Food in HK – Lan Fong Yuen

Posted on 18 April 2010 by christao408

Continuing the Curry Puffy Cuisine Crawl, Tawn and I headed out to Central one morning to retrace Gary’s secondary school breakfast steps, on the hunt for Hong Kong milk tea. Our destination this morning was Lan Fong Yuen, ostensibly (but unverifiably) the place where milk tea was first created.

Located on the north side of Hong Kong Island, Central is the business district. Immediately to the south of it is the 1800-foot Victoria Peak. The rapid elevation gain combined with the population density creates an interesting warren of narrow streets that are great for exploring. The Central Escalator, a public conveyance system that combines moving sidewalks and escalators, makes it easier for pedestrians to go from Central to the Mid-Levels, a popular residential and, increasingly, commercial area part way up the mountain.

The Central Escalator bisects Gage Street right where it meets Wellington and right below it sits Lan Fong Yuen. The original shop (there’s a second one a few doors down) still has a pair of wooden stools out front on which you can sit and enjoy your milk tea and a light meal. The picture above shows the Central Escalator in the top left of the picture. The red taxi is on Wellington Street.

Looking down Gage Street from Wellington, you can hardly resist the urge to go explore. It is a lively street with vibrant sights, well worth a post-tea stroll. But before strolling, it is time for tea.

The interior is clean but dingy, looking just like a hundred other similar restaurants that have been around for ages. The staff is friendly and a picture menu makes it easy for those who don’t speak Chinese to order. Tawn, being part Chinese, gets spoken to in Cantonese everywhere we go in Hong Kong. He’s much too polite, of course, to tell them that he doesn’t understand, so just smiles and nods, occasionally responding in Thai or English.

This is the milk tea. Not much to look at, right? This is the essence of simplicity. It is a very strong black tea cut with evaporated milk. The flavor of it is almost coffee-like, in terms of the richness of the tea. It isn’t your grandmother’s Lipton.

The tea is made using pantyhose – the leaves steep inside a pantyhose strainer set in a metal pot. The pantyhose is attached to a wire handle and it is lifted up and the tea is allowed to drain into the cup. Worth noting, this is the exact same technique used by street vendors in Thailand for making Thai coffee and Thai tea. (Note to self – that’s a future entry needing to be written.)

Lan Fong Yuen is an all-day operations offering the tea along with a dozen snacky type dishes to satisfy your hunger.

The fried pork sandwich, a single piece of fried pork loin put on a hamburger bun with a slice of tomato and a slather of sauce. Incredibly simple, but very tasty. While at first glance you might think it is tremendously unhealthy, consider that the alternatives offered at fast food restaurants have been heavily processed with added fillers, salts, etc. This is just a slab of pork with some salt and pepper, fried up and placed on the bun. Relatively speaking, better for you than a filet-o-fish.

Probably a little less healthy for you is the French toast.

Two pieces of white bread stuffed with jam inside, battered with egg and then fried in lots of oil. I couldn’t identify whether it was butter or margarine on top and was tempted to think it was the latter. This was tasty but after two bites was a bit overwhelming. Probably best when trying to mop up a hangover.

Tawn ordered one of his childhood favorites – this is what qualifies as Chinese comfort food, it seems. A plate of noodles with some veggies and fried chicken on top. I looked at the noodles and remarked how much they looked like instant ramen. Which was the point at which I learned that they are instant ramen.

So what’s the verdict? Pretty tasty tea and the chicken and pork were both good. There were several other menu items we wanted to try but we had lunch plans just two hours later and needed some room for that. The French toast was fine but was pretty oily, all things considered. For a quick breakfast or a spot of afternoon tea, though, Lan Fong Yuen is definitely on the list!

