A couple of weeks ago, our friends based in Shanghai came all the way to visit us. The weather was glorious so we went to Pousada de Sao Tiago, Macau’s only Relais & Chateaux for brunch, sitting outdoors on the terrace, having Portuguese wine and food by a Catalan chef!

A fantastic capsicum gazpacho, great way to start as we prepare for the summer heat.

I’m a big fan of suckling pig and this one was perfectly done. Thin crisp skin that crackles upon first bite leading into the fluffy layer of fat beneath.

I wouldn’t have expected any less of the paella with Catalan chef Hector at the helm. This was perfectly executed, flavourful, colourful and kept the dining party going.

Avenida da República,
Fortaleza de São Tiago da Barra,
Macau
+853 2837 8111

Technorati Tags: paella, pousada de sao tiago, relais & chateaux macau, suckling pig

I’ve been meaning to try this for a while and finally got round to it. The menu is small, but the pastas are great, cooked al dente with the popular choices on the menu. They do the original carbonara without cream just filled with the rich heady goodness of eggs and the beetroot ravioli served with gorgonzola and poppy seeds was a nice surprise. We had a fried oyster each to start and wished servings would be a little more generous.

Even then, wines are available by the carafe or bottles and the price point fair.

With a carafe of red wine, our bill came up to 600+HKD for two.

Doppio Zero
G/F, The Pemberton, 22 Bonham Strand
Tel: 2851 0682

Technorati Tags: beetroot, carbonara, doppio zero, Hong Kong, italian, pastas, pemberton

I’ve just joined a lovely group of people who love to eat, cook and share! Although I’m a day late for May 4 #letslunch, I’m posting this anyway!

My mother was a housewife so she was always constantly inventing new recipes to keep it interesting for the kids as she cooked lunches and dinner everyday, without fail. Going out to eat was a treat and I didn’t try Macdonald’s till I was about 11.

So true to her Peranakan and hokkien Chinese roots, most Asian dishes are authentic, it’s only when my mother starts cooking Western style dishes, they become delicious fusion Asian food, marinating the mince meat for sheperd’s pie the same way she does with wantons and the likes.

Here’s a chicken casserole recipe that I recreate often when I miss home.

I don’t have an oven in my tiny Hong Kong apartment so I cheat and just slow cooked the casserole.

2 fillets of chicken
2 tablespoons butter, melted
Long beans
1 onion diced
1 clove of garlic, sliced
2 cans of tomatoes
4 fresh tomatoes diced
3 sticks of cinnamon
salt, sugar and pepper to taste
3 chili padis, chopped

Fry the onion and garlic slices in butter, then add in the rest of the ingredients and let it simmer. We cook intuitively at home, so add salt, sugar, pepper to taste and add in the chopped chili padis at the end

Technorati Tags: chicken casserole, letslunch, recipe

A long overdue entry that deserves more attention than I’ve had time to give it. It’s been the usual, more work than I can possibly handle, not enough sleep and so many interesting people to meet and cool projects to do.

One of my best friends, Prima, Thai ice cream designer of Icedea has two shops in Bangkok selling her quirky artisan ice cream in all forms.

Granny’s lemonade, a cheeky name and presentation of a simple drink. Grenadine syrup and soda water, served with a slice of lime. The fake dentures are made of milk (teeth) and grenadine syrup frozen into a mould and it slowly dissolves as you add in the soda. Refreshing drink for a hot summer’s Bangkok day.

Tonkatsu ice cream! This is more a meal in itself than dessert. If you’re familiar with ice cream sandwiches, that I grew up with eating in Singapore and there are also readily available in Hong Kong, this rendition is the same concept, only that the bread is breaded and fried the same way tonkatsu is done. Inside, is a delicious ice cream stuffing and chocolate sauce is drizzled on top of it before you start eating with chopsticks.

Ice cream in beakers and test tubes, and it changes colour!

Brownie icecream made to look like a football field for once of her conceptual projects.

Icedea is an experience in itself. If you’re in Bangkok, definitely make time for a visit.

Icedea
4rd Fl. Bangkok Art and Cultural Center.
939 Rama1 Road, Wangmai, Pathumwan,
Bangkok, Thailand 10330
Tue - Sun:11:30 am -6:30 pm
Tel: +66 2331174151

And near Chatuchuk, on the basement floor of Central Lard Prao Mall. I’d recommend going to this store as the full menu is here.

Technorati Tags: bangkok, central lard prao, ice cream, icedea, prima chakrabandhu, tonkatsu ice cream

Hope to see you Hong Kong folks! I’ll be speaking about creativity + art + hotels and the creative projects I commissioned and executed for Swire Hotels Asia and of course plug my pet project the blog.

Whoop! Whoop!

