Peech's Profile

First visit because we were curious. Got even more curious when I saw they offered pork tempura, so I ordered a tendon with sliced pork and vegetables, and added a few more tempura items as extra.  When the scallop and oyster tempura came, I knew this was going to be a terrible meal. The batter on the tempura was all wrong. Soft and soggy, not crispy at all. The tendon was even worse. Every single piece of tempura came with the same soggy batter. It was as if it had been sitting out after frying, and the kitchen just put it on a microwave to reheat. No flavor.The only item that was done properly was the corn tempura. This was actually freshly fried with crispy and crunchy batter.Honestly, this was the worst tempura I have ever had in my life... and I've been eating tempura for 40 years.…Read More

During our lunch the food was fine - savory dishes tasted OK, although they brought all 4 of the dishes to us within 10 minutes or so.  Nothing to complain about regarding the taste of the food.I ordered the warm durian tart, which I know needs to wait for heating/baking.  After 20 minutes I finally chased them, and a manager told me that it needs to wait for baking.  I knew then that they forgot to place my order.  Then I waited another 15 minutes.  We had nothing on our table and all the staff never bothered to come and ask us if we needed something.  I chased my order again, and realized that once again, they never put in my order - even after I asked about it 15 minutes ago!Waited another 10 minutes before my dessert finally came.  A manager came to apologize and offered me an extra dessert that I didn't want or need.  I asked him what the extra dessert was, and he told us it was some kind of green tea/matcha dessert.  I took one bite and realized it was a pandan/coconut dessert.So... you have staff who forget to place customer's orders, managers who fail to put in the order after being chased, staff who stand around doing nothing... and a manager who doesn't even know the dishes on his menu that he is comping to an unhappy customer.  How much worse can service get?!…Read More

came for a casual dinner.  Saw "tomato and egg rice" 茄蛋飯 and thought it would be very straightforward.  When this came I was shocked.  Yes, there was some scrambled egg, and a few slices of tomato, but the whole plate was covered in ketchup.  I have never had anything cooked so badly...   I think anyone can cook better than this, and they want $50...…Read More

Unfortunately I cannot write about the food here, because I did not order anything. My friends and I decided to leave without eating here because of the very rude service.The waitress told me that I cannot take pictures of the menu. When I hesitated and did not put down my mobile phone - even though I was not taking any more pictures - the restaurant manager came over and physically pulled the menu away by force. She clearly did not want to serve me anymore. Since I did not have a menu, I could not order any dishes. So I left.…Read More

Tonight I found myself in the presence of a group of food journalists, bloggers and foodies in general... so what else is new? Well, I had called for this gathering with the sole purpose of supporting Hong Kong's Japanese restaurants as well as the Japanese agribusiness. We all noticed how Japanese restaurants in town had been suffering since disaster struck Japan last month. There seems to be fear among the general population - totally unfounded and uneducated - that food from Japan just isn't safe anymore. Well, the general population is uninformed - or rather misinformed - and are acting like a flock of sheep. Their ignorance is putting hard working people - who had been providing delicious Japanese food to them all these years - out of business. Japan doesn't need our "charitable donations". What the Japanese people really need - and want from us - is for us to support them economically by buying their products, so they can stand on their own feet.With that in mind, we decided to have dinner at Sushi Fuku-suke (鮨 福助). I hadn't been here before, but was eager to try it once I had been informed that the owner comes from Sendai (仙台), and was still importing fish from Japan. We also decided to bring out bottles of sake from the Tohoku region, and hope that our continued consumption will help the people of the stricken region.We took the more expensive of the two omakase sets, while I asked the manager to substitute something else for all the toro (トロ) items for me.We started with some marinated rapeseed flowers (菜の花) sprinkled with bonito (鰹) flakes.There was a long pause as the chef prepared the sashimi selection for the eight of us. Here's what we had:Young yellowtail (ハマチ) - pretty gorgeous pieces.Horse mackerel (鯵) - it's been a while since I last enjoyed the lovely fattiness of this fish...Scallop (帆立) - lovely, plump and sweet.Sweet shrimp (甘エビ) - nice.Tuna (マグロ) - I guess I wasn't very specific in my instructions about not having my tuna... I haven't had maguro in a long time, and I must say this was pretty tasty... and the color was beautiful, too.Spanish mackerel (鰆)Japanese whelk (つぶ貝)for pictures and remainder of food review please visit: http://www.diarygrowingboy.com/2011/04/ganbare-nippon.htmlThe evening was as much about the sake as the fresh fish from Japan. We had deliberately chosen a selection from the Tohoku region to toast the evening.Towards the end of dinner, the manager came to inquire whether we were celebrating someone's birthday or some special occasion. I told her in no uncertain words that our purpose tonight was to come and support a Japanese restaurant as well the people of Japan. She was a little taken aback, but clearly appreciated our efforts as the 8 of us we were the only customers during the entire evening.We were introduced to Chef Sugawara (菅原), and we toasted him with some Zankyo "Super 9". The chef is from Sendai (仙台), not far from Ozaki (大崎) where the sake was made. He mentioned that he has just spent a few days back in his hometown, as his elder brother did not survive the recent diaster... I was at a lost for words, as my Japanese wasn't good enough for me to convey my condolences. I could see clearly that - ever the stoic Japanese - he was trying to keep his emotions under control while talking of the loss of a sibling. Even in my inebriated and happy state, my heart went out to him and to all those who are suffering.I didn't have any expectations before coming tonight, but I thought the quality of the food was high, especially considering the current environment. I think the small group of us - in our own, limited fashion - tried to help sustain a small but vital part of the Japanese economy. To paraphrase the owner of a Japanese sake brewery, let us not (economically) victimize the Japanese people yet again by refusing to buy their products and withholding income from them when they truly need it. I urge everyone who is reading this to go out and support Japan. Eat at your local Japanese restaurants and make sure they can survive to serve you delicious food for another day. Buy Japanese produce, especially those from the Tohoku region, so that the people can use the income to rebuild their shattered homeland. The produce which you see in the stores has either been exported long ago or have been deemed safe by both the Japanese and your local authorities. Do not fear them. Let's work together and help our brothers and sisters in Japan!…Read More

