Chicha in pictures - one of my favourite spots in town

I've been to Chicha several times now and each time the food (well, almost every dish) is executed well and I love the intensity of flavours in the dishes...

Pisco sours

Best pastrami in NYC?

Guess where I am? 

that queue... all day, every day.

I'm at none other than the famed Katz's deli, which is known to have queues at any time of the day. However, I don't think they are anywhere comparable to the queues of Hong Kong's Ichiran... yes my home city is some crazy queue-loving place. 

Anyway, my belief is that one cannot have truly "eaten" NYC without visiting a proper deli... and since I've heard too much about this place it was only righteous that I paid a visit to Katz's.

Kishoku

I think I just might have found my new favorite sushi heaven. I won't waste your time by giving you a full-on intro on Kishoku, but if you are interested in a little background information, just read this article. We came just before last order and sat at the sushi counter. Our sushi chef came and introduced the menu and recommended we try the deluxe sushi platter... This was what we had come for and so we happily went along.

lunch menu

Other delicious bits and pieces of NYC

 Other eats I'd highly recommend and would revisit on my next trip to New York:

Wafels & Dinges

Belgian waffle

 topped with Speculoos (caramelized cookie butter), strawberries and banana... best breakfast/snack EVER.

 Bouchon Bakery

Big macs...

Raspberry lemon macaron

Dark chocolate macaron

 So freshy and flavours so balanced, hands down better than any macaron I've had in Hong Kong.

La Colombe Coffee

Cappuccino

Blue Bottle Coffee

Drip coffee

La Colombe and Blue Bottle Coffee are must-visits for coffee aficionados.

Eataly

Vegetable station menu

Pinzimonio - bagna cauda dip with a range of raw and cooked veggies

Italian seafood soup from the seafood station

Cappuccino

Even the coffee at Eataly is really good! 

Shake Shack 

Shack stack burger

Cheeseburger and a 'Shroom burger topped with lettuce, tomato and shack sauce. Cardinal sin not to try this dish. I went to the Madison Square Park branch, of course! 

Cut in half

 I loved the fried portabella mushroom stuffed with cheese. Any vegetarians would be very happy eating just this between their buns with the shack sauce and a frozen custard. Ahhhhhhh. 

Luzzo's NYC

really good pizza

"Calzone" ($24/16-inch) - tomato sauce, mozzarella, ricotta, mushrooms, spicy salami, ham, basil

"Tartufata" ($23/16-inch) -  tomato sauce, mozzarella, mushroom and black truffle pate

The closest version to Luzzo's pizza base in Hong Kong would be 208 Duecento Otto's but still Luzzo's was a mile a head and at basically half the price?! Incomparable. 

Absolute Bagels

Look at the crazy assortment of savoury and sweet spreads!

MINE: lox cream cheese, lox, onions, tomatoes on everything bagel.

Big Gay Ice Cream 

My "Salty Pimp" of vanilla ice cream cone, dulce de leche, sea salt and dipped in chocolate

 This ice cream truck turned shop is hugely popular and any time of the day you'll find at queue. We were quite disturbed by a homeless man but we were determined to get our sweet fix.... And was it worth it? Well my salty-sweet-cold-creamy combo was definitely worth it!

Cousin's "Mermaid" - Vanilla ice cream, key lime curd, crushed graham crackers and whipped cream

This post was incredibly hard to write, mostly because many of the tasty foods on here I can no longer eat... fingers crossed my allergy will go away and get my flights booked for my next trip! ;)

A truly happy meal... Liberty Private Works

For my birthday this year N kindly booked Liberty Private Works for a few of my best (foodie) friends and myself - this meal was truly unforgettable (the food, the company) and I have no idea why I had waited so long to visit - this will definitely not be my last!

 

Sunday Brunching at Bouchon Bistro

I'm not sure why I hadn't visited Bouchon before but I was pleasantly surprised on a recent visit during lunch time on a Sunday. Despite a rocky beginning (they didn't seem to have taken my booking as the restaurant was full and we had to wait for a table despite me having put in a call a week in advance)

Brunch menu

A Taste of Spain - BCN

For a belated celebration of M's birthday, we decided on BCN (short for Barcelona), a Spanish restaurant that does only tasting menus.