Technorati Tags: art, creativity, hotels, pecha kucha hong kong

I’m back on 4 hour sleeps a night, answering emails, fixing photos and personal blogging after tapering down recently to avoid burnout. The new site design is on its way with a new logo to boot.

We had brunch here months back and ordered more than enough for two. While the service was excellent and food good, it was no way near stellar standards but this Four Seasons Chinese restaurant has two Michelin stars. The dim sum menu is fair priced if you’re not into abalone, sharks fin and the likes. (unlike its Hong Kong Four Seasons, they’ve taken shark’s fin off their menus, even though it’s still available upon request)

We loved these lamps and would love some of our future home.

A high class rendition of the humble fried yam croquette stuffed with foie gras. Unfortunately, too much grease and making the dish way heavier than it already is.

The recommended charxiu was tasty, grilled and lapped up in honey, but the meat was way too fatty. Charxiu has to be fatty to delight, but this one was a little too fatty for our palate.

Cheong fun stuffed with beef. No complains but wasn’t impressed either.

We also shared a bowl of lobster dumpling noodles, that was light, delicate and delicious. We would come back with friends, but manage your expectations even though it’s been given two michelin stars, I can’t quite fathom it. They didn’t have xiaolongbaos nor white radish cake

Our bill came up to 500MOP+ for two, but we over ordered (as usual) so definitely doable with 200MOP or less/pax.

Zi Yat Heen
Four Seasons Hotel Macao,
Estr. da Baia de Ns. da Esperanca
路氹望德聖母灣大馬路四季酒店
Tel: +853 2881 8888

Technorati Tags: cantonese, dim sum, four seasons, Macau, Michelin Stars, zi yat heen

I’ve had many friends visiting Hong Kong back to back so I’ve been back at this spot a few times this year now. It’s been a great year being a good friend, seeing most of my closest friends more often than I ever did the last 7 years with everyone living all over the place.

My newly wedded Thai friends were in town for work and play and what else can I do with my ice cream designer friend? We did the cake walk on Gage Street and then a huge dinner at my favourite crab haunt and a stop at Tong Pak Fu, one of Hong Kong’s most popular local dessert spots.

This is as good as it looks and it’s only an iphone instagram shot. Image what it looks like taken with a good camera or eaten in situ! They come served with different levels of spiciness, even my Thai friends and I opted for medium spicy. Many don’t know about the set menus, which are much more economical, so the next time you are two or a big party, try order sets for 2/4/6 and adding a dish or two from the a la carte menu. It adds up to much less. I think the set for two costs 489HKD, ordering a crab on its own is nearly that price, with the set for two, you get a stir fry vegetable, either scallops or razor clams and another side dish.

We finished up with some great local desserts at Tong Pak Fu—banana chocolate shaved ice, that tasted like a mix of chocolate and cream, incredible that it’s shaved ice! The store only has name in Chinese characters 糖百府. There’s a slew of fruity syrup choice over beancurd tofu and fancy green tea type things, but we didn’t want any surprises so we were glad we stuck with what we had. The other mango syrup over beancurd tofu we ordered was my least favourite and definitely not worth the calories!

Under the Bridge Spicy Crab check out the stunning photos on this CNNGo feature. Plenty of wok hei (wok skills)
There are many branches but my Hong Kong friends say the one on Jaffa Road is the best. It’s true.
Shop 1-2, G/F, Chinaweal Centre,
414-424 Jaffe Road, Wanchai
Tel: +852 2834 6268

Tong Pak Fu
G/F, 38 Jardine’s Bazaar, Causeway Bay
銅鑼灣渣甸街38號地下
Tel: +852 2630 0110
They open till late! 1am

Technorati Tags: desserts, Hong Kong, tong pak fu, under the bridge spicy crab

We celebrated our two year anniversary more than two months ago and had a tasting menu done by chef Vincenzo Castaldo. Living apart memorising country codes and numbers of +33/+86/+212/+852/+853 over the last two years hasn’t easy nor cheap. Going to so many weddings this year puts many things in perspective.

I’m surprised that Don Alfonso in Macau hasn’t got a star yet given the other very average Chinese restaurants (will get round to posting more on those restaurants) that have not just one but two stars or il teatro the pizzeria that used to have one star. It’s puzzling how the rules work for the guides in Asia and big hotel chains tend to be starred more easily as when it comes to Chinese food with their accessible tasting menus. One would need a Chinese old hand to order matching dishes to make sure the whole cadence and rhythm flows, including the selection of tea pairing. Even I only have the confidence to order in a Beijing, Cantonese, Teochew or Hokkien restaurant.

If you are anticipating a good simple Italian meal at Don Alfonso, you won’t find your aglio olio or your Cotoletta alla milanese kind of thing here. The food here is in a league of its own: delicate, layered, complex and well executed. There’s a certain kind of poetry almost the way everything falls together. Like I said, it’s probably not for everyone as people tend to have a very generic impression of Italian food, but the restaurant is definitely worth a visit.

