Robataya Yoyogi, Singapore

As usual, D Guy sure knows all the right buttons to press. When he mentioned that his brother was gifting us a bottle of Junmai Daiginjo for our dinner at Robataya Yoyogi, I could not decline despite being double booked that night.

This spacious little restaurant at The Pier near Robertson Quay serves small dishes of grilled meat, seafood and vegetables. Allowing Chef Patrick Tan to decide on your meal is an easy choice, especially for your first time. Patrick has fresh supplies flown in 5 days of the week from Japan and will select the best from the latest additions to his larder.

Our Omakase dinner began with a leg of Hokkaido King Crab grilled to perfection, sweet and succulent. This seasonal dish seemed an appropriate way to celebrate the end of 2007. A lovely little lamb cutlet followed, seasoned just right and served tender with a dollop of English mustard on the side. After that came a single Hokkigai (surf clam) with a light cream sauce slightly browned on the top mixed with tiny caviar and finely chopped spring onions.

The evening's two vegetable dishes were delightful in their creative simplicity. Two small new potatoes, halved, grilled to perfection and served with thin slices of butter were a fragrant combination, the butter melting upon contact with the still hot tiny tubers. The last dish was a short skewer of cherry tomatoes wrapped in bacon. The little tomatoes were lightly roasted and filled your mouth with ketchup-like consistency mixing with the salty bacon when eaten.

Our little extra order was grilled squid. Chef Tan did an excellent job making sure that the meat was still juicy and not too chewy yet with a crispy edge on it. It was accompanied by a slightly spicy cream sauce that blended well with its flavour. The chef's menu ended with a cold noodle served with sides of finely grated ginger and spring onions. The texture and temperature of the noodles provided a satisfying finish to a wonderful meal.

Chef Patrick also runs Yoyogi across the street at 35 Mhd Sultan Road if you fancy the more traditional sushi and sashimi fare.

Robataya Yoyogi, +65 633 2711, 80 Mohamed Sultan Road, The Pier, #01-04, Singapore 239013.

Hiro Sushi, the best sushi bar in Tahoe

I was up in Tahoe in late November, and stumbled upon this little shack late one night as they were about to close. The crowds were thinning out, so we managed to get a good table near the window. Sushi was the highlight of the menu, and we ordered several varieties, as well as sashimi and some handrolls, but the one dish that really stood out was the 'boxed' style sushi, consisting of seared halibut wrapped over rice and put into a box to shape, hence the name for this dish. It was one of the prettiest presentations I've seen for a sushi dish, and I wanted to share it here. It tasted as good as it looked.

Pony Lounge & Dining, Sydney, Australia

This delightful restaurant is situated on the side of the red-brick "The Rocks" Centre on the corner of Argyle Street and Kendall Lane.

Diners have a choice of sitting either at the long wooden table on the outside or at smaller individual tables inside paired with Eames DCM dining chairs. The pony-skin clad kitchen counter is the first thing that catches your eye and the further straw bale and rope installations add to the cowboy theme.

The food was excellent. The Sydney Rock Oysters (of course) were fresh and garnished with a special vinegar. The tuna tataki salad was lightly seared and seasoned though I thought the portion could be much more generous. It arrived looking like tuna tataki with a small garnish of salad. As for the main, I had the 350gm sirloin which was grilled to perfection. The only drawback here was that they only had French mustard and NO English mustard. Perhaps it is my Asian palate for spiciness but I have a hard time finishing a large steak without English mustard keeping it interesting. In fact, English mustard mixed with the steak jus is a perfect accompaniment to any steak. HOWEVER, the best part of this meal (despite my VERY full state), was the apple and almond galette topped with vanilla bean ice cream. The pastry was light and flaky and yet substantial enough to hold a dollop of ice cream on the top of each forkful. Delicious. Pony's head chef Damian Heads should be applauded just for this dessert.