On this night we were given a choice between two menus -  "Trip to Spain" ($628) and "Summer Chef" ($708). As we were first-timers here and being pork lovers we went with the "Trip to Spain" to sound out their suckling pig... 

We began our meal with our own platter of goodies. My favourite was hands down the ham but the Manchego with a drizzle of honey and thinly sliced spicy chorizo were delicious all the same.

Fancy Thai - Mango Tree

When a Hong Kong person thinks of Thai food, Kowloon City aka "Thai town" of Hong Kong often springs to mind. No doubt, there is an abundance of cheap and cheerful Thai eateries there although standards have dropped since I was young - my school was nearby and visits to the Thai restaurants in the 'hood as well as Kung Wo Soybean Factory was a must-do every week... Now that I am based on Hong Kong island, trips to Kowloon City is rare and when I do go it's often for the veal goulash cakes, or "牛肉餅" in Muslim Food followed by a bowl of smooth tofu fa at Kung Wo. (If you haven't been already, what are you waiting for?!!)

Anyhow, I do often make trips to Elements - it being easily accessible and all; and one of my favourite restaurants there is Mango Tree. It's first branch in Hong Kong is in the Cubus building in Causeway Bay, but this place has a slightly longer menu and a floor to ceiling windows giving you a wonderful view of Hong Kong.... This place is definitely pricier than the many Thai restaurants around Wanchai, Causeway Bay and Kowloon City but on my couple of visits here the dishes were executed well and tasty. 

chicken and beef satays with peanut sauce and pickles (($98 ea)

Zanzo - izakaya with vegetarian friendly eats!

Visiting Rakuen recently reminded me of another Japanese drinking/eating establishment I enjoy taking friends - Zanzo in hipster area Tai Hang. They have a lovely bar area and small tables surrounding the bar - whilst I wouldn't recommend this for big groups it's definitely somewhere to check out with a partner or a couple others. Part of the Miramar Group, this Japanese 'contemporary bar' has a short but well-executed menu and several daily specials each night; and although one doesn't often think of Japanese places as vegetarian friendly, this place does have a small but good selection that will make any vegetarians happy. Moreover, the prices are ridiculously reasonable.... probably because of its neighbourhood being not as easily accessible (okay it was a good ten minute walk from the MTR, which, is not bad at all!)

guess what's this black and multi-colored dish?!

Izakaya with reliable, delicious drinks & food

A couple weeks ago I was invited to a tasting (thank you David for the invite and arrangements!) at Rakuen in Lan Kwai fong. Now the Causeway Bay branch has been around for a while with quite a good following but this branch, in a somewhat nondescript building of LKF is much quieter (and comfier!) Anyhow, rather than giving us a set menu of selected dishes we were given a budget which we thought was much better as this allows for room for people with picky palates or allergies (*myself included)... Since they have a recent Okinawan chicken specials menu, we went ahead and ordered several dishes from there as well as Rakuen's signatures and staples. 

Soju + Apgujeong Tent Bar

I love spicy food. I might not be able to handle Sichuan Shuizhu  (水煮) as I find that it shuts down my throat which is not a good feeling for anyone to have.... but when it comes to ethnic food generally e.g. Thai / Indian / Korean, the spicy dishes tickle my fancy.  

Banchan

Top left: fried anchovies, vegetables, fishcake, beef, spinach and sprouts, radish kimchi and cabbage kimchi in the middle. 
The banchan here was probably the most disappointing banchan I've had in the many Korean restaurants I've tried around town... (if you are looking for good refillable kimchi like they do it in Korea, Sura is it!) Save for the cabbage kimchi which was way too heavily salted and spiced, the other items were acceptable but even though we were a table of six the above was what we had in total; so we each probably only had a bite of a few of the banchans. When asked whether we could have a refill they simply said no.