This place is the polar opposite to its neighbor Tapeo just a couple steps away. At Tapeo, customers sit on bar stools at a long, L-shaped bar counter facing an open kitchen, and are hit with the full force of the smell of food. You come here because you just want to get down to the business of enjoying the food. Mesa 15 is much more chic and upscale, where comfortable seating is available and the kitchen is visible to the customers but sealed behind glass. No fumes. Nice setting for a date or a social dinner.Croqueta de jamón ibérico - lovely crust on the outside, and the filling was surprisingly liquid and gooey. Pretty good.Las bravas - these were nicely done.Gazpacho andaluz con queso de cabra y pistachos - a very lovely gazpacho. Nice touch with the crunchy breadcrumbs, as they are meant to add more substance to an otherwise liquid soup. Interesting to find crunchy pistachios and cubes of cheese inside.For remainder of review and pictures please see original blogpost at http://tinyurl.com/3qcsofm…Read More

Stopped by after a 3-year absence. Prices have come down a little to $150. Had the beef noodles. Noodles were firm and chewy, which I liked. Generous portion of beef shank, which were braised till tender but on the firm side, so not quite melt-in-your-mouth. Broth had lots of beef flavor but surprisingly it was a bit too sour for me, at least for the first few sips. Palate adjusted to it afterwards.…Read More

After my last visit years ago, I never thought I would come back. This time my friend wanted to go so I followed.The smell of stir-fry oil filled the entire restaurant. I thought I was eating in the kitchen next to the wok! The waiter was totally incompetent, coming back 3 times to ask what we had ordered. We tried to order kai lan, and was told they ran out and we could have choy sum. Later the same waiter came back and told us they ran out of choy sum, but we could have kai lan instead.The kitchen totally forgot about our kai lan, and after finishing our noodles we did not want to wait any longer. We left without having our veggie and went somewhere else instead.A restaurant like this does not deserve to stay in business. You can find better food elsewhere with better service, too.…Read More

