, who doesn't like turnip puddy, savoury rice porridge, or cheung fahn[?] / steamed rice sheets Har gow (shrimp dumplings) Siu mai (pork dumplings) Steamed beef balls Steamed spareribs Cha Siu Bao (steamed BBQ pork bao) Nor Mai Gai (steamed sticky rice wrapped in lotus leaves) Steamed Chicken feet etc.. (the list is long) Those are traditional, "real" dim sums --------------------------------------------- and a couple more... beancurd sheet rolls, squid, another version of cheung fahn?, sesame puff [not a fan of].

mushroom?! i would never have thought! it tastes well...peculiar. perhaps it has been steeped in something. yeah the soup is really good. the broth is everything here. if i come across the jellied eggs again this time i will buy one and try for sure. i must know what exactly it is. many thanks, Ah Leung!

a very good thread. thanks! i have some [photographic] questions but let's start with this peculiar thing. it's one of many little bits in Kunming 'cross-the-bridge' noodle soup. then i had the same soup someplace else the next time everything was slightly different again. and this one i call 'jellied eggs'. i think it's a waste of time/calories but still am curious... what exactly is it and how to eat it?

fantastic from beginning to end! i like the coffee photo... haha. they do have at least one chain in big cities [China] with Starbucks lookalike *green* logo LOL...

very nice, Ling. lovely photos, too. they are a bit shocked to know we [2 of us] order 9 baskets of dimsum [in the course of 2 hours]. yes they always try to take the menu away but i need it to take pictures of what i order so i can ask someone to translate the script when i get home. 17 more days until HKG

fantastic. thanks for the tip. it's all about quality so i don't really mind paying a little more. cheers

that's exactly how i want to eat geoduck as i'm particularly fond of sashimi and hotpot. where's this hotpot restaurant in HK and what's called? i eat hotpot in China every chance i get but never seen geoducks in their tanks. i can get baby ones [frozen] here and steam them with garlic and ginger. oh HK is amazing and i can't wait until march 7. i already know what i want to eat the following morning in Central....

omg, the horror! well it's not going to happen then. thanks all! unfortunately there are still loads of these endangered beasts in the tanks as you can see. i want to try something i can't get at home, such as this bivalve mollusk. [most likely farmed in WA or BC]. curacha crab mutant is much better than horseshoe crab for sure. looks like a mutated cockroach but quite fleshy. and costs an arm and a leg. blue blood! i've just read it's closely related to spiders and ticks. yikes!

Sai Kung is nice but now that i've been there Lamma island will be next. btw, is it worth paying for this beast?

someone mentions pho in Muenchen??? do you happen to have an address? i'm going to Muenchen soon, for 5 full days. the nearest pho from where i am is Paris! danke.

i have Happy Cooking [Nintendo DS]

only salteñas do it for me. eating them without spilling the juices requires 'skills'...haha... dilicioso! ------------ btw, a history of salteñas. it says they make the best in Sucre but every salteña i had in different places in Bolivia was good, including those from Sucre.

i think it's most likely Pastéis de Bacalhau (à Portuguesa). an extremely popular snack with beer in Portugal. as the name suggests, it contains bacalhau. if you think something tastes 'different' in Macanese food but can't put a finger on it then it's probably the balichão, which every Macanese household has its own version. smells/tastes a little bit like belacan but not exactly. much better! [balichão looks brownish [upper right corner]. while in Macau i was really looking forward to eating Lord Stow's pastéis de nata but the Lord disappointed me. i'm very critical of others' pastéis de nata having eaten these delicious little tarts countless times in its country of origin, including the most famous of all. anyway, Portugal and things in it, or related to it are something close to my heart... i could talk about it for days! bom apetite!

droolingdroolingdrooling.......... i'm sure Waterstone's in AMS has received the shipment recently. picking up my copy this coming friday! i'm passionate about Portuguese and Spanish cookery.... now why did i buy Silver Spoon and haven't even looked inside once?!...

this is my first post like in like 5 months......... but HKG, how can i forget HKG... ----------------------------------------------------------- i was there in the spring, this year. was blown away. completely and utterly! the beef brisket noodle soup...... good god....<me immediately slips into a food coma upon hearing the words beef brisket noodle soup>.......good god..... i had 2 in a row. i think it's better to use a good P&S for food pics rather than a 'fancy' camera while abroad. i have a D70s/Nikkor 18-200 VR myself and did have to use it sometimes for the food pics during the trip when my P&S crappped out on me. not recommended! however, if you have your heart set on it then all i can say is it will be a little frustrating. bom apetit, in the city of gastronomy.

food photogs at the top of my list are Petrina Tinslay, David Munns, Jean Cazals, and even self-taught cook/food photog Alastair Hendy. come to think of it i spend over Eur.50/month on UK/DE/FR/OZ etc cookery magazines alone primarily for the stunning photography. rarely use them for cooking!