After this feast, I walked all the way from the Rocks back to my hotel. Well worth it.

Pony Lounge & Dining, Cnr Argyle St & Kendall Lane, The Rocks, Sydney NSW 2000, +61 2 92527797, reservations@ponydining.com.au

Hong Kong's Little Eateries

I had the pleasure of spending this past weekend with some of my best friends in Hong Kong. The mandate was simple : shop for "stuff" (ie dive and photo gear) and eat. Simple but both activities got a little out of hand.

We worked our way down the little streets between Lan Kwai Fong and Sheung Wan. There is a great variety of food and it is indeed hard to decide where and how much to eat. Our first stop (after a grapefruit and passionfruit juice at Starbucks in LKF to get our digestive juices going) was the ever famous Mak's Noodle on 77 Wellington Street. The wanton noodle soup is what most people go for. Both the soup and dry versions were pronounced good. We breathed a sigh of relief when the small servings arrived before us. Though they were not overly generous, we were glad to save room for more.

Our next destination was what has been deemed the best beef brisket noodle in town. "Gau Gei" is located on 21 Gough Street much further down Wellington road off Aberdeen Street. Unfortunately, we were early, arriving at 12pm, only to find that the doors only open at 1230pm. We returned later after successfully buying some "stuff" and were greeted by a long line. Once in, order the beef brisket with the fat yellow noodle. I have tried the rice noodle before but the texture of the linguini type noodle made the overall dish much more interesting. You might also want to order some lettuce with oyster sauce to go along. Again, the servings are not too big and we were happy with that. The curry beef noodle looked exciting but none of us ventured a taste.

On the corner of Aberdeen St and Wellington St stands one of the oldest dim sum places in Hong Kong which serves an extremely traditional dim sum still served in push carts. P Girl (old Tokyu hand) was taken here when she first moved to Hong Kong and was somewhat traumatised by the culture shock - it is very authentic. It opens at 6am daily for those who wish for an early start. Other specialties in that area one should try are the FAMOUS roast goose from Yung Kee on 32-40 Wellington Street, the pigeon and other interesting local dishes at Tai Ping Koon or TPK Cafe on 60 Stanley Street, and the fishball and fishcakes at the Fishball Noodle Shop on Kau U Fong (one street below Gough St off Aberdeen).

As Central expands, the little streets west of LKF and SOHO are quickly undergoing gentrification. These little restaurants now increasingly sit next to hip little furniture and homeware stores. One hopes that these proprieters own their shop spaces and will not be forced to move elsewhere. In this area, the search for food is as interesting as the finds.

The weekend was a success - lots of "stuff" purchased and LOTS of food eaten.

Shira Nui - Melbourne, Australia

Whenever I get to spend a weekend in Melbourne, my one "must-do" restaurant request is Shira Nui.

Shira Nui is about 30 minutes out of the city, but definitely worth the trip. Make sure you call ahead for reservations, especially for the weekends, as you MUST get a seat at the counter. The tables are ok but only counter guests get to order the ... OMAKASE !!

The Omakase puts you in the hands of capable Chef Hiro Nishikura. Pair after pair of custom-made sushi appear on a plate before you. Sitting at the counter allows you to watch the man and his assistant at work concocting up new sushi creations before your very eyes.

If you thought sushi was only fish atop small handfulls of compressed rice, think again! Be delighted by the wagyu beef sushi and sometimes the asparagus with fish roe sushi amidst their more traditional brethren.

My brother-in-law almost exhausted the chef's store of creativity at last visit but is keen to go back for new challenges. My little sis who is expecting a son in December has not been able to enjoy her favorite cuisine for the past 6 months. This will probably the site of our first celebratory meal after she pops!

Shira Nui, 247 Springvale Rd, Glen Waverley, VIC, 3150, Australia, Tel: (03) 9886-7755

Nami Nami, Mountain View, California

"Karoshi" is apparently the Japanese term for death by overwork. I wish I knew the Japanese word for death by overeating.

