Bu Pun Su

I would consider myself a “conservative” when it comes to try something new in food. I don’t usually get too excited following food trend or trying newly-opened restaurants. For instance, early in this millennium up to around ‘05 was probably the ‘peak period’ of molecular gastronomy yet I did not eat at Alinea (‘09) and Fat Duck (‘14) until several years later. In the same manner, the new Nordic cuisine became very hot circa 2010 but I somehow never made any serious effort to go to Scandinavian countries. Well, I did my maiden visit to Denmark in late March this year because of my parents’ request to return to the area again. While around Copenhagen, I managed to persuade them to have a long meal at Geranium. The reservation was not too difficult, probably because diners had to buy tickets and pay about 1/3 of the food cost in advance to secure the booking. By the way, Noma was closed at that time since Rene Redzepi and his whole team was in Sydney doing pop-up restaurant. Talking about Geranium = talking about its genius chef named Rasmus Kofoed. Kofoed became widely popular since he’s the only person to ever attain all medals at the notoriously competitive Bocuse d’Or. Winning a bronze or silver there could be considered a terrific accomplishment but Chef Kofoed was not satisfied until he finally attained the elusive gold in 2011. For Geranium, Rasmus created only one tasting menu during dinner; our Spring universe had 7 (small) appetizers, 8 (bigger) dishes as well as 3 desserts and 4 kinds of sweets. It’s certainly the best way to savor lots of Geranium’s unique creations. You should not worry to be too full at the end as the portion was relatively small. The challenge of having lots of courses was that it’ll be very difficult to have excellent dishes all the time; it happened with my meal. There’s hardly any ‘bad’ dish but only a few of them was outstanding. My absolute favorite dishes were: -Salted Hake with parsley and caviar in buttermilk. It’s the best thing I ate during this dinner. The succulent fish was not only looked good, but also tasted amazing. Everything (the buttermilk, caviar and even the scales) worked harmoniously - crunchy, creamy, not too salty etc. I could easily have another round of this dish - a masterpiece creation by Rasmus Kofoed -Scallop with Sol/seaweed and sour berries. The plump Norwegian scallop's (possibly better than its Japanese counterpart) quality was superb and it was also flawlessly cooked resulting in a truly delicious morsel. The sol brought an 'extra' dimension to the dish while the berry sauce nicely balanced the sweet & juicy scallop Some other courses I considered really good but slightly below the above dishes were: -Tomato water with ham fat and aromatic herbs displayed texture and flavor contrast; it was also refreshing and well-balanced. -“Dillstone” horseradish with dill frozen juice and pickled cucumber was my best appetizer. It was fun, having a playful presentation and some surprises. The ‘stone’ was a trout sashimi covered with aromatic dill. Put some sour granite & horseradish sauce to enhance the experience – interesting and delicious -Perfectly executed and tender pork neck was served with its jus. The poached pear and pickled pine would tone down any strong flavor - satisfying -“Naked Tree” was Chef Kofoed’s signature dessert in which some of the elements changed with the seasons. It showed Geranium’s team expertise in balancing some sweet wood cream with bitter dark beer. This would go even better with prune+malt juice For the rest of the dishes, I would let you see the pictures or read my more comprehensive review (the links will be provided below) It may be a common practice among high end restaurants to present visually beautiful dishes, but Geranium (often) brought it to another level. The attention to details, the story of some dishes and their relations to nature were some of the important factors in food creation here. Chef Kofoed put many different texture contrast and (sometimes unusual) flavor variations; they did not always work perfectly but I truly appreciate his boldness to try something new/break boundaries in his modern cuisine. There were plenty of staffs, both for the dining room and the kitchen. They’re very diverse such as the assistant sommelier was Polish, our main maître d’ was French and some chefs were Italian. There’s a good chance that Geranium always has someone who speaks your language. The unique feature of Geranium’s service was that Rasmus would require some chefs to present and explain dish(es) to diners – generally they’re very open; you’re welcome to ask anything about the food and they would not hide anything. The French lady who usually took care of our tables delivered impeccable service, on the contrary many other dining room staffs only did the necessary task but often did not smile or show enthusiasm when serving us. Neither Mr. Kofoed nor Mr. Ledet was around that night. It was a full house event including some non-table/bar-like seating at the back were occupied too. As far as I was concerned, I did not notice there were “rotating” seats during our dinner. Geranium usually has a habit to bring some guests to the seating near the kitchen either for appetizers or desserts at the end of the meal. In fact, only 2 men were brought for the kitchen tour – that’s because they requested for it. I often heard they usually did that to more than half of the tables. I did not complain, simply an observation. I was not sure they did not do so because the owners were not around or simply because it was a very busy evening. Overall, it was an amusing meal with lots of interesting stuffs to eat. Congratulations to Rasmus Kofoed and his team to become the first Danish restaurant achieving 3-star Michelin. Somehow, I’ve always has this kind of analogy that: Geranium is like Berasategui/Arzak whereas Noma is like Mugaritz – Noma might have more imagination but Geranium had better ‘fundamentals’; Michelin likes the latter one better thus explain the lack of 3-star for Noma/Mugaritz despite having consistently occupied the top 5 of restaurant magazine ranking. Pictures: https://www.flickr.com/photos/7124357@N03/sets/72157664845915854/with/25824217544/ Comprehensive reviews: http://zhangyuqisfoodjourneys.blogspot.co.id/2016/05/geranium-rasmus-kofoed.html

L’Astrance has be one of the most sought-after tables in Paris ever since it opened in 2000 especially since it only opens 4 days per week. The restaurant was owned by Pascal Barbot (Alain Passard’s prodigy) as well as Christophe Rohat (L’Arpege’s former manager). I visited this place 8 years ago and liked the food a lot, but somehow I have not returned until last month although I had visited Paris more than twice between ’10 and ’14. As far as I can remember, the dining room’s design is still the same: chic and modern with the bright/lemon-yellow chairs and sofa being the most standout items. The spaces between tables may not be too generous but still comfortable. The restaurant is small, seated around 25 pax and it’s a full house. More than half of the guests arrived by 8:30 PM and everyone started nearly at the same time – it should make the kitchen’s job easier this way. Ever since the opening, L’Astrance already followed an unconventional way in terms of French gastronomy. There’s no fixed menu (except for a few signature dishes) and every dish will be a ‘surprised’ and seasonal; during dinner it’s pretty much a one-type “omakase” menu only as black truffle season was over here. This way the chef has more control and freedom to serve the best items daily – a method followed closely by Barbot’s talented apprentice at Quintessence Tokyo. Moreover, Chef Barbot’s dishes don’t often contain any (heavy) sauce using butter or cream; instead he prefers to use Asian (often from the Far East) ingredients to season his food. After a small snack and good bread & butter, the tasting menu started: -Chef Barbot’s most famous dish as it’s always appeared at the beginning: layered of crunchy/woody raw button mushrooms were alternated with creamy/rich foie gras and a little sharp green apple somewhere in the middle. On the sides, there were lemon confit and hazelnut oil for variations (e.g. reduce the liver’s richness) -Following this, I had a dish that explored strong & deep sea flavors: steamed firm scallop was combined with warm roasted oyster, and pure bone marrow. It was enhanced by intense kombu butter and balanced by spring crisp rolls (inside were apple, ginger & basil) – it was delightful -Pascal skillfully prepared caramelized Cod fish resulting in moist and tasty Cod. The fish was accompanied by smoked eel, leeks and Asian-style vegetables generating more salty flavors to the overall experience -The thing I liked about L’Astrance is that, more often than not, Pascal Barbot served 2 meat courses. For the first one, I had tender pork belly (with minimal skin/fat ‘unfortunately’) served on a bed of sautéed morel mushrooms with curry oil and yellow wine sauce. I always loved morel but this one the flavor was not fully developed yet. The sauce was, nevertheless, excellent – deep, earthy and sharp -Probably my favorite dish for this meal was the ‘still-red’ pigeon’s breast meat - tender, juicy and really delicious. It’s served with turnip, sour cherry paste and the bird’s dark jus. On a small bowl, I also enjoyed the moist pigeon’s leg with its rich liver -The palate cleanser was the usual sorbet of chili pepper, lemon grass and ginger served in a small glass: refreshing with a punch of spicy flavor -The main dessert was a citrus fruit tartlet showcasing sweet meringue and sour citrus flavor with some mandarins and grapefruit, surrounded by crunchy biscuit. It was very pleasant. Then come the always-flavorful jasmine eggnog, crisp/fragrant chestnut madeleine and fine fresh fruits I only drank 3 glasses of wine – 2 whites and 1 red (less than half of their wine pairing). Though not from prestige vintages, they worked well with the food. By the way, the current head sommelier is a gentleman named Alejandro, replacing Alexandre Jean. I noticed that only 4-5 staffs served the whole 2-level dining room for the entire evening. Under Chris Rohat’s leadership, he ensured that diners will be taken care of and felt relaxed. The atmosphere was, in fact, quite noisy and people seemed to have a really good time, including myself. The price here was still very reasonable. For instance, I remembered once upon a time (a decade ago perhaps) the full course tasting menu at L’Astrance was nearly at the same price as the one at Le Bristol (now Epicure). Nowadays, Eric Frechon’s dinner set menu easily cost more than EUR 300 for food only while at L’Astrance it’s at low 200’s. However, as I saw the pictures of my earlier meal, this time I had 2 fewer courses – 1 less fish/seafood dish and 1 less dessert. It’s understandable … When I want to eat excellent food while in Paris but feel lazy/don’t care to choose my dishes, L’Astrance will be my main destination. It might not be among the best meals I’ve ever had in Europe but I’m sure this wouldn’t be the last time I would savor Pascal Barbot’s creations in Paris You can see the pictures: L'Astrance March 2016

This review should’ve come earlier, but due to our Japan’s trip in Autumn 2015 (plus plenty of restaurants review) – only this weekend I managed to squeeze some times for another report of my dinner meal at Gunther’s. It took place sometimes in the mid/end of Nov last year and I had a pre-arranged degustation menu with some white truffle dishes. There were 2 dishes that I particularly loved: - Langoustine carpaccio with caviar and light cream sauce (vinaigrette & olive oil). The shellfish was fresh, moist and sweet; enhanced by glistening and briny flavor of Oscietra caviar. It was not inferior to Chef Hubrechsen’s cold angel hair pasta except the portion was rather small. A nice nostalgic of Alain Passard’s signature dish that (I believe) he no longer serves at L’Arpege - The combo of egg fondant and bone marrow + Alba truffle. The outstanding item was the pure, buttery and umami bone marrow (cooked slowly for a few hours); the addition of white truffle made it an ‘intensely’ delicious dish. For more flavors, either add pumpkin coulis to the marrow or eating it alternately with the half-boiled egg yolk truffle on the side. Personally, I liked my meal more a couple years ago. There wasn’t any bad dish per se, but most dishes were ‘only’ good/decent (probably some unconscious result from my superior meals during the Japan’s trip). For instance, my Spanish roasted black pig was tender and tasty but a bit too dry/not juicy. The signature dessert of apple tart dragee suffered from its hard texture (difficult to cut through). Moreover, I think I consumed one too many courses prepared in “raw” style that night. Thinking about it now, it would’ve been better had Gunther prepared grilled/pan-seared scallop instead of delivering this shellfish in carpaccio style. The hospitality, on the contrary, was stellar. Bernard Nicolas, the restaurant manager/wine advisor, returned to lead the restaurant’s dining room once again. He added more interesting personality with his charm, witty and passion vs the common formal, polite but boring service one usually receives in Singapore high end restaurants. I went easy for the alcohol; only drank a glass of 2010 Chassagne-Montrachet 1er cru (Maison Vincent Girardin) – elegant in ‘golden’ color; fruity, dense with some oak – should come together better in 2/3 years’ time. The restaurant was kind enough to give me a tasting portion of Tokaji sweet wine to accompany my dessert I would give the rating for the food 93/100 this time. With regards to the upcoming Singapore Michelin guide, I’m confident Gunther’s will get at least 1-star though for my taste, it deserved 2-star assuming the Michelin would use the same generous standard applied to the HK/Macau guide Here are the pictures from this meal: https://www.flickr.com/photos/7124357@N03/albums/72157665119931790

