Bu Pun Su

This will be my last installment from my Japanese trip in the Fall ’13 – mainly will be about French food and pastry l'Effervescence I tried hard to go all the way Japanese for all my meals, but I “failed”. My appetite for French food got the better of me, so I ate a lunch here (my choice: the head chef got to be Japanese). Except at Kitcho Arashiyama, (in Japan) most of the times we ate at a counter so it’s been a while we had a meal at such a spacious dining room with elegant atmosphere. My wife E and I ordered different “short” set lunch (6 courses including amuse and mignardises). I had ‘un detour’ and E had ‘a la montagne’. The only items that we could say very tasty were the main courses. I enjoyed my “apple pie idea”, the autumn version containing duck leg confit, foie gras, langoustine, chanterelle, leek etc. The result was a rich and balanced flavor, the pie was also well-made. I found the medley of salad with 60 different vegetables on the side was a bit too much – half of them would be just nice. Even better than mine was E’s succulent and ‘umai’ guinea fowl char grill roast served with its jus and burdock puree. The restaurant seemed to be proud of with its signature dish – whole cooked turnip. It was bitter, a bit crunchy and lacked any fragrance/appetizing smell. I think it’s over-done; they should’ve just cooked the turnip until it turned golden. It’s nowhere near as good as the turnip I had at L’Arpege such as in the turnip tart dish or as side dishes usually with lobster when Passard made the turnip translucent (I’m not sure if this would be a fair comparison) The desserts were beautiful and creatively presented. Mine was butter confit pear with roquefort cheese cake while my wife’s was apple, calpico mousse and yoghurt sorbet. But then, taste-wise they’re just alright – not particularly delicious. Generally that’s what I found about the food here. The main ingredient often did not shine while the side items hardly made any impact – even though every dish often looked pretty. Some people raved about the head chef’s talent, but I didn’t find it anything too special – at least from this meal. My feeling was that l'Effervescence could take up to 5 years or more to reach its 2nd michelin star. Chef Shinobu Namae and his team would have plenty of homework to improve. The good thing was that the restaurant was still quite young (3+ years old if not mistaken) and this means it has plenty of time & room to grow. Outside the food, many things went well. The service delivered by the helpful maitre d’ was excellent; the setting was very comfortable with plenty of natural light during lunch; and it’s very hard to beat the price – our set lunch cost slightly less than Usd 50 per person. It cost 2x more for dinner with plenty more courses. With such price, I don’t quite get it how the restaurant could manage to afford about 7 staffs in the kitchen and more than 11 people for the front team (the capacity was about 30 people) – at least it’s unusual in Japan unless if you’re Robuchon or L’Osier. The restaurant’s area was probably more than 3 times of Ishikawa. Yet, it could keep going and looked ‘profitable’. Well, it’s nearly full during our lunch Pierre Herme Generally, I enjoy Japanese sweets in this trip however they still could not ‘beat’ my passion for French pastry. Japan was special because many western famous pastry, bakery or chocolate shops all over the world – they decide to open their branches here. Some that I like was Pierre Herme and Sadaharu Aoki, both are available at Shinjuku Isetan basement. Let’s begin with the former one. I ordered Ispahan (macaron), millefeuille and a few macarons. Ispahan was one of Pierre Herme’s most popular pastry – these days there were plenty derivatives from it (in Paris) such as cake ispahan, croissant ispahan, cheesecake ispahan and so on. Between the two macaron shells in ispahan (think of it as ‘giant’ macaron), there were a mixture of rose buttercream, fresh raspberries and lychee. It’s awesome, about as good as the one I ate in Paris several years ago. All the ‘fillings’ flavors worked well together: the rose petal cream was aromatic and more dominant; the lychee within the rose cream was mild and non-obtrusive; raspberries was refreshing and pleasant. And of course, the shells’ texture was just perfect. Another delicious big macaron that I could think of was Passard’s “Macaron au topinambour” with right chewiness & innovative flavor plus an excellent dark chocolate sauce on the side. I also had the “old” edition of millefeuille as recommended by the staff. It’s essentially a creme caramel ‘napoleon’ and didn’t disappoint at all. It’s neither too heavy nor too sweet; the cream was balanced with flaky puff. It’s comparable to my millefeuille at Robuchon au dome, but not yet at the level of l’Arpege’s. Last but not least, the most famous of all: macarons. I sampled, as far as I could remember - citron, chocolate, strawberry and pistachio. They’re scrumptious with sweet and creamy filling. Herme’s shells were firmer than Laduree’s. Somehow, for me, the best macarons I’ve ever head was generally not from the pastry shop, but from the fine dining’s petit fours especially at l’Arpege (creative vegetable flavors), Ducasse flagship restaurants (coffee and pistachio) and Robuchon ebisu (yuzu) Sadaharu Aoki It’s not really new for me as I’ve been to Aoki’s shop in Paris before. I bought 2 kinds of pastry here (Tokyo): bamboo and eclairs (matcha and salted caramel flavor). The eclair was fine with balanced flavors for me, for some others might be slightly too sweet. Then came my favorite item: the Bamboo. It consisted of thin biscuit, matcha & ‘snow’ powder, a bit of alcohol as well as green tea-infused cream. It’s a sublime and aesthetic cake; I really loved the interplay of bitter and sweet flavors from the buttercream. Overall, it had subtle sweetness without any cloying after taste – delicious. The chocolate ganache was too weak however. Additionally, as expected, I bought a few macarons (not really airy though, more on the heavy side like in France). I enjoyed the tea and Japanese flavored macarons at Aoki such as macha, hojicha, earl grey, black sesame, yuzu and salt caramel. Truly a beautiful marriage of Japanese flavors with French technique

My love for Japanese kaiseki (the highest form of culinary art in Japan) is very close to my passion for French cuisine (more to the nouvelle than the old haute). Talking about the ‘ultimate’ kaiseki restaurants, it’s almost certain that people are bound to mention the name Kitcho. A legendary Chef (and businessman) Teichi Yuki found Koraibashi Kitcho in 1930; this place, until now, is like a private club for the rich and famous. There are plenty of Kitcho restaurants in Japan at this moment that is open to the public. Among these places, the most famous one is no doubt: Kitcho Arashiyama located in the west side of Kyoto. Kunio Tokuoka, the grandson of Kitcho’s founder, became the executive chef-owner of his flagship restaurant in 1995. Under his leadership, Kyoto Kitcho has positioned itself as arguably the most luxurious and best kaiseki ryotei in the world. This place was sort of my dream restaurant when coming to Japan last November and it’s rightly so. The restaurant provided an unforgettable experience and was almost perfect in every sense. Actually it’s not the first time I tried Tokuoka-san’s cooking – a couple of years earlier, I had a chance to have dinner at his Singapore branch before closing for good. It was a decent meal, easily the island’s best kaiseki place but they charged an exorbitant price that’s not directly proportional to what the diners would get. I was still convinced that dining at Kitcho Arashiyama would be totally a different experience than eating at Tokuoka’s modern restaurant in Singapore. I had a meal at Genyana Hamadaya 6 years ago, so I knew exactly how awesome it could be to savor a meal at Japan refined ryotei. We went for lunch at Kitcho. I thought it would be nice after eating a great meal and burn some calories in the afternoon by exploring the Arashiyama area, in particular in search of the “perfect” spot to enjoy the falling (momiji) leaves. The grandeur of Kyoto Kitcho can be seen even from its big entrance gate. It’s very uncommon to have a restaurant this size merely to accommodate guests in their ‘only’ 6-7 private rooms. But, exclusivity was something you would get when dining here. Upon entering the restaurant, a few friendly kimono-clad ladies greeted and then escorted us to our private tatami room. We’re pleased to be seated at a huge private room in which 7-8 guests can easily fit in here. About half of our room’s total perimeter was surrounded by magnificent Japanese garden. Overall, it’s really a pleasant and fabulous “dining room” – I could not think of a better one in Japan. Regardless of the Kitcho Arashiyama luxurious surroundings, the main star was still the food. We began our meal with an excellent quality of karasumi with gold leaf as well as refreshing & crunchy combination of veggie, fruit and steamed chicken to whet our appetite. This was followed by an excellent soup of smooth silky grilled tofu with sweet & tender snow crab on top of it; the dashi was umami. Like Ishikawa, Kyoto Kitcho served 2 sequences of sashimi dishes. The 1st one was a white fish (the first time I ate this Kue); the Kelp’s (served with iwatake and wasabi) quality was stunning with sophisticated flavor. The 2nd round of serving was succulent seared Ise ebi and tender Ika. Then come one of the main highlight for our lunch: lightly cooked snow crab legs with their shells still intact. The zuwai-gani (a good source of low fat protein) was succulent and tasty; we had the option to heat up the crab on cooking pot to make the crab sweeter. There was also kani miso that’s richer than the crab meat. To make it more interesting, you could dip the crab in the yuzu sauce. I ate lots of zuwai gani in this trip and didn’t seem to ever get enough of it The dish that I look forward the most in Kitcho Arashiyama was its Hassun, assorted delicacies from the mountain & sea showcasing the food’s seasonality. Tokuoka-san believes that hassun has to be artistic (and delicious). The dish was elaborately decorated and indeed beautiful, from both me and my spouse’s vantage point – just see the picture yourself from the link below. The kitchen prepared 7 different kinds of items and among them, the outstanding stuffs were: The Ikura was of stunning quality, Shirako with jelly and veggie was very good, the beef tongue was smooth and delicious, the other 4 were fine. I ate plenty of terrific grilled fish during my trip, but the one I had here (and at Matsukawa) was the most flavorful. The outstanding butterfish, served with chestnut and deep fried turnip, was fresh and carefully seasoned. After yakimono, come the mushimono – usually my least favorite part in kaiseki sequences. I had simmered taro that well absorbed the soup’s flavor; it’s accompanied by decent shiitake mushroom and kujyo leek. The Gohan at Kyoto Kitcho was extraordinary. We were served 2 kinds of rice: the “brown” rice was cooked with matsutake producing pine mushroom distinct aroma. Moreover, we had 2 pieces of tender and tasty local beef with the rice. After this, we also sampled a bowl of new harvested koshikari rice from Niigata - pure, fluffy and having top grain quality. The tsukemono was also carefully selected; we had turnip mixed with bonito flakes, Mibuna leaves mixed with sesame and Hinona turnip. This place ‘famous’ dessert was simple assorted fruits. I had to admit that the fruits were really amazing; I don’t usually appreciate this kind of dessert in which the chefs pretty much doing ‘nothing’. However, it changed now - they sourced each fruit so that each kind that I ate was probably the best kind I’ve ever had: the peeled grape was a big and flavorful, the musk melon was moist and sweet, the pear was crisp and sweet; the kaki was watery and tender. Lastly, the rice cake with adzuki bean wagashi to accompany the bitter matcha was alright. The omakase was exquisite throghout; the Chef and his team put a tremendous amount of effort for every single dish. Great job! The Kitcho’s front of the house was also doing fantastic job. The service was impeccable, pretty much faultless. Our room attendant was professional, courteous, friendly and knowledgeable. Before leaving the restaurant, we also met the ryotei’s Okami; she’s none other than Chef Tokuoka’s wife. Along with our waitress and the Okami’s son, she escorted us on the way out - a great display of Japanese omotenashi. Having a meal at Kitcho Arashiyama was a unique and memorable experience. I doubt it can be replicated at other places or even its own branches. It’s not cheap for sure, but you got the entire package: luxurious surrounding, immaculate hospitality, top quality produce, flavorful dishes etc. The food was generally very enjoyable, even for someone who’s probably still quite novel in the kaiseki world – many items would be very friendly to your palate. Tokuoka-san’s cooking was dynamic (it keeps evolving); he’s an open-minded gentleman who’s not afraid to try new techniques and sometimes even using non-Japanese ingredients. Overall, it’s an etheral meal and I gladly bestow this place almost 97 pts (definitely worth 3-star Michelin). Personally, I think that Matsukawa had slightly better food, but Kyoto Kitcho’s service and setting were at another level. This ryotei is (somehow) like the Japanese version of Ducasse Monaco/Paris establishments for the reasons already mentioned above. For more detailed reviews, please check: http://zhangyuqisfoodjourneys.blogspot.com/2014/01/kyoto-kitcho-kunio-tokuoka.html For dishes' pictures only, check: https://picasaweb.google.com/118237905546308956881/KitchoArashiyamaKyotoJapan#