Food in HK – Shang Shang

Posted on 16 April 2010 by christao408

Our friend Big Michael is a yoga instructor for Pure Yoga, a Hong Kong based chain. He’s been teaching for several years, primarily at the Langham Place location in Mongkok, Kowloon. As Tawn is an active yoga practitioner and has even considered becoming an instructor, he wanted to attend numerous classes during our vacation. Michael arranged for Tawn to have a guest pass and so Langham Place became a frequent destination during our trip.

Mongkok used to be the heart of the dark underbelly (mixed biological metaphors) of Hong Kong, home to the red light district, gambling dens, and the base of the Triads’ operations. In Hong Kong popular culture, movies such as Portland Street Blues immortalized the nefarious underworld of Mongkok, where the allegiance of gang members and police officers was always suspect and subject to double- and triple-switches.

These days, however, Mongkok is much cleaned up. The building of Langham Place, a large office, mall, and hotel complex, has transformed the neighborhood into a seemingly respectable district with bright lights, clean sidewalks, and plenty of legitimate business. Of course, “cleaned up” is as much a cosmetic matter as a systemic one. Walking back to Langham Place from Yau Ma Tei just before dinnertime one evening, Michael and I were accosted by a number of touts trying to sell us women from a range of nationalities: Thai, Filipina, Indonesian, Chinese… I will say, though, that these activities were much more subtle than, say, Soi Cowboy in Bangkok, even if we were just a block away from the mall.

After Tawn completed yoga one evening, Big Michael suggested we try Shang Shang, a Shanghai Cuisine located on the fourth floor of Langham Place. There is actually a very decent food court there, both with sit-down restaurants as well as the typical food court take-away places. Shang Shang is a bright and modern restaurant with attentive waiters and a reasonable price. Oh, and tasty food, too!

Fried prawns with spicy sauce. Delicious and not as spicy as you might expect.

Braised string beans with minced pork – always a favorite of mine!

Fried rice

“La Mian” noodle in spicy and sour soup.

Sauteed chicken in spicy sauce with cashew nuts.

Shanghai style steamed pork dumplings – the Xiao Long Bau that we enjoyed so much in Taipei.

Wontons in hot chili sauce. Again, similar to a dish we had at Din Tai Fung in Taipei while there with Andy and Sugi last November.

For dessert, a feather-light bun filled with black bean paste. Almost felt like meringue, the dough was so light.

A gelatine dessert made from an aromatic flower similar to chrysanthemum. I didn’t catch the name. This is made with rock sugar and agar agar (which is made from seaweed).

Above, Michael serves the noodles to Tawn. All in all, this was a really tasty restaurant. Total price for three persons was HK$400 – about US$51. Worth a visit.

We’re concluding our holiday today, taking the ferry back to Macau and connecting to our flight back to Krungthep. I’ll continue posting HK meals over the next few days as there are at least four more I need to cover. I’ll also get these listed on a Google Map so you can reference them in the future if you so desire. Remember, these suggestions primarily came from Gary, a foodie who really should blog more frequently. (Hint, hint…)

Food in HK – Tim Ho Wan

Posted on 16 April 2010 by christao408

Most of my eating in Hong Kong this trip could best be described as the Curry Puffy Cuisine Crawl, since most of the recommendations came from Gary’s suggestions based mostly on his December trip back to Hong Kong. Each time I return to Hong Kong, eating good food is a central objective. This time was no exception.

Tim Ho Wan is the least expensive, and perhaps the unlikeliest, Michelin-starred restaurant in the world. Its one star shows that Michelin can overlook dismal locations and lack of pretty presentation and focus its attention on the food.

Located several blocks from the Yau Ma Tei MTR station, this restaurant was opened by the former dim sum chef at Hong Kong’s Four Seasons Hotel. It is fair to say that the only things missing are the fine china and refined ambience. The quality of food is exactly what you would expect from the highest calibre restaurant, especially when it comes to dim sum.