Having a dinner at Morikawa was something that I had not expected. As I liaised with my favorite hotel chef concierge in Japan, I informed him that we would like to return to Matsukawa (he’s also the one who helped me to get a table there without any introduction from regulars a couple of years ago). Additionally, I told him about Morikawa too … with very low expectation. Alas, Matsukawa was fully booked but the pleasant surprised was that we had a confirmed reservation at Morikawa, another introduction-only restaurant in Tokyo that’s very secretive since there’s hardly any info about its address and phone number in the tabelog website. Morikawa-san was an alumnus of Kyo Aji; he was working there for more than a decade and he certainly didn’t “embarrass” his master, Kenichiro Nishi. Consequently, there’re plenty of similar dishes though the execution and interpretation might not be exactly the same. Since we went there during the ultimate season of Matsutake, we ate lots of Pine mushrooms. It’s my favorite mushroom and of course I was ecstatic; I’ve never eaten more Matsutake in one meal than the one I had here. -The 3 Matsutake dishes served here were spectacular. The grilled (close caps) pine mushrooms were cooked until golden. They’re the ‘sweetest’ and most flavorful version I’ve ever had -The hotpot/nabe; Morikawa-san sliced generous amount of Matsutake, cooked some for us (including the hamo) and let us prepare the rest ourselves. The portion was more suitable for an a la carte version and its quality was as nearly good as the one I had at Kyo Aji -Lastly, the ‘tempura’/deep fried Matsutake (taking the meatiest part from the pine mushroom) was superb - fragrant and delicious. Chef Morikawa served it with generous portion of Osetra caviar creating an explosive flavor in the mouth. Arguably, this dish provided the finest one byte I had in 2015 The sashimi dishes at Morikawa were also incredibly good. I thought I could not eat a better Tai than the one I had at Kyo Aji, somehow Morikawa-san’s version was equal if not slightly better. I had 2 raw seafood courses: Spiny lobster sashimi served with wasabi = It was superb; arguably the best raw Ise ebi I've ever had. The clear flesh was plump, firm and a bit sweet; the cooked head/brain was delicate, delicious with some meat in it - a perfect combination with pleasant aroma and distinct flavor Tai and Shima Aji sashimi with Iwatake = The sea bream was magnificent; a bit chewy but flavorful. The striped jack, due to its 'crunchy' texture, was cut differently; it was fresh and tasty. The 'rock' mushroom (only the 2nd time I ate this rare mushroom) had jelly-like texture and unique aroma. I will let you see the more comprehensive review below for the rest of the dishes. The parts in which Morikawa was a bit inferior compared to Nishi-san were in preparing rice dish and desserts. Nevertheless, (for similar versions) they’re still more superior to anything I had in other Japanese places in Tokyo. In fact, as far as the food’s concerned, I would put my meal here among the top 3 restaurants in Japan – ‘better’ than Kitcho Arashiyama and equal to Matsukawa. The dining room at Morikawa was opulent (by Japanese standard) and really roomy. The floor was covered with tatami-mat and felt comfortable while the wall had some pretty calligraphy. All guests had to take off their shoes prior to entering the dining room. The counter was long, the chair was comfy, and the distance between diners was spacious. It was a relatively quiet evening. In addition to us, there were a rich couple next to us and a few corporate guests in the private room. My wife explained to me why they’re really rich J the lady wearing a complete set of medium-size Van cleef’s Alhambra (necklace, ring, & bracelet) plus carrying a Hermes Birkin bag in alligator skin. In short, what she wore and carried easily were worth more than Usd 200K … Hmm, I did not remember if she had a diamond ring too Anyway, our experience at Morikawa did not start too well. The chef-patron looked intense in the beginning when he served the 1st dish (the positive side, we began in style by eating Japanese hairy crab served in its shell); the situation became more awkward when I ‘shamelessly’ asked his permission to take pictures of our dishes. But, somehow at the end he decided that though normally it’s not allowed, this time he would make an exception for us – hooray! The ice started to break further when I correctly mentioned the ingredients in the first few dishes served to us; even the (rich) couple next to us was probably impressed too that they initiated some conversation with us. It seemed that he had a test for us to decide whether we’re ‘worthy’ to eat there. The service took off on a higher note when Mrs. Morikawa began to be more pro-active and served us directly. She spoke decent English, delivered friendly and personalized high level of Japanese hospitality. In the middle of the meal onwards, Mr. Morikawa became more relaxed too; generally he’s not as shy as Matsukawa-san. He also tried to speak some English; appreciate the effort. We communicated even more with them (in a mixture of Japanese and English) – probably it’s also because we’re the only guests left at the time so the service was much focused. Even, at one point, Morikawa-san showed the pictures of his family including his 2 children from the iPad. What started as an intense atmosphere turned out to be a pleasant & happy situation. As part of Japanese custom, Mr. and Mrs. Morikawa also bid us farewell and were waiting in front of the entrance until we’re out of their sights. Dining at Morikawa was ‘unique’ and rewarding. To be able to eat here, you would need some good luck. In addition, prepare for deep pocket as well as ‘thick skinned’. Initially, I expected to be treated rather poorly like my experience in Jiro Ginza, but was glad it was far better from that. Had they become more ‘open’, I would not see a problem for this place to get a 3-star Michelin. The dinner at Morikawa ranked as my 2nd best meal in the land of the rising sun – rather unexpected; only in Kyo Aji I had a more wonderful experience. This will be my last report from the Japan trip last year and thanks for having read (some of) them Comprehensive review: http://zhangyuqisfoodjourneys.blogspot.sg/2016/02/morikawa-tokyo.html Dishes’ pictures: https://picasaweb.google.com/118237905546308956881/MorikawaTokyoJapan

I’ve been a big fan of Japanese (traditional) kaiseki for sometimes. Any visit to Japan, my choice of restaurants will be skewed towards this style of cuisine. Some readers should’ve noticed it by now and I ‘apologize’ if this would bore some of you. The last restaurant review from our Kyoto visit in Oct ‘15 will be Nakamura, another “old” restaurant with rich history that has been around for nearly 200 years. The current chef-patron, Motokazu Nakamura is the 6th generation in the family running this legendary restaurant. We opted for lunch since later in the evening we had to take train to the Kansai airport. As we were walking to find the restaurant, the location looked a bit familiar. Apparently, Nakamura is situated one block from the Kyoto’s most famous ryokans (Hiiragiya and Tawaraya). It was a cool sunny day. Following the standard omotenashi, staffs wearing kimono would greet and bow to us as we entered the restaurant. Before taking off our shoes, the walkway leading to the entrance had been splashed with water – meant we’re expected and welcomed. Like many other high end kaiseki in this city, Nakamura serves all of its guests in the private tatami rooms. It was a spacious ryotei with a view of small garden and several paintings + calligraphy hanging on the wall. Our meal at Nakamura consisted of 9 courses and there were 2 dishes that I believe is always available regardless the time you dine here. -I was impressed with the first one named Shiromiso Zoni. The soup was prepared without any stock; this way the chef could highlight the intense and creamy white miso that's mixed with a little wagarashi. I loved the well-made and chewy plain mochi that balanced the soup's robust flavor -The second one had an interesting concept but not particularly stunning; referring to Guji no Sakayaki. The thick and rich flesh of Amadai had some distinct smell. We were advised to leave the skin and its bone in the bowl. Then, the staff would pour clear dashi and it turned into fish sake soup with some umami flavor. The soup was better than the fish’s meat In addition to the above dishes, I liked the appetizer – A mixture of sea urchin, yellow flower, bean curd, vegetable and crab in jelly sake 'sauce' - The flavors of the sea from uni and kani were tasty; the tofu was smooth to tone down any strong taste; the kiku gave some zestful taste The rice dish was simple – Gohan with ikura and tsukemono. The rice was very good but the ikura was rather sticky and less superior the one I usually ate at other (high-end) restaurants .The portion of the ikura was not that much and we’re not allowed to have a 2nd helping – well, only for the plain rice was Ok I would let you follow the link below for the pictures of the other dishes. The service was wonderful and amiable but not personalized perhaps due to the fact that they hardly spoke any English. The private room was comfortable because underneath our lacquered table, there was extra space to ‘rest’ our feet. I don’t mind with the more traditional seating since it would “force” us to sit in proper posture. In general, I found my lunch experience to be delightful: high quality cooking with seasonal & fresh ingredients accompanied by pretty space and pleasant service. I gave 93 pts (2 ½* equivalent of Michelin standard). The ‘downside’ of having been fortunate to dine at several top notch restaurants was that you cannot help but compare. When doing that, regrettably I could not say this meal was at the same level as my experience at Arashiyama Kitcho or Mizai. If Nakamura will be your first fine dining (traditional kaiseki) experience at Kyoto, I’m sure you’re more likely to be “blown away” by it. It reminded me a long time ago when I was ‘amazed’ by Genyana Hamadaya’s hospitality. This may sound ‘crazy’ by food wise, I still think my lunch at Hamadaya was as good as the dishes I ate at Nakamura Pictures: https://www.flickr.com/photos/7124357@N03/albums/72157664112353572/with/24787951196/

good info thanks for sharing it (curry in japan)

Honestly, having a meal at Wakuden (Kodaiji) was not a priority when I began to scramble my Japan trip last Fall. Initially, I would rather try Ogata or Suzue but the concierge told me that both restaurants were fully booked on that Sunday; hence I pushed for Wakuden on the following day. Prior to the visit, all I know was that Wakuden was simply another old dining institution in Kyoto (similar to Kitcho) famous for its traditional kaiseki but it’s pretty much ‘under the radar’ among foodies. At first, it might seem like “redundant” since we ate at Yukimura a week earlier but our lunch meal here turned out to be really good. After taking a bus and getting off near the Kodaiji temple, Wakuden was about 10-15 min walk. The weather was nice and it’s always fun to walk along the small road around Kyoto. As it’s the flagship restaurant of the group, the restaurant was big in pretty setting with plenty of private rooms. We were greeted with a deep bow from several waitresses and escorted to our ryotei. It was spacious as later on we found that they would use that extra space to cook/prepare several dishes in our room - almost like the ‘old-style’ of Teppanyaki. I suspected in one way or another, Tetsuya Wakuda designed his Waku Ghin following this “style”: first, guests will be shown the ingredients to be used for their meals, and then a chef will be assigned to cook live exclusively for us. Note that this was one of Wakuda-san’s favorite places to dine in when in Japan. As I looked back of my meal, the dishes that I loved here were mostly the (char) grilled dishes. For instance, - An outstanding yaki awabi (tender texture and inherently sweet) with its thick and rich but smooth liver was truly delicious. "Simple" dish with perfect execution - Barely seared (medium rare) Tamba beef served with grilled figs & light sauce. A superb dish with minimal preparation; simply let the ingredients and their combination to shine. The rich & marbled beef was nicely balanced/countered by sweet figs; truly umami. - Matsutake rolled in pike conger with lime - A moist, fragrant & tasty Hamo beautifully wrapped the aromatic, meaty & delicious Pine mushroom with some twist from the sudachi. The portion was right, the execution was meticulous; a terrific dish. I like it slightly better here than the one I had at Yukimura The soup here ‘suffered’ the same issue with the one we had at Yukimura. There were too many ingredients that dominated the dashi’s clean flavor. Or perhaps, I was mistaken and it’s their intention all along to create owan with more complex tastes. Some other dishes that I thought was also good (but not necessarily outstanding) were the early appetizers: -Ise ebi sashimi with komatsuna and namakono – top quality produce, tasty and well complemented; bind together by ‘jelly sauce’ -The kamasu sushi was well executed. The shari was al dente with vinegar tasted on the stronger side. Didn’t expect this come from a Kyoto kaiseki place For the rest of the dishes, I will let you see the pictures from the below link. As far as the food was concerned, I found this meal was better than the kaiseki I had at Chihana and Nakamura. It’s more sophisticated and delicious with splendid execution. I bestowed 96 pts for the food (2 ¾* by Michelin standard). Not only that, the hospitality was also outstanding. It was not inferior to the service we experienced at Arashiyama Kitcho despite the fact that our main waitress was junior and did not speak English that well. She was really polite, helpful and friendly. For any questions that she could not answer and we told her not to worry about them; somehow she refused to give up. She kept coming back with answers either with notes written in English or for more complicated inquiries, she would invite the senior staff who spoke better English to explain to us. The head chef appeared at the end and bid us farewell. He tried to engage us in a conversation and checked whether our lunch was fine. Although not very likely, I hope this place will get 3-star in the not-so-distant future (within 3 years). The detailed review: http://zhangyuqisfoodjourneys.blogspot.co.id/2016/01/wakuden-kodaiji-kyoto.html The dishes’ pictures: https://picasaweb.google.com/118237905546308956881/WakudenKodaijiKyotoJapan#

When travelling to Nagoya, my spouse and I managed to try a few of Nagoya traditional food (“signature dishes”). Some of them were … Miso katsu (Yabaton) This was our first meal during our Japan’s trip last year. We ate at yabaton - somewhere in the basement of a mall located not too far from Nagoya station. There’re lots of yabaton throughout Nagoya as you explore the city which was a good thing unless you would ‘insist’ to dine at its honten (less than 10 min. walk from Yabacho station). Although it’s during lunch time, the queue was relatively short – at most 10 min. waiting time Nagoya people really love miso, especially aka-miso (usually fermented for 3 years). Many locals even the female had no problem to finish the katsu with plenty of aka miso sauce and rice by herself - not sharing. We had the katsu set (rosu) as well as pork fillet cutlet don in red miso sauce. Essentially, it was similar to the normal tonkatsu we usually eat except the sauce. The deep fried pork was alright but nothing special. Both of us were not a big fan of the acquired taste of thick and rich taste from red miso; we would rather eat it with the usual (Worchester-style) sauce. To “minimize” the strong aka miso, we ate plenty of cabbage and put yellow mustard on our breaded pork. The fillet one was tender and not fatty but nothing truly special. For us, it was simply one of must-do things in the check-list when visiting Nagoya; we did not really disappoint to have lunch here, but had no intention to eat another katsu with red miso in the near future … Hitsumabushi (Maruya Honten) For the Nagoya’s famous eel, we ate at the 9th floor of Meitetsu dept. store. Reservation was not allowed, so we had to wait for about 45 min (translate to almost 30 people ahead of us, and majority of them was Japanese) despite we reached there nearly 8 PM. The interior was modern and slick dominated by brown color. We shared a larger portion of premium hitsumabushi unagi set. The charcoal-grilled unagi was nicely cooked, crispy outside and marinated with right amount of sweet sauce. Among the 3 methods to consume hitsumabushi, my favorite was still the ‘normal’ one – eat it as they are with minimum/hardly any condiment as I can taste the combination of rice and delicate sauced eel at its most natural form. The 2nd method was the one I liked the least; you would put all condiments (spring onion, wasabi, seaweed and leaves) on top of rice with eel. For me, they kind of provided ‘distraction’ to the already tasty unagi. Perhaps the condiments were good if the sauce or the eel was too rich. The last step was better than I expected since I usually was not a big fan of eating rice with dashi. Essentially, from step no 2, (when you’re ready), the waitress would pour seasoned hot soup. The dashi was not bad at all, and it reduced the strong flavor of condiments to the extent that all elements inside my bowl blended well. Unlike the miso katsu, I liked this hitsumabushi and would not mind eating it again even outside Nagoya when available. Nagoya cochin chicken (Torikai sohonke La chic) I did not really have any intention to eat here to be honest. As we strolled in the La chic area and came dinner time, we opted for something that can still be considered as Nagoya-meshi. Of course, you can easily find any restaurant serving miso katsu and hitsumabushi in this part of the city too. This time we did not really have to wait, but inside was crowded. We ordered a big a la carte portion of chicken with raw egg & rice served in a bowl. The ‘messy’ presentation was pleasant in orange color. Compared to the usual chicken served in Japan, the Nagoya cochin meat was more flavorful and chewy in a positive way. As you mixed the sauce and the egg yolk, the flavor was still relatively light. In addition, we also had the tebasaki (not as good as we expected, it had little meat and a little too oily) and karaage (crispy outside, juicy inside and flavorful). It was a satisfying meal. Generally, I’m neutral on this place yet would eat the cochin chicken anytime over miso katsu