Chihana is a relatively old restaurant (established in 1946) among kaiseki places with over-the-counter style kind of service. This 10-seat restaurant, in the Gion district, is hidden in a small and long alley between two modern shops, near the busy Shijo street. We didn’t get much difficulties to reach here because a lady-staff from Gion Kinana was kindly enough to guide us to reach here – yes, she literally walked with us all the way to Chihana from her ice cream shop (Japanese was indeed really nice and such gesture was one of the reasons we would love to return to this country again & again). The meal at Chihana consisted of 15 courses and it’s one of a few places where I felt really stuffed towards the end of the meal. My wife was already quite full after about 8 courses, and the attentive Chef Nagata gave her smaller portion than mine since then. The meal began well with prawn jelly served with kaki and renkon (lotus root) – bright, sweet with some texture contrast. The rests are as follow: The ones I like (not in order), - Seared maguro with vegetables was good; the dish seemed to be inspired by Chinese food - The clear soup had good stock (a right amount of katsuo + konbu) though I was not too inspired by the kani-shinjo, hiratake mushroom or spinach inside it - I enjoyed ika with creamy & sweet uni ‘sauce’ in the hassun; the rests of the items (such as sanma, “salad” with sesame dressing and gingko nut) were alright, but nothing memorable - My favorite dish was probably Amadai sashimi, served with kelp. The red tilefish was delicious, fresh and rich - Grilled tai with miso was also great. The fish was of good quality and well executed. The sweet kuwai (duck potato) had interesting texture and sweet The rests of the dishes were generally fine, but I found many of them had strong taste (a bit too intense). For instance, - Kamasu (Barracuda) sushi; it has more rice (strongly vinegared) than I get used to for sushi in Japan. It’s quite sweet also – perhaps Kyoto way of doing sushi? - “Shumai” inside has sawara, slice carrot, kombu and mushroom. This dish looked and tasted more like Chinese food (again); its flavor was simply too strong and cloying. I needed sake and ocha to get rid of the not-so-pleasant after taste. My wife could not finish it I found the “tempura” dish (stingray and maitake mushroom) was a bit soggy. Perhaps, I should not be too surprised since I experienced similar things (greasy lobster claw tempura) when dining at Robuchon Macau. Even a high end restaurant could slip at times To be fair, Katsuyoshi Nagata-san tried to balance out his rich dishes by serving sunomono (vinegared salad near the end of our meal. Even the rice dish was simple; the mochi gome rice was served with shiso leaves, chopped mint and tsukemono – producing predominantly sour taste. The dessert was simple and refreshing: a small glass of juice by mixing orange, apple and pear Before deciding to dine here, I read plenty of positive reviews about Chihana. But, after having this dinner, I had to admit that it’s the ‘weakest’ among high-end restaurants I visited in this trip. We ordered menu C (the middle one). Although the menu was more expensive at Chihana, (for me) the food quality and flavor was not up to the level of Ishikawa or even Koryu. The food presentation was rather ordinary, but many courses were served in pretty antique wares. In my notes, for food only it’s 92 pts (a low 2 ¼* by Michelin standard) The service, on the other hand, was really good – thoughtful, friendly and attentive. Chef Nagata and his staffs were enthusiastic and genuinely cared about their customers. After the meal, Nagata-san and the restaurant’s okami (none other than his own wife) escorted us out. They helped us hailed a cab on the street and made sure that the taxi driver knew how to get to our (not so well known) ryokan. The restaurant was busy, only 1 seat unoccupied at the counter; the private room was used too. We’re not the only foreigners – next to us, there were 2 teachers from Singapore (teachers are respectable and must be well-paid there) who visited Chihana for the 2nd time but somehow when I mentioned it to Chef Nagata, he was unable to recall their previous visits. Generally, it was not a bad experience at all actually, but we simply ate better somewhere else during this trip. It’s likely that the next time we re-visit Kyoto, unfortunately Chihana would not be on our list – there are just a lot of other great kaiseki restaurants in Kyoto that we want to try in the future. Click here if you want to see the pictures of my meal: http://www.flickr.com/photos/7124357@N03/sets/72157639013432976/

Osaka was not really in my radar for the Japan’s trip. The main reason, at the end, we went there was because it’s Japan’s famous (metropolitan) city and it’s near Kyoto (less than 20 min. by Shinkanzen). I was not too familiar with any upscale dining here except I’ve heard Hajime and Kahala. But then, I visited Japan mainly to eat “Nihon ryori”. Given its omakase price and Michelin 3-star award it received, I decided that Koryu could be the place I was looking for. The restaurant’s exterior was chic in black and red; the inside was indeed modern with some calligraphy hanging on the wall and foreign music heard in the background. The restaurant bar can sit up to 12 people and it’s nearly full during our dinner. We’re seated quite close to the grill area of the kitchen. Like in many other Japanese restaurants, there’s only omakase menu available. After a great beginning with the first course (creamy Shirako with aromatic Matsutake in refreshing Sudachi broth), I know that we’re in good hand and this restaurant would not disappoint. There were a few dishes I liked a lot: - Sashimi was beautifully presented on a lacquered box with the spirit of autumn decoration. My favorite was Aburi Otoro (soft and delicious); the raw version of Otoro was also very good. The squid and sea bream were high qualities, can easily be compared to the materials at top sushi restaurants. The ‘cooked items’, while looked interesting, my palate did not really fancy them especially the sauce (Mackerel served with seaweed sauce and Rosy seabass came with plum sauce) - Grilled Shiitake mushroom, might look simple, was prepared perfectly producing delicious and earthy dish with deep flavor. The miso sauce was intense - The best dish of the night was slowly (charcoal) grilled steak of Miyazaki beef. This wagyu was slightly charred outside, but moist and juicy inside. It’s very flavorful since the beef was “marinated” in walnut sauce before being served. Excellent! Once again, I was not too impressed with the rice dish here (and at many other kaiseki restaurants I ate in Japan). Koryu served porridge instead of steamed rice accompanied by pickles, snapper miso and smoked radish. It was not bad, but I expected/preferred something more elaborate and sophisticated. The service was genuine and attentive; staffs worked very hard to make us and other diners feel comfortable and answer any of the guests’ questions despite their limited English (there was another group of 5 from Thailand during the 2nd seating). They also diligently replaced our hot ocha. Overall, it’s a very pleasant meal. Chef Matsuo was talented and able to produce flavorful, interesting and balanced dishes; the cooking method was great using mainly high quality local ingredients. Another fantastic part was the price – I believe this place has the best value of money among elite kaiseki restaurants in the entire Japan. I’m not sure whether all of Osaka’s high end places charged reasonably like in Koryu. My experience here overall is worth about 94/100 (a strong 2 ½*; I don’t really mind Michelin giving this place 3-star actually though not as solid as Ishikawa, at least at the same level as my meal at Ryugin HK). You can click the link below for the pictures: https://picasaweb.google.com/118237905546308956881/KoryuOsakaJapan