I think most of you know that dim sum (yum cha in Cantonese – “drink tea”) is the original “small plates” dining experience, a breakfast/brunch type meal that features small dishes with dumplings, noodles, buns, and other tasty morsels. Eaten with a group, it is an excellent way to enjoy many flavors and textures while socializing. Good dim sum is light and refreshing, made with high-quality ingredients. Bad dim sum is heavy and made with whatever scraps were leftover from the previous night’s banquets.

Even at 10:00 on a weekday morning, there was an hour wait for this twenty-seat restaurant. Instead of a queue, customers took their number and wandered off, coming back closer to their estimated seating time. While waiting, a few other gweilo (foreigners) arrived, including a couple from San Francisco, foodies with whom we struck up a conversation. Non-Chinese speakers need to pay attention or learn how to count in Cantonese, otherwise they might be passed by! Even with a local friend waiting with us we still managed to miss our number.

With an hour to kill, Tawn entertained me with his many expressions. Lest you think an hour is a ridiculous amount of time to wait, let me assure you that this was one dim sum place worth waiting for.

The restaurant itself is nothing fancy. This was about half of it. I wanted to go take a picture of the kitchen but knew if I didn’t get yelled at, I’d get run over by the workers. This is a no-nonsense place attentive to just one thing: turning out good dim sum.

The highlight of the meal was the barbecued pork buns. Unlike the usual steamed buns, these were lightly fried, so were flaky and crispy at the same time. The pork filling was made of good quality, sizeable pieces of pork rather than the ground-up remnants of yesterday’s pork that you so often find in these buns. These are cooked several dozen at a time so the waitress will bring out nearly all the tables’ orders at once, causing much ooh-ing and ah-ing around the room as diners taste these succulent treats. We placed a second order (plus two additional orders for our friend Michael to take home) after we tried this first basketful.

Har gow, steamed shrimp dumplings, were very nice, too. A good measure of dim sum quality is how thin and translucent the wrappers are. Thick, heavy wrappers are coarse and filling. These wrappers were almost transparent, very pliable, and light on the tongue.

We ordered another typical dim sum dish: glutinous rice stuffed with meat and other goodies and steamed in a lotus leaf.

Again, instead of the usual barely identifiable contents, there were large slices of good quality pork loin and vegetables inside. Very tasty!

Siu mai, steamed pork dumplings with shrimp, were also very tasty, again with a light skin and good quality ingredients.

One of my favorite dim sum dishes is the rice noodles stuffed with shrimp or pork, served with a soy sauce. We had pork in ours and found it to be a really lovely dish. The theme kept repeating: light, delicate wrappers with generous, high-quality fillings.

My favorite dish, second only to the barbecue pork buns, was the fried daikon radish cakes. These are made of shredded daikon, seasoned with bits of pork, and then pan fried until crispy. The perfect cake is delicate and creamy inside with a crisp exterior that isn’t too oily. These were ideal.

Tables were shared and so the three of us dined with an old granny, who informed us that she was having her usual lunch of deer tendons and a bowl of noodles. She explained that the collagen from the tendons kept her looking so young. I have to say, she did look youthful, so we ordered a dish. The texture is a lot like eating pig knuckles, the cartilage is soft and flavorful with a sweet soy sauce.

The total before we ordered the deer tendons and three extra orders of barbecue pork buns was only HK$94 – about US$12. At a price like that it and with quality like that, it was well worth an hour wait.

Food in HK – Sushi One

Posted on 15 April 2010 by christao408

Ah, Hong Kong! I lived here in 1998-99 and ever since it has been one of my favorite cities. It has the cosmopolitan nature of New York, the civilized infrastructure of a former British colony, the good food of anywhere with a large Chinese population, and the awesome views thanks to the close proximity of hills and harbour. Whenever I’m back in Hong Kong, I feel like I’m back home.

With all the good Chinese food here in Hong Kong, it might seem a little strange to begin my food entries with a sushi restaurant, Sushi One. This place was not only near our hotel but it was also well-reviewed. To top it off, it was open late and offers 50% off the sushi after 10:00 pm.

