Flashback Friday: RONIN

"Walk down the alley to a row of nondescript buildings and watch out for the unmarked grey one with a wooden door".  Those were the instructions a friend gave me when she told me about Ronin a few months after they opened in 2013.  Finding Ronin is part of the fun, and the start of what would be an adventurous evening of fine (sea)food and drink. 

Opened by the same young restaurateurs that manage the always packed yakitori temple Yardbird and the more casual fried chicken and sandwich place Sunday's Grocery, Ronin is a sleek dining bar that focuses on modern Japanese cuisine served with a large selection of Japanese scotch, sake (rice wine), shochu (sake-based liqueur), umeshu (ume fruit based liqueur) and Japanese craft beers.

Ronin features a daily changing menu on a single sheet of paper where seafood is the star. T and I opted for the 12-course tasting menu to get a feel of their food.  The first half of the menu features raw seafood which we had with some cold sake.  We started off with a cold raw Shigoku oyster lightly seasoned with red shiso vinegar followed by the sashimi selection: shima aji, kintokidai red bigeye snapper, hotate scallop and ojisan goatfish, all simply served on a bowl of crushed ice.  The third course was delicious flower crabmeat chunks tossed with uni slivers and put back in the  shell.  The last of the raw seafood courses was a yuzu baby yellowtail sashimi sliced so thinly that you could see the black plate through the fish. The fifth raw course was skinless wedges of extra-sweet fruit tomato with just salt and pepper.

The second part of the menu were the cooked dishes starting off with grilled tilefish, daikon, white ponzu and crispy fish scales - crunchy, hot, creamy and salty in one bite.  The seventh was their signature KFC a.k.a. korean fried crab deep-fried soft shell crablets with chili sauce - just like crab popcorn and a fine dining version of their other uber-popular Yardbird KFC (Korean fried cauliflower).  Next up was the white ale battered hirame, yuzu mayo along with a small glass of very cold white ale.  The most interesting flavor combination of the evening was the ninth course of fried triggerfish in honey, Kyoto shichimi sauce and crispy chestnut slivers (which looked just like garlic) that they suggested we have with a Japanese Hakushu single malt scotch and soda water.  Not being a usual Scotch drinker, I was surprised at how the hot-crispy-sweet-salty fish paired so well with the refreshing highball.  The next two courses: wild tiger prawns, bamboo fennel, tomato confit served in a stone pot like a seafood stew and the deep fried quail, orange zest, sansho pepper were a blur and we just tasted  bit of each.  The final course:unagi, kinome, chirashi was another stunner and this one, we finished up to the last grain of rice.  We were pleasantly stuffed at this point, and all we had space for was a couple of sips each of the dessert-like digestifs cocoa nib shochu and coffee shochu.

Two and a half hours later as we stumbled up the stairs onto the street, we happily realized that evenings like the one we just had at Ronin are few and far between, and should be repeated more often. I'm already planning my next trip to Hong Kong.

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Ronin

8 On Wo Lane, Central, Hong Kong

Tel: +852 2547 5263

Reservations: seats@roninhk.com

No tables, only 12 bar seats that can be reserved two weeks in advance, Walk-ins welcome at the stand-up counter

Dinner only: 6 pm to midnight, Monday to Saturday

EL TARDEO

El Tardeo, is the newish tapas bar owned and managed by next-door  Binomio, our favorite Spanish restaurant in Singapore.  Open from the late afternoon  for the Spanish tapas-bar-hopping habit called "tapeo" (the name is a mix  of "tarde" meaning afternoon and "tapeo"), El Tardeo's interiors are simple with a large bar on one end and several bar tables scattered throughout the concrete-floored space.  

El Tardeo's menu is a mix of cold and hot pintxos and tapas, cold cuts and a few salads and main courses with an extensive cocktail and drinks list highlighting the trendy Spanish pre-dinner drink, the gin tonic while sangria, beers,  Cava and Spanish wines.

On a recent mid-week visit, we stuck to sharing several small plates with a few glasses of a crisp Radio Boca verdejo from Valencia. We started out with the cold pintxo tortilla patata - layers of thinly sliced potatoes, covered in fluffy egg and topped with a tiny dollop of aioli (strangely served hot instead of cold),  a couple of hot pintxos - the zapatilla, thin slices of melt-in-the-mouth jamon on toasted bread rubbed with tomato and the cojonudo - grilled chorizo fried egg and a piquillo pepper.  This was followed by a few modern tapas: croquetas de calamares filled with squid ink flavored béchamel, the grilled secreto Iberico (surprisingly bland for a usually flavorful cut) and the outstanding bikini de rabo toro - tender oxtail sandwiched between a  crispy pancake-like covering.  We were still a bit hungry after that so we shared some pan con tomate and finished off our meal with an espresso.  El Tardeo is perfect for big groups at happy hour who want to sample tasty tapas with drinks, but if it's dinner you're after, book a table at next-door Binomio instead.