One of many memorable meals during last week's 9-day visit to D Guy's San Francisco turf was at Nami Nami, a three-month old restaurant on the very hip Castro Street in Mountain View, California.

I have never heard of Kappo Dining but apparently it is casual-style dining from Kyoto. This little restaurant has a very authentic vibe and it feels almost like dining in Tokyo especially since the waitstaff seem to only speak Japanese. A loud "Sumimasen" should get their attention.

To start off the meal, I would recommend the Chinmi - little dishes to accompany sake or beer. The tatami iwashi (flattened crispy whitebait) is always a personal favorite but they also have a few other interesting dishes with strange descriptions you should to try. If you like a good bottle of sake, we had a Kikusui Junmai Daiginjo from Niigata which was very nice and best when serve chilled (I hear only cheap sake is served hot).

Due to my recent education on the terrible plight of the global tuna stock (see National Geographic March issue), I find myself now more partial to interestingly prepared non-fish Japanese dishes and Nami Nami did not disappoint.

The kobe beef sashimi (pictured above) was delicious and is similar to beef carpaccio but lightly seared and garnished with cilantro and sesame seeds.

The other two definite must-trys are the grilled eggplant and the fragrant deep-fried black pork, recommended, of course, by D Guy. The grilled eggplant was served in its skin but the meat had been dug out and cubed, mixed with sauces and then returned to the skin for final grilling. The outcome was a delicious visual delight.

The pork (pictured on right) was lightly floured and still succulent. It was like the sweeter and juicer version of Chinese roast pork marinated in teriyaki sauce. Eating it with the spring onions gave it a kick with none of the overly porky taste. Both the eggplant and pork were wonderful with a bowl of steaming Japanese rice.

240 Castro St, Mountain View, CA 94041
650.964.6990

Tsukiji Sushi Oishii!!!

When given the choice between breakfast and more sleep, I ALWAYS pick more sleep. The one exception is when I am in Tokyo.

Tsukiji Fish Market is located right on the edge of Tokyo Bay where ships can pull up right alongside and deliver their precious loads of Tuna daily. This starts a frenzied chain reaction from an early morning Tuna auction (circa 5am), to the slicing and dicing of the fish (nothing goes to waste) and ending with a satisfying sushi breakfast (burp). Apparently 90% of the fish eaten in Tokyo comes through this market.

My first visit to this fabled market was with D Guy (of course) a few years ago during our first pilgrimage to the Tokyo Motor Show. We made our way to the Tsukijishijo Station on the Oedo Line in the wee hours of the morning when the early rays of dawn were just breaking. The station is right outside the market and if you don't know which exit to use, just follow the guys in the rubber boots. Don't be fooled by the Tsukiji Station on the Hibiya Line, it is somewhat of a longer distance away.

This time around (my fifth to be exact), I took P Girl (who has not been to Japan since World Expo '85) to sample some daybreak sushi. This morning was particularly busy as the little one-man trucks with bumper car agility sped around the narrow alleys at breakneck speeds. The resulting rush of adrenaline kept us on our toes building up our appetite for the feast to follow.

Visitors to Tsukiji should take their time exploring this fan-shaped market. The narrower lanes are less hectic sans the motorized trucks and offer a fascinating array of seafood that cannot be found anywhere else in the world. Amazing varieties of prawns, shellfish, crabs waving from sawdust-filled boxes, eels, and anything else you can name can be found here.

The rows of sushi stalls are just outside the fish market and the most famous, (by virtue of their place in popular guide books) sport long waiting lines. No prizes for guessing which ones.

I believe there is a trade-off between food quality and time. No matter how good a sushi place is, if you are situated outside Tsukiji, you can be 99.9% sure that the fish is FRESH! Therefore, we chose a place two rows away and were seated immediately. Consuming significant amounts of raw fish at an early hour can be a shock to anyone's system. I recommend helping your body cope by ordering "Nama-biru". This will set you right instantly. Saying "Nama-Biru Hitotsu" brought me a glass of the coldest and best draft beer I have ever had at 8am in the morning. P Girl wisely (for both of us) decided to share my glass.