Sushi One has several locations throughout Hong Kong. We chose the location on Cameron Road (near Chatham Road) in Tsim Sha Tsui, Kowloon.

There is a row of fish tanks along one wall with a series of small tables surrounding the sushi bar in the center of the room. A conveyor system was in place but pretty much everyone was eating sushi to order. We found the sushi to be of high quality with fresh flavors and good attention to presentation detail. Plus, with the half-off discount on the sushi (although not on appetizers and other plates) our total bill was about HK$170 – about US$23. Not too bad.

Seared crab stick with uni – sea urchin roe. They did several seared dishes, which adds a nice flavor and texture contrast.

Smoked duck breast.

Left: Salmon and mango roll; Right: Salmon salad gunkan maki

Japanese pumpkin and sweet potato tempura

Left: Eel handroll; Center: Soft shell crab handroll; Right: Spicy tuna handroll

Seared salmon

Left: Seared Hamachi; Right: Inari – sushi rice wrapped with tofu skin.

A nighttime shot of the venerable Peninsula Hotel facing the Hong Kong harbour.

Food in the US – Shake Shack and Ōttō

Posted on 6 April 2010 by christao408

Wednesday evening in New York, Tawn decided to attend a yoga class led by a particular instructor about whom he had read. This resulted in a late dinner, so our friend Biing suggested we try Ōttō, Mario Batali’s family-style wine bar (is that an oxymoron?) and pizzeria on Fifth Avenue a block away from Washington Square Park.

The challenge was Biing and I had several hours to kill before meeting Tawn for dinner and we were hungry. Working our way over to the Madison Square Park area near the yoga studio, we decided to split a burger and fries at Shake Shack by way of an appetizer.

On this pleasantly not-frigid evening, there as quite a crowd gathered around Shake Shack, which is nicely nestled in the midst of the park. The Empire State Building looms to the north (visible on the left of the picture). Lights strung across to the still leafless trees reminded me of a line from the Les Miserables song “On My Own” and the tables closest to the heaters were still popular, a reminder that Spring had not quite yet sprung.

Opened by New York restauranteur Danny Meyer, whose restaurants include Grammercy Tavern and the Union Square Cafe, the Shake Shack is Meyer’s attempt to tackle the classic American treat, the hamburger. Considered by many to be the best burgers in the Big Apple, I found the burger to be good but not great. There are a lot of relatively expensive, good quality burgers out there these days. To that end, I might as well just eat one of those relatively inexpensive, good quality burgers that are also available.

Not that there was anything wrong with the burger – there wasn’t – but I just don’t see the fuss. As for the fries, they reminded me of Ore-Ida fries taken from the freezer, devoid of fresh potato flavor. We didn’t try the nameshake – excuse me, namesake – shakes as the weather was still a bit chilly.

Arriving at the building where we were to meet Tawn, Biing and I had to ride in what is the narrowest lift I’ve ever seen. The camera is being held in the upper corner of the car. Thank goodness for wide angle lenses. After picking up Tawn we walked down to Ōttō, building up his appetite and burning off our burger.

Ōttō’s design conceit is that of the Italian train station. Names of guests waiting for a table are displayed on a signboard that looks like an arrivals and departures board. It is a pretty space, a little loud, and definitely made for socializing. This is Mario Batali’s “low end” restaurant, the one that is most accessible to the masses, and it is known for its antipasti, pizzas, and pasta.

Service was friendly and pretty attentive, given how busy the restaurant was this late in the evening. A small package of brown butcher paper was set on our table, which we unwrapped to discover some fantastic bread along with imported breadsticks. I’m not sure I understand why breadsticks need to be imported, but they were light and crispy and enjoyable, so why ask questions?

