Bu Pun Su

Did any of you already know that Passard is gonna be that good when he's still under Senderens or when Barbot is still under Passard? Using similar "analogy", who is the current "no 2 or no 3" chefs in the 2-3 star places having the best potential to gain Michelin highest accolade on their own in the future?

Julot, Do you mind sharing the Passard's story to non-French speaking members ? If not mistaken, you went to US ... did you go to per se, Manresa etc ? Did you write the report somewhere? Somehow, it's not in your blogs. Thanks

As usual, great review and pictures Aaron ... what didn't you like about the pictures at the beginning? I thought they're all fine Are there many off-the-menu in Arpege in general? Do they tell the price in advance? The abalone looks wonderful ... not many 3-star places serving abalone. And yeah, the braised lobster with vin jaune there is the best lobster in the world (no black truffle added?)

I'm second to fortedei regarding the bay scallops from Nantucket. Chef Esnault cooked it in perfection in my meal at ADNY in Nov 2005. This is the picture here

Thanks for the detailed reviews as well as nice pictures Are you saying that the duck you ate there is even better than Pacaud's truffe bel humeur since you said it's one of the best things you had in your life? When is the Arpege's review coming ?

If money is not an issue, somehow Arpege or a la carte at Gagnaire/Le Meurice would come up into my mind. If you don't mind going further, I recommend Troisgros (and stay there as well) more than Bocuse.

Oh ya ... Andy or Ian, you have not told us yet about your "bad" experience at L'Ambroisie Who has the best morels in Paris in the Spring? I mean, which restaurants? Robert40, you're right ... I forgot about Liz. Perhaps, since she's not as active as before Does Pacaud cook best for seafood, fish, red meat or poultry? I know it will be subjective ...

Holly_L, thanks for sharing your great pictures during your visit to Paris I think only chuck_eats that's comparable in eating at some many starred restaurants consecutively as far as I'm concerned Have you got any chances to walk around the whole 3 dining-rooms at L'Ambroisie (front, centre and back)? Are there any characteristic differences? I only visited there once and was seated at the front. Those morels ... yummy and very generous. I also ate the navarin de homard ... excellent, but I still slightly prefer the Arpege's homard au vin jaune

Wow ... what an experienced! Thanks for sharing them with us David For me, I like LV as much as NY for dining there as tourists - going there 3 nights or so and eat as much as we can while enjoying some shows in the night

Wow 7-8 glasses of wine pairing at Arpege for "only" EUR 120 ... that sounds like a very good deal. Usually one glass (per 125 cc) could easily cost EUR 25-30 Finally, I find someone who agreed that L'Arpege's service is excellent, if not the best ... Helene and Laurent Lapaire (the latter one is no longer there) are one of world's most extraordinary maitre d's IMHO So, Julot ... when are you going back to L'Arpege? Since Arpege supplies their own veggies ... in France, which season would be the best one? Meaning, the season where the vegetables are abundant for both qualities and quantities (aka variety)?

Thanks for the great review Andy The dishes you had, are there all from the a la carte menu or a mixture of tasting menu? I think L'Arpege often has dishes that's exclusively for the degustation menu. Did you not have any Arpege's famous egg? Are you allowed to order the a la carte dish at half-portion? Suppose you eat alone or eat with the odd number of people (i.e. 3) since you mentioned that the portion is very generous there ... Hmm ... I'm thinking of coming back there, latest by next year Mind sharing your L'Ambroisie's experience? What is the let-down? Or Passard simply moves up one notch in his skills?

When is it exactly the Cherry Blossom season? Do accomodations become much more expensive during that time? Thanks for sharing many nice pictures ... I wish they're more food pictures

Thanks for sharing your wonderful Tokyo experiences as well as the pictures I ate at Tsunahachi Shinjuku for the tempura and it's very good. The line is very long, but somehow our concierge manage to get us a reservation. However, I heard that Tenichi maybe the best place for tempura in Tokyo. Look forward for the next pictures ...