If you are still standing after this feast (the food pictured above is for one), the neighbouring stores offer opportunities to purchase all the equipment you ever needed to set up your own sushi bar. From sushi knives, to tableware, to Chef's "happy coats", to those little curtains that make your patrons bow when entering your establishment. The world is your oyster if you can pack it all in your bag without getting arrested.

P Girl (now named Old Tokyu Hand) did show me a new perspective on Tsukiji. After our little tour, we took a 15-minute walk to Carretta Shiodome, a newly created city district, to try to work off the rice and the alcohol. If you take the lift up to the "Sky Restaurants", there is a great aerial view of Tsukiji Market plus HamaRikyu Gardens, Odaiba and Tokyo Bay. You can even see the Rainbow Bridge in the distance and planes heading for Haneda Airport.

If you are a foodie, a trip to this market is a must. No one can claim to have suffered for their passion until they have dined on early morning sushi at Tsukiji. Btw, the market is apparently closed on Sundays. Take note to avoid disappointment.

Delectable Dishes @ Da Marco

He Ate, She Hasn't Been Eating. I'm on an eating binge of late while I'm in Shanghai. Another night, another restaurant.

Da Marco is where the Shanghai locals go for homestyle Italian fare. That's what my friend Yut told me. So we made table bookings for this Italian bistro located on 103 Dongzhu An Bang Road, Golden Bridge Garden. The location is a little odd, set in the main building of a serviced apartment near Zhenning and Jiangsu Roads. We didn't really have a lot of trouble finding the place as some people did, and as we walked into the bustling restaurant we were immediately shown to our table by the window. Mind you, this is not your fancy five-star hotel trattoria, but the warm and friendly ambience made us all feel very much at home. The menu items looked very conventional, with the usual antipasti sampler, carpaccio, mussels and clam and caprese salads. There was also a good selection of meat dishes as well as a dozen or so pizza selections. Nothing bizarre or unpronounceable, just good old-fashioned Italian classics. We ordered beef carpaccio, air-dried beef and steamed mussels and clams. What stood out about Da Marco was the size of the servings, very big by local standards, and yet so reasonably priced.

For our entrees, we ordered spagetti aglio olio, seabass stuffed ravioli in a tomato sauce and shrimp capellini, and again, the generous portions were very delicious and well prepared. They were actually the size my Italian friend's mom would serve her dinners, always fearing that her guests would go hungry. Needless to say, none of us could finish our meals.

We were too stuffed to even attempt to share a dessert, so we asked for the bill, which came to a reasonable RMB700 for three persons, including a glass of prosecco and several rounds of tonic water. Not bad at all. In fact, it reminded me a lot of Cantina, another homestyle Italian bistro in a quiet neighborhood of Singapore with reasonably priced Italian dishes. I'm glad I discovered Da Marco, just like the many Italian expats in Shanghai who have become regular patrons at this popular eatery. This will come in handy when I have a craving for a late night carpaccio snack. I'm not Italian, but I know a good carpaccio or ravioli when I taste one.

Third Time Lucky

After two nights of great Japanese dining, I didn't think there would be a third. Friend of mine told me about this great Japanese hole-in-the-wall place serving fresh seafood for a reasonable price. Well, he described it as 'hole-in-the-wall' anyway. I was intrigued, so I said yes. I've eaten at a few high end Japanese restaurants in Shanghai over the course of my trips, but never a local dive, so this sounded like an exciting proposition. So what's to worry? A minor case of food poisoning?