We ordered a trio of verdure – greens – for $4 each. Our selection was the Funghi Misti (mixed mushrooms), Asparagus and Pecorino cheese, and Roasted Peppers and Capers, front left. This was a tasty combination to snack on with the peppers being my favorite. The saltiness of the Pecorino cheese didn’t seem to rub off on the asparagus, which was barely cooked and not seasoned. The mushrooms were nice although they also seemed a little under-seasoned.

We also ordered a plate of Salumi for $9, a really tasty sausage with hunks of lard mixed in with the meat. I was reminded of a meat appetizer dish I had on my first night in Italy back in 2001, after which I spent the next day drinking copious amounts of water trying to rehydrate myself from all the sodium.

According to Biing, pastas are the weak point on the menu at Ōttō. We ordered a Linguine Puttanesca, a classic sauce made of anchovies, capers, olives, chilies, and roasted tomato. It was tasty but wasn’t very distinctive. For $9, though, it was a reasonably priced bowl of pasta.

The pizzas are supposedly the big deal. Some say the best in New York but of course everyone has an opinion when it comes to that matter. We ordered a Margherita DOP, with nothing more than tomato, Bufala Mozzarella cheese, and basil – perhaps the best combination with which to compare the qualities of a pizza. Interestingly, Ōttō’s pies are cooked on a griddle. This results in the crispest crust I’ve ever had on a pizza, one that remained crispy throughout the whole eating, down to the final piece.

The sauce, however, was a let-down. It tasted like a tin of tomato paste with no added seasoning. That was the flavor: flat tomato and nothing more. And it was spread rather thickly on the pizza so it soon became the overwhelming flavor on the tongue. They say it is the sauce that can make or break a pizza and in this case, I’d agree.

For dessert, we enjoyed the homemade gelato, which offers some very unconventional flavors. Last August I stopped by here while Biing and Tawn were shopping for an afternoon pick-me-up of olive oil gelato.

This evening, I had the trio of dark chocolate, Guinness, and salty peanut gelati topped with coffee bourbon sauce and chocolate crumble. It was very tasty. The Guinness gelato tastes just like Guinness beer.

Tawn had the Olive Oil Coppetta, a mixture of olive oil gelato, candied clementines and kumquats, lime curd, tangerine sorbet, and fennel brittle. It was also very nice although the mouth feel of olive oil gelato remains a bit heavy for me.

My only concern about the gelati is that they are very soft when they arrive and they, of course, quickly become softer as you try and take pictures, even if you hurry!

So the overall review? Ōttō is an enjoyable place for a group meal with good service and decent prices for what you get. The food is good, not great, and the pizza is on my to-avoid list. For a drink and some appetizers, though, this is definitely a good choice.

Food in the US – ‘ino

Posted on 4 April 2010 by christao408

A grilled cheese sandwich. One of the most perfect foods to eat, especially if we’re talking about a grilled cheese done in the form of an Italian panino. (Plural: panini) Last August I wrote about this little Italian panini shop and wine bar in Greenwich Village called ‘ino. Opened by Jason and Jennifer Denton, protégées of Mario Batali, this is the cutest place and, though I didn’t know it beforehand, kind of a ‘big deal” in the New York Italian restaurant scene.

The place is tiny – perhaps ten two-seater tables plus a half-dozen stools at the wine bar. With a brick wall on one side and a bar on the other, it is cozy and welcoming, a place that you just want to stop by on your way home to have a drink, snack on a few tasty bites of something, and catch up on the neighborhood gossip. It is what I think a “third place” should look like.

The kitchen is thirty square feet, no larger than enough room for two people, two panini grills, and a toaster oven. It is enough to make me stop complaining about my kitchen and instead think about adding some more shelves.

Tawn’s school friend Rosrin and her husband Sean recently moved to Manhattan from Boston, and had their first child, Quinn. Being equally big foodies as Tawn and me, we met Rosrin (along with her father and her son) for an early lunch one morning.

Back at home, we regularly make panini as a weeknight dinner. Cut from a fresh loaf of homemade whole grain bread, two grilled slices with some meat, cheese, and something tangy inside make for a healthy and wholesome meal. Serve it up with a side of mixed greens and it transforms the ordinary sandwich into something really special.