Mizai was one of “my dream” restaurants to dine at in Japan and thankfully it became a reality in early October last year. Believe it or not, I scheduled our trip to Japan around this restaurant. Getting a reservation at Mizai was known to be really challenging, but the restaurant is ‘fair’ – you won’t need any introduction from regulars; you could even reserve it more than 4 months in advance. The restaurant is not big: only about a dozen or so chairs at the counter + a small private room. It also served one seat per night; this should explain the difficulties to secure a seat here, even among people who’ve been living in Kyoto and its vicinity. Writing a (detailed) review of Mizai is very difficult for me. First, taking pictures of the food were strictly prohibited. Second, both chefs and his staffs hardly spoke any English; master chef Hitoshi Ishihara explained his ‘abundant’ cuisine in Japanese (not easy to keep track that much food). Lastly, I was not “lucky” this time to meet locals who could speak decent English. Therefore, the writing was mainly based on my knowledge from the past experience with Japanese cuisine. Despite this challenge, I truly enjoyed my meal here: top quality ingredients, excellent execution, beautiful presentation, thoughtful sequence and passionate chef. Unlike most other kaiseki restaurants in Japan, the meal at this traditional tea house started together at 6 PM. 15 min prior to this, all guests were present, put at the waiting room in 2 pairs (welcomed with hot towel and tea), and then each ‘couple’ was escorted to their seats. Following the tradition of cha kaiseki, before the first course arrived, the chef poured flower-based sake (aperitif) to every diner. The “tasting menu” had 9-10 courses. I will not dive into each one of them. The one common topic that everybody would often talk about when dine here recently was lots of food (sometimes unnecessary) and lacks ‘perfection’. They probably referred to 2 courses: the seasonal sashimi (mukozuke) as well as small appetizers (hassun). Normally, one will eat 2-3 different kinds of raw fish/seafood with 2 small slices each (tasting portion). On the contrary, Hitoshi Ishihara would present two ‘giant’ & beautiful china bowls containing lavish fish, condiments and sauce. As far as I can remember, each person was given 7 fish varieties (a total of 14 slices in a la carte portion), a few sauces including tai liver as well as some garnishes such as naga imo, wasabi, daikon etc. The more food you serve, the more “mistakes” you will likely make. While not everything was flawless, most of the fishes were superb – I particularly lithe the aji and shima aji. The sumi ika, tai and maguro were about as good as the ones served at top sushi-ya. The tuna is coming from a whole fish weighed around 105 kg. The good but not so extraordinary item was engawa. My wife and I liked this course a lot and it’s only a second course. Just as we think the sashimi’s presentation was truly elaborate, the hassun course was even more extravagant. Unlike Kitcho, except for the autumn leaves and food’s ‘holders’, the array of small courses didn’t have any decorative ‘tools’. In my notes, I reckoned there were more than 10 varieties of appetizers. They were of high quality ingredients and meticulously executed especially the ikura (with rice) and braised tako were nearly as delicious as the ones I had at Yoshitake. Again, many of the items served were multiple pieces. The pleasure was the ability to take a small byte here and there to experience different kinds of flavor, texture, and temperature. This whole pleasant experience for this course was simply greater than the sum of its parts The rest of the dishes were served in a proper tasting portion. The gohan part was quite ‘modest’ and I only ate a small portion of it – though you’re welcome to eat as much as you wish. Mizai prepared Yuto, a bowl containing very fine white rice with cereal/browned rice in a clear broth, with some crunchy pickles. I think the tasting portions of other courses were nicely balanced the feast from sashimi and hassun. Lastly, another dish with lots of items was the “fruit salad” with champagne jelly. The selection was indeed plenty (approximately a dozen) and Mizai was the 2nd restaurant I visited in Japan that served ‘pawpaw’. The fruit quality was comparable to the fruits served at Arashiyama Kitcho. I was not sure who “followed” who in general between Ishihara-san and Tokuoka-san given I had fantastic meal in both places; in fact my best meal in Kyoto took place in these 2 temples of Japanese haute cuisines. I will not deny that the portion was indeed a lot by Japan’s kaiseki standard. However, I observed that all diners except two executives next to me were unable to ‘clean up’ everything on time (the restaurant allowed some dishes from sashimi/hassun course on the tray while they’re savoring the next dishes) – but I would ‘blame’ it on the alcohol since they consumed sake as well as 2 bottles of French wines throughout the dinner. The service was responsive, pleasant and efficient. Mizai was following the ‘old-school’ kappo kaiseki standard: all the staffs were male. The dining room was clean with the dazzling counter made of an exotic lacquered wood. Given the quality and quantity of food combined with high level of cooking and hospitality, the price that Mizai charged was not unreasonable. Warning: according to Chef Ishihara, he intended to introduce and serve more Kyoto ingredients in the future aka “prepare” for even more food when dining here. No doubt, my meal here was a 3-star by Michelin standard (97 pts); only the likes of Kyo Aji or Matsukawa can ‘beat’ this place For more comprehensive reviews (with complete dishes description), please check here: http://zhangyuqisfoodjourneys.blogspot.co.id/2016/01/mizai-hitoshi-ishihara.html

Located in the quiet street of Azabu Juban area, restaurant Kadowaki gained its “fame” among international people when in 2008 the chef-owner Toshiya Kadowaki publicly refused his cooking to be assessed by “French people/foreigners” from Michelin. Little did he know that the inspectors were mostly Japanese for the Tokyo guide; perhaps he eventually noticed it and agreed to be included in the prestigious guide in the following year in which his restaurant was bestowed a 2-star, quite an achievement As a fan of Japanese traditional kaiseki, you would notice that my spouse and I have been to several of them. For variation for this visit, I would also like to dine at more modern places but still clearly using Japanese cooking technique. That’s why Kadowaki fell into this category; Kadowaki-san is known to prepare some ‘fusion’ dishes using non-Japanese produce. Similar to other kappo kaiseki-style places, the menu was omakase however what diners actually have totally at the Chef’s discretion. I meant unlike my experience at other places, comparing what we had to other diners at the counter, only 3-5 dishes were the same. Also, what the chef provided to diners at private rooms; about half of them were different from what he cooked for people at the counter. Note that the rice dish was the same for everybody: the famous rice truffle. The positive part from this was that Kadowaki had lots of different dishes he can serve even in the same season Including the dessert, the tasting menu at Kadowaki consisted of 8-9 courses. There were some dishes that I was impressed by, for instance: -Both of us loved the creamy and ‘sweet’ puree of yurine. It was accompanied by the chewy yet still tender awabi and some fragrant black truffles -During Fall, Kadowaki was quite known for its beef shabu2 served with matsutake dashi. Since Kadowaki-san used the top Matsusaka beef (soft, marbled and rich) + the aromatic & earthy Matsutake, it’s pretty much a guarantee that this dish would be a heavenly pleasure. The only ‘drawback’ was that the onion soy sauce was too intense for my taste -Rice with black truffle is the most well-known dish at Kadowaki. When I mentioned to fellow diners at other restaurants that we would dine here – the first thing he mentioned was this dish. It was indeed live up to its reputation: The rice (mixed with shoyu and goma abura) was perfectly cooked and served with Australian ‘black diamonds’; each grain was a joy with savory. As usual, it was served with nori and tsukemono. I could easily go for the 3rd bowl if possible … These were the kind of dishes that could elevate this place to 3-star However, there were a couple of dishes that might hinder it such as: -I was not too impressed with the “age” dish – it was ‘burnt’, bitter and the batter was ordinary (perhaps I expected it to be as good as the items at tempura restaurant). I referred to deep fried taro root and sweetfish served with red paprika and ginkgo -For the deep fried fukahire, Kadowaki managed to keep the texture and its pure flavor. The batter was better and crisp but it had too much oil stick to the ‘surface’ The other dishes were consistently good but nothing really wowed us. We enjoyed the sashimi dish; it was hirame wrapping matsutake with some lime – subtle and exuded the contrast of the sea & the earth. Possibly even better, Kadowaki-san prepared tai with some shavings of white truffle for other guests. I was somewhat tempted to ask for it, but for a 2nd thought it was very early October – not the peak of the alba truffle & it was very expensive … You could see the pictures (from the link below) for the complete dishes that we had. I would rate my meal as 94/100 (2 ½*) – the current Michelin rating was about right. The use of ‘foreign’ ingredients were actually spot on; the creative ‘fusion’ dishes was original and actually worked well most of the time but still faithful to its authentic Japanese root. The service was good but not outstanding. Except for a new staff that used to work in the US, nearly all of them barely spoke English but of course they’re friendly and helpful. They just cleared dishes and re-filled our tea since most of the interaction was with the chef. Kadowaki-san was easy going and had decent command of English. He may not be as warm as Ishikawa, but pro-actively tried to engage a conversation with his guests in spite of the fact that we’re the only foreigners seated at the counter. Business-wise, the restaurant seemed to be doing very well. Both the counter and private rooms accommodate for 2 seating each night were fully booked. Even there was a couple next to us (dressed like a celebrity) didn’t come until around 9:30 PM Overall, it was a nice and satisfying meal. You can see the pictures here: https://picasaweb.google.com/118237905546308956881/KadowakiTokyoJapan#

A few days ago ”La Liste” from France released its 1000 world best restaurants and ranked 3rd (and also implied as the best in Japan) was the legendary kaiseki restaurant – Kyo Aji. On the one hand, I was surprised because Kyo Aji has never really showed up in any list among top international restaurants, possibly due to the nature of being an introduction-only place; on the other hand, I was really happy that Kyo Aji finally received some well-deserved respect and (a long due) highly recognition outside Japan – though I’m sure chef-owner Kenichiro Nishi could not care less about it such as when some ‘misunderstanding’ made him refuse the Tokyo Michelin 3-star award. After having had a fantastic meal in autumn 2013, 2 months ago my wife and I were fortunate to be able to have another opportunity to return to Kyo Aji. I was very pleased upon knowing that this year, the Matsutake season came ‘early’ – meaning near the end of Sep & early Oct was pretty much the peak season of Pine mushrooms. Consequently, the dishes that we had this time were very similar to what we had a couple years ago. For instance, we had the trio Matsutake dishes at Kyo Aji: -grilled Matsutake (aromatic & meaty with its unique flavor) -soup made of Hamo’s bone served with Matsutake and fluffy Pike conger (the finest soup in the world with its deep flavor and very savory; so good that I did not use the sudachi and ponzu sauce this time) -deep fried Matsutake (great texture, crisp, a bit sweet yet not greasy) Many people would be familiar with Kyo Aji’s timeless dishes served towards the end of the meal: salmon belly rice, warabi mocha with abundant roasted soybean flour as well as kuzukiri with brown sugar syrup – they’re as wonderful as before. The execution and its consistency were simply amazing and this time I had another extra portion for the sake gohan and mochi. There’re only a few places where I don’t mind repeating some dishes every time I visit that restaurant. So far, I just don’t get tired of these dishes prepared here. Oh, almost forgot; we also had shirako and steamed chestnut with tilefish. I think I appreciate these dishes more this time around and believed that they tasted even better (more flavorful but always balanced). However, similar to other elite Japanese restaurants – Kyo Aji also serves plenty of seasonal dishes. Some new dishes we had were: -roasted Kamo Nasu with sweet miso and aka uni: The eggplant was sublime with delicate texture; it surprisingly tasted even better than the creamy red sea urchin but both ingredients complemented each other. The dish was enhanced by the sweet but light miso paste. A classic & unpretentious Kyoto-style dish that was executed meticulously -herring fish and eggplant with snow peas: This was a hearty dish often eaten by common people in Kyoto. A good example of humble and rustic dish that was phenomenal, perfectly executed and full of umami flavor. The nishin was tender and somewhat salty; it helped bring out the optimal flavor of the juicy nasu. In contrast to the soft eggplant were the fresh and firm snow peas Not so seasonal, perhaps more like “celebration” items -the Tai sashimi here was arguably one of the best we’ve ever had even by Japan’s standard. It had a wonderful natural flavor and firm flesh -rice with adzuki beans (solid texture but minimal flavor) + white miso soup (deep and concentrated, about the same level as Nakamura’s miso soup that’s served with mochi) -grilled Tai head served with ‘green’ sauce (vinegar + herbs) to enhance the sea bream’s flavor. The most delicious part was the part below the fish’s eye (eye muscle?). The white flesh was generally delicate and inherently sweet but it had plenty of bones around the cheek and jaw. In addition to serve outstanding food, Kyo Aji also delivered an exceptional service. It was personal and heartwarming despite the fact that there’s some communication gap between us and the master chef Kenichiro Nishi (mainly due to our limited Japanese). However, action spoke lauder than words. Wearing geta and supported by his cane, Nishi-san himself greeted us in the beginning, escorted us to the counter and even push our chairs. At the end of our meal, in the windy and chilled weather, again Nishi-san, accompanied by his daughter, bid us farewell with smile and stood there until we’re not in his sight anymore. Such a gracious host and chef! And he’s still doing this when he’s nearly 80 years of age. Makiko Nishi, the okami, also did a fantastic job. She explained the dishes clearly and became the ‘bridge’ between us and her father. Like in previous visits, mostly with my spouse, we’re talking about many different things – kind of like longtime friends that came from afar. For this special occasion, Makiko-san kindly allowed us to drink the restaurant’s kokuryu junmai ginjo from Nishi-san’s personal collection. It was rich, smooth and balanced with a quick finish. This time, Ms. Makiko dressed in modern clothes. She was not around in the restaurant until we arrived (the other 6 guests were locals) so we guessed that she came to work during that lunch because of us. We felt very grateful and honored. I also had a chance talked to her about Kyo Aji’s restaurant policy. It was not too complicated actually for foreigners. In summary, non-regulars could call the restaurant and speak directly to her – she speaks fluent English. They can reserve without any introduction, most likely for lunch (sometimes be seated at the private room) given there’s any empty seats. The only challenge: she’s not always available to pick up the phone and hope that Kyo Aji is not fully booked on your requested date. So, be patient and be flexible, you will be rewarded to have an (elusive) experience to dine at this great institution. Again, in my notes, the overall score for this dining experience was 98 or 99 pts – the closest to perfection, if there’s such thing. For more detailed reviews: http://zhangyuqisfoodjourneys.blogspot.co.id/2015/12/kyo-aji-kenichiro-nishi-2nd-visit.html For pictures: https://picasaweb.google.com/118237905546308956881/KyoAjiTokyoJapan2ndVisit