We arrived at Rong Ri Japanese Restaurant at 427 Huashan Road, and yes, my friend was right about the hole-in-the-wall description, and not in a Shintori sort of way. But hey, I'm just here for the food. So we made our way up the tiny flight of stairs to the second floor, and walked into the cozy and brightly lit dining room. Imagine a typical Japanese family-run restaurant in one of the back alleys of Tokyo, and you'll have a good idea of how Rong Ri looks like. The crammed room had at least 6 tables and a long sushi bar, with lots of daily specials written in Japanese on slips of paper above the bar counter. One end of the wall was covered with business cards from patrons, and actually gave the whole restaurant a very homely and friendly ambience. This was no fancy high end Japanese restaurant, but judging by the mostly Japanese clientele that night, it seemed like it enjoyed a healthy following within the local Japanese community.

We informed the waitress we wanted the ala carte buffet, and she promptly gave us a picture menu to order. First round - sashimi combo, asparagus rolls wrapped in bacon, fermented bean and egg sushi. I was skeptical about the freshness of the fish but my fears were unfounded. The sashimi portions were generous and overall pretty decent. Second round - chicken yakitori, uni nigiri, another round of sashimi combo and salad. Yum. And we were still going strong. We ordered sake as well, but that wasn't as good as expected, yet still drinkable. This was the only grade of sake included in the buffet, so that explained the quality. Third round - miso soup, more sushi, cold ramen with seafood. We were stuffed. Round four was not going to happen. As we gazed around the room feeling rather contented and bloated, we saw two Japanese salarymen next to us having an uproariously good time teasing the very friendly waitresses and getting smashed. One of them actually spoke very fluent Mandarin. Ah, it sure felt like Tokyo.





The best part of the evening was getting the check and finding out the whole meal only cost us RMB298. That's a lot of good food for very little. I'll definitely be back for more very soon.

Escaping The Ordinary

I must be on a sushi roll - more like a constant craving for raw fish since I arrived in Shanghai three days ago. Last night I found myself back again at one of my old haunts, the Shintori restaurant at 803 Julu Lu. Like a Japanese businessman drawn to a famous geisha in a particular establishment in the town he visits occasionally for work, I'm unable to shake the appeal of this modern Japanese restaurant with a gorgeous exterior that seduces you into its inner sanctum of tasty heavenly pleasures. You'll fall in love with the entrance to Shintori, like most people do, drawn in slowly by its innocent and non-descript arch along the quiet narrow street. As you walk through, you find yourself led down a slightly meandering stone path fanned by tall bamboo trees on both sides extending high above the pebbled ground. The entire restaurant is built into an old terrace shophouse that has been completed gutted from the inside, leaving only the front and rear of the original facade intact; even the front of the restaurant is roofless. Imagine walking into a quiet, dreamlike realm away from the hustle and bustle of the city the minute you step in. And then you notice a glass and wood cubicle at the far end of the path, and as you approach it curiously, the front panel of the cube slides open silently and beckons you into the interior. As you walk into the cubicle enclosure, the other panel at the far end slides open automatically to reveal the entrance to the restaurant proper. Talk about grand entrances, as you walk into the reception area the sound of electronic chill out music fills the air and the aroma from the open kitchen at the far end drifts into your senses. You find yourself in the middle of the cavern-like room, with a communal table stretched out in the middle, surrounded by tall chairs, a sushi bar on the left side, and the bar on the right. A glass and wood staircase by the right side leads patrons to the second level where the private booths and smaller tables are located. The entire room is bathed in industrial chic - metal, glass and wood define this very hip and trendy setting. Whenever I take my friends here for dinner, I hear the same amazed and pleasantly surprised gasps of delight when they finally make it to the dining table. I think half the fun is in making a grand entrance into this restaurant - you feel like you just stepped into the Matrix. Let the food battle begin!