While eating, I discovered that ‘ino sells their cookbook, Simple Italian Sandwiches: Recipes from America’s Favorite Panini Bar. Needless to say, I now have a copy. Now, why do I need a recipe book for something that is, at its most basic, a grilled cheese sandwich? Because I realize that my panini, while satisfying, are pretty plain. I’m not getting the most out of them. The panini I eat at ‘ino have another level of flavor complexity that elevates them to a whole other plane of existence.

For Tawn, there was one objective in mind, besides visiting with Rosrin: to have a slice of ‘ino’s truffled egg toast. This thick-cut white bread is toasted, hollowed out, filled with egg yolks, and topped with fontina cheese. After a few minutes of broiling, a healthy dash of truffle oil is poured on top and some sautéed asparagus is served alongside. Available morning, noon, and night, the egg toast is the highlight of the menu.

Now that I have the cookbook, I’ve discovered the not-so-secret secret to making their egg toast. When I tried this at home after our last trip, I put a whole egg into the middle of the toast, which was too much egg and overflowed. Now I realize that the trick is to use two yolks and no whites.

I’ve also learned about several spreads and sauces I can make to help spice up my panini at home: roasted peppers, olive tapenade, an balsamic roasted garlic, to name a few. Watch for some future entries resulting from the purchase of this cookbook.

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Above: Panino with pepperonata (roasted bell peppers), fresh mozzarella cheese, and basil pesto.

The panini are really exquisite at ‘ino. Another lesson I learned is that instead of cutting slices from a loaf of bread, they use ciabatta rolls with the top sliced off. This ensures that every bite has some crust from the bottom side. I’ve tried doing this but so far my homemade ciabatta have so many large bubbles that fillings form the panini spill through the bread. I’ll have to keep practicing and see if I can create (and then consistently reproduce) a ciabatta that compares to the ones made at the Blue Ribbon Bakery, the next door bread supplier for ‘ino.

P1010270

Above: Scrambled egg, cheese, and sweet onions. How’s that for a breakfast treat?

We returned for breakfast the day before we left, one last chance to enjoy one of the most fun little restaurants we’ve been to, a gem that we would love to recreate here in Krungthep.

Could you imagine this somewhere along Soi Thong Lor? Not with people dressed like this, I think.

Food in the US – Mama’s Food Shop New York

Posted on 31 March 2010 by christao408

You always knew that Mama wanted you to take care of yourself and eat well. At this hole-in-the-wall restaurant in the East Village of Manhattan, you can get a healthy serving of good food prepared just the way your mother would want it to be. This may sound like an advertising claim but it is actually an accurate description of what you find at Mama’s Food Shop.

Located on 3rd Street between Avenues A and B, Mama’s was a recommendation from our friend Biing during our visit to New York last summer. Biing’s list of recommendations was too long to complete on our last visit, so we used this trip to check a few more items off it.

Arriving to our midtown hotel, the Affinia Dumont on 34th Street, on a rainy and cool Monday evening, we needed somewhere easy for dinner but didn’t want to take a chance on the unknown restaurants in the Murray Hill neighborhood that surrounds the hotel. We hopped a taxi down to Alphabet City.

The funky decor is shabby-chic with Christmas lights on one wall and portraits of mothers on the other.

The floor is wooden, the seating eclectic and unassigned (table sharing is common), and the smell of frying chicken permeates the space and your clothing.

The efficient kitchen turns out five mains each at $12 a plate with one side: fried chicken, roast chicken, roast pork shoulder, meatloaf, and pan-seared tilapia. The sides include simple yet satisfying dishes such as mac and cheese, roasted beets, broccoli and garlic, mashed potatoes, and cole slaw. Additional sides are $1 for an extra serving or you can buy them to-go in half-pint and pint quantities.