It's been a while since any of us was last there, so this would be a welcome visit to an old friend.Century eggs and tofu (皮蛋豆腐) - actually a very Taiwanese dish, with pork floss on the side and a thick soy sauce as dressing. Baked flaky pastries with ham and spring onion (黃橋燒餅) - my favorite adaption of the Shanghainese classic without the ham (蟹殼黃). This is an item that I always order here, and I pay no attention to the amount of oil that seeps out once I've taken a bite. I'd always try to have two of these if I could.Deep-fried salt water dumplings (咸水角) - pretty good ones. Beef offal (牛雜) - actually this was full of both beef and pig offal, with parts like honeycomb tripe, beef tendon, beef liver, pig skin and pig's lung. Done pretty well.Baked barbecue pork buns (雪山叉燒餐包) - pretty yummy with that slightly flaky crust.Deep-fried Bombay duck (椒鹽九肚魚) - always one of my favorite dishes to order around here. The fish is just sooo light and fluffy... that it melts in your mouth.Pan-fried rice flour rolls with XO sauce (XO醬煎腸粉) - the portion of this classic dish seems to have shrunk in the last few years while I was away, but this still tasted good.Shredded chicken (手撕雞) - kinda different for this to have included the skin, but it was OK.Steamed sponge cake (馬拉糕) - this was the layered version with egg yolk. Not bad.I'm really glad I finally had a chance to come back after being away for a few years. The old favorites are still here, and still yummy. Comfort food is great. original blogpost with pictures: http://www.diarygrowingboy.com/2011/03/o-victoria.html…Read More

The manager suggested a series of 8 starters, as is traditional. The main dishes were pre-ordered.Evergreen with dried bamboo shoots (筍乾萬年青) - not sure exactly which veggie this is, but there is a distinct fragrance which is milder than that of Indian aster (馬蘭頭). This may in fact contain rape flowers (油菜花) as some references indicate. There was some shredded dried bamboo shoots to mix things up a little.House special marinated duck (招牌醬鴨) - this was OK.Drunken pigeon (花雕醉鴿) - this was very good. I specifically picked one of the pieces which was still a little rare... very tender. Hangzhou-style vegetarian goose (杭州素鵝) - kinda different from all the vegetarian goose/chicken I've had before. Unlike some versions where the tofu skin has been made into one block with bite, nor were the many layers deep-fried into a crunchy state. Instead this was wet and soft, and slightly spongy. Marinated cucumber and jellyfish head (青瓜海蜇頭) - this was OK.Marinated black fungus (拌木耳) - this was OK.Honey-marinated lotus root stuffed with glutinous rice (糯米蓮藕) - this has always been one of my favorites since childhood. Yum...Blanched pig's kidney (搶腰花) - not bad at all.Then the main dishes started arriving...River shrimps stir-fried with Longjing tea leaves (龍井蝦仁) - I have never had a version of this dish that lived up to my expectations, and I've stopped ordering this at Tien Heung Lau. Maybe I just don't "get" this dish, but I had always been expecting delicate fragrance from the tea leaves on my palate, from the descriptions written by countless others. This has always eluded me, and I end up thinking that the tea leaves are there simply for show. Are the leaves meant to cancel out any unwanted flavors from the shrimps, instead of providing a more prominent fragrance? Is my palate so poor that I cannot detect the fragrance that many others seem to have encountered? Deep-fried tofu bells (乾炸響鈴) - this was absolutely amazing, and I think I had 3 or maybe 4 of these... The thin layers of tofu skin were deep-fried in high heat, and became so crispy that it just crumbled in one's mouth. This reminds me of some of the croissants one finds in pâtisseries -such as Blé Sucré in Paris - where lots of butter was used, as these would also crumble under pressure.Deep-fried stinky tofu (炸臭豆腐) - the other half of the crispy golden duo (黃金雙脆). Normally I'd stay as far away from stinky tofu as possible, and it's one of the very few things I don't like to eat. But I've learned two things over the years... the deep-fried version smells a lot less than the steamed version; and like durian, the smell ain't so bad when you are eating it yourself. I took one tonight, and found the flavors to be a lot milder than the smell. Honestly a lot of cheese that I take in regularly are more pungent than this...Braised Dong Po pork belly (東坡肉) - this is one dish where the son outshone the father. I have always found this dish to be a complete failure at Tien Heung Lau, and have always been amazed how that restaurant could screw up one of the most popular dishes in Shanghainese food. Tonight I really enjoyed my pork belly, sandwiching it between layers of steamed bun. The flavors from the marinade were able to penetrate into the whole piece of pork, and more importantly the lean meat was still succulent instead of being completely dry and tough. Smoked yellow croaker (煙燻黃魚) - what's with the cherries on the eyes? This was one of the most anticipated dishes of the evening, as we all love the one at Tien Heung Lau. I was not disappointed, as there was plenty of smoky flavors and fragrance. I found the flesh to be a bit more flavorful than Tien Heung Lau's version. I happily had seconds and thirds, including cleaning up the tail...Smoked frog's legs (煙燻田雞腿) - the smoky fragrance was nice, but I much prefer the deep-fried frog's legs at Tien Heung Lau.Fish balls with watershield (蒓菜魚圓) - they are famous for their fish balls and I can see why. These were very light and fluffy, unlike many of the Cantonese fish balls which have a lot more bite. The watershield (蒓菜) is grown in areas like West Lake (西湖) in Hangzhou (杭州), although it's also found in Japanese cuisine. They've got this slippery mucus on the outside which makes it interesting.Steamed Reeve's shad (清蒸鰣魚) - a request from one of the diners, as it's impossible to find in Singapore. This was a pretty big one, and it's been a while since I've had the whole fish instead of just half... The manager did too good of a job of separating the scales from the skin, so the scales were pretty clean and only had some of the vinegar/wine sauce for me to suck on. This was pretty good... We had to warn the uninitiated to watch for the incredible amount of bones hidden in the flesh. It's always a lot of work to taste this fish, but I love it.Double-boiled old duck soup (火燑老鴨煲) - what a lovely soup! Old ducks are always used in soup for their flavors, and complemented the strong flavors of the ham very well. Made with some preserved bamboo shoots (扁尖筍) which were a little hard and chewy.Beggar's chicken (富貴童雞) - finally! A beggar's chicken where the meat is moist and tender! While the fragrance here may not have been as impressive as the one at Tien Heung Lau, the chicken meat was definitely a lot better, with more flavors, too. Very happy with this.I think we were all full by this point, but some of the group were clearly unsatiated, and there was an itch that needed scratching. So an order was put in for hairy crab roe noodles (蟹粉撈麵), which is a favorite at Tien Heung Lau. While we received generous portions of crab roe, the brownish color tells me that the quality isn't as good as what we'd get at Tien Heung Lau (where the roe is bright orange). The round noodles were also a bit overcooked with soy sauce, and were not the best complement to the roe.The complimentary dessert was a bowl of glutinous rice balls in fermented rice with osmanthus (桂花酒釀湯圓). They used a lot of osmanthus sauce so it was very fragrant, and it wasn't overly sweet.original blogpost with pictures and wine notes: http://www.diarygrowingboy.com/2011/03/hk-chowmeet-2011-part-1-hangzhou-style.html…Read More