In this “fourth installment”, I will exclude Tokyo’s places for the time being. One of the themes would be my tempura experience as well as reviews of my short Osaka visit Kyoboshi Kyoto We were ‘busy’ with sushi and kaiseki when we’re in Tokyo. We didn’t have a chance to eat tempura until we reached Kyoto. I picked Kyoboshi, Kyoto’s tempura restaurant ran by a small family: Chef Toshinori Sakakibara, his wife and his mother. This marked my first elite tempura meal in Japan (previously my best tempura was “only” at Shinjuku’s Tsunahachi). I’ve learned that there wouldn’t be any usual “tempura sauce” we ate outside Japan. We’re given salt (refined and not too salty), lemon and grated radish to accompany our meal. Overall, the food was delicious and we had a good time here. There were about 20 items served including the refreshing ice cream with coffee-flavored liquor. Some of my favorite pieces were: the crunchy lotus root, hamo, carrot and sweet potato, specifically using fine sugar and cognac as the ‘sauce’. Tempura meal always began with shrimp-cake. Then we also ate prawn (3x), whiting, squid, seaweed, ginkgo, sweet corn, and tencha etc. The tempura was lightly battered and not oily; the presentation was quite artistic. The dining room was simple. There were only 6 people eating during that night and we arrived last because it was not that easy to locate this place. Luckily, the chef’s wife was waiting outside on the street – just to make sure that we would not lost. The Chef seems to be very proud of his Michelin award; there was a picture of him in suit with Jean-Luc Naret, the guide director. From the name of the restaurant, I suspected that it would relate to Tokyo’s 7-chome Kyoboshi and apparently it’s true. Shigeya Sakakibara is Toshinori’s uncle. When we asked: why the Tokyo’s “kyoboshi” is very expensive? The Chef said he didn’t know. He also never visited his uncle restaurant. Probably, these two guys are not really in “good terms” with each other. Anyway, it’s a delightful meal even though I was not blown away by it. Some pictures: http://www.flickr.com/photos/7124357@N03/sets/72157638550851293/ Yotaro Honten Osaka 2 days after my dinner at Kyoboshi, we had another chance to eat a good tempura again during our short visit in Osaka. We went to Yotaro Honten, serving Kansai-style tempura, and were seated at the counter. This way we can see the chef Ohiro in action; there was a glass window shielded us from the tempura’s hot oil. We ordered the lunch set and Taimeshi, a signature rice dish of the restaurant. The only condiment available was salt having powdery texture. We ate about 12 different kinds of seafood and vegetables during lunch (sweet prawn 3x). Generally, the ingredients were quite common & humble such as onion, kisu, carrot, egg plant etc. but the chef could elevate them to higher level producing light and crunchy tempura. The Sea bream rice was served with pickles and clam soup. It’s a nice replacement for the ten-cha/kakiage rice. The Tai was not rich and quite pleasant, nothing flashy in it. Me and my wife managed to finish up all the fish and about ¾ of the rice. The tempura set lunch can be considered ‘cheap’ and very good – in fact, it has the best value of money of all the restaurants we visited in Tokyo/Kyoto/Osaka. Personally I would recommend the tempura more than the Sea bream rice. Probably in dinner, you can taste more unique and expensive ingredients plus some sashimi/appetizers. Despite using simpler produce, the quality and taste of the tempura were almost as good as our meal at Kyoboshi. However, I don’t see this restaurant will ever get 3-star Michelin. Some pictures: http://www.flickr.com/photos/7124357@N03/sets/72157638511431596/ Okonomiyaki Osaka is proud to be the ‘heaven’ for Japan’s comfort food and snacks. As we strolled around Dotonbori areas, we’re recommended to go to Mizuno for a good place serving okonomiyaki. It was in the afternoon, yet we still had to wait to be seated. My wife and I shared yamaimoyaki (made with fresh taro) served with pork and squid – it’s nice, soft without being too overwhelmed; the normal one with extra noddles and egg was alright; the grilled chicken salad was quite disappointing. So, the next time you come here, don’t go for any side order. Don’t expect for any good service, all the male staffs hardly smile – they just cooked and got the job done. 1 hour before, we sampled takoyaki along the street, much better than anything we’ve eaten outside Japan. I was too full to get the gyoza since a couple of hours later, we will have dinner at Koryu Koryu I’ll try to complete the review sometimes before Christmas

I like Sushi, but I love Kaiseki more. This is one of the main reasons why, given available time and budget, we only visited 2 elite sushi-yasan. In addition to Ishikawa, we ate at Matsukawa. When talking about Matsukawa (prior to our visit), 3 things came to my mind: 1st, introduction-only restaurant. Similar to Kyo Aji and Morikawa etc. newcomer needs to be invited by the restaurant’s regular patrons. Fortunately, Matsukawa did not apply this rule strictly or at least I got no problem when asking my hotel’s concierge to make reservation for us (perhaps, we could be lucky). 2nd, Michelin, go away please. Tadayoshi Matsukawa, the chef-owner, seems to be allergic to any publicity and media attention. For many restaurants, Michelin award can make or break their business. However, Matsukawa is confident with his cooking and happy with his current clientele base. 3rd, creating pure and simple washoku at its highest quality. Matsukawa-san, a former leading chef at Seisoka, is a master of preparing Japanese traditional cuisine. He selectively chooses the highest possible quality ingredients and apply minimal touch to these pristine produce to ultimately generate dishes with utmost refinement. There’s only one-menu available, but guests are welcome to notify their food preference and allergy (if any) in advance. Normally, Matsukawa will serve 10 courses before the desserts and tea. The main highlights of my meals were: - The Crabs: late Fall or early Winter is the main season for Japanese snow crab, and among them Taiza kani is arguably the most precious one. Matsukawa-san is the master of preparing crab dishes. My favorite was the owan mono. The soup, with clean and light dashi, contained a generous amount of delicious red snow crab. On top of it, there are a few slices of aromatic Matsutake mushroom and green yuzu to enhance the dish. Excellent! I can eat this soup every day. Apparently, this was one of Chef Matsukawa’s signature dishes and deservedly so. A strong candidate for the best dish in my Japan’s trip. The other two crab dishes were: lightly cook Taiza crab (the meat and the eggs) prepared on its shell. It was fresh and exquisite. Matsukawa brought it to another level by creating a little sour sauce (a mixture of komezu, shoyu an dashi) on the side. Another fabulous crab dish was a lump of tasty crab meat served with creamy and flavorful kani miso. I even tried to scoop up this greenish sauce left with my chopsticks. I like Japanese snow crab very much - as much as I love Brittany blue lobster. - The Sashimi: at first, I expected to eat Maguro or Tai, like what I often had in other restaurants. Our mukozuke happened to be more interesting: crunchy and fresh Filefish with its rich liver was very good; the red shell clam was deep in flavor and chewy but soft enough to bite through; blowfish ‘meat’ and its skins had great texture and refreshing when consumed with daikon and ponzu sauce; the ultimate sahismi for me was the beautiful spiny lobster – the meat was inhenrently sweet while the ‘Lobster’s’ brain was even more umami without any bitterness. Honestly, there was pretty much no bad dishes here; I liked nearly all of them. The yakimono dishes were also excellent. I enjoyed the grilled Tai, Awabi and Mana-Katsuo. The rice might look simple, but each side dish was of high quality even the pickles and miso soup. The star was, of course, Ikura – I love when the roes’ burst and dish out immense flavor. Also, make sure to get Matsukawa’s signature dessert called Azuki bean jelly; under the light, this yokan turned semi transparent like a piece of art. Tastewise, it’s ethereal and incredibly delicate with the right amount of sweetness (Initially, this sweet was not part of the meal. I requested the waiter and the cook about it and was politely declined. I kept pressing on and asked Matsukawa-san himself who immediately prepared us this awesome yokan). A typical dish of Matsukawa: simple, pure and umami. For me, a meal here was a life-changing experience. I ate plenty of dishes with unique ingredients. Besides those mentioned above, for the first time I ate: Bottarga (robust and salty), Iwatake mushroom (rare and often associated with longevity), Konoko (intense brininess), Fugu shirako (soft and creamy) and Nametake (a decent mushroom). There are still plenty more dishes not yet mentioned and I will let you read my more detailed review if you really want to know all of the stuffs that we had. By the way, I forgot to mention that I got so many different dishes because I came here twice. The first one was for dinner, seated at the counter. The second one was at lunch, seated at the private room (I reserved late, that’s why I could not get the counter that only has 6 seats) – a good way to have different experiences. I haven’t been to Matsukawa before and there was not that many (English) info available out there (at least I could not find any at that time). The 2nd booking initially happened because I could not find any good kaiseki restaurant for my lunch (sounds kinda crazy, right?). I would like to try either Esaki or Seizan, but neither opened for lunch on Thursday. Then, I decided that Matsukawa should be worth it for a 2nd meal within a week (L’Arpege and Le Louis XV were the other 2 restaurants having “the honor” where I ate there more than once during the same trip). After having fabulous dinner, it was an easy choice that returning here is a “must”. The service was overall good, but not in the Ishikawa’s league. They’re friendly and helpful, but hardly took initiative to re-fill our water, sake or change the hot ocha. Somehow I often found that kaiseki restaurants often have great service when the Chef’s wife/daughter acts as the “Okami”. The true star of the service was actually the hospitable Chef Matsukawa himself. He’s modest, amiable and charming despite hardly speaking any English. We communicated with my limited Japanese and during dinner, fortunately there was one lady staff who spoke fluent English. When I stated that his restaurant was Tokyo’s best, he humbly refused and said that Kyo Aji was (still) the real Tokyo no 1. During lunch, Matsukawa-san came to our room twice to serve the dishes. After each of our meal, as we expected, the Chef, accompanied by 1 waiter, escorted us out and bid us farewell. Matsukawa might appear shy, but he surely possesses extra ordinary talents in preparing Japanese traditional cuisine: from sourcing out-of-this-world ingredients to consistenly producing sublime dishes executed with high precision. It’s almost certain that I would love to return here should I get a chance to visit Japan again in the future. The main challenge is probably: can Matsukawa outdo himself? It would probably be difficult especially if I visit outside Autumn season. For Kaiseki, it’s generally agreed that Autumn generates the best quality produces – at least, it’s true for me since I love snow crab and Matsutake very much. I doubt if I will like Ayu or Takenoko more. Matsukawa scores 98 pts for the food only perspective; it’s been a while since I ever bestowed such high score to any restaurant. The last time I did this, if not mistaken, was in 2010 for my meals at L’Arpege (due to Challan duck and Pigeon ala dragee), L’Ambroise (due to pastry containing black truffle & foie gras and (lightly cooked) scallop with truffle) and Gagnaire Paris (due to Turbot steak and Lozere lamb) If you want to read detailed reviews (sorry but yes, it’s longer than this one), please visit: http://zhangyuqisfoodjourneys.blogspot.com/2013/12/matsukawa-tokyo.html If you want to see the pictures only (lots of them as if I eat at Sushi place), please visit: https://picasaweb.google.com/118237905546308956881/MatsukawaTokyoJapan#

