The Lounge, Four Seasons Hotel, Hong Kong

Reservations are a must but the benefits are legion. The impeccable service, the freshly baked scones and the three-piece jazz band create an incomparable atmosphere of complete relaxation for Sunday high tea to catch up with long lost friends.

Cafe Grey, The Upper House, Hong Kong

I am in HK for the weekend and living life as a complete tai-tai. Of course I had to meet my friend who is the authority on venues for power breakfasts and tai-tai high teas. He was the one who introduced me to breakfast at Mandarin Oriental's intimate Cafe Causette.

Today, he arranged for a table at Cafe Grey located on the 49th floor of one of the nicest new boutique hotels, The Upper House. The Hotel sits above the JW Marriott at Pacific Place. It used to be the Atrium serviced apartments but it has been transformed by local designer Andre Fu into a beautiful modern Asian offering with all the latest gadgets and amenities (except a pool).

There are two choices for the tea set and I opted for the simpler option which meant raspberry scones, salmon rolls on pumpernickel squares and a choice of beverage (Earl Grey Tea). The more elaborate set included a selection of finger sandwiches.

We had a small table at the lounge area which meant that nobody else was there as it was too early for drinks. Through the duration of our tea, I was treated to a magnificent view of the HK Harbor and Kowloon as we chatted. It was a real treat that all self-respecting ladies of leisure should absolutely indulge in.

Kappo Yu Kaiseki

Ah, food, glorious food! I'm talking about Kyoto-style kaiseki dinners fit for an emperor. A friend of mine told me that the owner of Sushi Oyama had opened a new kaiseki restaurant in Shanghai recently, and since I had no plans this Saturday night, I thought it would be the perfect indulgence for the weekend. 

I arrived at Kappo Yu's doorstep by taxi, the entrance stood out uncharacteristically from the rest of the neighborhood's facade with its Japanese lanterns, wooden sliding door and bamboo trees lining both sides of the entrance. It reminded me of the quaint little Japanese restaurants I visited when I was in Kyoto. Expectations were high, and I kept my fingers crossed as I walked through the entrance.

I found myself in a tiny restaurant, with a counter that accommodated no more than 10 patrons at a time. There were two other private rooms to the right, and both seemed occupied already. The waitress greeted me politely in Japanese and led me to the sole empty chair at the main counter. I was glad I had made a reservation earlier. 

Since this was a kaiseki restaurant, there was only one fixed priced tasting menu for the evening. I requested for a copy of the menu, which the waitress brought, and explained to me the slight changes that they had made for the evening's presentation based on the availability of fresh ingredients that day.

And so it began. First up was the amuse bouche of asparagus brulee with uni and sweet soy sauce. Next, fresh octopus with yam strips. Third, the botan shrimp and sesame tofu tempura. The sesame tofu tempura was especially delicious with a nice roasted sesame flavor. 

Fourth, a Japanese salad of Ryukyu style horse mackerel with daikon radish sprouts. The fifth and one of my favorite courses was sashimi, fresh tuna and mackerel pike flown in daily from Japan. The tuna was of a very high grade, something that I've rarely come across in most sushi restaurants anywhere. 

The sixth dish was broiled black cod with broth. This was a little overcooked, but very well marinated. Next up was a soup, creamy cauliflower cold soup with yuku jelly. Excellent! My eighth dish was toro steak with foie gras teriyaki mustard sauce. The toro was lightly seared on the outside and still raw in the center, and the earthy sauce with chunks of foie gras complimented the toro perfectly. 

Next up was cold Inaniwa udon, served in a chilled bowl of ponzu sauce, and was very refreshing. And the final tenth dish was abalone rice mixed with abalone liver, with juicy morsels of fresh abalone, accompanied by a miso soup. 

The quality of the meal presentation was exceptional, I was so impressed with almost all the dishes, that I dare say this meal came very close to my experience at Kikunoi in Kyoto. No easy feat to accomplish for a new restaurant barely months old. I also learned that the menu changed every two weeks or so, based on the seasonal ingredients available each week. I thanked the chef, Terada-san and walked out feeling a very happy man. One of the waitresses accompanied me to the street corner and thanked me again for coming. I think I'll be back.

Kappo Yu is at:

33 Wuxing Lu, near Huaihai Xi Lu,

Shanghai, China

Tel: +86-6466 7855

Reservations essential. 690RMB for a 10-course set.

Hoa Tuc, Ho Chih Minh City, Vietnam

If you happen to be in HCMC for a weekend or a night, there are two things I would recommend. One, to stay at the Park Hyatt Saigon - its the best hotel in town with food, drinks and service that rivals the best in Asia.  Two, cross the road directly opposite Hyatt's uber cool bar, Lam Son, go through a somewhat forbidding arched driveway and you will find yourself at the end of a cul-de-sac in front of Hoa Tuc, a self-described "Contemporary Vietnamese Cuisine Tea Garden".

After a full weekend in HCMC both in terms of activities and eating, we were looking for our last meal before boarding our flight.  This little gem was a lovely surprise providing a light tasty meal with a franco-viet cafe atmosphere.