I met up with a couple of friends tonight to check out Bistronomique. We are all big fans of On Lot 10, and were curious to see what the menu would look like, since we had heard that this was more "down market". I was surprised to find it situated along a row of new restaurants and bars in Kennedy Town. The place is brand new, with high ceilings and a modern/minimalist decor. The menu overlapped somewhat with the one at On Lot 10, offering a few offbeat but familiar items that I love. It didn't take long for me to figure out what I wanted.I was looking at a few other things when I saw roasted marrow bone on the menu, and I was sold. I've always loved bone marrow, and the last one I had was pretty decadent. Tonight this was covered with a layer of finely diced parsley, and I greedily scooped out chunks of it and laid them on pieces of bread. Heavenly goodness.We turned out to be a real boring crowd, as three out of four of us including myself took the duck leg cassoulet as main course. It's been two years since my last cassoulet, and I've been missing it dearly. The pans in front of us looked slightly different than we expected, as this was fairly dry instead of being a more liquid stew. Most of the ingredients were there along with a few new ones - white haricot beans with gratin, a whole duck leg with very tender and juicy meat, diced lardons, yummy pig trotter skin and collagen, and even a gizzard. Would have been better with some sausage, but it was delicious enough that we weren't really complaining.I was kinda full by now, and decided not to take dessert... David explained to me that after the initial period, they are now looking to change the menu so that Bistronomique and On Lot 10 would each have its own menu. I look forward to returning to find out what he has in store for us.original blogpost with notes on wine: http://www.diarygrowingboy.com/2011/03/most-expensive-dinner.html…Read More