The last part of my winter trip report last year will be Beige Tokyo, another restaurant by Alain Ducasse. Located at the top floor of Chanel Ginza building, this place is more of mixtures for foodies and people who want to have good times and spend quite substantial of money. It’s very fashionable, at the same time some of the dishes are quite serious as well. So … Food/Wine (93/93) I don’t usually order a la carte when I visit restaurants for the first time … however, the tasting menu here did not seem to be very appealing to me. So, I decided to go for 2 a la carte courses and left the degustation menu for my dad. - the amuse is a hot potato and leek cream soup, quite tasty and warm your stomach after walking around in the middle of Tokyo’s wind chill - appetizer: fresh and sublime kegani crab enhanced with osetra caviar’s salty taste as well as many cauliflower variations … great dish in your palate and a pleasure to the eyes - for the main course, I choose to have Akagegyu beef served with port and red wine sauce (probably the best beef producers in Japan after Kobe). As expected, it’s delicious – tender and juicy, my teeth did the minimal work while enjoying this marbled beef. For me, the side dishes neither add nor subtract this wonderful beef. I think Japanese beef is the best in the world Now come the tasting menu part - the foie gras ravioli with “foam” … it’s a standard when you eat at French restaurant but less refined compared to the one I had in ADNY before it’s closed. My dad is not a fan of any duck liver - frog legs with watercress sauce, my father loved every byte of it. His best dish of the night - the turbot is lacking in texture, the sea urchins are fine. The acidity part of the chateau chalon sauce does not really help the fish. So far, I’ve never had a very good fish dish in any Ducasse restaurants - the deer medallions, perhaps, not too bad. My father may not get used to it … but nothing really special though - for the cheese … comte and st. nectaire are average, but the blue cheese with salad/walnut marmalade is good - the chanel chocolate praline is superb, inside has some nutty and thin “cake” element. The chocolate is tense, fit to my taste. You can ignore the hazelnut ice cream as a side dish … maybe this is like Le Louis XV praline, but less refined I find the some of the a la carte dishes are very good here while the tasting menu is more conservative and lacking any wow effect. Maybe the Michelin people having the degustation menu here, so that this place only got 1-star, but in my note the food here is 93/100 – about the same level as Sant Pau Tokyo and Caprice HK I opened my meal here by zipping a glass of champagne Philipponnat reserve rosee … a pleasure by itself when you wet your lip with this fine and creamy champagne plus its rich aromas of red fruits. The 2005 le grand vallon condrieu and 2004 chateau rauzan-segla (both on tasting menu size) did not disappoint at all. Lastly, the 10 years of age Tawny port by quinta Santa Eufemia perfectly matched our chocolate praline dessert Service/Decoration (92/90) The staffs are friendly and professional, and most of them (Japanese), surprisingly, speak fluent English. I was dealt with the sales director quite often, Mr. Fabrice Schmitt after knowing that I’m a foodie. The only lacking part is that after they removed the main course, it took them 30 min to bring the cheese course … they probably forgot about it. The ambiance is subdued, with a quiet music on the background. The light brightness is minimal, and the high ceiling makes the dining room rather comfortable despite not too spacious. The toilet is very cool and high tech. It has buttons to open or close the bowl, flush, etc. The chair is quite big, in sofa style with a small pillow similar to Caprice. I’m happily giving this restaurant 92/100 (low 2 ½ star) for the overall experience. I believe if the restaurant consistently work hard to make most of the dishes as good as my kegani crab and akagegyu beef, this place should be able to get its 2nd Michelin star by Tokyo standard within 2-3 years. Lastly, here are the pictures beige winter 07

For me it would be Chateau Robuchon Tokyo. That place gave me back the confidence of eating Robuchon's food after the below average meal at Robuchon Galera Macao. Some of the memorable dishes would be the caviar prepare in 3 ways or sea urchin with the famous pomme puree - the overall experience is great though not as high as let's say the Parisian 3-star

just visiting the website of marc veyrat yesterday out of curiousity and not much changed (still stated - closed during winter and reopen in may) i heard a rumor that he's going to retire soon, so is it really official now? or it's still business as usual there (la maison de marc veyrat)? thanks