In the “third installment” of my Japan trip, we will begin to go beyond Tokyo and its vicinity. To be more precise, we also visited Kyoto, Japan’s old capital Okura French Toast I was supposed to include this in my last review. We don’t usually have breakfast in a hotel unless it’s included in the package or a must-have thing like when we’re staying in ryokans. Chef Oshima recommended us to try the French toast (FT) at hotel Okura for breakfast, we did comply and it did not dissapoint at all. As a matter of fact, it’s the best FT I’ve ever tasted along with the one from Taj Camption SF. The FT was thick and perfectly prepared – sweet but not too intense; it’s crispy and light outside with beautiful yellowish-brown color and creamy & soft inside, producing melt in your mouth effect. A great way to start your day in Tokyo Kikunoi Kitcho and Kikunoi are probably the most well-known (kaiseki) restaurants in Kyoto. Given their famous reputation, ideally we should try the full course kaiseki menu at both places. But, our budget was not unlimited. Furthermore, I read that the food at Kikunoi was sometimes inconsistent. Thus, I decided that I would still visit this place but it would be for their cheaper option – lunch bento box. Guests who ordered the bento box were seated together in the main dining room that could easily accommodate 30 people and no seat was empty on that day. Honestly, I didn’t quite remember everything I ate here – let me try: the lacquer box was divided into 6 partitions, and then there were a bowl of soup dish and rice. I ordered the extra sashimi option (I think the raw fish was the best part of my lunch; maguro and tai). Our box: The grilled fish taste was alright, but the texture was a bit rough; small amount of ikura with “salad” – average; fried sweet potato, got a hint of oiliness, served together with ginkgo; dried skin tofu with mushroom and veggie; hassun: this was possibly the worst part – soggy fish and some tastless items, the best thing was salmon wrapped with squid; and lastly kobu. The soup was tasty though; it had fried tofu shrimp with clean dashi and yuzu skin. The rice was unusual; it had egg yolk, peanut sauce (nattou perhaps?) and whity sticky cream. At first, it was not too bad but the rice didn’t really go well with the the rest of the items in the box ... at least for me. The bento lunch might be not a fair way to really judge this place. It’s definitely not 3-star; 1 star at most based on the lunch box. Don’t expect any personalized service during lunch. Kikunoi’s full kaiseki meal would definitely be a better way to tell how good the restaurant really is. I took a peek of restaurants open kitchen; some cooks actually prepared plenty of snow crab. It will be a long way to go before we return here – Mizai and/or Ogata are on higher priority than this place Gion Kinana The ice cream place that has become popular recently. The shop is around Kyoto’s Higashiyama district, hidden in the secluded narrow road that not many people around the area actually know this place. It was a cold and rather windy evening; after returning from the Kinkakuji, we decided to see around Gion plus having a short break at Gion Kinana. Despite the cold weather, the restaurant was actually very crowded. We had to wait for about 10 min. before escorted to our table – even then, we had to share our table with 2 other groups, otherwise we got to wait even longer. Actually it’s kinda cool; we had a few chats with mother & son from Hyogo as well as a young mother with her child and parents – another opportunity to practice my Japanese. Personally, I was curious about its Fall parfait (containing chesnut) but apparently they only make 20 per day – for dessert place at this calibre, as expected they’re all sold out. Gion Kinana is famous for its dekitate (non-frozen) ice cream and I ordered kinako (roasted soy bean) flavor; I like its soft texture. It’s also creamy and not overly sweet. Any order here will come with hot tea to reduce/neutralize any ice cream’s sweetness I suppose. My wife ordered and enjoyed his parfait that came with matcha and goma ice cream as well as plain mochi and azuki bean. Hiiragiya Talking about the finest ryokan of all Japan (for sure in Kyoto), Hiiragiya and Tawaraya, its opposite neighbor, are definitely put into consideration. These two places are legendary for their old history and reputation – countless rich and famous plus some important government heads and retirees visited here. If someone would like to experience the traditional way of Japanese living style, nothing better than to do it in Kyoto. At the end, I picked Hiiragiya over Tawaraya for 2 main reasons: it seems to be more friendly with foreigners (you can book directly and they reply your inquiry fast even by e-mail in English) and the food is better (at least Michelin thinks so). The kaiseki dinner has 10-course including the dessert. Snow crab and fried wheat gluten began our meal nicely. During this trip, we pretty much enjoy good sashimi quality in both sushi and kaiseki restaurants – we ate maguro, tai and ika here. The hassun contained many ingredients I love but the execution was unfortunately a bit lacking; for instance the stir-fry awabi was too chewy, the ikura was hard and the boiled ebi with uni didn’t taste very fresh – not a disaster, but just average. Thankfully, the delicious grilled Sawara wrapped with leaf made me forget the previous feature dishes (hassun). The Kyoto beef, cooked medium-well (prepared medium should’ve been better), was oishii. The rice dish was cooked with Matsutake mushroom, but we hardly saw the mushroom on our rice. You cannot go wrong whenever you’re served with fresh and good quality Japanese fruits as the dessert – we enjoyed our persimmon, strawberry and musk melon. This dinner meal was for sure better than our kaiseki meal at Gora Kadan – the 1 star Michelin award was truly justified. But I was not impressed with the breakfast though; quality, quantity and variety wise, Gora beat Hiiragiya. However, the modern dining hall surrounded by garden was impressive. For more info and pictures about our meal, please check here: https://picasaweb.google.com/118237905546308956881/HiiragiyaKyotoJapan

Michelin is not always a winner when it comes to Tokyo’s guide. I pretty much agree with more than half of the restaurants that got 2 and 3 star. However, when it comes to sushi, interestingly many of the sushi bars that receive high scores at Tabelog, actually receive no star from the red book guide. One of them is Sushi Shou, a sushi-ya that has become the talk among sushi fans and experts because of the unique approach taken by its Itamae, the skillful Chef Keiji Nakazawa. His method is so unique that anybody who follows the same/similiar technique would be known to apply Shou-style. A remarkable appreciation to Nakazawa-san’s approach toward sushi. What’s special about it? The chef thinks that fresh fish has no taste and like beef, seafood needs to age in order to draw out most of its flavor. The seafood is only half of the formula of good sushi; the other half he believes that each fish is required to be matched with specificly prepared rice (white vs brown rice; white vs red vinegar(ed) and its intensity level). Often, the fish needs to be cooked as well. It’s indeed quite complicated, but the true master would definitely devote his energy and mind for this kind of perfection. Sushi Shou is located in the Shinjuku district, tucked away in the quiet neighborhood of Yotsuya. It’s far from the hustle and bustle of Tokyo metropolitan. Like any other places serving tasty food, it simply does not matter where they’re hidden; people would be willing to make effort for those delicacy and Sushi Shou is without exception. The dinner has 2 seatings. When my wife and I came earlier, the counter was literally packed. The atmosphere was quite lively and relaxing; guests (all were locals) had no problem conversed a bit loudly. They all seemed to have a good time. Then come our time, the restaurant was once again full. The funny thing during the 2nd seating (close to 9 PM), most of the customers, but one person, were non-Japanese. Some of these Singaporean people tried to book another dinner at Sushi Shou for their next visit in mid/late Dec this year but they’re told that the restaurant had been fully booked until end of the year except for scattering 1-2 seats at random dates. That’s how popular this restaurant has become even with foreigners, though perhaps not many westerners are familiar with this place Let’s jump to the food now. Omakase was the only menu available. Sushi Shou is not only about sushi, but you will also have sashimi and light bites. My only compalain was that the portion for non-sushi items were often too small. Next time I probably should ask for more or bigger pieces. My best dishes (there were many of them actually) are the following: - Barely warm Ika stuffed with rice, a traditional dish with balance flavor. I wish it had been bigger .. - Keiji from Rausu; this infant Salmon is more oily but lighter in texture than the regular salmon; it has clean and elegant flavor. Like Toro, it's 'melt in your mouth'; I felt lucky to have tried this scarce fish - When it comes to shrimp, I usually don’t bother to eay anything but Kuruma Ebi. But, the prawns at Sushi Shou were apparently very umami. First, the cooked Ebi with Oboro; it is sweet with firmer texture while the vinegared eggs (smart addition) enhance the prawn's umami flavor. Here, the red rice worked well with this 'full body' crustacean; a great piece of nigiri sushi Next, Botan Ebi aburi in 2 serving - its tail and head. The torched botan prawn, seasoned with ground 'salt' and Japanese citrus, was sweet, succulent and tasty; the prawn's head was crunchy, smokey and even more flavorful than its tail - Aging fishes: Buri (aged for 1 week), this adult and fatty Yellowtail is tender and a bit oily; it's almost taste like a toro. Chutoro (aged for 10 days), the aging process would allow the flavor of this Tuna belly to mature. Not as fatty as the Chutoro I had earlier, but more complex - (O)Toro group: Chopped toro ohagi, one of Nakazawa-san's many specialties. The delicious chopped tuna was mixed with onion, sesame and scallion and integrated with the sweet glutinous rice; Otoro was perfect pink and white marbling. As expected, it's very yummy and melt-in-my-mouth - Ankimo with 'pickled (baby)' watermelon. An amazing morsel, truly a sheer of delight - the buttery & rich liver is contrasted to the fresh & crunchy watermelon - Lightly steamed Ezo awabi; it has gentle texture and slightly chewy with deep & unique flavor The rests of the stuffs not mentioned here was generally also good. In total in I was served almost 30 dishes and a few extra nigiri towards the end. I invite you to click the link below if you want to know more. Tokyo is never short of delicious sushi-ya. But for me, Sushi Shou is my favorite sushi place in Japan (as far as the food is concerned, this place is better by a small margin when compared to Sushi Mizutani and Sushi Jiro Ginza) and thus, Keiji Nakazawa is the world’s best sushi chef. The setting was far from being stuffy, quite the opposite it’s very relaxed and informal. Chef Nakazawa was helpful, friendly and gracious. He and his team wanted to make sure that the guests, even when they speak very little or no Japanese, would be feeling comfortable and having fun. I can imagine for someone (with fluent Japanese) who’s fanatic about sushi and fishes would have a time of his life at Sushi Shou since the chef-owner was enthusiastic whenever there’s guest asked about his food and cooking technique. Since it’s not anywhere near Ginza, the bill was friendlier to my wallet. The food alone, I bestow this place 96 pts (a solid 2 ¾* by Michelin standard). Sushi Shou is actually an easy picked for Michelin’s highest accolade had Nakazawa-san not rejected its inspector or had the inspector respected/understood sushi more according to him If you wonder how the dishes look like, check them out here: https://picasaweb.google.com/118237905546308956881/SushiShouTokyoJapan If you want to read more detailed review, click the following: http://zhangyuqisfoodjourneys.blogspot.com/2013/12/sushi-shou.html

Haha - more than that maybe because I was just lazy However, I was talking to a few people about it - even some locals said that Tuna auction at Tsukiji market was great experiences The challenges were simply too much for us: it's 4 AM or earlier, cold weather at 5-7 C (40-45 F) in late autumn this year plus there's no guarantee we could get the auction tickets if there were lots of people showed up