Washoku lunching at Nadaman

After a hectic week, dad, brother and myself headed over to Nadaman at Kowloon Shangrila Hotel for Sunday lunch. Given that it was the weekend we arrived at almost 2pm to find the restaurant fully packed and a few tables celebrating birthdays (I believe you get a free tiramisu cake with certain credit cards!). Anyway, we were led to our seats and promptly ordered as we were quite close to the last-order time of 2.30pm.  

Although I really wanted to order the kaiseki set lunch ($480) our waitress informed us that we were too late! Next time I thought, next time... Having ruled kaiseki off, the two men went with the Nadaman shokado bento boxes and a Tokusen nigiri zen called for me... 

Tokusen Nigiri Zen ($440)

Food for my soul - Southern Style BBQ in NYC

The Cardinal is a place for soul food. If you don't know what soul food is, I strongly recommend a quick browse through this list. I was introduced to the Cardinal as my cousin's fave spot for Southern food and given that she had also accompanied me to the Red Rooster it seemed fit she brought me somewhere with real good fried chicken. 

source: cardinalnyc.com/

As it was my cousin's turf, it was only right that her and her friends decided on the food. I was keen to try pretty much everything on their menu anyway. When it came to the sides, all mains during dinner come with two sides of choice, and since I've never had Southern collard greens or candied yams I suggested for these and left the rest of the ordering to them. 

August Restaurant Week HK - Messina il Ristorante

Before the month comes to an end I just wanted to write about a memorable lunch, at Messina il Ristorante. A few friends and I were due to catch up and what better way than do it over good food? Ahead of restaurant week I booked us in for a Saturday lunch as we would all have to trek over from HK side...

We arrived the Harbourside, not knowing it was actually a residential area and hence given the weekend lots of families going in and out. Good thing the restaurants here by K.O. Dining Group have their own lift lobby.

restaurant week menu

August Restaurant Week HK - Socialito

I've always associated Socialito to being more of a drinking spot as opposed to a foodie venue, probably because I've heard too many friends tell me its "mehhh". And knowing the States sell tacos on average US$1-3 per taco ($1 being average); HK$60-85 for two before servicehere seemed a little on the steep end.
Tacos aside, Socialito serves up some Mexican eats in their main dining area. A couple weeks before Restaurant Week I'd heard they'd done some revamping - new menus and all and I thought this would be the perfect occasion to try out their (new) food.

Eleven Madison Park - New York

The month leading up to my NY trip I was extremely excited, excited because I was going to visit the legendary French-American restaurant headed by chef Daniel Humm (also the mastermind behind NoMad), a restaurant I had read (just a little) too many articles, reviews and blog posts on...

Hence from the moment I left Hong Kong for Boston, Eleven Madison Park was always on the back of my mind, curious as to what I would be served... The below will be mostly pictures, with a few comments here and there. Given the time we were seated, we weren't able to do the full tasting as it lasts 4 hours - i.e. we would've finished eating 2am! So the four of us went with the more feasible 4-course tasting...

August Restaurant Week HK - La Parole

Taking a break from playing catch-up on writing about my foodventures in the past year... I just wanted to write about a few recent places I visited during Restaurant Week this month. 

First up - a dinner at La Parole 

Menu

For those who aren't familiar, a select few restaurants in Hong Kong participated in Restaurant Week whereby they design a menu for a given price/category; and customers book in advance (through diningcity) to try out the specially designed menu.... La Parole was one such restaurant; and dinner was priced at $428 for four courses.

NoMad Restaurant NYC

I'm sure you will have heard if not already visited, Eleven Madison Park.

Head Chef Daniel Humm's second project was NoMad's, which I heard about whilst reading about NYC restaurants before my trip. Needless to say I had to visit....

So one fine day I dragged my lovely cousin C with me for lunch. We loved how it was in a boutique hotel and loved the interiors even more. Have you checked out their library?! Elegant and tres cool.