Shintori is actually part of the Shintori group of restaurants based out of Taiwan, all the outlets in this chain have a special gimmicky theme to delight and enhance the entire dining experience, but Shintori in Shanghai does it with a bit more panache. That's not to say the food isn't great, it's actually quite decent. This is modern Japanese fusion dining anyway, so expect some interesting combinations, new flavors and modern interpretations of classic Japanese fare. Service may be a tad bit slow at times, but the ambience makes up for it. I was however, a little disappointed with the limited sake menu. The highest grade available was junmai ginjo, and at RMB95, was reasonable but not great. Cold soba was served in a large bowl made of ice to keep the noodles chilled, that was a cool idea, literally. But definitely try the bite size appetizers, those are truly the highlight of the restaurant. Even if the food doesn't impress your palate, you'll at least be assured of a very pleasant and satisfying experience in this unique restaurant.

Hairy Scary Rolls at Haiku

As I flew into Shanghai yet again this month, my friend Yut decided to take me to Haiku by Hatsune, a rather popular restaurant down tree-lined Tai Jiang Lu near Heng Shan Lu for my first meal in town. After making our way through the evening traffic, we arrived to a very empty restaurant by 7:00pm.

From the outside, it looked like any other trendy dinner spot in town, but I had high expectations and was looking forward to trying their some of their signature handrolls that the locals have been raving about in the forums. We started with some chilled tofu, a few selections of sushi and two signature handrolls. I noted that they were a little stingy with the wasabi. You should know that I usually judge a Japanese restaurant by the quality of their wasabi. Some of the better ones prefer the freshly grated variety as opposed to the powdered form. Both are lethal, but the fresh version known as 'sawa' tastes like fresh grass with a real kick to the groin, and has a unique subtle flavor that is lost in the processed form once it is turned to powder or paste. Then again, most of the green glop found in restaurants in America isn't really wasabi anyway, but made of horseradish and green food coloring.



Anyway, I'm digressing again. The fish was fresh, albeit a tad bit warm for my liking, but the highlight was the handrolls. The Hairy Scary Roll was a unagi and asparagus wrapped rice roll smothered with bonito flakes, spring onions and drizzled with teriyaki sauce - a dream dish for any bonito lover. I also liked the RJ roll, named after the head chef of Haiku who created it. This was a combination of two types of fish, with a generous sprinkle of japanese chives on top. These delectable dishes brings to mind the fantastic handrolls at Blowfish Sushi, one of my favorite Japanese restaurants in San Jose's Santana Row. We also tried their three-course eel set, which features eel cooked two way (one grilled, one steamed) and a clear eel broth that was surprisingly flavorful despite its clarity. Overall, Haiku impressed me with their innovative handrolls that seemed very much a part of the Cali-Jap fusion scene.



There were many more items on the menu that we would have loved to try, with at least a dozen more handrolls that sounded as equally tempting as the Hairy Scary Roll, but those would have to wait till next time. As we left the restaurant around 9pm, the restaurant had already filled up to capacity and diners were still streaming in. I would recommend Haiku to anyone looking for a decent Japanese meal when in Shanghai - the excellent quality of the food, the modern yet simplistic decor and garden setting makes dining in this hectic metropolis a little more pleasant than expected.

Aurum, Singapore - Cutting Edge Gastronomy

Molecular Gastronomy. It doesn't exist. At least according to Edward Voon, Executive Chef, of Aurum when asked what it was. I had been intrigued by this term (not to mention the food), and made reservations to find out whether my visions of a foam-filled dishes with no real substance were accurate. Although this might be the biggest scam in recent history, I HAD to sample this new form of cooking. Chef Voon prefers to call his creations "New Age". Regardless of label, I was absolutely thrilled that someone felt Singapore was ready for a restaurant like this and was gutsy enough to take a bet on us.

Located on the second floor of The Cannery at Clarke Quay, the restaurant is not the easiest to find. Amidst a slew of bars and restaurants, Aurum's entrance appears more like a waiting area for a plastic surgeon's office than a portal into a new dimension of dining. Once the wall of refrigerator doors (more like morgue doors) swing open, you quickly realise that you are in for an extremely unconventional experience.

