The hippest Kitchen in town

Had lunch with a friend at The Kitchen in the W Hotel, Hong Kong. The buffet spread was in the "kitchen" of the restaurant, making the dining experience a little amusing. Add the LCD panels substituting as paintings that moved, and you get a very hip dining experience with top notch service complete with handsome waiters in smart suits. The food was excellent, very high quality and well prepared - loved the salad and cold dish spreads at one end of the kitchen.The customized-to-order tempura was a nice touch as well, but save room for the desserts. All the pastries look decadent and yummy.

I love the tongue firmly in cheek humor injected into the restaurant decor, from the books used as place mats, white poultry pieces and the stacked bowls in the display cabinets all lend a cool factor to The Kitchen, but then again, that's the signature W touch across all their hotels around the globe.

Hog crazy over Hog Island Oysters

A visit to Hog Island Oyster Co used to be my weekly Fri afternoon ritual when I was living in the bay area. I'd drag a friend over to the Ferry Building where the bistro is located and feast on freshly shucked oysters and clams and downing a glass of bubbly. Life used to be so simple, and tasty.

Now that I'm back in town for a week, I had to make the trip out here to resurrect the old habit. This is still one of the freshest spots for local oysters, delivered fresh daily from Tomales Bay just half an hour north of San Francisco. They also serve one mean manila clam chowder, probably the best I've had, and usually eaten with the accompanying rustic sourdough bread and steamer clams.

Room with a Vue

I recently came to the realization that the hotel where I usually stayed at when in Shanghai had an excellent bar and grill on the top floor of the building. Situated on the 30th floor of Hyatt On The Bund, Vue commands a stunning panoramic vista of the Bund and the Pudong financial district with the new IFC building taking centerstage. It was a company team dinner, so my dinner table companions weren't the exact type I'd want to be dining with when partaking in a new dining experience.

I love everything about Vue's decor, you can spot a good design when you see it, and this one says Super Potato all over. Their signature style was everywhere, from the porcelain in the foyer to the dining area murals and walled cabinets and the overall warmth of the furniture and lighting.

We were here for steak and we were presented with a list of various fine cuts for our selection. I changed my mind at the last minute and opted for pork chops instead, and we all ordered side dishes to share. The pork chops were very tasty and well marinated, and as side dishes go, the roasted forest mushrooms, creamed spinach and glazed carrots were some of the best I've had in steakhouses.

If it wasn't for the fact that my company uses this hotel extensively for our travels, I'd come back for steak more often. I like to escape when I come into Shanghai and get lost in this old world-new world charm, and I'd hate to ruin the experience by meeting a coworker dining in the same restaurant and inevitably get into a conversation about work yet again.

Vue is at 199 Huangpu Lu, Hyatt On The Bund, Shanghai, China.