This will be a quick review of 2 restaurants in HK I visited last December. The first one will be the classic and legendary’s French restaurant – Gaddi’s. This restaurant is very formal, trying to follow the old French but they failed to do so. From the hardware part, maybe OK, yet the service is disaster and too pretentious. The waiters worked too hard, and things seem unnatural only the assistant manager from Switzerland that saved the day – quite good, more importantly very sincere. We were not offered the menu until 15 minutes later … only when I asked them. The thing I dislike a lot is the live music – it’s very loud (worse than the music at Robuchon galera), as if you’re in the lounge/bar – really unsuitable for fine dining. I wonder if the manager knows what the haute cuisine ambiance is supposed to be. Now comes the food – the menu variety is quite good. Since the tasting menu is uninspiring, my dad and I opt for the a la carte. For the appetizer, I chose the fresh oyster with caviar. The oyster is served cold, not much preparation, similar to the raw oyster you could have in many good sea food restaurants. Caviar quality is good, but unnecessary for the dish – only shoot up the price of the dish. My father had a better one … lobster ravioli with black truffle (very tasty). The ravioli looks similar to Gordon Ramsay’s one but when I asked this to the chef – David Goodridge – he arrogantly said he did not know chef Ramsay or his cooking. Oh my … what a cocky and ignorant chef. The same thing when my dad mentioned that his loup de mer (seabass) bland and the skin was oily … what did he say? Goodridge said that it’s supposed to taste that way … again could not accept any feedbacks. No wonder many people say the restaurant is nothing compared to when chef Philip Sedgwick’s still in the kitchen. Before the main course, I ordered an interesting “palate cleanser” white truffle ice cream with sabayon – an interesting combination. My main course actually did not disappoint. I ordered poached bresse chicken – delicious, integrated with foie gras bon2, pureed pumpkin plus the pungent smell of white truffle crust. The dessert is all about the mango from the syrop, sorbet, fruit and the one shaped in egg-yolk, nothing special though. My meal’s accompanied with a glass of Chablis premier cru Les Vaillon – fresh with a right amount of acidity. I would give the food here 91/100 and the overall experience to be 88/100. The second place I would like to comment is Toscana, Ritz Carlton’s signature restaurant. When I dined there, I learn that the restaurant would close for good by Jan ’08 due to a big renovation of the hotel. At the same time, the white truffle season lasted 1-2 more weeks. It’s been more than 2 years since I ate white truffle, so I opted for the tasting menu that included 2 dishes with the truffle. The appetizer is prosciutto of Maine lobster with olive oil dressing – simple and ok, not much to say. Then, the white truffle dishes, 1st it’s the home-made tagliolini and the 2nd is the scramble of organic egg (both the egg and truffle reveal each other flavor) – both dishes are very nice. The main course is lamb medallion with mushrooms and marsala wine sauce. The meet is tender and juicy; however the taste is very weak for lambs. The brownies’ sweetness combined with the sour and freshness of the sorbet is a good way to end my meal. The 2 glasses of Italian wine I had are 2005 chardonnay by Albino Rocca and 2003 Chianti Classico. The head chef Umberto Bombana is famous to create dish with white truffle. 2 years ago, he received the honor to prepare gala dinner when HK tycoon bit the most expensive white truffles. The restaurant setting is classical, well in fact is quite out of date, but still nice. The distance between the tables is quite spacious. The staffs are professional, especially the maitre d’ from Italy who is very enthusiastic in doing the job. He has many experiences to lead the dining room; he’s been with Joel Robuchon for more than 5 years. I think he would open and run his own restaurant in 1-2 years time. There are not that many good Italian restaurants in HK, so the closing of Toscana can be considered as a lost for the dining community there. Does anybody know the future of chef Bombana? By the way, the food grade will be 90/100, slightly below Gaddi’s but the overall experience is better – 89/100 Here are some of the pictures (the top 2 are from Toscana, the other 4 below are from Gaddi’s) http://www.flickr.com/photos/7124357@N03/

Regarding the sushi, It is true that you could probably eat there (Jiro) for 45 min. only. Yeah, Jiro put a very high standard in sushi. Believe it or not, I have not eaten sushi anywhere else since my Tokyo-trip knowing that I will be disappointed. Perhaps, I should simply lower my standard and the one in NY/LA is probably the reasonable one outside Japan. Regarding the kaiseki, My memorable experience in Hamadaya makes me addicted to the truly Japanese kaiseki served in the ryokan-style dining room. That's why I want to try the one in Kyoto which many claim to be the place where kaiseki comes from. Thanks for the recommendation about Kikunoi Tokyo ... how about Fukudaya, also located in Japan's capital?

If not mistaken, it's JPY 25-30K for about 20 pieces of nigiri sushi You may try the other 3-star - Sushi Mizutani. I've never been there, but I heard it's also good. So visit both if possible By the way, where do you think is the best sushi place in NY (say top 3 places)?