Sushi Mizutani is the name that every sushi lover should be familiar by now. Honestly, it’s not on my top list of the sushi place I would like to visit in Tokyo. I wanted Sushi Saito, but not very sure whether we would be able to secure seats and at the end it didn’t work. Mizutani, Yoshitake, or Sawada naturally came up as alternatives. I’ve been to Yoshitake HK so I didn’t feel the urgent to visit its “head quarter” in Ginza. It may sound funny, but eventually I chose Mizutani over Sawada simply because Hachiro-san is a more senior Itamae. I ate at Jiro Ginza 6 years ago, so kinda curious about the only other sushi place who got 3-star Michelin in its first edition. Thanks to the advancement technology, there are plenty of info about how to get into this place. Also with a helpful assistance from Okura hotel’s concierge, we didn’t really have much difficulties to locate this famous sushi bar. The restaurant is simple and humble, seated up to 10 people only. When Michelin claimed its criteria is to judge restaurants purely on food, it’s likely to be true for this place. During our lunch, there were only 7 guests; among them was a Japanese couple who have been here numerous times. I asked how many? The man asked Hachiro Mizutani and even Mizutani-san lost count. So when his spouse told me than they’ve been here almost 50x, well it’s probably true. As regulars, they consumed plenty of extra items that the rest of the customers didn’t get. At first, this place was almost as stuffy and rigid as Sukiyabashi Jiro, especially when we’re the only guests. With my “caveman level of Japanese”, I tried to engage a conversation with the sushi master. Simple question would receive simple answer. As I asked something more complex, I often only understood half or sometimes less of his reply. But at least, I managed to break the ice – he’s become more loose since then, and even more when his regular guest arrived plus another group from HK/Canada. The omakase menu is pretty straight forward, to be exact for our case we got: 14 nigiri pieces (including tamago), 4 kind of sashimi and 2 rolls (dried gourd and fatty bluefin tuna). There’s almost no piece that was not at least tasty, even the kampyo-maki at the end was surprisingly good. Anyway, I liked the following: - Sushi: Kohada (the silver-skinned fish was delicious with balanced vinegar flavor), Ika (Japanese squid was unlike any other. It’s clean and smooth), Otoro (sublime and melt in my mouth as expected), Sayori (fresh and inherently sweet, probably the best Half beak I’ve ever had), Anago (creamy with the right amount of sweetness) and Tamago (possibly the 1st time I ever mentioned that the tamago is among my favorite pieces in any sushi places; the egg custard, carefully prepared with small ebi, was just moist, fluffy and pleasantly sweet – very umami. Yes, it’s better than the tamago at Jiro, Sushi Shikon or Sushi Shou). Before leaving, I also asked for an extra piece of Otoro and Anago The rests of the sushi: hirame, akami, chu toro, akagai, mirugai, aji, kuruma ebi, and uni. Note that the nigiri piece here is quite long, but the size was not as big as at Sushi Shikon in my opinion. - Sashimi: Mushi Awabi (arguably the best thing I ate for this lunch. It’s perfectly tender and delicious. Only Yoshitake’s abalone with liver sauce comes close) and Tairagi (aka pen-shell clam. It’s an interesting kind of clam – firm & crunchy with delicate sweetness; never had it before) The rests of the sashimi: seared scallop wrapped in nori and saba A very satisfying meal with high quality shari and (shell) fishes. The rice is firm, al dente and less acidic compared to Jiro’s; the temperature is just right. It’s easily one of the best sushi-ya I’ve ever visited, but it’s not cheap for sure. Nevertheless, this meal still cost less than my lunch at Jiro Ginza 6 years ago. For food only, I would give 95/100 (2 ¾* equivalent) - It’s just slightly better than Jiro Ginza. For sushi fanatics, you have to go to both places at least once in your lifetime. Considering service, the overall experience is ‘only’ 93 pts in my notes. Sorry no pictures to share, Madame Mizutani was very strict with it; she gave us stern look even as my wife posed at the entrance. The review of Sushi Shou is coming soon, hopefully in a couple of days

Here comes the 2nd "installment" of my review. The main theme will be sushi, but I will begin with tonkatsu Maisen In addition to tsukemen, other Japanese casual food that we ate was tonkatsu. We heard that Butagumi was supposed to be the best place for breaded deep fried pork, but then they only open at proper lunch and dinner hours – I was unwilling to give those prime hours for katsu meal unfortunately. The alternative choice was Maisen, located in Shibuya area, which opened in the afternoon. We didn’t go to its honten though. The (branch) restaurant was actually huge by Japanese standard. My wife E loved tonkatsu more than I do, so as expected she would order the kurobota set menu whereas I only chose katsudon; of course both of us picked ‘rosu’, having more fat. Both of our pork was indeed tender, juicy, crispy with a slight hint of oiliness. Maisen served 3 sauces: the usual sauce, Japanese mustard as well as special sauce, which basicaly was tonkatsu sauce with shredded apple. The portion was big, yet we managed to sweep all of the pork cutlet. Since Matsukawa dinner was waiting a few hours later, we didn’t want to finish up the rice. A nice “heavy” snack and in less than an hour, we left the restaurant to explore Omotesando hills area Iwasa Sushi On my last visit to Tokyo, I could not make it to come to Tsukiji market, the biggest fish market in the world. I didn’t come for the Tuna auction – it’s too early for me; just see around the area and had a breakfast. Sushi Dai or Daiwa would be the usual suspects, but I didn’t think the food is worth our energy and time, especially when we have reservations at Sushi Mizutani and Shou. That being said, we decided to try Iwasa sushi. I had the uni don and sashimi while my wife ordered the Chef’s omakase in which the sushi was served on bamboo leaf. My sea urchin was decent; it had some ocean aroma. I finished the rest of the rice with sashimi consisting of katsuo, a couple white fish, chu toro etc. Again, having been to top sushi places, it would be unfair to compare their qualities with Iwasa. My wife was quite happy with the omakase. The chef served 3 nigiri at a time, the portion is quite generous and hence a filing breakfast for her. Possibly we should’ve ordered their shell fishes sushi to share since it’s what they’re really famous for. Anyway, it’s not a bad place at all – above average when compared to other sushi restaurants outside Japan generally. Besides us, there was a couple ordering uni don and a young man having one of the sushi sets Sushi Mizutani and Sushi Shou As my review will be longer, I somehow think these 2 elite sushi places deserve their own threads So please read at the other topics

You're very welcome And thanks for reading my report/review

It’s been our dream to visit Japan. We’re supposed to be here 2 years ago for our honeymoon, but then a huge tsunami and Fukushima incident forced us to change our plan - too risky to go. And this month finally we had a chance to make our dream become reality. We arrived in the morning, and began our meal with lunch at Shima steakhouse. Shima Chef Manabu Oshima gained his experiences by working in Europe, mainly France, Germany and England. The restaurant is in the basement of Nihonbashi MM building and it’s not too far from Takashimaya. Oshima is helped mainly by his 2 sons and his place would fit at most 20 people. The steakhouse menu was quite simple (in fact he has not changed them for more than 10 years), but don’t be fooled by it – he has plenty of off-the-menu items. For us, it’s simple and easy: we come here for the steak. I ordered a sirloin and my wife E had a filet. Prior to that, we tried a home-made onion gratin soup (rich with thick cheese layer on top, the chopped onion was not too much) and salad (fresh with clean dressing, my wife loved it). Then come the steak. My sirloin was tender and flavorful, it’s not really melt-in-your-mouth kind of beef but very well prepared; the fat thankfully was not too rich. E’s filet was a bit saltier than mine, but about equally delicious. Both of us had no problem finishing nearly 200 gr of steak each. The dessert was home made vanilla ice cream, petit four and musk melon. Oshima-san spoke good English and very approachable. It was a quiet lunch, only 4 people including us. At the end, we’re given the copy of the beef certificate we consumed. A good way to kick off our meal in Tokyo Rokurinsha Having ramen for dinner at Solamachi was actually unplanned for. Initially, we’re supposed to dine at Toriki but the map we got from our hotel was not that clear: no info which exit to take, and it’s too “broad”. If you don’t have any GPS with you, ideally, you should have 2 maps: one showing the restaurant location with respect to the nearest train station and secondly, the zoom-in map of the restaurant neighborhood so that when you lost, the people there can easily put you back on the right track. In short, we’re late and Toriki staff did not allow us to dine there unless we’re willing to wait for 2 hours or so. It was a freezing night, and since I was not too desperate to eat there, well – let’s forget it. Another lesson learned: give yourself plenty of time for the next restaurants. Tokyo sky tree was not too far from Kinsicho area. It’s almost 9 PM and luckily there’s no queue at Rokurinsha. Only tsukemen was available here and we ordered Ajitaman tsukemen with egg, Tokusei tsukemen full toppings and shared an additional order of chashu. We were surprised by the huge portion of the cold noddles, but I liked these thick noddles chewy texture. They ‘absorbed’ the broth (I wish it had been hotter) depth flavor well. My favorite part was actually the 3/4-boiled egg that remains soft with gelatinous center; the chashu was a bit tough to my likeness. Apparently, neither of us managed to finish the noddles. A nice casual eating, my best tsukemen so far Gora Kadan On the third day, we left the hustle and bustle of Tokyo for a day retreat. For this trip, we really wanted to try onsen (hot springs). Late Autumn or Winter should be the best time to stay in the open-air and soak ourselves in the Japanese hot bath. Hakone is probably the closest destination for natural hot bath from Tokyo. We were staying at the famous ryokan named Gora Kadan (GR). I think I shall not talk much about our general experience there, so let’s jump directly to the food part. In many elite ryokan, having dinner is a must – well, without which your ryokan experience would not be complete. I read several reviews praising the food here. The dinner was actually quite solid, but clearly it’s not at the level of Tokyo’s 2 & 3 star restaurants serving kaiseki. The highlight of our meal were: ankimo wrapped in spinach, grilled sawara and roasted wagyu beef yet none of these dishes really wowed us. I would say at most GR’s cuisine is worth 1-star michelin. The breakfast, however, was awesome – a very extensive Japanese style. There were tofu, miso soup, tamago, nori, orange juice, hot ocha etc. For the main, I had grilled Cod with miso sauce while E had Salmon with chef’s special sweet sauce. It was arguably the best breakfast we had of the entire trip. You can see the pictures below, https://picasaweb.google.com/118237905546308956881/GoraKadanHakoneJapan# To be continued ... At the other topic, you should be able to find my Ishikawa’s dinner review