Not for the superstitious, the whole atmosphere simulates a hospital setting with the chefs working at the operating theatre while diners are seated at metal dining tables on wheelchairs. Wheelchairs! I must admit that my fears of premature descrepitude did initially make the seating arrangement feel a little awkward, but the enchanting degustation menu soon took centre stage. Amusingly, the dominant color in the restaurant was gold (Aurum is Spanish for gold) which was accentuated by a large disco ball and gold polka dots achieving a funky Grey's Anatomy meets La Cage Au Folles feel.

We were fortunate enough to have the very personable Chef (who was also easy on the eyes) talk us through each dish. He described the various preparations and the best way to consume it - usually all in one mouthful. The menu and the food is hard to describe. Chef Voon's foie gras, ham, spanish omelette and soba were my favourites and all the dishes were amazing in flavour and entertainment value. Aurum only serves a 13-course degustation menu which changes every three weeks. Last night we sampled his sixth menu since they started.

Penang-born Voon made his name at the Oriental's Dolce Vita restaurant where he created an exciting, completely revamped menu consisting of mediteranean cusine with an Asian influence. Voon was also voted Best New Chef at the 2004 Food and Hotel Asia Competition out of 90 other chefs from the region. Paco Ronchero, a disciple of El Bulli's Ferran Adria, is a consultant for Aurum and Voon intends to spend three months this summer honing his skills at Ronchero's restaurant in Spain.

The night was a veritable feast of tastes, textures and temperatures (liquid nitrogen playing a key role). Go without any preconceived notions or expectations (I have purposely left out photographs) and you will be pleasantly surprised. Aurum will be undergoing a renovation pretty soon so I would urge the more adventurous to visit before the decor becomes more mainstream.

Voon also oversees the menu at Barfly, a great after-dinner place, just around the corner.

Aurum, The Cannery, Clarke Quay, +65 6887 3733

Jean Georges For My Birthday - A Real Treat!

It's not very often that one can find a good reason to spend good money on haute cuisine (French, no less), but my mom decided buy me a birthday dinner this week. She requested for French, and I couldn't think of a better place for that than Jean Georges (on the 4th floor of Three On The Bund), the Shanghai offshoot of the famed Parisian namesake restaurant by the esteemed Jean Georges Vongerichten.

Coincidentally, we had a birthday dinner celebration at the same restaurant several years ago for Debra and myself. I still remember the wonderfully rich chocolate birthday cake we shared that night. And those dreaded work calls that kept interrupting our dinner. I decided I'll have none of that this time with my folks, so the phone stayed off throughout the evening (I wised up as I get older, one of the few benefits of aging).

For those in the know, Jean Georges is a mecca for some of the finest modern French cuisine available anywhere, and to have a location in Shanghai says a lot about the burgeoning fine dining scene over in China. If my memory serves me well, I remember JG's dishes typically leaned towards the slightly heavier, more traditional French style, but this time around it was much lighter, with more local ingredients thrown into the mix and a more delicate balance of modern flavor. Could have been the Sens & Bund influence down the street. That's yet another fantastic nouveau French eatery opened by the twins Jacques and Laurent Pourcel, the youngest chefs to be awarded three Michelin stars for their Montpellier restaurant, Le Jardin des Sens in. Touche, JG.

Anyway, I loved the food. I don't, however, feel like dissecting and analyzing this meal into its various components because what counts most during a JG meal is the experience in itself - from the excellent service by the local staff to the minute attention at every course to the deftly executed food presentations and finally, the taste that seals the deal. But I must mention the dessert sampler, which came in two variations - chocolate and passionfruit. The chocolate sampler presented itself with four variations of chocolate desserts, which included a mousse, ice cream and cake. The passionfruit sampler was the citrus equivalent with four desserts utilizing passionfruit as the main seasonal ingredient. Needless to say, we had eight desserts to sample between the three of us. That's what I call a real treat!