So a main with two sides works out to $13 – not overly expensive but not quite a bargain, either, until you consider the quantity and quality.

My plate of roasted chicken with mashed potatoes and beets was huge – three pieces of chicken and a week’s worth of beets.

Tawn’s tilapia (they also do a veggie plate composed of three sides for $11) included two large fillets to go with the roasted sweet potatoes and broccoli. Flavors were consistently good although the sides were not piping hot – possibly due to my picture taking.

All in all, Mama’s does right by their customers, including a 10% dinner discount for students. The food is simple, healthy, and generous. Next time I think we’ll skip on the extra sides and maybe even share a plate.

Food in the US – Lidia’s Kansas City

Posted on 30 March 2010 by christao408

While I don’t have a lot more pictures to share of things we did in the US, I will share a series of entries about some of the food we ate. I’m a big believer in the value that a good meal adds to your life. Not only quality food and careful preparation but also good company, all of which are necessary to really eat well. This first entry is about Lidia’s Kansas City, the first location of several restaurants opened by Italian grandmother and public broadcasting celebrity Lidia Bastianich.

Andy already wrote about this meal, so if you read his blog as well, you’re in for a rerun especially as his camera is better than mine. Nonetheless, humor me with this entry.

Lidia’s was the location of our wedding reception last August. It is a charming space in a converted freight warehouse adjacent to the rail yards across from Union Station. Service is great and the food is prepared with a lot of attention and love. Just the kind of place to celebrate our union. In fact, the waitress who served us on our most recent visit turned out to be one of the waitresses who had worked our reception. She was very excited to see us back and took good care of us during our meal – a good reminder of why it is always a good idea to treat servers very well.

Andy and Sugi made the drive down from Omaha to visit us and spend the night in KC. While I grouse in my entries about the feeling of having to make lots of appointments and visits with people while we’re in the US, that really doesn’t apply quite as much when we’re in Kansas City, where most of the people we know are family. Andy and Sugi feel just like part of the family and seeing them was one of the highlights of our trip, and a reminder of how much we miss close friends while we live overseas.

A Friday evening, it seemed appropriate to begin with drinks before moving on to a really nice bottle of wine. I’ve recently decided that Campari and soda is my new apéritif of the moment – the bitters are nicely refreshing.

Lidia’s features a nice selection of homemade bread, including some of the lightest breadsticks I’ve ever enjoyed. The menu includes seasonal selections with an emphasis on locally grown produce and meat. There is a three-course fixed price menu for $32 which is a good value given the quality of the food.

Choosing from three “primi” or first-course offerings, I enjoyed the Montasio Cheese Frico. Kind of like a quesadilla made without the tortilla, the frico has potato, leek, and in this case lump crab fried with melted cheese until crisp. It is then topped with a light salad. Very refreshing and flavorful start to the meal.

For my “secondi” I chose the Battutina of Veal. As the name implies, it is a battered (pounded) veal steak that is fried and served with broccoli, prosciutto, and a Taleggio sage-tomato sauce. Despite its tenderizing, the veal wasn’t all that tender. It was very flavorful, though. In hindsight, I should have enjoyed the risotto with Gorgonzola and pear instead.

Andy enjoyed a wild boar ravioli. Lidia’s gets bonus points for all of their pasta being homemade. An excellent touch that makes all the difference in terms of taste and texture.

Another option on the menu is the bottomless tasting of a trio of pastas, the selection of which changes daily. Servers bring pans around, refilling as long as you’d like more pasta. Of course, no obligation to take seconds, but if you want just a few more bites of your favorite, of course that’s okay!

Today’s trio included a spinach linguini with shrimp and tomato sauce, a rigatoni with butter and herbs, and a wild mushroom ravioli. All were very nice – my favorite was the mushroom ravioli.

Why is it important to treat your servers well? Because when you come back next time they treat you well in return. After we ordered dessert, our waitress brought us a plate of homemade cookies, candied orange peel, and vanilla gelato. Yummy.