It’s been more than 3 years or so that I’ve not done my serious foodie trip. Many things, mostly positive, have happened within those years. A few weeks ago, finally I had a vacation in which food was the integral part in our schedule and this time I didn’t travel and dine alone anymore. Previously, it’s no brainer that Europe especially France would be my main destinations. But, this time was different; we decided to go to Japan, a country with the most Michelin-star restaurants. The last time I came here was 6 years ago – just before Michelin invaded the land of the Rising Sun. And I would begin the review of our “serious” restaurants visit (more to come later) with Kagurazaka Ishikawa, a place that many people are probably familiar with. As warned by friends, restaurant in Japan is generally not easy to find unless it’s located in the hotel. Things were even more complicated if one’s not familiar with how to read Tokyo’s address. To reduce the hustle, make sure that you have the picture of the restaurant’s entrance. Ishikawa is located behind Bishamon temple; it’s tucked away in a black timber of (Takamura) building. Once you find it, just enter a corridor where you can see a small garden at the end; the entrance is on your right. As we entered the building, the waitresses in kimono greeted us and took care of our coats and other stuffs. We’re happy to be seated in middle of the counter that can occupy up to 7 diners. There are 2 menus and we opted for a more expensive selection; the set menu consisted of 9 courses and ‘gaikokujin’ were given the English description what we’re about to eat that night. There are plenty of delicious dishes here. I liked the first 2 items: - Fresh and sweet snow crab with refreshing ‘sauce’, jelly-like that’s a mixture of dashi and vinegar - Deep fried rice cake stuffed with simmered turtle. I enjoyed this tempura-style dish, in particular its texture (crunchy and a bit chewy). Also, it’s not oily at all Some other memorable dishes were, - Seared puffer fish. We liked its freshness and interesting texture; the dish’s flavour should mainly derived from the grated radish sauce and ponzu - The grilled Nodoguro was fragrant and very tasty, and so were the Maitake mushroom. Together, they’re a good combination from the sea and the forest - The specialty dish combined plenty of delicacies in a small cup. The snapper was succulent while the shirako was stand out. The sauce was umami with some sweet and salty flavor. An excellent dish I heard that Ishikawa’s rice dish is often spectacular. For instance, he put lots of uni, hotate or awabi before. However, I was slightly disappointed knowing my rice dish was “only” served with Tai paste and Japanese pickles. It was not bad but I had expected something more elaborate and delicious. The positive note was that the rice was freshly harvested since it’s an Autumn. The service was world class. Guests could easily feel and notice the enthusiasm of the waitresses as well as the cooks & chef. Ishikawa-san is very modest, funny, easy-going and observant. He gave us a spoon when he thoughts that we might struggle eating the rice with dashi. Our communication were mixed of my elementary Japanese and the chef’s basic English, but his genuity mattered more. The restaurant’s ambiance is relaxing and friendly, very far from a rigid feeling that one may encounter in other Japanese places. While the counter still got an empty seat, all of the private rooms at Ishikawa seemed to be fully occupied. Overall, the food is oishii and the service is impeccable; a very pleasant experience indeed. In my note, it’s 95/100 (the equivalent of Michelin 2 ¾*) For more elaborate review: http://zhangyuqisfoodjourneys.blogspot.com/2013/11/kagurazaka-ishikawa.html For pictures only: https://picasaweb.google.com/118237905546308956881/KagurazakaIshikawaTokyoJapan#

Having been to plenty of Robuchon restaurants, the initial offered degustation menu - I've tried almost half of them In order to maximize my experience, I usually would like to have as many new dishes as possible That's why I devised my own tasting menu and it's subject to the Chef's approval This way is easier than on the day itself try to swap (many) dishes from their menu

The past month has been a busy period for me; finally I had a time to wrap up the last place I would like to review from my HK Spring trip this year. I took a morning ferry to Macau to have lunch at the latest Robuchon au Dome. I’ve been to Robuchon Galera about 5+ years ago and didn’t really have a good experience there. Time has passed and the restaurant got a new “home” now; there’re plenty of positive notes about Robuchon Macau since my dinner long time ago so I thought why not giving another try? Even though it’s lunch, I opted to have a full tasting menu. As a matter of fact, I consulted with Chef Semblat via the restaurant reception’s help to devise my own menu. It looked good on paper and the time finally come to taste them on my palate. My top 3 (excellent) dishes are: -Azerbaijan king crab served with romaine, olive oil and mozzarella. The crab was succulent and very well seasoned; it’s enhanced by fresh vegetables and parmesan cheese. A fragrant dish with some complex taste, the presention matched with the plate. Alaskan crab could make it even better probably -The best thing about Spring seasonal items is arguablly French morels. The chef prepared a delicious morel ravioli with its juice/foam; the mushroom was earthy and flavorful. On the contrary, the green asparagus on the side was average -I’ve always been curious about Robuchon’s famous dessert known as Le Sphere and it’s actually worth its reputation. For my case the sugar ball contained mousse, cream and strawberry. A nice display of sweet, sour and refreshing flavors yet they’re balanced. The sorbet was probably the weakest element Besides the dishes above, you can expect plenty other good stuffs at any Robuchon restaurants. For instance: -The caviar. I ate generous serving of caviar in fine coral jelly. It’s as good as when I had it for the first time in Vegas: a lot of briny caviar was in contrast to the sweet crab meat & anise cream. Caviar on warm scallop with lemon grass cream was very pleasant and delicate. But the last part of caviar trio was disappointing – I referred to caviar on cauliflower mousse with croutons. The cauliflower was too much and rather bland (the “worst” among Robuchon’s caviar dishes I’ve ever tasted ) -I enjoyed the delicate amadai’s flesh texture and taste. The main flavor was derived from the barigoule jus, tomato and bacons; the most interesting part was the crisp scales -Grilled A4 kagoshima beef was rich and delicious; almost as refined as the one I had at Amber a day earlier. The shallot and parsley puree provided some flavor contrast. I wish they had served the famous mashed potato here instead of the potato souffle There were also some dishes that I thought were quite mediocre by 3-star meal standard -The boston lobster. I had high expectation earlier, after all it’s really hard to go wrong with any lobster dish. The claw tempura was greasy and cold when arrived at my table; the bisque was not hot with weak taste; the pasta was average with minimum amount of lobster underneath. The only good part was lobter royal, it has a nice jus/butter and roes -The seared foie gras was too coarse. You would expect smooth and refine duck liver in the restaurant of this calibre although the flavor was Ok -After a nice dessert in le sphere, the 2nd dessert turned out to be so-so. It’s unusual for Robuchon to serve ordinary chocolate dessert. The ice cream ‘sandwiched’ in cream puff was forgetable; the chocolate coulis was rather cold and not really tasty; the vanilla ‘cream’ was the only good thing on the plate There are 2-3 other dishes not reviewed that would fall in between the first 2 categories above. I suppose the more dishes you serve, the riskier it can become since the Chef might be bound to make more ‘mistakes’ a long the way. Despite a few ‘negative’ aspects, one is guaranteed to have a satisfying meal here – mine is without exception. Robuchon Macau serves French cuisine executedconsistently at high levels; I got a better meal this time compared to my dinner at Robuchon galera. And the best part of Robuchon au Dome is actually the price. Both the lunch specials and degustation menu are among the “cheapest” when compared to the other Robuchon fine dining establishments or other 3-star restaurants. The cost perspective will be my main reason to return here one day if I’m near the area, but I will not make a detour to Macau just to eat at the dome. French fine dining is idential with excellent service that usually flows smoothly and looks effortless. However, it didn’t seem to be the case here. There were plenty of staffs wandering around the dining room but possibly only fewer than half of them knew what they’re doing. A few weeks ago I ‘complained’ how some waiters in Singapore/Hong Kong high-end places looked robotics; here it looked the same, but when I couldn’t catch their dishes explanation and asked them to repeat somehow a few of them looked nervous and forgot what they just said. Then as I pointed to specific ingredient on my plate, they weren’t too sure. The lack of communication skills (in this case caused by language barrier) often disrupted the enjoyment of the hospitality offered. The good part that these staffs (who are majority from mainland China) is that they worked hard and tried to smile to the guests all the times. I could recall the only exceptional staffs were the restaurant manager, Mr. Song as well as my maitre d’ (forgot his name). The thing was my maitre d’ handled a few tables as the restaurant was nearly fully booked so sometimes I was taken care of by not-so-competent staffs. It’s not that they’re really bad; I just thought that the restaurant did not give them enough training or to cut costs, they decided not to hire more experiences waiters/waiteresses. The predominantly not so experiences dining rooms staffs might have reflected some of the kitchen teams as well When Robuchon Macau was moved the dome, the most talked about topic was actually the dining room: how awesome and luxurious they are. It’s probably true especially as soon as you entered the 43rd floor foyer, there was the famous suspended crystal Chandelier hanging down at the middle of the ceiling consisting of more than 100,000 pieces of Swarovski crystals. Below, one could see the brown Steinway handmade grand piano. I happened to arrive earlier than most other guests, hence I had a chance to walk around the whole dining room areas including the private rooms. As I observed further, I don’t find the overall interior design was coherently integrated. One could get the feelling that the owners simply would like to showcase the most expensive things money can buy. The chic design was combined with Renaissance paintings and Chinese arts – maybe I didn’t get them. It’s almost like the Lisboa lobby (both old and grand hotel) in which you can see lots of jade and gold art items that do not ‘connect’ well with the overall hotel design. It’s very different than the dining rooms designed by Pierre Rochon at other Robuchon fine dining places. Compared to the Tokyo and Singapore dining rooms, the chairs here were not that comfortable (no sofa/booth) and the distance between tables were not too spacious. Anyway, that’s my take on my Robuchon Macau lunch meal and I gave 94 pts for the overall experience (equivalent to 2 ½* by Michelin standard). It’s not even closed to the European top restaurants, but still very good by the standard of Asia ex-Japan gastronomy establishments. For more detailed review: http://zhangyuqisfoodjourneys.blogspot.com/2013/06/robuchon-au-dome.html For pictures only: https://picasaweb.google.com/118237905546308956881/RobuchonAuDomeMacauChina