Osaka is often referred to as “Kuidaore no machi” and supposedly known for its delicious cuisine. It has several Michelin 3-star restaurants. Despite this, I don’t find it that easy to decide where to eat – not because lack of choices, but more due to nothing truly stand out. The 1 day trip to Osaka took place because we want to re-visit Kyoto and it’s nearby. After some consideration, I decided to go to Kahala – a former small steak house with a teppanyaki grill located not too far from the Osaka station. The food at Kahala is truly unique and quite difficult to describe; it was creative and innovative with international influence (noticeably by French and Italian) but still distinctively Japanese. Owner-chef Yoshifumi Mori has been running this place for more than 40 years. This ‘kappo-style’ restaurant was small, only seated 8 people and had 2 seating (It was full on both occasions). We managed to secure the late one and all of us entered the place at 8:40 PM. The dining place was not too bright with minimal decorations such as flowers and some lacquer ware (It was Mori-san’s passion and some of these art works were used to serve some dishes to guests). There’s only one menu: 10 courses and 2 desserts. Everybody ate the same stuffs. Before the 1st course arrived, the restaurant provided an excellent ice wine – crisp and sweet to whet our appetite. - We began with a bowl containing ginkgo, dry sea cucumber (minimal taste with decent texture), dry morels (not as good as during spring) and okra - Selection of small appetizers, there are 6 of them. Some items that I liked were mozzarella cheese with horse radish as well as fresh and delicate 5-month baby oyster. Chef Mori also created unbroken inter-locking chain of carrot; pleasing to the eye but not so in the palate - The kitchen stepped up its game by providing fried (until golden) caciocavallo cheese with grilled nori. The texture was smooth and a bit firm with mild salty flavor; I liked it a lot. The cheese was not pungent and it worked well with the crisp seaweed. The closest comparison to this describe this caciocavallo is that it’s a refined form of provolone - The curry beef puff was alright; authentic and rich. The interesting part was the addition of the fragrant coffee oil as soon as we finished the curry. Any potential cloying and unpleasant flavor was quickly dissolved by the oil, smart combination - Pan fried hamo with some kind of miso sauce on top served with kabocha and red paprika. Nothing really memorable -Handmade soba with grated karasumi. The soba was a bit soft for my taste while the dried mullet roe was savory and not overpowering. I slightly prefer the Yukimura’s version -One of my favorite dishes at Kahala: a combination of abalone and shark’s fin. The awabi was cooked inside a boiling cheese ‘fondue’ (a mixture of gruyere, emmental and blue cheese). It was rather heavy but delicious including the hardened & crunchy cheese at the bottom of the stone pot – eaten after cooling off The fukahire was of top quality. It was lightly braised, then cooked inside the mini stone with shiro miso and chili oil. This way the shark fin became tastier and tender -Soup with slices of Matsutake and egg tofu. The most ordinary matsutake soup I ate during this Japanese trip. The egg tofu was soft and unusual, but my spouse and I were not impressed -Signature dish of Kahala: beef millefeuille. At a first glance, it was not easy to see that it was indeed 5 really thin layers of Kumamoto beef stacked together beautifully. The beef was sparsely seasoned and each side was swiftly seared so that the outside was cooked but the middle part was still ‘rare’. The result was a scrumptious dish even though Kumamoto beef was generally leaner with moderate marbling thus “healthier”. Chef Mori cooked 3 portions of this Part 1: served with grated wasabi, fried garlic and soy sauce Part 2: served with ponzu, radish and garlic Part 3: served with awayuki salt and wasabi (my favorite, the crystalized salt was not overly salty) As side dish, there were fried gobo (burdock root), pickles and some salad (watercress, slice of onions, sesame etc.). A well-deserved signature item by Mori-san; I wish the portion were bigger -The rice dish/donburi was better than I expected. The presentation might not be that appetizing, but I thoroughly enjoyed it and had no problem finishing the medium portion + ¼ of my wife’s. We ate rice with mountain yam, dried nori and ‘caviar seeds’ (vegetables) – all elements blended well and revealed texture and some flavor contrasts -There were several desserts. First, we had fresh figs and grapes. Following that, we had ‘panna cotta’ with chestnut, honey caramel, sugar reduction and coffee syrup – it was not too sweet with some tasty bitter flavor, quite elegant. Lastly, we ended the meal with chai milk tea. I might prefer something not milky actually It was a very good meal. I respect the chef does not stuck with ‘status quo’. Chef Mori is probably around 70 years old now, but he was always enthusiastic doing his work and still diligently searches for new and fresh ingredients to create new dishes. Not everything was successful; nevertheless it was an adventurous dining experience with some of very high quality and delicious dishes. The service was amicable and relaxing. The young assistant chef/maître d’ spoke good English (the most fluent one we encountered during this trip) and rendered excellent service. He patiently explained dishes that often had some ingredients we’re not familiar yet. Osaka was lucky to have Kahala, a favorite of Tatsuya Wakuda (perhaps his teppanyaki style Waku Ghin was inspired after the visit here). Overall, it was 94/100 (about 2 ½* by Michelin standard) Pictures: https://www.flickr.com/photos/7124357@N03/albums/72157661764015165/with/22733278993/

The last time I visited Joel Robuchon restaurant was in early 2014. Actually, I did not really plan to return here especially since Chef Tomonori Danzaki left (Robuchon assigned him to get 3-star Michelin in Bordeaux within 3 years). However, there’s one dish that has intrigued me there that I’ve never had a chance to eat – La Pintade, prepared for 60 min to be shared for 2 people and it’s supposedly one of Robuchon’s classic. I was in transit prior to my trip to Japan, flying after midnight. At the end, I decided to go there since I can share the dish with my wife and I know the restaurant will be quiet; getting a reservation here is never a problem. Michael Michaelidis who used to work at l’Atelier Robuchon Hong Kong is the current executive chef. I planned to only order the guinea fowl dish, but the restaurant no longer offered an a la carte dish. Thus, we both ordered the cheapest set menu (an amuse bouche, an appetizer and a main course with mignardises + coffee/tea). We told the manager / sommelier, Fabien Duboueix, that we only had 2 hours for the whole meal since we need to go to the airport. It was a unobtrusive evening with about 10 people dining there and I did not see Thomas Laguzzi, the maître d’ to be around – perhaps it was his off day. Joel Robuchon (and usually also Alain Ducasse) created numerous fine caviar dishes. It happens quite often that the caviar amuse bouche become one of the best things I eat whenever having a meal at Robuchon’s establishment. This time, it’s quite new: -Imperial caviar with king crab, crustacean jelly and cauliflower cream. The dish looked stunning with plenty of caviar but sadly the execution was below average. While the caviar was fine, the jelly was a bit rough and bland. The same thing happened with the dry and rather tasteless crab. Normally, the crab would be tasty with some pleasant flavor combinations (sweet, salty etc.). The cauliflower was good, but too little to actually capable of “carrying” the overall dish’s taste. It was not an inferior creation, but rather the execution was rather mediocre/not rigorous enough by the Robuchon standard. By the way, except for the one in Bordeaux, I have dined in all four JR Restaurants so I understand what Robuchon’s high standard is like -Lobster salad with sweet & sour dressing. My wife had this. It was good and ‘energizing’. The lobster was tasty with a good texture. The sauce was balanced and the playful of vegetarian was pleasant – mostly raw and crunchy -My appetizer was a simple pea veloute. I can really taste the pea’s essence and concentrated flavor yet it was still feeling light with a hint of mint. In short, it was smooth, warm and comforting -Since our main course took a long time to cook, the kitchen gave us a small bonus: light artichoke mousseline – quite similar to the pea’s soup except this one was artichoke. It had crispy artichoke as well on top. The portion was just right; the soup could be scooped with Robuchon’s bread too. A decent dish -The waiting was over. The kitchen finally brought a whole guinea fowl and carved it side table for the breast meat. The lady who did this worked hard and did not seem have done it too often; still appreciate the effort. She took the best part of the breast meat and cut it properly with the skin attached. But the foie gras part, I think she should not serve the end parts to me – it was coarse and not that delicious. I tasted the ‘better’ (middle) part of the seared foie gras from my wife’s plate and it was really nice. The brest meat was a bit dry but still tender; felt moist using the hen’s juice. It was good but the execution was not at the level of a pintade’s small portion my wife had at l'Effervescence Tokyo. The confit potatoes would have been better had they cooked in the same pan as the hen (soaking up the juice) -The second part was the thigh. It was juicy with richer flavor than its breast yet felt slightly oily. The duck liver (middle part) was creamy and clean, I could only finish half of the served foie gras. There was the famous mashed potato on the side. Overall, it was alright. It could’ve been better with more meticulous execution. I think it suffered a similar issue with the caviar dish above. Preparing a la carte dish for 2 can be challenging at times. I could say that the current (food) state of Robuchon restaurant Singapore was not as good as when Chef Tomonori Danzaki was around. I’m not sure whether Michael Michaelidis was less superior to Danzaki-san or he was simply still adjusting with his team in Singapore or the kitchen had just a bad day. I hope it’s the latter one because my best meal in Asia outside Japan was here, taking place in early 2014 (during the Perigord truffle season). Our meal ended with a cup of coffee and tea as well as plenty of sweets such as macaroons (5 of them – sorry did not write them down), opera cake, madeleine, caramel cake and fruit tart. One of the few restaurants still served French traditional sweet cart and Robuchon does a good job here as always. The service was friendly but not refined. Many staffs only knew how to set up a table and memorized the ingredients of the dishes without much knowledge about they’re prepared. In the past, I’ve met 2-3 local staffs that really know what they’re doing and doing it well. Perhaps, they already left. The current staffs were not too bad, but I simply had better experience here. This was arguably the ‘worst’ meal I’ve ever had at Robuchon.I gave it 93/100 (2 ½* by Michelin standard). My meals at Robuchon fine dining usually scores 95 pts on average. Pictures: https://www.flickr.com/photos/7124357@N03/albums/72157660577496486/with/22631338526/

Part 2: Sushi Sawada Unlike any Tokyo’s top sushi chefs, Koji Sawada was not trained by any famous sushi master. In fact, his background was a truck driver. However, that did not stop him to pursue his passion to be the best sushi chef. Following Japan’s kaizen principle, for more than 10 years, he has been running and honing his skills in which his sushi-ya has become one of the most sought after place to dine in at Tokyo by locals and foreigners alike. Sushi Sawada is the 3rd and last sushi-ya we visited during our most recent Japanese trip. With only 6 seats, it’s certainly among the most exclusive sushi place in Japan. All seats were occupied during our lunch. Besides me and my spouse, there were 2 other couples: one is Japanese and another one flying in from New York (He said Sawada was his favorite sushi place in the world; he was a repeat guest). As we’re seated, my wife whispered to me – how come the lady helper was so skinny and looked pale? The chef must have made her worked so hard. Because in contrast to her, the itamae was big and stocky – she must have initially thought that as a staff, the lady helper worked a lot harder than her ‘boss’. FYI, my wife is not a foodie, and usually had no info about any restaurant we visit. I told her that the lady helper was actually Sawada-san’s wife; she was even more ‘shocked’ and thinking that the chef might have been “cruel”. I just smiled and told her to simply enjoy the meal =) As many have known, Sawada was very strict with regards to taking pictures and the use of mobile. In addition, eating with chopstick was not really encouraged. So taking notes has been quite challenging (eating using hand was really appreciated – I became a lefty during this 2 hours). Moreover, I was not even allowed to put my notes on the counter – it was pretty much spotless. The counter was so clean that the Sawada-san was confident to serve all items on the wooden counter. Similar to other sushi meals we had, the lunch is divided into 2 parts: Appetizers – there were more than 10 items -My favorite one was the charcoal grilled tuna (near the collar’s part, so it’s fatty) but this time the charcoal was put on top of the fish. It was ‘burnt’ outside, still raw inside – looked like a steak. This aburi toro was very wonderful -The tender tako sashimi and Mushi Shima awabi with jelly liver were delicious. I also enjoyed the roll containing kamasu, shiso, ginger, wasabi and a few other things -Some other things that were good and interesting were buri marinated mackerel (shime saba)+tomato, chu toro aged for 1 week, and sea cucumber ovary (kuchiko) served hot -The other items we ate were alright but not memorable: sashimi of hirame, engawa, and aori ika with aka uni on top. We also ate the part that Sawada called in between chu and otoro (kotoro?) but it was somewhat tasteless; tasted like non marinated and plain akami Sushi – there were about 15 pieces -Sawada was proud of his tuna and rightly so. His tuna (and some other ingredients) was of outstanding quality even by top sushi standard in Japan. We had (they get ‘fattier’ in the sequence): tsuke akami, chu toro with plenty of wasabi, kotoro (this time was tasty), o-toro (served twice) and buri otoro, consumed with lots of wasabi. To neutralize the ‘oiliness’, Sawada-san gave us refreshing and delicious raw eggplant after these “tuna party” -My other favorite pieces were soft and flavorful shima aji, marinated kohada with a hint of sweetness, edo style cooked squid wrapping around the shari. -The ikura (fresh with delicate salty flavor) served generously was also good. The murasaki uni served in normal sushi style while the bafun uni served in gunkan style. The only ‘complain’ was Sawada-san gave too much ikura and uni – it became quite challenging to swallow and properly eat them without dropping anything. He managed to put ‘neta’ to be > 1.5x the height of the nori while the rice was less than half of the nori’s height; he jokingly named these as “Tokyo tower or sky tree” -The rest of the items I also enjoyed (though not to the extent of the above pieces) were: kisu, akagai, smoked katsuo, kuruma ebi with its miso, anago with salt and sweet sauce. The meal ended with a gooseberry – the chef called it tomato strawberry. Like my experience at Harutaka, I thought Sawada’s sushi was better than his otsumami. Sawada applied white sugar to the rice (served warm around body temperature consistently) with some sugar and salt though sometimes a bit too salty for my taste, but overall it still went well. His fundamental execution was very strong resulting in pure and tasty food. In contrast to his sturdy body, Sawada-san worked really fast; he skillfully used the knife to cut fish, prepare the food and serve them directly to his customers. He spoke minimal English but was very chatty. He spoke 80% of the time with the local guests which was understandable, but the surprising part was that he even spoke a lot more than his Japanese guests (we noticed that the chef initiated the conversation all the time). We spoke only a little with him. We learned that he’s from Nagoya and at the end when I mentioned that we were not really like the red miso there, he swiftly replied “Me too (either) and laugh hard”. It was another solid sushi meal in Tokyo as expected. I would rate the food here 95 pts (2 ½*) on par with my experience at Sushi Mizutani but with better service. For sushi, I tend not to repeat the same place yet as there are numerous places I want to try in the future such as Mitani, Hatzune, Sho Masa etc. just to name a few