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El Tardeo

20 Craig Road, Craig Place #01-01

Singapore 089692

Telephone: +65 6221 6288

SMS: +65 8181 1829

Email: reservation@eltardeo.sg

*Tuesday to Saturday 6 pm to midnight, Sunday from 11 to 6 pm, Closed Mondays

TIPPLING CLUB

No better place to kickstart my blog than a meal at the Tippling Club - one of Singapore's best restaurants where Chef Ryan Clift has been impressing diners with his inventive cuisine since he opened his counter restaurant in Dempsey in 2009.  I had been once to Tippling Club in July 2011 and heard that since then, they had moved to a brand new location near Chinatown in late 2013.  Located in three adjacent shophouses in the bustling restaurant street of Tanjong Pagar, Tippling Club's new interiors are a unique mix of old and new - antique Peranakan floor tiles in the bar area and glossy green subway tiles in the large show kitchen, upcycled wooden planks for the ceiling, recycled timber for the floor, vintage lamps for the kitchen counter and a mix and match of lighting fixtures for the main dining area but keeping to the overall green color scheme.  The usual creative cocktails are still present along with a concise bar snacks menu of modern tapas, and there is now a monthly prix-fixe lunch menu (Two course at SGD$43++ or three courses SGD$58++) along with the usual dinner tasting menus (5-course Classic SGD$160++ or SGD$260++ with wine pairing, 10-course Gourmand SGD$265++ or SGD$420++ with wine pairing and an equivalent Classic and Gourmand vegetarian menu).  I went back recently for lunch and was impressed with the changes to the menu - less of the tiny plate molecular gastronomy stuff that used to be served to a more approachable version of modern cuisine - which made me decide to book a table for dinner two weeks later.

A and I arrived a bit early for our 8:30 p.m. reservation during the long weekend of jubilee celebrations for Singapore's 50th birthday and had time to look carefully through the menu while waiting for our friends to arrive.  We decided to order the chive croquettes from their bar menu which arrived soon after our friends were seated - five piping hot croquettes topped with roe and accompanied by a warm Parmesan foam dip.  We all opted for the five-course classic tasting menu and aside from one substitution for the appetizer, we were all ready for our degustation dinner which we were going to have with a bottle of Venta Las Vacas 2012 Ribera del Duero.

First up were the snacks, small plates of culinary inventions that has made Tippling Club famous.  We started with a dollop of warm tom yum flavored cream with basil tempura followed by the beef tendon cracker dusted with a tomato powder which was like airy pork crackling that tasted of a cheese-less pizza Margherita.  The third snack was their signature charred peppers and soy miso dip served on a slate with some large tweezers (I remember this one from 2011) and the final snack was their tomato lava lamp - a shot glass where oil and vinegar flavored tomato water is poured so that bubbles float up to the surface and make it look like a tiny lava lamp.  It was an entertaining and fun start to our meal which gave us a little taste of what they had in store.

The cold appetizer of eel, charred shallot, mustard ice cream seemed so straightforward after the molecular snacks but the flavors were very well-executed - jellied eel contrasted with the pickled pearl onions, crumbs, crisp shallot and mustard ice cream.  A opted for the foie gras instead of the eel and was presented with a dollop of hummus-like foie gras with cubes of apples, green grapes and an oven-dried apple chip.  A warm appetizer of scallops came next hidden underneath a black pasta sheet onto which creamy purple garlic soup was poured which almost dissolved the ravioli-like squid ink pasta and mixed in with the parsley root and almost raw paper-thin scallop layers.  Two main courses followed:  roast rockling fish on a bed of shaved beetroot topped with alternating thin slices of smoked ox tongue and fresh beet root, the tongue tasted like corned beef while the beets were sweet and went well with what would have a bland chunk of fish without the interesting ingredients added on; the meat course was a roast pigeon breast, confit of pigeon leg, cep puree, truffle macaroni and a truffle infused sauce Perigourdine.  There was an optional cheese course (for an extra SGD$20) which we would have ordered if we had more time but since A was leaving very late that evening for the Virtuoso Travel week in Las Vegas, we went straight to dessert - textured milk which was a dollop coconut milk tapioca, topped with frozen yoghurt and crunchy milk-flavored meringue - a light palate end to our decadent meal.  Last but not least was their tray of signature mignardises which accompanied the coffee.