I finally had a chance to try the food at Gold today. We're no strangers to Harlan Goldstein's magic, as a few of us actually had lunch at Tuscany by H on its last day of operations. Now that this place has been running for around 3 months, I figured it was time that we came and checked it out.I had gathered a bunch of foodies for this lunch, and Harlan very kindly put us in a private room, next to the wine treasures whose glass doors needed the right fingerprint to open. I could only stare and drool at the jero of 1945 Mouton which was purchased for a pretty penny at the Acker auction last November.A few of us started lunch with a tall glass of warm pear juice with almond and sea coconut (南北杏海底椰雪梨茶). While some may be surprised to see this very Chinese/Cantonese drink in a place such as Gold, in reality I've always thought Harlan was actually very Asian. After all, he's been here for 20 years... and I figured he's picked up a few things from us along the way. BTW there was also some lily bulb (百合) in the drink, too.I didn't want to do the set lunch, and declared that I was going to order two starter-portions of pasta for myself, when the rest of the gang decided it would be a good idea for us to share everything. So the 6 of us ended up sharing a pretty generous amount of food - 6 starters and 4 main courses.Harlan suggested that we start with some flat bread. Let me tell you, that's some tasty flat bread! Loaded with mushrooms, onions, cheese and then black truffle shavings! Not a bad way to kick off...Iberico de bellota 48 months aged 5J ham - good stuff, served with tasty pan con tomate. If only there were more on the plate...The finest of cold cuts from "Cinta Senese" - I've been munching on some lardo made from these Tuscan pigs this week, and I jumped at the chance to have some more of this yummy stuff. I could just eat charcuterie all day... I thought the dollop of bitter orange marmalade was pretty awesome.Hokkaido sea scallop carpaccio, slow-cooked egg and white truffle dressing - OK, so we know that Hokkaido scallops are big, and it definitely shows here! I'm not sure that these thick slices still qualify as "carpaccio", but it was definitely very, very fresh and tasty. Of course, the lovely egg with the orange yolk (Japanese taiyoran(太陽卵)?) made things even better!Burrata and tomatoes - I just love it when I get to have creamy, delicious Burrata, and there are only a handful of places in town with stuff of this quality.Mini HG burger - devoured in two bites. Very, very good. Miles better than that stupid Japanese beef burger they serve at Le Salon de Thé de Joël Robuchon, whose patty is waaaay too juicy so that I end up with juices all over my hands, fingers and on the plate. The fries come with truffle mayo. Slurp.We ordered 3 main course-sized pastas as well as some more pork...Lobster spaghetti, Napoli tomatoes, fresh herbs, crispy garlic and extra virgin olive oil - the spaghetti had plenty of bite, and the whole thing was very yummy. The tomalley was very black, and very delicious.Italian wild boar ragout tagliatelle, melting organic egg and shaved Pecorino cheese - I don't know why this isn't listed on the menu as one of HG's classics, because for many of us at the table it is THE dish that defined Tuscany by H. If I had to pick one dish from Harlan, this would be it. Glad to see that it stayed on the menu, and that it was as delicious as we all remembered.Wagyu beef cheek ravioli, "12" hours slow-braised wagyu beef cheek, foie gras and black truffle sauce - I was curious about this so I added this to the list. Sooo rich... sooo sinful... sooo yummy... To be honest, though, I probably wouldn't be able to handle anything else after a full portion of this.5J Iberian pork rack, spinach, melting Scarmoza cheese on a fresh tomato basil sauce - for some reason we were expecting a bigger piece of pork chop, but then again it's not always about the size, is it?! After having had some disastrous Iberico pork chops recently, this was a very welcome change. Sooo tender... sooo juicy... Why can't others get pork chop right?! Is it too much to ask for?!A very sinful and filling lunch. Harlan generously offered us some dessert, but most of us - except Mrs. Dyson - were too full to handle any. We decided to end the meal with some coffee. I've been away from Harlan's food for too long, and I'm glad to see that nothing has changed - other than the glittering, bling-bling interior. original blogpost with pictures: http://www.diarygrowingboy.com/2011/02/all-that-glitters.html#more…Read More

A friend and I were looking for a place for casual dining in Causeway Bay, and found Fleur de Sel by pure coincidence. I wanted to see whether there was a worthy alternative to La Crêperie.We started with two savory galettes:La Bretonne - this was OK, although there were only 3 scallops along with mushrooms, asparagus and lardons. Portion was smaller than I expected, and honestly the galette was too soft and wet. I prefer it dry and a little crispy. It also came lukewarm and went cold after a couple of minutes when we had snapped our pictures.La Guéméné - I have no idea why this was called Guéméné, since it was made with andouille de Vire and not andouille de Guéméné... It was kinda pathetic, actually, with only 3 thin slices of the delicious sausage along with some Emmental. Absolutely no comparison whatsoever with the one I had at Le Petit Josselin in Paris. Again, the galette was just too soft and wet.We moved on to two sweet crêpes:Crêpe à la banane et au caramel beurre salé - this was not bad. The caramelized banana, with salted butter caramel and a scoop of Mövenpick caramel ice cream made for a yummy combination.La Bomba - the pineapple confit, raisins and espresso ice cream were flambéed with rum. This was OK but I was getting very full by this point.We also drank a bottle of sweet cider from Le Clos des Ducs.This was definitely a filling meal, but I much prefer La Crêperie both for the quality as well as the price-performance ratio. Not likely to make a return visit here...original blogpost with pictures: http://www.diarygrowingboy.com/2011/01/filling-but-not-satisfying.html…Read More

