Spicy Sichuan at the Long Bar

The Long Bar at the PuLi hotel in Jing'An is a well kept secret that few people who head to the Bund know about. On any given night, there'd be just a handful of patrons seated along the very long wooden counter (hence the name Long Bar), mingling over well-crafted cocktails and snacks. The Long Bar has a few unique signature drinks, and my favorite has to be the Spicy Sichuan. Chili, lime, tequila, peppers.....

Back to El Willy yet again

This is probably my third trip to El Willy, my favorite Spanish tapas restaurant in Shanghai, and quite possibly in this part of the world. I'm still amazed that there are such high caliber restaurants in a Chinese city, but I guess Shanghai is no ordinary Chinese city. It's quite possibly on the way to besting Hong Kong as the foodie capital of Asia.

Anyway, I was determined to try some new items on El Willy's menu tonight. Except for the foie gras. That, I cannot do without. There are few foie gras dishes that impresses me more than the one here. Seared slivers of foie gras on brioche, with raspberry basil compote and popcorn power on top. Yum.

I had the citrus cerviche, the 24-hr cooked pork beef and roasted pumpkin soup. Too much food as usual. I didn't get to order dessert again. There's always next time, I guess.

Noodle Bull at 1933

There's a former abattoir in Shanghai called 1933, recently renovated and transformed into a hip, ultra-modern entertainment complex filled with restaurants and curio shops. It's not everyone's cup of tea for a weekend destination in Shanghai, but if you're fascinated by the architectural wonders of a bygone era, this is a fascinating place to spend an afternoon exploring.

There's a Taiwanese noodle restaurant called Noodle Bull on the second floor of the labyrinthine complex. I was fascinated by the decor, a mix of gothic hip with Chinese decorative touches. Food was typical Taiwanese noodle shop variety, and was actually rather decent.

Madison, Shanghai

I headed out to the French Concession on a Sunday night in late January. Had a reservation at Madison, a new bistro by Austin Hu, a brash new chef cooking up a storm in Shanghai's culinary scene since late last year. Pity they didn't have the usual ala carte menu, it was prix fixe night, and beef Chateaubriand was the highlight on the menu.

In fact, it was a rather old fashioned supper menu, with shrimp cocktail, gratin, onion rings, caesar salad and old fashioned apple strudel. Simple, yet perfected executed. I would defnitely be back to try their ala carte menu some other time.

Sky on 57

Isshinkyo at Yuzuya Ryokan

One of the more unique ryokans we've come across in our travels recently was the Yuzuya ryokan in the Gion district of old Kyoto. Their in-house restaurant Isshinkyo serves local Kyoto style kaiseki meals with a slightly different flair - by using the popular yuzu, a Japanese citrus, to flavor many of their dishes and complement the meal.

The ingredients used were all top notch, fresh and seasonal. I could only imagine what a summer kaiseki set would bring to the table when the warm weather usered in an abundance of produce.

First up was a winter melon appetizer. Two tiny, perfectly round pieces of melon stewing in a hollowed shell. The fleshy melon was swimming in a bowl of melon broth flavored with bits of yuzu.

The second dish was a platter of fifteen different dishes, each an appetizer in itself. There was Japanese pickles, some marinated seafood, tofu and even rare Kyoto beef, seared to perfection.

Then there was the sashimi course, followed by the grilled butter fish.
Next we had the snapper hot pot with daikon broth and yuzu, and the egg porridge flavored with yuzu slivers. Finally, dessert came in two parts - yuzu jelly, and sweetened beans dipped in macha.

All the ingredients made for a unique and wonderful meal. I would highly recommend having dinner here, if not stay the night for the full experience. The restaurant itself is a scene of beauty and Japanese Zen-like tranquility.

Isskinkyo is located in the Yuzuya ryokan at: 545 Gionmachi Minamigawa, Higashiyama-ku
Kyoto, Kyoto Prefecture 605-0000, Japan. Tel: 075-533-6369

Il Lido Seasonal Degustation Menu

Like the old saying "out of the frying pan, into the fire" we jumped right into a lunch at Il Lido on Sentosa island the morning I returned from my feasting trip in Japan. It was another Monday, a perfect day for a nice sumptuous lunch before real work could begin.

Il Lido was featuring their seasonal degustation menu. We had no objections. The dishes were all perfectly executed, tasted wonderful, and we enjoyed our each course so much we forgot to take photos of some of them.

Il Lido is at 27 Bukit Manis Road, Sentosa Golf Club.

Tel: +65 6866 1977