Amber, the signature restaurant of the Landmark Oriental, actually has been in my radar since 07-08 but somehow it failed to persuade me. I read some mixed reviews discussing about inconsistent performances at Amber; instead at that time I opted for dinners at Caprice and Pierre – when both restaurants just opened. Recently, Amber has become the talks among Asian’ critics and bloggers alike, in the positive way of course. 2-michelin star, HK top restaurant (according to Tatler and Restaurant magazine ‘Asia version’) and Miele’s top 10 are some accolades that the restaurant has received. Hence, I really cannot help it that Amber became a “must try” place when I visited to Hong Kong last month. Amber has been lead by the hotel’s Executive Chef, Richard Ekkebus – a Holland-born man who has been trained in France under some nouvelle cuisines genius such as Chef Passard, Gagnaire and Savoy. I usually like the cooking of L’Arpege alumni chefs. Chef Ekkebus shared that Alain Passard was a demanding chef but he learned a lot from the vegetable master during his stint there. In the past 2 years or so, the day to day kitchen operation has actually been managed and executed by Paul Froggat, the chef de cuisine who used to work at Saint Pierre Singapore. Nowadays, Chef Ekkebus role is more like Yannick Alleno or Franck Cerutti; most of the time, they will focus on the hotel’s kitchen overall performances. I went for lunch and decided to savor the degustation menu since many have said that the portions at Amber are relatively small. From the total of 8 dishes, I enjoyed very much nearly half of them. - The famous Hokkaido uni was decadent and always worked well with caviar. There was a smooth cauliflower ‘cream’ underneath to bring additional depth for this dish; the seaweed waffle added texture contrast as well as balance the rich cauliflower & lobster gelee. The only problem for me: there’re too much cauliflower and not enough sea urchin. Also, I cannot help to compare this dish with Waku Ghin’s botan ebi, uni and caviar dish .. I would say Wakuda-san’s dish is slightly more superior due to the fresh and sweei of Japanese shrimp - The New Zealand seared langoustine was well executed; it's tender and slightly sweet. The puree and bergamot enhanced the overall experience of the dish. As long as you have high quality langoustine, the side dishes are secondary - The A4 wagyu was cooked medium rare; the beef was buttery, tender and succulent as expected. The short ribs was rich and decadent, nicely complemented by mustard onion. However, I found that the caramelized shallot (black 'puree') was too intense. Japanese wagyu is generally a safe choice for main course at any Asian fine dining place; more adventurous foodies should try lamb, duck or pigeon – the kinds of meats that French cooking usually does fantastic job The sayori dish as the opening course was alright, teasing your palate. Somehow, I wasn’t too impressed by Chef Ekkebus singnature smoked salmon confit probably due to the squid ink bread crumb that covered the fish was too salty. Moreover, its side dishes (avocado mousse and a couple forms of green apple) were ordinary. I usually avoid cheese course unless when I dine in Europe for ‘strange’ reasoning: Asian generally dislike (farmer) cheese so I often wonder how long those cheeses have been around in the restaurant untouched. Though I could be mistaken ... Whenever you have multiple desserts in any degustation menu, the pattern is almost always: one will be fruit-based and the other will chocolate-based. Desserts: -The fruity dessert (william pear with dried fruits, yoghurt and biscuit) features sweet and sour taste with soft and crunchy texture – OK; I prefer my cheese replacement: Amaho strawberry - sweet and refreshing, served in earthy hibiscus with pepperand soft cold granite. -Chocolate souffle: a common French dessert that's perfectly executed with high quality ingredients (Abinao 85% chocolate). The souffle was sweet and smooth in contrast to the bitter sorbet; a very comforting dessert towards the end of the meal Verdict for food: 93 pts (about 2 ½* by Michelin standard). If the degustation menu represents the best items Amber can offer, it has a long way to go for the Red guide 3rd star. I hope it may not be the case Amber is not only famous for its food, but also its decor. The dining room is grand and elegant; nobody could not help but notice the suspended chandelier consisting of more than 4000 bronze rods designed by Adam Tihany, a renowned interior designer. The distance between tables are spacious while the couch & booths are comfortable. The center piece is filled with floral arrangements inside slender black vases. It’s essential for the restaurant to have a beautiful dining room since it has no views of Victoria harbour/Kowloon peninsula The service in Amber is generally good with some contrast between local and foreign “waiters”. Like in Singapore, the local waiters tend to be (or tried to be) more formal and rather stiff; they’re knowledgable about the dishes though it looked robotic when they described the food. Luckily, I was also often servd and entertained by Hector Lugo, a Mexican assistant manager – he’s easy going and has vast knowledge about hospitality in general. Towards the end, I got a chance to have a chat with Monsieur Noyelle, the restaurant manager who had been trained for almost a decade as maitre d’ under Denis Courtiade (Ducasse Paris); no wonder his service was smooth. I don’t know how, but I wish Asian maitre d’ could have “more interesting” personality so that they can ‘connect’ with their guests better Overall experience: 93/100 and I agree with Michelin’s assesment thus far Here are the pictures of the dishes: https://picasaweb.google.com/118237905546308956881/AmberHongKongChina

There is not that many gastronomy places in the world that I’ve visited more than twice. I can count with my fingers that a few of those restaurants are L’Arpege, Gagnaire Paris and L’Ambroisie. The new restaurant that just join my “exclusive list” is Waku Ghin (WG), currently Tetsuya Wakuda-san’s best establishment. This can happen also because Singapore is a lot more accessible for me than Paris. I will not talk much about the restaurant’s story or setting as you can find it at my previous post (http://zhangyuqisfoodjourneys.blogspot.com/2012/02/waku-ghin-singapore.html). Let’s jump into the main stuff: the food. The content is very similar especially the main ingredients for several dishes, but some of them prepared differently. The signature items: -Marinated Botan shrimp served with Sea urchin and Oscietra caviar - A lot has been said of the restaurant's most famous dish. Still as delicious as it gets even for the 3rd time. Botan ebi, uni, and caviar - no matter what combination I scooped, they're sensational! The beef: finally I had the opportunity to taste and contrast Tasmanian vs Ohmi beef. -The tender grass-fed beef from Australia was still pink on the inside and it's very good as expected. The beef was paired well with creamy and not-so-spicy mustard, a special recipe of Wakuda-san. It’s indeed enjoyable and possibly better than any steaks at Morton/Cut -Ohmi beef is a "must have" dish at Waku Ghin. The cattle was raised in special environment and water; the beef was really marbling and its fat has viscosity. The result is a heavenly wagyu roll that melt in the mouth – make sure to add a bit of citrus soy and wasabi on the beef, umami experience! The rests: I could not recall where I had been deeply impressed by WG’s first 3-4 dishes (non-teppanyaki) except of course the botan ebi uni caviar. Not much different this time – they’re just alright. For this visit I began with mild flavor of marinated Sayori with nanohana and strawberry; the 3rd dish was pan-fried Sweet fish fillet with daikon and fennel – the only good stuff from it was the Ayu’s crispy skin The teppanyaki is generally the best part of Waku Ghin’s meal – it’s part theatre, part cooking lesson. I missed the Alaskan crab last time, so I asked to have it again for this visit. -The charcoal grill king crab was simple, slightly sweet and succulent. The 'lemon sauce' added flavor contrast balanced the dish. Steamed or grilled Alaskan crab? Both are well executed here -Grilled abalone was slightly chewy and tender as it should be. It was served with French asparagus that has fine texture & delicate taste. Although tasty by themselves, the dish was improved by the decent Aonori (seaweed) sauce -Braised lobster was served with white miso (from Kyoto). The miso broth also consisted of lobster juice, butter, ginger and spring onion. This ‘sauce’ was light and complemented the juicy lobster's inherent sweetness - excellent! Note that: from 3 different visits, the restaurant managed to cook 3 different preparations of Abalone and Lobster – awesome! When it come to pre-dessert: 2/3 you will likely get something relate to granite – usually sour and refreshing. The dessert is better and this time I got Chef Wakuda's interpretation of the classic dessert “Montblanc”; the sweet had chestnut and vanilla chantilly and the 'soup' is made of earl grey tea and vanilla. A pleasant and sweet dessert without being cloying Forgot to mention that the meal also includes gyokuro as well as consomme of snapper with rice. My meal was accompanied by a glass of sake (about wine tasting portion) and Spanish dessert wine Somehow during all my three visits I’ve been served by Japanese chefs. I learned that my ‘regular’ chef Kaz had left WG earlier this year to open his own venture in this island. My new chef (forgot to ask his name) used to work in Hilton Osaka – his cooking is also very good, but a bit lacking in English. The waiter for our room was an enthusiastic and friendly Filipino lady. Guests are more likely to interact with their chefs when they dine at WG. The thing I love most about Waku Ghin is that the high quality ingredients are front and center; they take good care and respect the ingredients. Most of the dishes look deceptively simple (remind me of Le Louis XV though not at that level yet), but they’re delicious with the execution that is almost flawless in particular the teppanyaki part. I have no doubt that food-wise, they’re very closed to Michelin 3-star standard (95 pts, equivalent to 2 ¾*) – the highest score I ever give thus far to any Singapore restaurants (tie with my Joel Robuchon Sentosa meal in Dec ‘11). The overall experience is still 94/100 (2 ½*) Pictures of my meal: https://picasaweb.google.com/118237905546308956881/WakuGhinSingapore3rdVisit

Almost exactly a year ago, I asserted that Singapore has better Japanese restaurants than Hong Kong. I think that statement is no longer true with the recent arrival of two heavyweight Tokyo-based restaurants: Ryugin and Sushi Yoshitake. Even HK can boast and makes strong case that the island currently provides the best high-end places for sushi and kaiseki meals outside Japan. Like many other top sushi restaurants, the small Yoshitake sushi bar, housed in Mercer hotel, only serves fewer than 10 guests daily. This kind of setting enables Chef Masahiro Yoshitake to serve his customers intimately and precisely at the sushi counter. I heard that Masahiro-san often comes to Hong Kong; when he’s here, he will certainly serves his customers. However, most of the time he will be at Ginza, Tokyo – his experienced sous chef Yoshiharu Kakinuma is in charge of daily activities for the HK branch. There are 3 types of omakase menu and I selected the most popular one called Miyabi that’s supposedly serving diners “3-star meal as served in Tokyo”. The restaurant was very busy on Thursday night during the 2nd seating. The memorable dishes: -Braised Tako: This Japanese tako had fantastic texture - not chewy at all; it was burst with flavor enhanced by the 'sweet' sauce. I didn't know that octopus can be this good .. -Steamed Awabi: The restaurant's signature dish. The thick cut of Chiba abalone, served cold, was succulent, naturally sweet and briny; it's perfectly complemented with the intense abalone's liver reduction. Then, the chef would give you sushi rice to mop up all the 'sauce' - an amazing dish! -Seared Katsuo: a smart combination of Bonito's smoky & crispy skin and its oily raw flesh. The refreshing 'orange/citrus jelly', scallions and light soy sauce added a nice complexity to the dish After 5 appetizers, then come the sushi parts. The style is Edomae which is almost always the case at any top sushi places. The most ‘unusual pieces’ I ate were: -Sakura masu: beautiful, striking and yummy; the small sea trout has a similar texture and taste like arctic char. The first time I had this tasty nigiri -Kohada roll: served with shiso leave and kampyo that nicely contrasted with the fish. An interesting presentation and it made the kohada firmer and more 'complex' The fish slices are probably the most generous among other sushi restaurants. The shari is prepared with red vinegar (stronger, but still not as intense as Jiro’s) and often this enhanced the morsel’s flavor. I love with the fact that the usual “melting in your mouth sushi” such as Otoro, Uni and Anago; I could still bite them and felt the textures. The Kuruma ebi has been cooked and marinated when guests arrives; at first I was doubtful with its freshness but I was wrong. The imperial prawn was sweet and fresh with great texture; Kaki-san doesn’t even cut this big ebi into 2. Lastly, the tamago is cake-like and it’s better than the one I ate at Kanesaka Singapore and Urasawa Rodeo drive. So, yes I admitted that Yoshitake has more superior sushi than these places. The only “problem” I have is probably the price - it’s exorbitant. Yoshitake HK, hidden at Sheng wan, cost double than the original Yoshitake Tokyo, located in the elite Ginza area. Wow! I understand that all the ingredients are daily brought from Japan (Yoshitake-san prefers seafood from Kyushu and Shizuoka) and that will cost more, but twice as expensive? Tenku Ryugin is able to charge 20% more than Nihonryori Ryugin’s price. At the end, is it worth it? A subjective issue indeed. I loved my meal here – quality wise, it’s slightly better than my Shinji’s omakase Shin. However, I doubt if I will return here in the near future – I will make an effort to re-visit Ryugin though. Seriously, the meal at Yoshitake Hong Kong makes Urasawa’s meal look like a “bargain”. Food-wise this place deserved 2 ¾* in my note, but considering the service and atmosphere I would give my meal here 93.5 pts (equivalent to a strong 2 ½* by the Red guide standard) For more detailed review, http://zhangyuqisfoodjourneys.blogspot.com/2013/05/sushi-yoshitake-hong-kong.html For dishes' pictures, https://picasaweb.google.com/118237905546308956881/SushiYoshitakeHongKongChina