The first part: Ginza Harutaka One day before our dinner at Sushi Yoshitake, we actually had a meal at another Tokyo’s elite sushi-ya (also) located in Ginza named Harutaka. One of the ‘challenged’ of ever worked under Jiro Ono (Japan’s national treasure for his contribution/dedication to sushi) is that you’re almost always being compared with your master. Harutaka Takahashi fortunately has risen to the occasion and made a name for himself. His sushi-ya has often become the favorite sushi place among Tokyo’s chefs. Like many other top sushi-ya(s) in Ginza, Harutaka is located in the 3rd floor of unassuming building. Our reservation was late, around 9 PM and we were the last guests arriving to the restaurant. At that time, there were a group of 3 and a solo diner at the counter – all of them was Japanese. We were seated in front of the sous chef but by the time we ate the sushi, the 3 people already left hence Harutaka-san himself prepared the sushi for us. We opted for otsumami + sushi -Our first dish was smth refreshing: sashimi of tender ise ebi and its jelly with clam miso. Next, grilled sanma; it was quite tasty and smoky. The saury was intensified with the sauce made of the sanma’s liver -Soup contained matsutake broth (good aroma and dashi flavor) and delicate hamo; we enjoyed it. For sashimi, we had hirame with its pleasant natural flavor as well as smooth & sweet botan ebi -Tender and a bit chewy black abalone (simmered carefully for several hours) served with abalone’s dashi (warmed and a bit thick) was our next dish - in order to enhance the awabi’s flavor. It was decent though not at the level of Yoshitake’s signature dish. -Lastly, we had seared katsuo, almost raw in the middle with crispy skin. It was served with interesting side dish: garlic, ginger, oil etc. taste bitter but went along well with the bonito The appetizers were more interesting than Mizutani’s sashimi variations (similar qualities), but in terms of creativity and deliciousness – it’s still behind of what we had at Sushi Yoshitake. Luckily, the sushi was really good. Including the tamago (not inferior to Jiro’s), Harutaka served us 16 pieces of sushi. Some of the outstanding ones were: -sumi ika: silky, naturally sweet, and tender with a good amount of wasabi -chu toro: aged for 5 days with a great balance of tuna’s ‘meat’ and fat -o toro: Very velvety and oily yet we could still taste its flavorful flesh. An excellent otoro, perhaps the best one I ate this year -kuruma ebi: tender and juicy; sweet and high quality. Possibly, it's one of the best broiled tiger prawn I've ever eaten -aji: a lovely fish; fresh, a bit oily, and good texture -kasugo: well seasoned, pleasant texture and refreshing; had a novelty feeling The rest of the sushi items were: kisu, shima aji, akami, kohada, ikura, aka uni, buri, akagai and anago. You can read the descriptions in my more detailed review at the link below I really love the combination of the fish and the rice at Harutaka. Unlike Sushi Mizutani whose shari was more sticky (less al dente), the shari at Harutaka was more similar to Jiro's especially in terms of texture (firm but smooth) and temperature (warm). However, to distinguish himself from his master, Chef Harutaka's rice was more balanced - less acidic with mild salt that blended really well. It's very suitable to my palate. Harutaka might look young & inexperienced but don’t be ‘deceived’ by this. He has been trained for more than a decade at Jiro and another 10 years or so of running his own place. His knife work was impressive and precise and his movement was graceful and purposeful. Very different from the formal Jiro, Harutaka was more accessible and relaxed; he often smiled yet talked very little – he seemed he would rather listen to his customer’s talking. The rest of the staffs were also friendly and helpful. They did their best to make us feel comfortable and enjoy the meal. They also worked hard to explain the sushi we consumed, sometimes showing us the book about Japanese fish. I think Ginza Harutaka is my current favorite sushi place in Japan, if not in the entire world (along with Sushi Sho). At this level, when for instance, I mentioned Harutaka is better than Mizutani or Jiro – it was only marginally better and you cannot go wrong to go to any of these places or other elite sushi-yas in Tokyo especially if you’ve never had any sushi in Japan before. I would rate my overall experience here as 95/100 (2 ½*). My ‘perfect’ sushi meal will probably consisting of 5 appetizers from Sushi Yoshitake plus 15 or more sushi pieces prepared by Harutaka Takahashi. Can it happen? Not sure if one will be allowed to only eat tsumami at Yoshitake’s place (and paying half price of the full omakase). Detailed review: http://zhangyuqisfoodjourneys.blogspot.co.id/2015/11/ginza-harutaka.html Pictures: https://picasaweb.google.com/118237905546308956881/GinzaHarutakaTokyoJapan#

The tale of two Kitcho(s). Kitcho has been identical to refined kaiseki restaurants in Japan. After a wonderful meal at Arashiyama a couple of years ago, I was curious to visit another ‘serious’ branch of Tokuoka’s Kitcho (this time was Nagoya) as well as the ‘most legendary’ honten at Koraibashi. They became reality when we had lunch in both places separated by about one week this year. I may not go over every single dish as it will be laborious. I will let readers see the pictures and their descriptions from the link below for more details KITCHO NAGOYA Nagoya Kitcho is relatively young; only established in 2007. Although it’s located near the top floor of skyscraper of Midland Square (also known as Toyoya Mainichi building), it still preserved its tradition by providing Japanese-style private rooms. For our case, we enjoyed our Kaiseki at room with horigotatsu seating. In addition, Kitcho also had western-style floor area as well as private rooms. The sequence of our Kaiseki closely followed the traditional routines. We opened the meal with refreshing vegetables and some zuwai kani. -Then followed by excellent clear soup, a typical of early autumn creation: grilled hamo with matsutake. It was tasty, aromatic with good textures from both the pine mushroom and eel though slightly below the level of similar dish offered at Kyo Aji. -For the sashimi, we had high quality produce of Tai, Kinmedai and Ise Ebi. The hassun presentation was almost as beautiful as the one we had at Arashiyama. The best item was steamed beef cheek (clean and tender) with onion and miso sauce, a bit too intense for my taste. -Yaki: 1st part was a whole Matsutake put on hay and then grilled slowly and meticulously on our side. Simple preparation was the best way to display Matsutake unique qualities. Ours were moist & meaty in the middle and a bit crispy outside. The flavorful dish was also accompanied by light dipping sauce & sudachi. The 2nd part was charcoal grilled (larger and plump) Ayu with distinct red lines in the Fall. It was tasty and served with tangy flavor of tadesu sauce -Kitcho had the habits to present the dish and served/did the plating in front of customers which I think was an awesome idea. For the mushimono dish, the staff brought the whole white gourd melon filled with tofu, vegetable and mushrooms – good and pleasant combination; we managed to consume most of it. -The rice dish at Kitcho was always special in particular when you had a chance to eat Koshihikari gohan. This time was served with sea bream and shredded eggs + miso soup and good pickles. The short-grain rice was slightly sticky, sweet & a hint of nutty flavor. The Tai was delicate while the Kinshi tamago served well as garnish with its flavor and vibrant color -We loved the dessert a lot even though it’s “only” a fruit. We had delicious grape jelly as well as the ethereal pawpaw. We’ve never had pawpaw (the staple fruit of autumn) before; the taste was fantastic – creamy with custard-like texture, sweet and simply heavenly. To simplify, it’s like a mixture of ¾ mango and ¼ banana. The service standard at Kitcho (under the guidance of Kunio Tokuoka) has always been high. Our female maître d’ was gracious, friendly and passionate in doing her job. She would go the distance to make sure all of our questions were satisfactorily answered. Her English might not as refined as the staff who served as at the flagship ryotei in Kyoto, but outside that we concurred that she did a great job. I would rate my meal at Kitcho Nagoya to be 94/100 (at least 2 ½*). If Michelin ever came to Aichi prefecture and following its tradition to have at least one 3-star place, this could be a strong candidate. KITCHO OSAKA Not many people have discussed about Kitcho Osaka honten – the flagship of non-Tokuoka Kitcho (If not mistaken, the Koraibashi Kitcho is run by either Toshio Yuki or Junji Yuki). The obvious reason is because this Kitcho is one of those introduction-only restaurants in Japan. We’re lucky with the help of a friend to have a meal here although the experience we had at the end was quite the contrary of our lunch at Kitcho Nagoya. I forgot to mention that prior to any meal at Kitcho, they always pour the in-house sake as well as ‘salted corn tea’. The set meal began right away with hassun – rather good actually. -There were 6-7 different kinds of small appetizers. We kind of enjoyed the kamasu sushi, sweet cooked ebi and ika with caviar. Yes, this traditional restaurant took advantage of some foregin ingredients as you will find out some more in other dishes -Soup with thick cut and earthy Matsutake but the dashi was a bit too plain. Moreover, the other main ingredient lotus mochi was soggy (fried first then put in the soup). It would’ve been better had they not fried the ren mochi. -The restaurant redeemed itself from mediocre dishes earlier via its sashimi. We had thinly slices Engawa (‘Fluke fin’); at first we thought it was an empty plate of some colorful stuff in the middle. The fish was delicate with nice fat content; a right balance of taste and texture (slightly crunchy in a unique way). It was served with the usual condiments -Grilled Sawara was overdone (neither tender nor juicy) and intensified by not so smooth duck liver. The side dishes such as sudachi squeeze, leeks, bell peppers, and even matsutake could not redeem the dish overall flavor. The kitchen failed at the crucial part – get the fish right and other elements could be ‘forgiven’ -Yuba. The ‘tofu skin’ was of good quality; it was mild with pleasant texture (tender and a bit chewy). Underneath it, there were a few items that somehow disrupted the enjoyment of eating this fine yuba. The dashi could not elevate the soy’s flavor. Furthermore, the anago with sweet sauce interrupted the initial clean flavor – cooked anago’s natural taste without the sauce would’ve gone along better. Then the lily bulb was too starchy -We probably had the most ‘luxurious’ matsutake rice here because they put the most pine mushrooms as well as 3 pieces of hamo (prepared as kabayaki – grilled with sweet soy sauce). The rice was a bit sticky, but that’s still ok since it’s covered by the matsutake fragrant and flavor. The hamo, similar to the anago problem case above, was kind of coarse/rough in texture and the sweet glazed did not go too well with the matsutake. We would prefer mild & light flavor without the sauce. -Desserts – Japanese fruits. When the kitchen did minimal effort, we got better dish. We ate top qualities of pear, grapes (purple and green) and some light jelly. Following this was chestnuts with potatoes (decent kuri kinton) I’m not sure where to begin about the ‘problems’ here. Kitcho Osaka lacks of the perfect execution that’s usually associated with (high-end) Japanese cuisine. Additionally, some variations were just unusual – I almost never saw it in any traditional kaiseki before such as sawara with foie gras, yuba with glazed anago etc. and they turned out did not work well. The only ‘redemption’ it had was that the kitchen often put plenty of extra (luxurious) ingredients (though may not be necessary) to cover up their average cooking skills. Looking back, I should have known about what to expect the moment the 2nd dish arrived – when the soup dashi was not ‘right’. When you’re charged nearly as high as the price of Kyoto Kitcho main place, you would expect the similar kind of performance. Perhaps, my problem was the wrong expectation. It was not the same kind of restaurant people used to praise. The closest analogy I could think of is that at this moment: Koraibashi Kitcho to Nihon ryori is the same as La tour d’Argent to French cuisine – a nice piece of history that somehow still exists. The restaurant was huge. We were shown to its main banquet room that could fit in more than 50 people comfortably and it had a stage for geisha or (simple) Noh performance. Since it’s in the city, the garden was relatively small but quite pretty. Our private room was big and private. The service was not as enthusiastic as the Kitcho restaurants under Kunio Tokuoka. However, we’ve been warned that the staffs would speak no English. She did the essential things well and perhaps the language barrier might make her hesitate to communicate more with us. If you wonder why we did not ‘complain’, well getting a chance to eat here was like winning a lottery so my wife and I decided to swallow it and would not return here again. Unless you want a right to brag to ever dine here, I really could not think a good reason to recommend someone to have a meal here. At the end, my meal experience was 91 pts (at most 2* by Michelin standard) Pictures: Nagoya – https://picasaweb.google.com/118237905546308956881/KyotoKitchoNagoyaJapan# Osaka – https://www.flickr.com/photos/7124357@N03/albums/72157660379125149/with/22548774067/