Service throughout was courteous, friendly and unobtrusive and the added touch of having different chefs come out to explain each of the courses as they were served, made the meal more interesting.  Tippling Club obviously isn't a bargain but with the quality of the produce, the innovative cuisine and the good-sized portions, it's a dinner worth saving up for.  In any case, there's always the equally good set lunch menu if you'd like to give it a try (photos of my recent lunch below).

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Tippling Club

38 Tanjong Pagar Road, Singapore 088461
Telephone: +65 6475 2217  or Email: enquiries@tipplingclub.com

Open Mondays to Fridays for lunch from noon to 3 p.m. and dinner from 6 p.m. till late; Saturdays for dinner from 6 p.m. till late

Bar is open Mondays to Fridays from noon to midnight and on Saturdays from 6 p.m. to midnight

Closed on Sundays

Public parking lot at nearby Duxton Hill or coupon street parking on Tanjong Pagar

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ESQUINA

In bustling Chinatown are several small streets where Singapore's hip and happening restaurants are located.  Shophouses line these tiny streets and one after another, they have been dolled up on the outside and restored on the inside for the many young chefs starting out.  Created by Jason Atherton, a Gordon Ramsay alum from Verre in Dubai and Maze in London, this tiny tapas bar headed by Andrew Walsh has been serving Spanish-inspired small plates since it opened in 2011. 

Getting a much-coveted stool at the communal bar was a challenge which is why we never risked a Friday evening dinner there as we never knew how long the wait would be.  Recently, they opened a second floor dining space - Esquina 2.0 - which accommodates about 25 diners and we were lucky enough to snag a table here on a weekend evening.

The Esquina menu is printed onto a simple paper placemat and divided into six sections: Snacks, Soil, Sea, Land, Desserts and Drinks with each section listing about half  dozen choices.  On that evening, there were three of us for dinner and we shared many small plates, making sure to order a few from each section. 

We started out with a bottle of Cape Roca Fisherman Tejo red along with a couple of Snacks: the warm thyme and onion bread served with smoked bone marrow butter (individual popover-like rolls were served with a couple of bone marrows which we slathered onto the hot bread), the pork crackling, salt cod and smoked herring roe - a modern version where pork crackling seem like a large cracker (like a pork krupuk) topped with several dots of salt cod mousse and roe - this was more form than substance, it tasted fine but was a bit too much for so little and the classic jamon croquetas - no tricks here, just the usual breadcrumbed creamy béchamel with jamon Iberico bits.  From Soil, we had the salt-baked beetroot with whipped burrata, truffle honey and a raspberry pine nut crumble - thinly sliced beetroot over creamy bur rata made smoky sweet from the truffle honey - exceptional flavors which made modern with the addition of the raspberry pine nut "soil" (full disclaimer - I'm not a fan of endless foams and soils in food).  From Sea, we had the and excellent seared sea bass with the chorizo black paella and some kind of foam (could it have been olive?).  From Land, the roasted duck breast with carrot escabeche and tarragon citrus couscous topped by another pork "krupuk-style" crackling and the roasted lamb loin with sweet garlic puree, salsify and broad beans which we shared a large side of chorizo paella with chorizo "soil".  For Dessert, we had the chocolate mousse with chocolate soil (again) and vanilla churros along with a Manchego cheese custard, black olive, brioche crumbs (more soil) and apricot jam.   All in all, an enjoyable meal.  I just wish they didn't overdo the soils and foams.  Often, food can still be fun without being overly-gimmicky.

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Esquina

16 Jiak Chuan Road

Singapore 089267

Telephone: +65 6222 1616

*Open for lunch Mondays to Fridays for lunch from 12:00 to 2:30, Dinner from Mondays to Saturdays 6:00 to 10:30, Closed Sundays

*Dinner Tasting Menu for $130++ (nine small plates)

*Supperclub Menu for $120++ (eight small plates)

ARARAT PARK HYATT

In mid-March, after almost 16 years, I finally returned to Moscow with A (who was on a business trip).  When I left Russia in 1997, after living there for three years, I didn't know it would take me that long to go back.  In the last decade and a half, Moscow has certainly gone through many changes - most of them good.  We arrived on a beautiful sunny spring day at the luxurious Ararat Park Hyatt right smack in the middle of town - a few blocks away from the Kremlin, GUM and Red square, walking distance to the pedestrian streets of the center now filled with restaurants and shops, half a block away from the recently renovated Bolshoi and across the street from the Maly theater which is still under renovation.  In the week we were there, we walked to nearby restaurants and also to explore.  In my opinion, the Park Hyatt probably has the best location in the city for sightseeing and exploring on foot.