Southern Food - Red Rooster NYC

My first meal off the plane was at Red Rooster Harlem, opened by celebrity chef Marcus Samuelsson, the Ethiopian-born Swedish chef that was crowned Top Chef Master in Season 2 (2010). For those who don't know me, I am (openly) obsessed with anything Top Chef and Iron Chef (only the US series please!) :)

Naturally, I had high hopes....and this was my first time trying Southern food. We were led downstairs upon arrival (make reservations weeks in advance if you want to go on a weekend!), and their decor reminds one of a speakeasy. With their red leather sofas and all. 

"Cornbread" with tomato jam and honey butter

Bagels....in Providence

Bagels are one of P's fave breakfast foods - naturally before I left for New York she took me to her fave spot Bagel Gourmet. Here they do a fine selection of sweet and savoury bagel sandwiches, but also a wide selection of burritos, baked goods and just about any kind of bottled drink you could wish for. 

Pumpernickel with lox and lox cream cheese (US$8.25)

I going to make a confession.

 I chose the bagel purely because of its colour - though it turns out I loved the slight bitterness of the pumpernickel with the savoury smoked salmon and cream cheese filling! 

 

 P was very happy with her staple of an everything bagel with egg, cheese and sausage (US$4.63)

Food: ♥♥♥ 1/2 

Service: ♥♥ 1/2

Price: Around US$1.50-8..25 per bagelwich depending on your filling

Address:  Bagel Gourmet

222 Richmond Street 

Providence, RI 02905

T: 401 454-8800

Ethiopian eats... in Providence!

Since it's opening, Abyssinia has received rave reviews. Whilst I can't say I loved the food (nothing beats Indian cuisine when it comes to curries and spices IMHO!) I certainly enjoyed the various elements and eating (gasp) with our hands - bid farewell to utensils as you're encouraged to eat with your hands only here!

Tasty eats around Providence

My stay in Providence was unforgettable, many thanks to P. Everyday was packed from breakfast to parties at night... but given this is a food blog, below is a collection of quick bites we took between activities.

Soft tacos  from Baja's Burritos - Choose any three from 7 choices of fillings (US$6.49)- I had pulled pork, buffalo chicken and grilled veggies

Spanish Tapas in Providence

Flan Y Ajo was one of the spots my Spanish-loving Chinese bestie P took us one evening. A tiny little tapas bar in DownCity that will seat less than 10 and have many people standing drinking and nomming on shareplates. We took up the window area with a small table to share and proceeded to order from their blackboard.... Below is a selection of the food we ordered!

pa amb tomaquet

Brunching in Providence

My second stop in the States was Providence, Rhode Island where I met my bestfriend P and her buddies J, T and A. We got along right away - bonding over nothing less than our love of good food! 

Nick's on Broadway was one of the stops we made for brunch. We waited nearly an hour to be seated if I recall correctly - this place is hugely popular on weekends!

open kitchen - we sat at the bar tables and got to see chefs at work!

EATING BOSTON

Warning: this is a very overdue post from my visit to to the States last summer.

My first stop was Boston - its not hard to love this city - people are friendly, getting around is easy, although rainy summer days and winters can be tough... 

On my first night, my friend K took me to a Tapas style restaurant called Toro and I must say it was a very memorable meal. We arrived around half 9 and the restaurant was full to the brim save for two seats at the bar which was fine for us. After consulting the menu a little, this is what we shared! 

AND.... I'm back!

After many things going on in the past year I've decided to join the blogosphere once again... 
I hope you look forward to my coming posts on the tasty (and occasionally the not-so-tasty) eats I've been up to since my last post a year ago as I am looking forward to writing again about my foodie adventures! 

Since last year, a lot has happened.... 
- I've experienced the best eats in the States and can't wait to visit again!
- I've started a new job... 
- I've (sadly) developed a severe food allergy which has restricted what I can eat in restaurants but nonetheless hasn't stopped me from chowing my way around town! 

HOWEVER...  I very much look forward to writing and possibly entering a new (writing) project with my dear food and friend N aka author of http://www.foodcraver.hk/ in the near future for a more comprehensive journal of our foodventures.

Till my next post... :)
G