This year’s Japan foodie trip actually marked a decade long of my adventure in the world of fine dining – possibly my longest and most consistent hobby (I still played console games and often watched movies, but not as intense as it used to be). It all began in the Fall of 2005, when I, along with 2 friends, had a fantastic dinner at Alain Ducasse Essex House. Like many have said, the rest is history. In addition to some ‘serious’ restaurants I’ve reviewed, we also did some more ‘casual’ breakfast and brunch. Brunch at Peter I was not sure why, but I just wanted to try one Sunday brunch in Japan this time. After a few research, we decided to visit Peter at the Peninsula. It was a semi-buffet style with some a la carte items, mainly steak. We opted for a menu with no alcohol and only ate from their basic menu. Generally, it was ok. The best part was the desserts. My spouse and I loved the smooth tiramisu; the mango pudding, green tea mousse and chocolate cake were decent. The fruits were incredible especially the Japanese (purple) grapes and muscat; we ate more than 2 dozens and they’re quite big, watery and sweet. The melon, though not musk, was also very good. The ‘real’ food that I liked was just stir fry sweet corn with a few bacons. The rests such as scallop, duck or black pork cooked in small portion were ordinary. The atmosphere was layback and staffs were approachable; glad that none of them trying to upsell us for any alcohol or steak. The view was great; we’re seated at the corner facing the Imperial palace and garden. Breakfast at Oriental lounge My wife ordered the Zen (Japanese) breakfast set whereas I had the more ‘traditional’ American one. It turned out that mine was better than my wife’s despite the fact that we’re in Japan. The Japanese set was huge – except the white rice, nothing in that set stood out such as a big portion of salmon, tamago, tofu, pickles and so on. It’s not at the level we had at Gora Kadan. The American set began with the free flow of freshly squeezed orange juice. The yoghurt was also nice and balance, but the wheat bread was so-so. My main course, as per lounge’s assistant manager recommendation, was egg benedict served with poached Canadian lobster and its jus - serious and heavy stuff for breakfast. These traditional items (both egg and lobster) were well executed though did not blow us away. I was quite struggling in the end, maybe due to the large portion and the rich flavor of the yolk and the sauce. The service at Mandarin Oriental was professional and smooth as expected. Staffs were sincere and able to engage and adapt during the conversation. French toast at Okura I ate and reported this couple of years ago. It was really good and still was when I ate it last month. It’s very rare I return to the same place for a meal in Japan albeit this one was just a breakfast. Okura Tokyo main building has undergone a significant renovation to prepare for the 2020 Olympic. Hence, this time I had the breakfast at the hotel’s French restaurant – La belle epoque, located in the South building. The French toast was consistently delicious: light and a bit crisp outside while soft and velvety inside with fragrant vanilla flavor. It might seem rich for the first few bytes, particularly when the maple syrup and butter still ‘flowing’, but after half way, without realizing it, you would keep eating the toast until all is gone – somehow not cloying. I consumed two pieces this time, because my wife could not wake up that early. I had pre-ordered (2 pieces) the French toast to be prepared at certain time as we had a tour to Nikko that very morning. Among these 3 places, strictly from the food perspective, I would recommend the latter one. You will not lose anything if you never try the first 2 meals above. The French toast at Okura is not only the finest in Japan, but probably also in the whole world. There’s likely a 3rd visit for me in the future.

Part of my habit during Japan foodie trip is to have a meal at one French restaurant prepared by Japanese chef. French gastronomy, after all, is still my favorite food in the world (though Japanese cuisine is closing to perhaps one day ‘overtake’ it). Furthermore, it’s no secret that Japanese chefs have strong respect and regards towards French cooking. Last time we went to L’Effervescence (it was not bad) and this time, to my surprise, we managed to secure a table at Quintessence, helmed by the gifted Chef Shuzo Kishida. It was supposed to be one of the most difficult tables to reserve but the hotel concierge had no issue to book it about 1.5 months before. And during my stay in Japan, I casually checked Tokyo’s tabelog and found in that particular week, Quintessence returned at the top of the list “beating” Sushi Saito and Matsukawa. Not that the ranking matters that much; just to give some perspective about the restaurant. Thus, my expectation was high coming to this lunch. Even, initially I had asked whether we could have the dinner (bigger) menu as to sample more variety and the best of Kishida-san’s cooking, but it was refused. Apparently unlike L’Astrance, the kitchen here does not have the flexibility and capability to cater both the lunch and/or dinner menu to guests during lunch period. The lunch consisted of 7 courses. It opened with a balanced and not-so-intense flavor of French mussel soup with sea shells stocks and some saffron. Then, -the signature dish of Kishida-san: goat milk (delivered daily from Kyoto) bavarois with Provence’s olive oil, French sea salt (having high mineral content) and macadamia nut. A dish that’s technically stunning and perfectly executed. The goat milk bavarois was fresh and velvety; you can decide to vary each spoon with the fruity olive oil, macadamia nuttiness, lily bulb flake or ‘seasoned’ it with fleur de sel. Each byte was a pleasant experience and savory. I think if you ‘hate’ yoghurt flavor, you may not like this dish. The (odorless) goat milk bavarois was more like a refined form of unsweetened yoghurt -After this, the waitress explained the 3rd dish was Chef Kishida version of traditional “salted cake”. In addition to the rather coarse cake, you will have parmesan oregano, brown mushroom, capers and bafun uni. The only tasty element for us comes from the sea urchin while the rests would generally generate acidic and salty taste. An interesting and unusual dish for French cooking but not that delicious After a few small appetizers, the kitchen delivered a fish dish. It was a grilled hata fish (a high quality of grouper) from West of Japan. Some part of the meat was pink and soft in contrast to the crispy skin. It’s served with some roots and dried tomato. The sour sauce contained some vegetables, yuzu and ginger. The fish looked lovely with a nice texture. However, similar to the theme of previous dishes, sour and salty (sauce) dominated the dish’s flavor. I tasted the fish flesh by itself, it was quite tasteless and my wife concurred. The fish was perhaps not (or minimally) seasoned. Another well-prepared dish but lacked a punch of delightful flavors -The main course, thankfully, was really good. It was a kurobota pork roasted at low temperature for 3 hours (an alternate of 1 min roasting and 5 min resting, repeated several times until ‘perfect’). This process allowed the pork to be pink yet fully cooked resulting in delectable and moist meat as well as seductive and heavenly pork’s fat. The crispy and tasty outer part was seared. The dish is served with fried beets, some mushrooms (girolle and awabitake), and herbs. The delicious sauce was a blend of mushroom sauce and some pork jus. Without knowing the intensive labor to produce it, this dish looked deceptively simple. Overall, it was a tender and very delicious dish, full of pork’s umami flavor. An amazing pork dish – one of the best I’ve ever eaten Pre-dessert: baked cheesecake with concentrated apricot sauce. It was flaky while the custard was flavorful and a bit sour. Finally, the dessert: another Kishida-san’s specialty. The famous Meringue ice cream was covered by translucent concentrated sea water. It was an elegant dish with ‘complex’ flavor. The classic egg-white flavor was still there with ice cream smooth texture plus some refreshing salty taste and a hint of ginger. Excellent! Pictures are not allowed here although we’re seated on the ‘sofa’ near the corner and a table next to us was empty (yes, the restaurant was not full – perhaps explain why our reservation was relatively easy). Theoretically, without flash and sound, we didn’t think taking pictures would ‘disturb’ other guests but the staffs still insisted of no pictures and we complied. Thinking about it now, perhaps I could lend my camera to staffs and asked one of them to take picture for us in the kitchen – anybody have done it before? Quintessence offered several kinds of sparking waters (trying to be over the top I guess). We picked the Italian one named Ferrarelle since we’ve never had it before. Perhaps, it’s not a popular choice and by the time it’s opened it had no more ‘gas’ and our lady maître d’ profusely apologized and seemed embarrassed. Actually, their whole stocks of Ferrarelle might be ‘spoiled’ since she told us to select from other brands and we settled with French Badoit. Take this small incident aside, our maître d’ delivered a wonderful service – kind and responsive. She loves eating as well. It’s always nice to be served by someone who is passionate about food, not simply limited by his/her knowledge towards the cuisine/dishes that served at the restaurant only. The restaurant was small (30 people at most) with plenty of staffs so it’s not difficult to catch anyone’s attention. I had a chance to walk around and observe other table’s dishes. I noticed that all tables eat the same dishes as ours – probably it implied that all guests were first time visitors? Half of them were non-Japanese. At Quintessence, Shuzo Kishida-san served modern/contemporary French with his own interpretation of nouvelle cuisine (in this case light cooking using fresh products with intensive cooking process and attention to details in seasoning/saucing). You will even unlikely find classical dishes prepared in modern ways. It was a pure and clean cooking yet sophisticated. Despite a high level of cooking techniques and execution, as you may notice above, I find most of the dishes here lack the delicious-ness which should be the most integral part of any dining experience – the pork and meringue dishes were the only exception. For me, the meal here was 93/100 (2 ½*) – only about the same level as Maison Pic and Le Pre Catelan; nowhere near the top levels of French cuisine I experienced in Paris/France. But the food here was certainly better than our meals at L’Effervescence. That being said, I don’t really mind returning here in the future, perhaps for dinner. However, it won’t happen on my next trip to Japan

One of my major motivations to visit Sushi Yoshitake at Ginza was “revenge”. I’ve been to Yoshitake Hong Kong before (now re-named as Sushi Shikon as the same names have caused some confusion in their reservations) and it was very good, ranked among my best sushi meals outside Japan. But, the price was astronomical there – before the service charge, it (for 5 appetizer and 10 sushi including tamago; even the water used for cooking was imported from Japan) cost about the same price as Masa NYC and more than Urasawa without the tips & tax. Whereas, Yoshitake’s flagship in Tokyo is nearly 40% cheaper and you will receive more stuffs (our meal consisted of 6 tsumami and a dozen piece of sushi) - so essentially, I want to "average down" my cost if that makes any sense at all. In addition, Masahiro Yoshitake-san’s signature dishes in particular the awabi with liver sauce was ethereal and I want my spouse to try it as well The only ‘disappointment’ of the dinner was probably that we’re not served by Yoshitake-san himself. Apparently, the main counter was full with his regulars from Japan (we only heard Japanese being spoken from our private room). Consequently, we were seated at the 2nd and smaller counter seated 4 people. The good thing was that we had a private meal as we’re the only diners; taking pictures using camera was allowed, and our itamae (introduced himself as “Dai”) spoke nearly fluent English as he used to work for several years at Japan’s embassy in DC as personal chef. My meal at HK under Chef Kakinuma was great, so I believe sous chef Daisuke should be as capable as Kaki-san and fortunately it was the case. FYI – Masa who used to work at Yoshitake Tokyo and Hong Kong already left to open his own sushi place with family in Hokkaido. As many of you have known, the omakase at Yoshitake will begin with several small appetizers: -We began with a combination of ikura, smoked salmon, daikon and okra. Quite tasty especially the ikura and it had some interesting texture variations (smooth fish and more crunchy veggies) -The sashimi was clean rock fish with its seared skin -The famous tender and delicious tako (the sweet glaze was evenly absorbed by the octopus). Still, awesome -The signature dish: steamed kuro awabi (tender and bouncy in a nice way). Talking about mushi awabi by itself with no sauce, the one at Mizutani was still the best. However, the incredible liver sauce (complex, creamy with deep flavor but not cloying) made this dish much better by 2-3 folds. After that, Dai gave us a dollop of shari to be mixed with the left over sauce. Uni risotto was excellent, but this ‘green rice’ was a class of its own. My wife was amazed that she could eat something this good -Seared katsuo with charred skin was nice; it’s balanced by the radish and scallion -Our palate cleanser was natural mozuku seaweed, chopped mountain yam and a small portion of sea urchin For sushi, some memorable morsels were: -Shin ika (very tender, clean with a hint of sweetness) and followed by grilled baby cuttlefish’s ‘leg’ -More and more chefs are able to optimize chu toro flavor by precise aging and marinating. It’s more flavorful than o-toro -Yet, it doesn’t beat O-toro’s creamy and ‘oiliness without being greasy’. How it was not heavenly when you had 2 layers of fatty tuna on top of body temperature shari -The double portion of beautifully ‘sliced’ kohada displayed harmony of vinegar & salt flavors and a slight sweetness from the ebi powder -Kuruma ebi, served with ebi miso, was juicy and of excellent quality (freshly cooked and prepared immediately) -Gunkan uni (a mixture of aka & bafun sea uni). Red uni in the Fall was sumptuous – creamier and sweeter than its green counterpart. Aka uni was a bit bitter when I consumed it in April The other pieces were not by any means bad, but it’s expected as the top sushi place. Perhaps, I took it for granted. We also ate tai, sanma, akagai, anago, temaki (akami tsuke) and tamago. Our omakase ended with miso soup. Unless you’re very picky to certain style or preference, a meal at any Tokyo’s elite sushi-ya will be (at least) good particularly if the area in which you live offers no top quality sushi. Yoshitake is without exception; this was a very good meal – comparable to my sushi meal at Mizutani and Jiro though they don’t exactly offer the same thing. The clear advantage of Yoshitake omakase is the tsumami – arguably among best in Japan. Sushi-wise, besides the warm al dente rice with akazu, Yoshitake would plenty of ‘special’ different seasonings/preparations for each piece such as the case of our sanma as well as kohada roll in HK. Come with an open mind and you will likely be rewarded. I gave 95 pts for the food here (2 ¾*). The service was more superior to the one I experienced at Mercer hotel. It’s more relaxing but still attentive in Ginza – like having a meal in a friend’s place. For more detailed review: http://zhangyuqisfoodjourneys.blogspot.co.id/2015/10/sushi-yoshitake-tokyo.html For pictures: https://picasaweb.google.com/118237905546308956881/SushiYoshitakeTokyoJapan

