Grilled Cheese Sandwich

Seriously, grilled cheese sandwich has to be one of the easiest dishes to prepare if you want something hearty, quick and .... cheesy? It can be made with any kind bread and cheese in my opinion. Did I mention you can add as much butter as you want? Just joking, but you can add a lot indeed. I used sourdough and cheddar cheese for the sandwich plus a some blue cheese and crackers on the side just in case I want more cheese!!

Fish Bar and Grill

I always wanted to try out the Fish Bar at the JW Marriott Hotel and after so many years, I finally got the chance! On this summer night, my friend and I arrived around 7pm. OMG! ... I was informed that it can be quite hot because it was setup like an outdoor / poolside restaurant. Little did I know my friend meant that literally as in no air conditioning devices at all! I mean not that i can see one, all I saw was huge fans everywhere blowing at full power. Yes, it was on a summer night, a very hot mid-summer night indeed!

Brunch at Jay's Home Kitchen

It was a sunny Saturday morning, I got up bright and early, getting myself ready for a wonderful brunch gathering organized and prepared by my dear friend K. Although there were only 5 of us and two very cute (and active) dogs, it was the perfect way to spend a weekend afternoon!

Roasted Rack of Lamb

Talk about being spontaneous! I did not plan to cook this evening but somehow my friend G mentioned that she was planning to cook rack lamb with pine nuts salad. I could not help but drool about it in my mind all afternoon. To rid my sudden craving, I decided to make some for myself! (Thanks G for kick starting my motivation to cook again!)

Art and Science of Biscuits?

This entry is somewhat different compared with my previous posts but I enjoy sharing my dining and cooking experiences as well as anything related to food! I came across the following passages on biscuits (or cookies in some regions) while reading Alain De Botton's recent work titled: "The Pleasures and Sorrows of Work." I certainly did not expect to learn much about food from such a book, talk about pleasant surprises! In addition to the making / baking of biscuits, it talks about the importance of branding and perhaps how branding is the key rather than the cooking itself. I have to agree to a certain extend how branding or a brand effects us psychologically when it comes to purchasing food items.

Bistecca Italian Steak House

Although Bistecca belongs to the Dining Concept group just like Blue Smoke Bar-B-Que, the differences can be quite significant in terms of ... everything, in a positive way of course. It was for lunch and the place was filled with natural sun light and a very clean yet contemporary decor.

Afternoon Tea Party

One this special weekend afternoon, we all gathered at Mochachocolata Rita's place and hosted our own Afternoon Tea Party! Each one of us was responsible for getting certain categories of items. That was a good approach because otherwise I would have gone crazy and got every sweets or savory items I come across that morning! Gastronomous Anonymous bought Indonesian snacks, Rita made some savory snacks, @lapetitcreme bought sweet pastries while I was responsible for savory pastries.

Special Thanks!

To the lovely foodies I met today at Riquiqui Dessert Bar, it was indeed a pleasant surprise and it was definitely my pleasure to meet you all. I was literally blushing the whole time! Your support motivates me to learn new things about food and encourages me to continue my gastronomic adventures all around the world! (that includes more home cooking of course) :-)

Hope to meet you all again, perhaps over desserts! By the way, guys love desserts too, just not many would care to admit .... shhhhh!

Happy Eating! :-)

Sha Tin 18

So another Peking duck place, what's so special about it? What's with the buzz on this hotel restaurant located in the middle of ... hummm .... Sha Tin / Tai Wai right beside The Chinese University of Hong Kong? I was here to find out. We actually walked in without a booking at around 9pm and soon after we were seated we asked for the whole Peking duck for the three of us. We were kindly informed that since we did not book in advance, longer wait time was required to prepare the duck. How long? Well, they said 1 hour but we got our duck within 20 mins, so what a larger buffer time they imposed to manage diner's expectation!

Shanghai Mei Wah 上海美華菜館

In addition to the food aspect of this resto, I wanted to set aside some words to talk about what I have observed  in relation to the overall management of this family-run style resto. I am no expert in running a restaurant at all but I am interested in this one among all the others because it so happens this restaurant has been recently featured by one of the popular Chinese food publication and one can find a copy of it on every other table or even a few on a large shared table.

Jason Bon Vivant in Time Out Hong Kong

Thank you very much Time Out Hong Kong for the opportunity! I have much to learn and it is a journey I am enjoying very much! Oh by the way, please excuse my bad hair day! :)

Hainan ShaoYe 海南少爺

There are quite some buzz on this place recently in various food publications in Hong Kong and I actually went during the first week of their opening a a few weeks ago. I guess it is time to share my experience. First of all, many foodies usually visit a new establishment after at least a couple of weeks or sometimes months of operations to ensure quality consistency. While it is understandable for a new resto to require time to "settle in" in terms of operations, it is not an excuse for inconsistency with food quality and etc. As long as you are open for business, day 1 or day 1000 should not make so much of a difference in my opinion. My experience at Hainan Shaoye fell into the disappointing category.

Blue Smoke Bar-B-Que

To sum up my review in one word for Blue Smoke B-B-Que, DRY! I am sure Mochachocolata Rita * and Gastronomous Anonymous would agree with me. A fairly new joint located in the heart of LKF, do come here with an empty stomach for some hearty food selection but remember to order some drinks to go along with their rather dry signature ribs.

Carpaccio

Carpaccio is another venture from DiVino Group which operates Spasso Italian at Harbour City and the Divno Wine Bar in Central. Situated in the new iSquare shopping mall, the resto is quite easy to find if once you figured out which escalator of the the many to take from the street floor! If you feel lost finding your way in this shopping mall, don't panic, you are not alone.

MisoCool

Cool name, but no so cool with it comes to food in my opinion. I mean it was alright, unexciting and boring? description too strong? It was rather boring when it comes to the food but had a great time chatting with friends. The decor at its K11 Mall outlet was trendy and contemporary with what I considered funky paintings and fixtures in this semi-open venue without walls.