The renovated rooms, redone by Tony Chi at the Park Hyatt Moscow, are modern and luxurious with illy espresso machines, Blaise Mautin amenities, separate rain shower and bath and a spotlit Murano glass bear sculpture by local artist Andrey Frangulyan.  Our room had a large picture window overlooking the renovated TSUM, the Central Department Store (and what used to be the little sister to GUM, the State Department Store, on Red square).  We also had a view into the dance studios of theater school next door where we watched dancers going through their routine nightly.  My only gripe about the room was that with all the dramatic lighting, it was quite dark and difficult to read but I suppose that with dim moody lighting, everyone and everything looks good.

Breakfast was a wonderful spread at the very quiet The Park restaurant on the second floor.  I also had the chance to enjoy a solo sushi lunch at the top floor Conservatory Lounge on one of the snowy days, of which we had several during the week.  Room service was impeccable and the set-up was impressive - from the heavy silver tray to the crisp white linen, eating at the Park Hyatt was a pleasure and a great way to re-experience Moscow, my old home.

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ARARAT PARK HYATT MOSCOW

4 Neglinnaya Street

Moscow,  Russia, 109012

Tel: +7 495 783 1234

Fax: +7 495 783 1235

Email: moscow.park@hyatt.com

KUSHI

After a week spent in hot and humid Orlando, we headed to historic Washington DC where we spent another week sightseeing and getting to know the nation's capital and its' numerous monuments and museums.  We stayed a across the Potomac at the Ritz-Carlton Pentagon City which was convenient for getting into town as the metro was just in front of the hotel.  It was also a novelty as our older son had only been to on the NY subway once and our daughter had never been on the metro so for the first few days, riding the clean trains was part of the fun.

Kushi is essentially a Japanese grill restaurant with a large counter right near the entrance overlooking the open kitchen where Japanese style skewered meat, fish and vegetables are cooked on a traditional Japanese charcoal (binchotan) grill.  There are also small plates, tataki and some sushi and sashimi on the menu but the main event are the grilled items.  We arrived early for the first seating and settled into a corner of the bar where we immediately ordered some edamame with sea salt to snack on while we studied the menu.

We started out with a spicy tuna roll and a shrimp tempura roll which was followed by tofu agedashi (fried soft tofu with broth) then three each of several skewers (priced by stick) to share:  chicken thigh, pork belly, beef short rib and corn with soy sauce butter.  We also had some grilled Japanese eggplant with miso and tonkatsu which came with a spicy mayonnaise instead of the usual tonkatsu sauce.  The food came quickly and was very good - perfect for sharing and also for solo dining of which there were several at the counter.  The few tables near the bar started to fill just as we were leaving the restaurant and as it was still light outside, we walked around the block and enjoyed the warm evening - our first in Washington DC.

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Kushi

465 K Street NW
Washington, DC 20001
Email: info@eatkushi.com
Telephone: +1 202 682 3123 or +1 202 682 3124
*Open daily for lunch from 11:30 and dinner from 5:30.  Brunch on Sundays.

THE RAVENOUS PIG

We went on our family summer holiday to Orlando (to take the kids to Disneyworld) and relax at the Ritz-Carlton Orlando Grande Lakes.  After a few days of amusement parks, we were ready for a grown-up meal and luckily found a promising restaurant in nearby Winter Park.

The Ravenous Pig is a gastropub owned by ex-CIA chefs and husband and wife James and Julie Petrakis.  We booked a table for dinner on a Thursday and arrived to a packed restaurant.  There's a bar near the entrance and a main dining area adjacent.  The interiors are simple - brick lined walls, a few booths and a bustling and casual atmosphere.  We were led to a table towards the back where we settled in with the menus along with a long list of draught beers and their creative cocktail list.  C had their version of a classic Old-Fashioned done with a twist - bacon infused buffalo trace bourbon, vanilla maple syrup, angostura orange topped with a slice of extra crispy bacon.  We also had a look at their very reasonably-priced wine list and settled on a couple of glasses of wine to start.  As we were all hungry, we decided to ask for some Gruyere biscuits from the Pub Fare section of the menu which were served piping hot with smoked salted butter which me munched as we perused their dinner menu which changes monthly.

We ordered four appetizers to share among the five of us: the Gatherer salad - baby lettuces, avocado, pickled beets, radish, goat cheese, pistachios, herb vinaigrette, the oyster trio, a crudo of tuna with salmon eggs and  the octopus and house-made sausage.  All the starters were a mix if interesting flavors and textures with the crudo and the unusual combination of octopus and sausage which were the best.