Haha, call me bias - French/Japanese ingredients > US ones any time such as: Brittany lobster > Maine/Boston one French morels > Oregon version Pyrenees/Aubrac lamb > Colorado one Riviera/Mediterranean (or even Passard's gardens) veggies > even California organic Ohmi/Kobe/Matsuzaka beef > any Usda wagyu beef and so on

Yes, I tend to mostly agree with you that Asian gastronomy places are ridiculously expensive nowadays Regarding your comparison, Alinea, Jean Georges and Eleven Madison tend to be the "cheaper" part If we see Vegas Robuchon and Savoy, they're about as 'insane' as the ones in Asia ex Japan But US most famous restaurants: per se/French Laundry are not cheap at all - their basic 9 course would cost around Usd 330 per pax after tax and tips Moreover, they got plenty of catches: -if one wants to replace the salad with duck liver, one had to add Usd 40++ -if one wants to replace the meat course with wagyu, one had to add almost Usd 100++ During the winter truffle season, 1-2 truffle dishes will cost at least Usd 150 extra All of these "only" serving mainly US domestic ingredients. So, before the wine, the meal there can easily reach Usd 500 (Whereas) in Asia, we tend to get more dishes with Japanese and French ingredients, which I think are much better than US ones For sure, Singapore is more expensive than Hong Kong since Singapore got zero natural resource/ingredients and additional 7% tax vs none in HK

Jaan is a restaurant that brought to my attention when Andre Chiang was there. Once I would like to go there, but then learned that Chef Andre had left. It was not until last year that I finally visited this restaurant located at the 70th floor of Swiss otel for a business lunch; it was quite a good experience actually. Almost a year later (Spring ‘13), I believe Jaan, lead by a French native Julien Royer, should have become “more mature and steady” that I decided to go for a bigger menu at dinner. I ordered the 8-course menu prestige artisanal cuisine. Generally, I was pleased with my dining experience here. Among them, my favorite dishes were: -Smoked New zealand organic egg that’s prepared for 55 min at about 60 degrees C; it’s the restaurant’s signature dish. This was the kind of dish displaying Chef’s Royer finesse and creativity. The dish has silky texture from the egg, earthy flavor from the mushrooms, as well as salty crunch generated mainly by the chorizo. It’s almost perfect to my likeness if only he used Onsen tamago that’s milkier with creamy texture -The tender and sweet Norwegian langoustine (almost tasted like Pacaud’s langoustine). The prawn was covered with ‘bread crumb’ mixed with pancetta foam and tasty “brown butter”. The pumpkin didn’t really to anything for me; I wish the langoustine portion was more generous .. -Pigeon from Bresse was probably the world’s best. I truly enjoyed Chef Royer’s hay roasted version served with the bird’s own juice. I particularly liked the breast meat, cooked medium rare and consumed with top morels; it was succulent. The leg confit was also tender but the oval was too rich Some dishes that I was not too fond of were: -Avocado canneloni stuffed with Obsiblue prawn served with caviar and crustacean jelly. This was the opening dish that looked ‘beautiful & complex’, pleasing to the eyes but not to the palate. It was cold and refreshing, yet forgetable -Atlantic turbot usually has nice texture; sometimes not easy to season or bring out the fish’s inherent flavor. This turbot confit here was rather bland with the only taste hope coming from the turbot’s sauce. However, the ‘stone plate’ quickly abosorbed the sauce and the Hokkaido corn puree was not sweet either. These makes the overall flavor of the dish became too light The rests of the dishes are quite alright for me. For instance, the grilled foie gras was smooth with clear veggie broth to remove the liver’s rich taste. The chocolate dessert (chips, brownies and dark choc. Ice cream) was quite nice. After the heavy pigeon dish, in fact, the pre-dessert of mango & passion sorbet plus coconut meringue with tapioca worked better. Before forgotten, actually the amuse of cepes sabayon with mushroom tea and croutons served hot was interesting and nice; it’s flavorful and aromatic. The restaurant was rather empty for Sunday evening, only 5-6 window seats were filled. It offers a great view of Marina bay landscape and Singapore skyline. Beside the view, the outstanding part of the restaurant’s dining room was the rows of Murano chandeliers. Having trained at Bras, Julien Royer successfully brought back Jaan as an iconic dining place in Singapore. It is rather amazing that a chef who is barely 30 years of age yet already possesses a high level mastery of textures and flavors. Julien is certainly on the right track and arguably among the young chefs with the most potential to be the great ones. I would give 92/100 pts for my dinner here, equivalent to 2 ¼* by Michelin standard. Using the red book’s lenient judgement in USA and HK, I would say Jaan will almost certain get 2* if Michelin comes and grades Singapore restaurants one day For pictures,

Just read the report - the sake cost more than the meal, no wonder it's that expensive You should not worry about paying extra for any tea/matcha; they're included in the tasting menu The stuffs you need to pay extra will be alcohol and water Who knows that the diners at "Dining with Bogans" also ordered some aperitif (and/or digestif)? The cheapest half-bottle sake cost close to HKD 500 if not mistaken You should dine there if you have a chance I enjoyed the Spring menu even though it lacks plenty of signature dishes such as the -196 C dessert and sea perch Eel, another Yamamoto-san's famous dish, will probably be available in the summer

Hi huiray, thanks for reading The price is still the same at HKD 1980+ without any drink The hefty HKD 8000++ price tag (my guess it's for 2 people) possibly referred to the exclusive white truffle menu during winter

Hong Kong is known to be the paradise for foodies. They’ve had plenty of great Chinese/Cantonese restaurants (as expected) as well as French/Italian fine dining. However, somehow they lack top notch Japanese – compared to say Singapore’s Shinji, Aoki, Tetsuya etc. Nadaman, Nobu, Zuma etc. are fine but people won’t really come to HK and deliberately eat at these places. But, everything changed drastically last year when Seiji Yamamoto decided to open his famous Tokyo establishment, Ryugin at ICC (International Commerce Centre) Kowloon (also Sushi Yoshitake arrival at Mercer hotel - I will discuss this a few weeks later). Suddenly, Hong Kong is now a strong contender among big cities to have served best Japanese cuisine outside Japan. I don’t yet have a chance to eat at Ryugin Tokyo, but I can tell that Tenku Ryugin is one of the best restaurants offering authentic Japanese kaiseki. Their 10 course items are about as interesting and delicious as Urasawa’s non sushi courses. Outside these 2 places, I cannot really think of a better restaurant serving kaiseki (excluding Japan of course). The restaurant is part of the elite Sky dining restaurants at ICC’s 101st floor offering striking views of Hong Kong skylines. The dining room is simple and a bit dimmed, dominated by wood and beige/light brown color. Food-wise, it’s wonderful! Among them that I liked a lot were: -Soup of simmered abalone and scallop dumpling: the dashi is clear but flavorful, ichiban! The abalone, slow cooked for a few hours, is tender and delicious. The small scallop (maybe like kobashira) is sweet with nice texture -The baby tune sashimi is unbelievable. Usually anything short of Chu-toro is never good enough for me (yes, I was not a big fan of maguro/akami sushi). But this yokowa sashimi, usually only available in Spring, is a bit oily, very soft and they melted in my mouth -The tasty amadai is first deep fried (wrapped in kadaif aka ‘middle east pasta’) then grilled on binchotan – generating crispy ‘skin’ and soft flesh. The fish is not only beautifully presented, but is also quite rich in taste. Awesome .. In addition to the fantastic dishes above, Ryugin also offered classical items such as -Chawanmushi with uni; as long as you have the good quality organic egg and sea urchin, it’s not easy to go wrong with this kind of dish. The yuba made it a bit more interesting -Sukiyaki served with succulent beef and fragrant French morels worked really well with the onsen tamago’s runny egg yolk and ‘sweet’ sauce. A nice thing to serve this kind of this in Spring Prior coming here, I anticipated to try Yamamoto-san’s legendary dessert: candy pear dessert nitro-chilled to -196C and served with a sauce of the same fruit heated to a scalding 99C. Alas, it was not meant to be, but the replacement is not disappointing at all, in particular the fresh and sweet tomato under ‘glass candy’. The quality of the tomato is incredible. Ryugin’s hospitality is led by Ms. Nakano. The service is professional, warm and impeccable especially when the Japanese maitre d’ herself is the main ‘waiter’ for your table. She knew what she’s doing and very passionate about gastronomy as well. Overall, I happily gave this place 94/100 for both food and service – by my Michelin equivalent standard that would mean a solid 2 ½*. However, if Otto e mezzo or Atelier Robuchon could get 3-star by HK standard, this place deserved to be at the same level. I’m confident Tenku Ryugin can attain it within 3 years For more detailed review: http://zhangyuqisfoodjourneys.blogspot.com/2013/05/tenku-ryugin-hong-kong.html For pictures: https://picasaweb.google.com/118237905546308956881/TenkuRyuginHongKongChina