A couple of years ago, I was visiting Tokyo without having a single meal at Tempura restaurant. I intended to ‘correct’ it this time and Kondo was the natural choice – one of the most notable places and relatively easy to find and reserve. Kondo was a very popular place without a doubt. When we’re visiting during weekday lunch, it was full in both 1st and 2nd seating (at least true for the main counter). These days, international clients were common in any Tokyo’s fine restaurants. In earlier seating, I noticed 6-7 people from US and Hong Kong while during our slot, there was a family coming from South Korea. At least, we don’t feel as “minority”. Similar to sushi-ya, at tempura-ya, all guests are seated at the counter while (only) the master himself, Fumio Kondo-san, is allowed to cook/fry each item. My spouse and I ordered the tsubaki menu, but we picked different kakiage dish. The sweet and crispy prawn head was a good choice to start. In total we ate about 10 successive pieces and my favorite pieces are -lotus root: crunchy texture and inherently sweet -shiitake: woody, a bit chewy yet tasty -anago: moist and flavorful inside in contrast to the crispy batter outside I was not too fond of Kondo’s onion (the inside part was not cooked enough) on the contrary. IMHO, the tempura is best to be consumed with a bit of salt and/or sudachi. That being said, they also provide the regular tentsuyu (dipping sauce) as well as grated daikon & ginger The rests of the pieces were good but nothing memorable. I’m referring to the prawn’s body (served twice at the beginning), asparagus, eggplant, kisu, megochi and some kind of Okinawan flower that I forgot the name. Additionally, we ordered uni tempura wrapped in shiso leaf. It still had the distinctive sea urchin’s smell and flavor but nowhere near the level when served at sushi restaurant. The unfortunate part was that the elusive sweet potato was not in season when we visited Kondo. After this, we had the rice dish that somehow I really liked. Mine was Ten don with crispy seafood (mostly sweet small prawns) tempura and tasty sauce. My wife’s Ten cha was equally delicious. The tea soup was warm and full of umami flavor – I often avoided tencha (generally I’m not a fan of any rice/porridge with ‘soup’) but this one was awesome. On the sides, we also had pickles and miso soup with clam. Lastly, the dessert was peach – watery and sweet, possibly the best one I’ve ever had. I think Kondo’s fruit was underrated. I also read that Kondo serves amazing orange and mango too when in season. My meal at Kondo ranked as the best tempura experience I’ve ever had, albeit it’s only marginally better than the tempura I had at Kyoboshi Kyoto and Yotaro Honten Osaka. Essentially, when one eats tempura in Japan, it’s a sure thing that he/she will still be able to savor and distinguish the vegetables and seafood ingredients since the batter was usually delicate and never overwhelmed. Given his vast experience, (sometimes) Kondo-san seemed to be ‘bored’ doing the routines. He was rather quiet and only smiles when he had some eye contact with clients; he did not usually began a conversation. The décor and service are casual. The staffs were helpful and doing the basic right (re-fill the ocha, changing the paper and so on) The food here certainly merits Michelin’s 2* rating (I gave 91/100 in my note). That being said, I saw a very slim chance it will ever be elevated to a 3-star level. Well, given its current reputation and high volume, Tempura Kondo would care less about getting any awards since the customers seem to be happy and keep coming. It was so busy daily that (if the rumor were correct) even Japanese PM Abe failed to secure seats here to entertain Obama. Pictures: https://www.flickr.com/photos/7124357@N03/albums/72157659937297066

At the end of September this year, my wife and I visited Japan again; staying there for 10 days or so. Both of us love many aspects about the country: its hospitality, safety, comfort and of course the food. I will kick off the trip report with our dinner at Yukimura. Similar to what I did a couple years ago, it will be quite slow and may take 1-2 months for the whole reviews – so bear with me and be patient Azabu is quite an elegant area with plenty of foreign embassies in south of Roppongi. I heard many politicians are the regulars at Yukimura. The restaurant was not easy to find. However, thanks to technology (in particular google map), Azabu Yukimura apparently is popular enough that the google map had no issue to accurately point the exact location – so we thankfully didn’t waste a lot of times to get to the restaurant. During reservation process, I was told that the main dining room was full. Thus, we would be seated at the annex (at 5F of the same building if I recalled correctly) – it’s a small counter that could accommodate 6 diners and all the seats were taken too. The shingetsu was handled most of the time by a sous chef (who previously worked with Yukimura-san at Muromachi Wakuden) and 2 other junior staffs. Chef Yukimura visited our dining room, introduced himself and spent about 20 minutes preparing the soup and his signature dish, Hamo yaki with Matsutake. The counter is at the same level as the preparation area and we caught a short moment when the master showed his expertise in using the (Aritsugu) knife. Although Yukimura-san did not directly supervise our food, we found that the kitchen usually delivered dishes that were consistently delicious and well executed. Our (kappo) kaiseki meal contained about 10 dishes and here what we had: -We started the meal with the famous, refreshing and flavorful appetizer: lightly steamed uni with ise ebi broth and flying fish roe -Followed by (chilled) soba with finely grated karasumi. We had no problem finishing this ‘simple’ and tasty dish -The hassun part was alright (and without any pretty presentation). I quite enjoyed the sweet corn tempura and cured saba (te)maki. The hamo kimo was very rich and the junsai was ok -Next dish was the soup prepared by Yukimura-san himself. The ingredients were appealing such as mushrooms, yuba, winter melon etc. However, the end result was not as delicious as I initially hoped for – a bit too bland for my taste -A "roll" of grill matsutake mushroom wrapped in pike eel was delicious and served in generous portion. Both the hamo and matsutake were of high quality and precisely executed. I loved its smoky smell and flavor; the right amount of sudachi provided slight acidity. One of my favorite dishes here -Cold kabocha somen acted as palate cleanser before the next dish -Ayu shioyaki. The beautiful and delicious sweetfish (hardly any sign of bitter taste) was well complemented by the sweet and tongue-tingling sansho ‘sauce’. Another excellent dish -The seasonal vegetable happened to be poached Kyoto eggplant with sweet white miso and balanced by green bell peppers -That night, the kitchen provided 2 rice dishes: gingko gohan and matsutake gohan. Both were very good and served with miso soup and tsukemono. The chefs made onigiri out of the left over rice wrapped in big leaves for our breakfast the next day -Dessert is hardly a strong forte in any Japanese restaurant. I’m usually happy with top quality Japanese fruit. This time we ate figs (also from Kyoto) with bitter caramel ice cream – not bad Since our Japanese was limited, there’s not much interesting communication going on. But, we appreciated the effort of the sous chef. He tried his best to explain each dish and guided us how to eat the food when necessary. For instance, the hamo+matsutake were huge. I thought we had to eat whole (the other diners tried to do the same at first); the sous chef explained that we should cut and ‘opened’ it with our chopstick; eat half and only after that added the green lime for different experience. The cuisine at Yukimura is a blend of traditional kaiseki with some contemporary twist. Yukimura-san was talented and passionate at what he’s doing. He meant business when working. He looked very serious and the staffs seemed to be ‘afraid’ of him when he visited the annex. It was a big contrast at the end of the meal when Chef Yukimura met us. He was very relaxed, full of smile and tried to communicate with us using our (broken) English and Japanese. Overall, it was a very pleasant meal. I would give it 95 pts (2 ¾*) for the food, about the same level as my meal at Ishikawa. We just reached Tokyo at noon that day and were quite lucky that the restaurant didn’t mind our reservation. I was told that some places would refuse foreigners’ booking when they just arrive at the ciry in the same day of the lunch/dinner despite the CC guarantee. For the pictures, please open this link: https://picasaweb.google.com/118237905546308956881/AzabuYukimuraTokyoJapan

After having a very good meal at Ki-sho last year, I decided to return here a couple of months ago. It was a Tuesday evening and the restaurant happened to be very quiet. After a Japanese gentleman came and escorted me to my seat, he informed me that I was the only customer as far as the dinner reservation was concerned. I was surprised but a bit happy too, with the possibility of having a private dining with the affable and capable chef Kazuhiro Hamamoto. Hamamoto, dressed in white (like in most kappo kaiseki places in Japan) this time, greeted me. Then he offered to do an omakase in which most dishes would be different than my earlier meal and I immediately complied with his suggestion. Of course, I could always request to repeat the same dishes like last time if I wished. Similar to last time, I had 8 “appetizers” and some of the highlights were: -I loved my first 2 courses. I began with soft and sweet komochi yari ika (with its egg) accompanied by fresh and delicious white bamboo shoot and wakame. Following this, I had tasty and top qualities of tairagi, akagai, ikura and asparagus served on the pen shell. -The clean and light noresore was a pleasant delicacy (having it for the first time) served simply with yuzu and ginger -Uni with caviar and jelly was (again) excellent. This time, the dense and rich sea urchin was 100% bafun uni from Hokkaido. I certainly would love to have it every time I eat here -The heavenly Toriyama wagyu beef was prepared in ‘roll’ form this time instead of the ‘cube’ cut, highlighting its marbled meat. As expected, it was moist and very flavorful. I had a lot more sushi courses this time (18 pieces or so) since I chose not to have the uni rice (kinda regretted it but I was full at the end of my meal). I thought Chef Kazuhiro’s sushi making skill was underrated. For me, he made one of the best sushi in Singapore – probably my favorite at this moment. Some morsels that I liked very much were: -Ika: crunchy, silky and rather sweet -Sayori: elegant, clean and delicious -Nodoguro: interesting and fatty -Aji: fresh and flavorful; often underrated -Awabi: ‘crispy’ with subtle taste. I enjoyed its ‘chewy’ texture -Engawa: succulent with concentrated texture; one of my favorite pieces of the night -Tsubugai: inherently sweet with crunchy texture Clams served at Kisho possibly the best one in Singapore but not many people would enjoy these morsels. Outside the items above, the usual suspects sushi such as kama toro and otoro (both in aburi), bafun and murasaki uni, as well as anago were wonderful as well The Spring dessert was good. I had sweet and refreshing white strawberries served with sake jelly. Kazuhiro Hamamoto-san also kindly gave me 2 glasses of in-house sake. Meikyoshisui junmai ginjo and junmai daiginjo. Both were awesome but generally, I prefer the fragrant and ‘stronger’ junmai daiginjo. The service at Ki-sho was consistently good. The tea/water was always refilled and often replaced with new ones when the ocha was not hot anymore. Staffs were courteous and friendly; they would escort you on the way out as well or even wait until you get on your vehicle (taxi in my case). The best part was the personal and direct interaction diner had with the knowledgeable and kind head chef Kazu. With a good command of English, he was ready to explain and answer any questions regarding the dishes or Japanese food in general or talk about something else. Essentially, guest’s overall experience mattered for him. And I certainly had a great meal here; I left full and felt very satisfied with plenty of delicious dishes I consumed. It has become my favorite restaurants in Singapore. Ki-sho actually has “prevented” me from coming to Waku Ghin (the other restaurant I used to go nearly twice a year in the past) since mid-2013 – well, my budget was limited so I could not visit both. Based on 2 visits, I scored the overall dining experience at Ki-sho to be 95/100 (about 2 ¾* by Michelin standard). To read more details about the ambiance or other details, you’re welcome to read my longer writing below or just find my 1st meal review. More detailed reviews: http://zhangyuqisfoodjourneys.blogspot.com/2015/06/ki-sho-singapore.html Here are the pictures from this meal:https://picasaweb.google.com/118237905546308956881/KishoSingapore2ndVisit

I could not find any thread specific to this restaurant – might as well start one here Slowly but surely, Macau tries to emulate what Las Vegas has done. It has evolved from the epicenter of gambling to have diversified itself in many other ‘fields’ such as (high-end) shopping, MICE, dining and family activities. Like it or not, the Lisboa group has the most outstanding restaurants serving top quality food in Macau (Note that - I never like Lisboa hotel, both the old and new; somehow the overall design is quite tasteless except for some individual outlets). Last month, I had the opportunity to dine at the Eight, Michelin’s latest 3-star that has been under the radar until recently. As of now, the “8” is the 2nd Cantonese restaurant holding the famous red book highest accolade. Since I was staying in the Taipa area and the fact that I was alone, I decided not to go for the dim sum. The Eight is relatively new, opened in 2007 and located in the second floor of the Grand Lisboa hotel. The dining room is big and opulent; can easily fit in at least 150 people in addition to several private rooms. Since it has no view and window, it goes all out to make the dining room beautiful. The décor was indeed quite impressive, dominated by black color with bright lighting and red/orange ceiling. The remarkable center piece, upon entering the restaurant’s corridor, was hundreds of crystals in sphere form suspended by delicate & thin threads. Behind it was a large wall adorned by carefully designed goldfishes. Lastly, as the restaurant’s name suggest – there are number “8” (the most auspicious & favorable number among the Chinese) in different forms everywhere; my favorite one is the ‘chandelier’ made of jade-ringlets. It may not be as lavish as Robuchon au Dome’s interior, but I find the “8” dining room was more harmonious and pleasant. Eating Chinese food alone is often not that easy especially if one wants to try as many dishes as possible but the degustation menu was not available. It was ... but for a minimum order for 2 people. I took a look at it; it was lots of food but a few things I was not fond of so I did not “push” for it either. Instead I went for a la carte and fortunately there were several dishes that can be ordered either per piece or per person. Here what I had: -I began with French foie gras a la ‘char siu’ served with preserved Chinese sausage. A modern interpretation by using duck liver that happened to be very rich combined with sweet sausage. Too strong for my taste; hot tea with bitter/strong flavor helped -It’s followed by deep-fried chicken wing filled with shark’s fin, pork and crab meat – served hot. Each element cooked separately and it was well-executed. The wing’s skin was still nicely intact and the dish was moist and tasty with a hint of lime while the shark’s fin provided interesting texture. Oh it was not greasy at all; good job -The best dish of the evening was the meaty and succulent crab claw’s ‘meat’. It was perfectly executed with superb flavor. The dish was served with silky egg white with some flavor of Chinese wine and subtle ginger aroma. I could not finish the egg white and but should have no problem for another serving of claw by the way, the waitress was kind enough to allow me to order only one crab claw dish -I often see baked sea whelk in Portuguese sauce at the menu in HK restaurant; it looked appealing with local flair, however never actually tried one. So I did eventually here – the presentation was appealing. Inside, there were a few other things such as pork, onion, parmesan cheese etc. Because there were many other produce and heavy sauce, I could hardly taste the sea whelk itself. The gratin crust was pleasant, but I was not a fan of the stuffing below – too rich and can hardly differentiate/taste the ingredients -In addition to the crab claw, I also loved my “main” course. Seriously, I ordered suckling pig filled with fried rice and preserved meat – half portion and I got the ‘head’ part while the table near me got the ‘tail ’ part sharing among 3 ladies. I love suckling pig’s crispy skin especially the baby/younger one. The skin was crunchy (and not hard) along with delicious thin layer of fat below. The rice was quite flavorful too (using glutinous rice might be better). It was almost as wonderful as the one I shared with my wife at Kimberley hotel’s restaurant. The good part, here was smaller too and I managed to finish 80-90% of the skin, including from the head and half the rice. My maître d’ who thought it would be too big for one person looked perplexed for a moment. -Finally, for the dessert I picked what I initially thought was the copy of typical Thai sweet – coconut glutinous rice with mango. Some dishes here were cooked up to Chef Au’s creative interpretation. It was more ‘complicated’ than just ‘rice’ and mango with coconut milk. The kitchen also put mousse, white chocolate and lots of ‘mango sauce’. It was rich and flavorful. The sauce was a bit too much; I only consumed ¾ of it. I slightly prefer Thai’s “khao neeo mamuang” since it’s ‘cleaner’ on my palate. Throughout the meal, I drank Taiwan’s tea (Dong ding wu long) which was freshly boiled in front of me prior serving at the beginning. Generally, the taste was soft and ‘long’. Generally, the food at the “8” was solid and delicious; arguably the best in Macau and can compete with the best one available in Hong Kong. I would rate it 92 pts (about 2 ¼ *). Furthermore, it was reasonably priced. It seemed fine dining places in the Lisboa hotels were subsidized quite substantially and not allowed to go ‘bankrupt’. What’s better than the food was actually the service. The dishes flowed smoothly with perfect timing. Usually when dining alone, there was a period I spent some times on my mobile while waiting for the food, but not here and neither did I feel rush. The service was excellent; the ‘F&B manager’ was walking around and talking to some tables including mine. However, the main star was the waitress attending my table. She was friendly, attentive, enthusiastic and efficient. Moreover, she spoke Mandarin, Cantonese and English with ease – much better than any waiters I met at Robuchon au Dome. She also consistently asked my opinion about each dish and often gave additional information about the food (how they’re prepared and added info on ingredients used that’re not mentioned in the menu). Given the enjoyable dining experience, the next time I am in the area (and not alone), the Eight was likely to be the only restaurant I would like to visit (again) You can see the pictures: https://www.flickr.com/photos/7124357@N03/sets/72157652837882848/with/17931650536/