T8 For Easter Brunch

So I find myself in Shanghai again this April. It seems this is my annual Spring Break, the time of the season when I get to sample the wonderful cuisine of Shanghai and partake in some bar hopping along the Bund. I had casually mentioned to my folks that I would be in Shanghai for work, next thing I knew, they had booked flights over to spend the weekend with me. Good thing my work was off to a slow start, so I had plenty of time show them a few of my favorite restaurants in town (and have them pay for the meals).

I made reservations at T8 for our Easter Sunday brunch, for a "Mezza Mayhem" degustation set consisting of 8 dishes including desserts, cocktail and unlimited coffee and tea. T8, being my favorite restaurant in Shanghai, always manages to titillate me with their innovative fusion of Aussie recipes with eastern ingredients to create dishes that are very original and sumptuous, and pleasing on the eye all at the same time. Incidentally, they're also the only restaurant in China that made it to the Top 50 Restaurants In The World list 2004 by Conde Nast.

I love the way T8 dishes are presented, usually in a simple, yet very beautiful and elegant manner, melding color, form and a lot of anticipation into the mix. Of course it helps that there's usually a spotlight at each table setting, which makes for a great opportunity to snap some great food photos. For the brunch, we were seated on the upper level of the restaurant in a beautifully renovated pre-war conservation house called a "shikumen", decorated with Asian art pieces amid a western dining room influence. The ceiling beams were exposed, giving way to a lofty, airy ambience while sunlight drifted into the room through the big windows that were opened on one end of the room. This was spring, and you could almost smell it in the cool breeze wafting in.

We made our selection of 8 dishes from the list of appetizers, entrees and desserts - all of the items looked yummy, and it wasn't easy just picking 8. So we decided to select one of each and dine family style. The most memorable appetizer had to be the pan fried foie gras, for it's melt-in-your-mouth texture and full flavor complimented by the black peppered pineapple salsa. I guess raisins would have worked fine, but I liked the use of local fruits in the dishes. Another dish that left a good impression was the fin de claire oyster with beetroot bubbles and wasabi panna cotta. The beetroot was actually finely diced, which lent a slightly crunchy texture while the wasabi panna cotta wrapped the oyster in its smooth embrace as it slid down my throat all too quickly. Yum! Yup, T8 never ceases to surprise me.

They should also be introducing their Spring menu this week, so I'm planning to head back for another meal this weekend before I skip town.

No. 8 Xintiandi North Part, Lane 181 Tai Cang Road

Where Do I Begin?

I think it was the way she gobbled up her warm chocolate brownie at the Hard Rock Cafe that caught my eye and made me sit up and take notice that fateful evening. Or maybe it was the way she spoke of her mother's beef noodle soup, the delicate name dropping of the various ingredients rolling off the tip of her tongue that made my heart yearn for the same taste that was lingering in her mind.

Whatever the reason, we became fast friends and swift dining partners ever since then, cavorting across continents, sampling each region's delicacies and moving on to the next like Galactus on a hunger binge. In this case, there were 2 Galactus' hurtling across the universe, ever hungry, ever looking out for that next cuisine to dig in.

Thank goodness for great genes (and jeans). We don't look like two gigantic bouncing masses, but we sure have the appetite to conquer a universe populated with unknown eateries and bistros in far flung corners of the globe - and we have the photos to prove it (of the food, I mean).

It's heartening to know that even distance can't keep our stomachs apart. Though we live on different continents now, we still meet up halfway, or sometimes in each other's backyard for that occasional feast around town and a weekend of bistro hopping.
We even talked about writing a travel book with a gastronomic twist, but that's still a thought in progess, and in the meantime, we're snapping up photos of our meals and jotting down notes of the amazing cuisines we've discovered on our journeys together.

And you can read about it and sample every morsel in here.
Bon appetit.
D