We split two desserts including this very good tiramisu.

We also had this Torta del Mascarpone, a Mascarpone cheesecake with pistachio crust, vanilla rhubarb, and salted pistachio brittle. I’m a sucker for anything with rhubarb in it. Beebop-a-reebop rhubarb pie, if you know that reference.

After dinner Tawn, Sugi, Andy, and I posed for a picture against the original brick wall of the freight warehouse. Interesting artwork on the wall, eh?

It was a wonderful dinner with wonderful company, followed up by some more wine and conversation at the Trio Cafe on the Country Club Plaza. As we called it a night, the freezing rain was coming down. By the time Andy and Sugi dropped us off at my sister’s house, the first flakes of snow were falling.

Zense

Posted on 5 December 2009 by christao408

We were recently paid a visit from Singapore by David and Chor Phan. To celebrate the cool season we dined at the 18th floor rooftop restaurant/nightspot called Zense, located at Central World Plaza on top of the Zen department store.

There are several different restaurants that provide food for Zense so you can order from a combined menu and then your server coordinates the orders from each of the restaurants. Service was good and the food, while a little pricey (which one would expect from a rooftop restaurant), was pretty good for the money. A fun place to enjoy the cool weather and take in the lights of the city.

Here’s a selection of some of the dishes we had:

Assorted appetizers: spicy shrimps, crab cakes, baked oysters and smoked salmon.

Bacon-wrapped sweet potato French fries! Yummy…

Tawn’s obento box unagi, grilled and glazed eel. He said it was very tasty.

Australian sirloin marinated in a Thai-style lemongrass and citrus marinade, grilled medium rare and served with spicy chili and fish sauce dipping sauce. A contemporary take on a classic northeastern Thai dish.

Sticky rice (three colors) with mango.

Mixed berries tart.

La Gaetana Phuket

Posted on 23 October 2009 by christao408

The first night in Phuket we drove 30 km to Phuket Town, located on the south end of the island, to enjoy a fantastic dinner with Stuart and Piyawat. The venue was this hole-in-the-wall Italian restaurant called La Gaetana. And let me tell you, it was without question the best dining experience I have had in Thailand.

That may sound like hyperbole, but Polermo native Gianni and his Thai wife Chonchita run the most charming of restaurants with the most attentive service I’ve ever received in the Land of Smiles. The restaurant, located in a charmingly decorated 80-year old building, seats just 32 so reservations are a must.

The food is great, atmosphere is cute, etc. but what really makes the experience worthwhile is the passion with which Gianni and his staff, many of whom have worked there for years, attend to your needs. His tableside bottle-opening and decanting is a show in and of itself, and illustrates just how much care is given to each detail of the dining experience.

Here’s a video that shows it all.

Lest you don’t want to watch the video, here it is in pictures:

Italian antipasto platter. Yummy!

Grilled veggies in the back and a variety of bruschetta in the front.

Minestrone soup with fresh ground pepper.

Palate cleanser of passionfruit sorbetto.

Homemade spaghetti with pancetta and sundried tomatoes.

Grilled salmon with lemongrass sauce and spinach.

Homemade fettuccine with mixed seafood and tomato sauce.

Grilled bistecca (angus) served with veggies. Very lovely cut with lots of flavor.

For dessert, Gianni displayed the same attention to detail as he did when opening the wine bottles, garnishing each dish before it was served.

The desserts had a very French feel to them. Here, a tarte tartin.

Classic crème brûlée

Baba au ruhm with more sorbetto.

Finally, an Italian dessert! A tiramisu “island” with cinnamon and basil “palm tree”.

This is exactly what I could imagine myself doing in the future. Running my own small restaurant in some idyllic town, spending my days making my guests happy and ensuring they enjoy excellent food, wine and service.

christao408

The adventures of an expat American who moved to Bangkok for his husband.

Tag Archives: Dining