I agreed with John for Au Bon Accueil I had a good meal with good value there about 3 years ago L'Ardoise in the Concorde area was not bad either

Culinista, Based on you description of Sushi Jiro, I think I was blessed and fortunate being a foreigner and visited Tokyo for the first time last winter, at the same time could eat there. About your Japanese dining experience, have you ever had meals at Kyoto's famous kaiseki place like Kitcho or Kikunoi? Is it comparable to Europe 3-star fine dining? This kind of place, are you allowed to eat alone or at least 2 people will be required? Thanks

If I were you, I would stick with L'Arpege which I think is the best restaurant in the world. The only part that Bristol is better - they have better dining rooms and serve more sweets/chocolates at the end. I've been to both, so please look at the pictures below. Hopefully, these would help you to get the idea of what kind of food/dishes you would get in both places Arpege - here Bristol - here

mtgtimewalker, you're correct. I was very fortunate to have a very helpful concierge that assisted me for the reservation at sushi jiro. am I special? hmm ... not sure - I mean the owners did not seem to be very friendly to me. but at that time, only jiro and his son behind the counter, so wherever you're seated in the bar, you will be served by the best sushi-men. good luck and look forward to your review in the future

For sushi fans, just incase you're interested in my review of Sushi Jiro (see the bottom post), please click here Thanks

If in France, they have Paul Bocuse as the godfather of French cuisine, then in Japan, it has Jiro Ono as the living legend and master of Japanese famous cuisine - sushi. The "restaurant" is located at the basement of building in Ginza near the subway station. It's not that easy too find had my helpful concierge not drawn me the map of the location of Ginza area. The capacity is very small, perhaps only 8-10 pax max at the sushi bar and about 6 at tables. Moreover, the place does not even has its own restroom. From the decoration, nobody would expect that it's one of the temples of Japanese (zushi) cuisine Food/Wine (95/-) Eating sushi here is like a revelation to me. Almost every single piece served is the best (kind) I've ever had - from the silky ika, kohada with firm texture to the delicate sayori. The top 3 pieces of nigiri sushi I had there are: the well-marbled otoro (milky and juicy), one could even taste its fat and oil, simply fabulous. Then, the kuruma ebi, boiled only minutes, before appearing on my table - this way it would allow the full flavor (deliciously sweet) to dissolve in my mouth. Lastly, the sweet and creamy of uni served in generous portion (very thick) - I cannot imagine there's a better uni outside Japan. It would be too much if I mentioned all pieces one by one - just check the pictures on the website below. Essentially, the omakase of this (Edomae - serving anago instead of unagi could be one of the proof) zushi consists of 20 pieces of nigiri sushi and I strongly believe that there's no better time to eat fresh fishes in Japan other than winter. I learnt a lot about sushi from this experience. For instance, to obtain the maximum flavor of the sushi, the piece should be eaten no more than 20 seconds after being served. Everything is prepared rigorously here. The serving is divided into 3 phases: firstly white flesh fishes (such as karei, inada and toro), secondly seasonal ones (like sayori, akagai and tai in my case) and lastly would be the classic offerings: ikura, anago and tamago. While the rice is served in room temperature, the toppings' temp. are varied and this add another dimension of eating sushi (it feels great and better in your mouth). The rice is prepared with vinegar to enhance the taste of the main ingredient, in between the rice and the fishes, Jiro-san put a small amount of freshly prepared wasabi (they showed it in front of the dinners), while on top of the sushi, a special soy sauce is applied. Pretty much I didn't add anything else on my sushi, just consume them the way the chef wanted it to be. For the overall taste of the food, it's 95/100 (2 3/4 star in my notes) - perhaps the best zushi in this planet. I doubt even if masa or kuruma can be better than this. The food in Japan is simply amazing. I think it's because they really take it very seriously. Many young chefs go to overseas (like France, Italy or China) to learn the best from the original countries and then open one in their home countries. If you observe more, there's rarely foreign people who go to Japan and seriously spend 3-5 years to learn and do the training of creating sushi. It's essential to learn not only the technical aspect, but also the spiritual (culture) of it as well. The wine review is irrelevant here since they only served tea and very limited kind of beers. Service/Decoration (85/75) I was lucky enough when dine there to see both Jiro Ono, the master and his son, Yoshikazu Ono standing behind the counter. I was served by the son most of the time. Both of them looked "kinda arrogant", perhaps it's because I am neither Japanese nor spoke their languages. However, the younger servant tried very hard to serve the customer despite the very limited English. It's a unique experience indeed. I pretty much know nothing about the Japanese, and still manage to eat at Jiro Ginza in which many foreigners are maybe not very welcome (a typical of some top-notch restaurant in Tokyo). The decoration is simple (or too simple) and definitely not 3-star. The restaurant is a bit cramped, no special atmosphere. This is only for serious foodie I suppose and each guest is limited to 45 min eating there (even to their regular Japanese). So, from the point of view of the overall experience (88/100 - 2 star), Sukiyabashi Jiro is not worth 3-star nevertheless the food is great. The pictures Sushi Jiro winter