I’ve been to Positano and Sorrento in 2006, but Don Alfonso was definitely way out of my budget then.

As the menu was generous and long, much time have lapsed, I don’t remember everything I ate, so will highlight my favourites. Plenty of land and sea flavours going on.

The mozzerella stuffed in a deep fried artichoke was very interesting and delicious, range of textures and flavours which Castaldo said it’s a traditional way of doing it. I lived in Italy and I don’t remember eating something like that!

And this was the highlight, an amazing squid ink pasta with scallops and uni (sea urchin) for chef

And because of my skin allergies I had to opt out of seafood and was given a foie gras and pear ravioli in place of uni pasta, that latter was many times more flavourful and awesome!

Fish for me and lamb for chef.

And a very very beautiful almond based cake with pretty fresh flowers. Wasn’t my kind of dessert as I’d have opted for the heavier ones. This one was a little too…feminine and a little uneventful.

Happy anniversary mon amour et merci pour tous les moments delicieux et tourjours beaucoup de rires!

Technorati Tags: don alfonso, grand lisboa, italian, Macau, vicenzo castaldo

I know, I still haven’t finished my Singapore and Bangkok entries, but I’m updating as I go along, shorter easier entries first. It’s also a little difficult to type as Smudge the cat lies on half the keyboard every night as I try to do some work.

It’s been a productive weekend working on hobby projects apart from working on the multiple twitter accounts and facebook for work. The never ending story of working 24/7, no one appreciates it except myself, but that’s okay it’s good work ethics, commitment and passion for what I do.. and someday the hard work will pay off. (I hope)

So, here’s a really nice Thai restaurant on Sanlitun South street, behind the Bookworm, beside D-lounge (run by the same owner and management) and up a flight of stairs. It’s not easy to find, but definitely worth a visit. If you live in Beijing and still don’t know where the Bookworm or D-lounge, Kro’s nest is, then shame on you, if you do, it’s all within a stone’s throw of each other.

Spice Factory is an old bauhaus factory converted into a restaurant. A large part of it’s structure stays exactly the same, except for a little refurbishment work. Throw in some rustic lanterns and a huge mirror by the bar counter to give the illusion of more space, and there you have a beautiful restaurant.

At the helm of the kitchen is a Thai chef alongside a team of Chinese chefs, expect authentic Thai recipes and a side of Chinese influence dishes on the menu, but from just two dishes I tasted, it’s pretty damn good.

The chicken Massaman curry here is a hit and I’d definitely recommend ordering this. With its muslim origins, the gravy is deliciously thick with peanut sauce (in some cases crushed cashew), star anais, cinnamon (watch out for those) as you ladle generous scoops over your steaming bowl of white rice. Different from the Nonya or Chinese style curries, they do a great Massaman curry here, packing in all the flavourful spices in the deliciously thick nuts based gravy.

The limitations of dining alone is that you can’t order a range of dishes to try out, for the lunch set, I ordered an additional portion of tofu, which is more Chinese than Thai, but delicious nonetheless. I’m definitely coming back with a larger party to try more dishes.

Spice Factory
Second Floor, 4 Sanlitun Lu, (south side)
Chaoyang district,
Beijing
Tel: +8610 6585 2386

Technorati Tags: bauhaus, d-lounge, massaman curry, sanlitun, spice factory beijing, thai restaurant

Didn’t have much time to go exploring what’s new in the city so I took comfort in what was good and in the vicinity. I’ve been an instagram addict since its inception and am quite surprised how well some photos turned out on my old 3GS full of cracks and hangs all the time. I’m definitely one of the least tech savvy social media people out there. Well, a new iphone or an ipad or a meal at Robuchon? It’s a no brainer for the latter! Unless I get some ridiculous raise to get with the cool tech programme.

Watching the chef make macaroons, not La Durée or Pierre Hérme, but edible, nice and enjoyable. They also make batches fresh everyday, great to get them on the go for gifts so you don’t turn up empty handed at a friend’s place.

New items on the menu, chicken cannelloni, good (heavy) stuff, pasta sheet cooked al dente although the filling could do with more cheese

Pesto penne pasta, interesting combination of ruccola and salami. Too many things going on for a simple pasta, but well, decent. Not my preferred choice, although it seems to be a hot favourite with the Chinese diners.

Slow cooked duck leg with rice, very Asian, very nice.

Colibri
The Village North, Level LG 51, 11 Sanlitun Road,
三里屯路11号三里屯Village北区地下层51

Technorati Tags: Beijing, cafe, colibri, macaroons, pasta, salads, sanlitun, village north