(LKH) Lung King Heen (or “view of the dragon”) is arguably the most well-known Chinese restaurant in the world. Its popularity shot to the roof when more than 5 years ago it became the first Cantonese restaurant to ever receive Michelin 3-star award. The amazing part is that LKH has managed to keep the accolade without any issue. I’ve actually been here twice, mainly for dim sum during lunch: with my family (1st visit) and with my wife (2nd visit during our honeymoon). However, last month I came alone for dinner to savor the Chef’s tasting menu – this way, I can have a more ‘complete’ picture about the restaurant’s quality. My experiences here have been satisfying though I never thought it’s a convincing 3-star place like some other restaurants in Europe and Japan. It probably makes sense since LKH, similar to many other high-end Chinese restaurants in Hong Kong and/or Asia, is usually capable of serving more than 100 dishes. It’s simply impossible to produce that large number of items flawlessly and consistently at the highest level (moreover, it opens 7 days a week) despite the fact that Chef Chan Yan Tak, the LKH’s executive chef, commands about 25 chefs in his kitchen. Let’s talk about the food. My meal began with tofu-like stuff with carrot and baby corn. Then, the staff brought in 3 kinds of ‘sauces’: chili oil with shrimp paste, XO sauce containing tofu & mushroom as well as chili oil with ‘bird’s eye chili’. Some dishes that I like were: -LKH appetizer combination, very popular here. Roast goose with plum sauce (nice skin with not so-tender meat – not as good as yung kee’s), Crispy suckling pig (crunchy skin with some fat underneath; went along well with its meat in sweet hoisin sauce & thin mantou – solid though I prefer the skin from baby pig), and Barbecued pork with honey (fatty, very tender and not too flavorful; probably the best among these 3 items) - My favorite dish of the night was braised abalone (small portion) and garoupa fillet in supreme sauce. Both 'items' were outstanding and perfectly executed. The abalone was tender and clean; the garoupa was mild and delicate; the oyster sauce was just right and not cloying. A beautiful combination LKH has a huge and fresh & top quality prawn with its nice natural flavor but inherently not so sweet. It was simmered with butter and garlic – quite pleasant. My main course was Wok-fried wagyu beef cubes (safe option); they were quite tender and flavorful with the right size and portion. The morel on the side was minimal and alright while the capsicums were useful for 'balancing' if one thinks the beef was too rich. The rests were just alright (not disappointing, yet not memorable either). I was referring to hot & sour soup with lobster wonton and fried rice (the grain is nicely separated but the flavor was light) with crab meat and conpoy. The least appealing part was the dessert: crème brulee with ginger, very sweet and a bit inferior to the one I had in western fine dining place. The kitchen should’ve prepared Chinese-style sweet instead. Located in the 4th floor of posh Four Seasons, it goes without saying that the interior would be (somewhat) luxurious but thankfully not overwhelming. The elegant dining room has high ceiling and feels open; the tables are well-spaced and the harbor view is beautiful. However, it’s not my favorite. I think Caprice, located at 6th floor, and Pierre (at the Mandarin Oriental) has a better “angle” for the view – sorry, a bit picky here. The service was very good – professional but hardly personal. Staffs were polite, thoughtful and knowledgeable. As a lone diner, they brought me some magazines to read. Fork and knife were provided but I was more comfortable eating with chop stick whenever possible. My cup of tea was mostly full all the time. I drank Yunnan preserved Puer tea (vintage '99) and it was excellent (having intense flavor and aroma) In general, I was pleased with my dinner. It was not cheap. It’s Hong Kong after all and I ate during the period when USD (and hence HKD was really strong). My meal truly highlighted Chef Chan’s principle to deliver tasty flavors by using high quality, fresh & local ingredients. The technique was mostly classical Cantonese, but often with some modern twist – the Chef always wanted to learn and improve. I learned this from the maître d’ since Chan Yan Tak himself was on 1+ week holiday when I dined there. I would give 93/100 for my meal (about 2 ½* by Michelin standard). It was marginally better than Yan Toh Heen, Tin Lung Heen and Sun Tung Lok. Here are the pictures: https://picasaweb.google.com/118237905546308956881/LungKingHeenHongKongChina#

Alain Ducasse … again, but this time is my review of his flagship restaurant in the newly renovated Plaza Athenee. I was supposed to complete it last month, but works and families stuffs prevented me from doing so. Anyway, it was not my initial visit here, but with the big changes that the hotel and this restaurant went through – it looked as if I came to a “new” restaurant, which was very unusual for me to burn money in the new fine dining restaurant, too risky. However, I knew and contacted Denis Courtiade (restaurant director) prior to my visit; he had managed to persuade/convince me that I should give it a try. He took good care of me in my previous 2 meals at Alain Ducasse au Plaza Athenee (ADPA) under Christophe Moret, so I believed that I would be ‘safe’ under his guidance. Moreover, my wife and I would be staying in-house for a couple of days. We arrived at the restaurant nearly 9 PM and the restaurant was half empty (it was full house 30 minutes later). We were seated in the middle at the new dining room, but I think it had equally sophisticated/luxurious ambiance (Ducasse’s favorite designer, Patrick Jouin with the help of Sanjit Manku, gave the already beautiful dining room a different look). As most people should be familiar by now, Alain Ducasse decided to remove meat and poultry from the menu, replaced by a new concept called “Naturalness” aka healthier and more sustainable use of produce. The restaurant only provided dishes created from 3 elements (trilogy): fish & shellfish (from ports of Quiberon & Lorient), vegetables & fruits (from Trianon Versailles garden), and cereal or grains (it can be from anywhere). I just saw the menu from a short period of time when Denis offered me to choose dishes for us containing & considering “masculine & feminine elements” and of course, I quickly agreed. The meals began with a healthy juice by mixing carrot, apple & celery (instead of champagne) and several amuse-bouche. For instance, a bowl of sorrel, salsify and chestnut; grilled Sardines in olive oil (very good) as well as sea bream tartar with chick pea mousse. Then the garden and marine tasting menu officially started. Mine -Similar to my previous visits or meals at Robuchon gastronomy restaurants, the kitchen brought a twist of dish with caviar and traditional garnishes. The metal bowl has cold jelly, lentil and generous portion of caviar (a great texture contrast of smooth caviar & jelly vs more coarse lentils). As a variation, there were buckwheat pancake and pressed caviar cream. It was delicious and I love the combination as well as delicate textures. -Braised blue lobster with ceps. The lobster was superb and supple; it went along nicely with meaty and ‘nutty’ ceps and they’re tied together nicely with lobster jus. A great dish that looked luxurious and rustic at the same time -After such excellent beginnings, it was not easy to keep up. For the main course, I had red mullet cooked with its scale – it was pleasant by itself. However, I found the sauce (the fish’s stock and its valuable liver) was too intense. I enjoyed the vegetables tian as side dish since they helped to reduce the mullet’s liver rich flavor My spouse -She began with ADPA’s classic: langoustine with caviar and consommé. The portion was bigger with more caviar on top, but the presentation was new. The fresh langoustine was of top quality; it was well enhanced by the caviar’s briny & salty taste as well as the broth’s (infused with lemongrass and ginger) deep flavor -The most popular dish of the night (we saw more than 10 orders of this): perfectly cooked and sweet scallop paired with, as expected in autumn, aromatic white truffle and the whole brioche of comte and cauliflower. The brioche was a smart idea and tasted really good. The ‘brown’ sauce was also delicious – magnificent! -Her main course suffered similar issue with mine. The meaty and white sea bass was of great quality, but the sauce had too strong flavor of black olive stock. The young leeks were pretty good. She liked eating the fish by itself without any sauce For the transition between appetizers/main courses and cheese/desserts, ADPA provided rice dish. We liked it a lot; it was wild black rice cooked al dented, baked together with clams, squids and octopus. The shellfish had pleasant texture and light flavors – a nice way to slowly wind down. Desserts Since both of us opted to have no cheese, the kitchen (probably as per Mr. Courtiade’s recommendation) sent us 4 different desserts from the menu. -roasted pear’s variety; it’s delectable. The pear was served with crunchy chestnuts, Corsica myrtle liqueur and ice cream -warm Normandy milk skin was in contrast to the cold ice cream; both served with sweet wild strawberries. It was a delicious and refreshing dessert. Both of us enjoyed the smooth texture and light flavors of the milk skin -the chocolate and coffee (manufactured) from the Paris factory; this dessert was available in all of Alain Ducasse fine dining restaurants but each (head) pastry chef was free to create and interpret the dish on his own. Here, we had thick and strong chocolate flavors; complemented by good coffee with pleasant aroma. A small slice of chocolate tart was exquisite. Of course, there was a good quality of home-made ice cream as well -lemon from Nice prepared in different forms and textures. It was full of flavor ‘explosion’ especially bitter and sour; served with kombu seaweeds and tarragon -lastly, the timeless rum baba showed up and it was outstanding as well. The sponge cake was moist with smooth and “light whipped cream” and top quality rhum. It’s still my favorite among Ducasse vast dessert ‘portfolio’ For the petit fours, we only had tasty praline chocolate bar accompanied by sweet muscat grapes. The tea infusion as digestive was available and it was still excellent. That’s the end of our food journey that last more than 3 hours; the pace of each course was just right. Although there’s not meat, the technique and execution used were still very much French. The standard was very high and in general, we had excellent food though in my opinion, it was slightly inferior to my first meal here. I respected Ducasse’s bravery: for the new concept as well as appointing a new and relatively young, around/in his mid-30’s, head chef (Romain Meder) to do so. Normally, a top chef would ask his very experienced brigade for opening a gastronomy place bearing his name, like in the case of Joel Robuchon brought it Domonori Danzaki who has been successful in leading Robuchon restaurant in Singapore. I would not worry about the Michelin star ‘lost’, within 2 years ADPA should be a 3-star restaurant again. While the food was wonderful, the service was even better than the food. Under the leadership of Denis Courtiade, my finest maître d’ maison in the world, we experienced the pinnacle of what 'perfect' service was supposed to be. Denis always paid full attention while being discreet at the same time; he could be humorous when necessary but knew exactly when not being obtrusive. I felt to be treated not just like royalty, but as an 'old' friend coming to his place. Staffs were respectable to guests, yet they were not intimidated and made diners felt very comfortable. Our assigned "femme maitre d" named Cecile also did a wonderful job. She was professional and friendly. My wife loved talking to her about many things and you could see the small details such as an eye contact and body language that she really engaged and enjoyed the conversation as well as doing her job. As a matter of fact, the special part of the whole dining room brigade was the smooth flow/movement, gestures and postures as well as the flair. Their performance was sensational. They're well supported with elegant uniforms designed by George Feghaly - mostly in white and grey that beautifully matched the overall ambiance. Monsieur Courtiade shared that it was his aim to give guests an unforgettable experience and for us, Denis absolutely achieved that goal with flying colors. On top of that, I comfortably declared that it was the finest and most fun service I've ever received in any restaurants. If there’s such thing as ‘perfect’ service, we experienced it during this meal It was an exceptional dining experience. I would love to return here in different season and try the food as it becomes more mature and the kitchen team is more settled down. I had no issue give 97.5 pts for this meal (easily a 3-star standard in my book) More detailed reviews (about the dining room, new wine list and ‘la trilogie’ ingredients): http://zhangyuqisfoodjourneys.blogspot.sg/2015/04/alain-ducasse-au-plaza-athenee-3rd-visit.html You can see the pictures: https://picasaweb.google.com/118237905546308956881/AlainDucasseAuPlazaAtheneeParisFrance3rdVisit#