I was running an errand at lunch today, and decided to check out Lei Bistro (利小舘), a cheap eatery run by the Lei Garden Group that somehow got themselves a macaron from the obviously delusional Bibendum. I haven't given Lei Garden a dime of my money since my disastrous meal a year ago, and I was curious to see what this place was all about.Make no mistake, this is a cheap eatery for the masses - not unlike the Tsui Wah (翠華) chain of 24-hour restaurants. In fact, the staff here wear yellow polo shirts, too... We ordered by ticking a few items off a double-sided checklist.Puff pastry with shredded radish (蘿蔔絲酥餅) - this was pretty decent. The flavors of the radish were good, and the center was hot enough without scalding my tongue. Deep-fried taro puff (蜂巢芋盒) - yes, this was something that made me want to scream "Why?!" The dish arrived cold, with the inside barely lukewarm. And the taro stuffing tasted of alkali, like someone just dumped a spoonful of baking soda. Yuck.Deep-fried pork chop (椒鹽排骨) - this was OK, but not sure why they decided to put curry powder in the batter. Stir-fried flat noodles with barbecued pork and scallions (薑蔥叉燒撈粗麵) - not bad, although it would be better if the noodles didn't have the taste of alkali.Xiaolongbao (小籠包) - these were actually decent. The skin was reasonably thin and soft, while there was plenty of pork juice inside.Do I feel like I've just eaten at a Michelin-starred restaurant? Not remotely. The food is average at best, and there were failed dishes. So I ask again: what the heck were those Michelin guys smoking, and can I have some?…Read More

A few of us celebrated a friend's birthday tonight here. This is an old Hong Kong favorite, which I myself used to like a few years ago. I particularly enjoyed their homemade pastas. However, some two years ago I was advised against returning as the standards had reportedly declined since the departure of the old chef. Therefore I was curious to see for myself if the food was at the same level as I remembered.When I arrived at the Royal Garden Hotel, there were posters around advertising the arrival of the new chef for Sabatini. Uh-oh... ANOTHER new chef? And the second change in about two years? That can't be good...They ran out of the poached ox tongue I initially wanted, so I started with an appetizer portion of capellini rustici con ricci di mare, bottarga di muggine cavaiale ed erba cipollina. I was surprised at the size of the dish, as the pile of pasta looked pretty filling. The taste was disappointing to say the least. While I looked forward to a symphony of flavors of the ocean - what with sea urchin, mullet roe and caviar - what I got was a mouthful of cream. I had imagined that the cream sauce would be infused with the tastes of yummy seafood, but somehow the chef chose not to do so. So this was just pasta with plain cream sauce, sprinkled with bits of seafood on top. Totally bland. Totally uninteresting.I actually struggled to pick out a second dish from the menu - none of them seemed to appeal tonight - and eventually settled on braciola di maiale Iberico con raviolo di cotechino e lenticchie, servita con patate, cipolla novella e friggitelli. How difficult is it to pan-fry a piece of pork chop? And why do so many restaurants fail in the execution? While the meat was far from dry and chewy, it just didn't deliver the yummy goodness that I expected from an Iberico pork chop. The Sous Vide Monsters will be cheering as I say this, but tonight I wished my meat had been cooked sous-vide. The lentil ravioli was totally uninteresting, but the peppers were nice. I was ready to take on another sabayon, but we had a cake for the birthday girl. The band came over to sing for us. I had been dreading this from the moment I sat down at the table. The group of entertainers had been working their way through the restaurant, and their performance was very mixed. While we all admired the vocal talents of the lady, the men were downright horrible. When they sang "Old MacDonald" at the far end of the room, I honestly wanted to get up and leave... And one of the old guys actually had "Leng Chai" written on his guitar... So, mediocre food AND bad entertainment. Not much reason for a return visit, especially when I have to trek across the harbor.Original blogpost with pictures and wine notes: http://www.diarygrowingboy.com/2011/01/few-of-us-celebrated-friends-birthday.html…Read More