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.

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?!

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...

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.

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.html

The 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!

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

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.

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.

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

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