The menu was full of interesting dishes and we made a valiant attempt to sample a range. Every dish was balanced and included lots of fresh vegetables and local herbs.  We ordered :

1. Fresh home made tofu pan-fried in light batter with fresh mint, salt, pepper and lime, 
2. Fish cake wraps with spicy cucumber fish sauce, 
3. Spicy char-grilled beef w/kumquat, mustard sprout, lemongrass and white eggplant, 
4. Traditional lotus stem salad with prawns and pork, 
5. BBQ fillet of Vietnamese snapper with spicy beetroot and ginger sauce, 
6. Clams with star fruit soup with tomatoes and dill,
7. Sauteed glass noodles with crabs and vegetables, and
8. Seafood fried rice.

Everything is highly recommended except for the seafood fried rice.  If you like lounging while eating, request for the sofa corner which can seat about 4-6.

Hoa Tuc

74 Hai Ba Trun, Quan 1, Sai Gon

T: 3825 1676 E: hoatuc@gmail.com

Japanese Restaurant Suju

I took my folks to Suju today, a Japanese restaurant I recently discovered on the fourth floor of the Mandarin Gallery mall down Orchard Road. It's not your typical run of the mill Japanese restaurant, if the prices on the menu are anything to go by. Their seafood was flown in direct from Tsukiji market in Tokyo, so I had high hopes for this place. It left a very favorable impression on my first visit a couple of months ago for dinner (food was exquisite, service was top notch), so much so that I decided my folks had to try it since they both love Japanese cuisine.

I ordered the chirashi don and the local daily special, which was raw squid with roe and okra. The raw squid was very fresh and tender, and my mom, who's not a fan of squid, actually liked it too. The chirashi don was excellent, and the fish was very fresh. My dad claimed his kurobuta pork tonkatsu was the best he's ever had. So I was glad to hear that they both enjoyed their meal as much as I did.

Anyway, this is not your typical Japanese restaurant. The meal was easily twice the price at any other Japanese restaurant in town. But you get what you pay for, and in this case, this is as close as you'll get to Tsukiji for fresh fish.

Japanese Restaurant Suju is at
333A Orchard Road, #04-05/07 Mandarin Gallery, Singapore
Tel: +65 6737-7764

Where to lunch on a rainy day

It was another one of those rainy days in Shanghai, and I was still nursing a cold from the day before. I wasn't in the mood to take a taxi to the other side of the river for lunch, so only alternative was the 100 Century Avenue restaurant on the 91st floor. I arrived early, just before noon, and was able to get a table near the window in a quieter section of the restaurant. The dining concept reminded me of Mezzanine at the Grand Hyatt Singapore, where several open kitchens specializing in regional cuisines served the diners in the restaurant. The menu was divided into Western, Chinese and Japanese sections, but there was also a set lunch for RMB180. I wasn't too hungry, so the set lunch seemed like a sensible choice.

I picked the cream of mushroom soup for my starter, and the roasted free range chicken for my main. The soup was quite nice, full of mushroom flavors, but nothing special. The free range chicken was juicy and tender, the way free range should be. Plus the skin was very crispy and nicely seasoned. The main course was accompanied by creamed spinach and roasted potatoes on the side, and a nice creamy dip for the chicken as well.

I felt oddly unsatisfied after polishing off my main course, and decided to order their tart of the day for dessert. It turned out to be a raspberry tart, with raspberry marshmallows and vanilla ice cream on the side. The tart was so-so, the marshmallow was a little on the tough side, but the ice cream was perfect. Overall, I think it was a bit of a letdown, although the view from the 91st floor did compensate for the less than spectacular dining experience.

100 Century Avenue is in the Park Hyatt Shanghai,
100 Century Avenue, Pudong, Shanghai, People's Republic of China

Making a run for the border

Remember the old Taco Bell ad in Southern Cali about running for the border? Well, we literally ran to the car today while carrying our taco lunch amidst a very heavy downpour at Phoenix Park. Well, it wasn't much of a dash, since the car was just 2 parking lots away from the Spruce Taqueria where we stood in line to buy our lunch. Our lunch was packed in plastic boxes and wrapped in plastic bag, so everything was still intact by the time we got into the car.

We had heard about Spruce opening a little taqueria in our neck of the woods and getting some rave reviews from early birds, so we had to swing by to check it out. Plus it was a bit of a nostalgic trip, having lived in California and eaten out of many taquerias over lunch time. And thanks to the weather today, we're eating our tacos in our car. It certainly brought back memories of college days gone by.

Menu selection was very limited, there were only five varieties of soft tacos, one quesadilla, cilantro rice, salsa, chips, Aboylito's mexican rice bowl. But the success of a restaurant doesn't always depend on the variety but the quality of the few standout dishes that keep customers coming back for more (something we discovered at Freemantle Seafood Market recently). And we were very pleased with the Spruce tacos, these were some of the most authentic tasting tacos we've eaten in Singapore in a long time. Ingredients were fresh and of good quality, the snapper was well marinated, pork carnitas was super tasty and watermelon fresca was a nice refreshning end to the fast food meal. The chips and salsa were pretty good, except that the salsa wasn't spicy enough for me.

There was a sign on the order counter with a telephone number for ordering food for pick-up. So if business continues to grow for this taqueria, I think I'll be doing a lot of driving across the border for my lunch.

Spruce Taqueria is at:
Phoenix Park, on top of the circular driveway, 320 Tanglin Road, Singapore
Opening hours are lunch time 12-3pm only Mon-Fri.
The owners are planning to expand the operating hours if business picks up.
Tel: +65-6836-5526