For the main courses, we opted to again do family-style and ordered four dishes which we all shared: a  marinated seared flatiron steak with truffle fries and aioli, the basil encrusted Cobia with a corn relish and hush puppies, fresh tagliatelle with spring vegetables and the large pork porterhouse with spicy baked beans.  The steak and pasta were straightforward and although they were both good, they didn't impress whereas the green-tinged (from the basil) fish was cooked perfectly and the crispy yet soft hush puppies and sweet sour corn relish complemented the dish perfectly and the pork porterhouse epitomized a southern gastropub dish with the thick pork chop seared to perfection smothered in a house-made spicy sweet barbecue sauce and the accompanying spicy baked beans were a treat which I would go back for any day.

We were stuffed by then but since this was the best food we had eaten in Orlando by far, we were reluctant to finish such a lovely meal without at least trying a few desserts: the signature Pig Tails - warm cinnamon fritters shaped like pig tails with a chocolate espresso dipping sauce, the creamy tangy citrus cheesecake which came served in a jar and the warm blackberry crumble.

The Ravenous Pig is the type of casual neighborhood restaurant that I wish we had here in Dorado - a place where reservations are not required and where one can walk in on a weekday night, have a fun cocktail or a glass of wine and a simple yet delicious meal.  This restaurant should go on all foodie parent's lists for their one night away from the amusement park chaos and fried food for an evening of fun and fantastic food.
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The Ravenous Pig
1234 N. Orange Avenue
(between Orlando and Denning)
Winter Park FL 32789
Telephone: +1 407 628 2333
*Open Tuesdays to Saturdays for Lunch from 11:30 to 2:00 and for Dinner from 5:30 till late,  Bar opens at 5:00

*Complimentary valet parking

POSITIVO SANDBAR

The Dorado Beach, a Ritz-Carlton Reserve has been open almost half a year now so it's time for me to finally write about the restaurants on the property.  In the first of a series of four posts, I'll be featuring the food and beverage options at the hotel.

First up is Positivo Sandbar which is a beautiful open-air deck located right on the beach with lounge chairs and tables set in the sand and a large bar serving creative cocktails. They serve a small menu at lunch of salads and appetizers and a slightly different dinner menu with the same appetizers without the salads and the addition of pork belly sliders and kobe beef sliders.

Lunch is open only to hotel guests who can enjoy their meal either at the bar or poolside then at sunset, the bar is open to everyone.  On several occasions, I've had both lunch and dinner.  For lunch, the alcohol-free Cucumber mint drink is refreshing accompanied by either a Carribbean Cobb salad with lobster or my favorite tomato avocado tostada salad.  The empanadillas (mini empanadas or fried turnovers), spinach and corn or beef, are delicious and so is the crispy calamari.  In the evening, try one of their signature cocktails then continue with the shrimp ceviche or the shredded pork belly sliders while enjoying the spectacular sunset.
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Positivo Sandbar
at the Dorado Beach, a Ritz Carlton Reserve
100 Dorado Beach Drive
Dorado PR 00646
Telephone: +1 787 278 7223
*Open all-day for lunch (hotel guests only), drinks and dinner (for everyone).
*DJ on Fridays at sunset.  Sushi on Tuesday nights.

KHONG RIVER HOUSE

On our first evening in Miami, I booked the recently open Khong River House which is conveniently located just off the pedestrian street Lincoln avenue and an easy ten-minute walk from the Ritz-Carlton South Beach.  Managed by the same group who own Yardbird Southern Table and Bar showcasing Southern cooking and the soon-to-open Swine Southern Table and Bar which will feature a nose-to-tail menu.  Khong River House focuses on the cuisine of Northern Thailand (not the stuff you in usually see in Thai restaurants) plus nearby Burma and Lao which is seen in the exciting menu.  Running the kitchen is chef Bee with his team - chefs Pai and Danny, also from Northern Thailand, and chef Rene.  Before its' recent transformation, Khong River House was a restaurant called Miss Yip which was more Asian in looks than food as my lunch there in 2010 proved.  Luckily, the same corner spot has been transformed into a well-designed cozy space with the use exposed brick, reclaimed wood slabs used both in the bar and chairs plus a corrugated tin ceiling just like roadside shacks found all over Asia coupled with dim lighting and loud music.

I booked a table via Open Table and good thing I did as the restaurant was packed when we walked in on an early Thursday evening.  The bar was pumping as they had a Happy Hour promotion on all their signature gin cocktails.  The drinks list is extensive with 34 types of gin, several Asian beers and an interesting well-presented wine list.

We were seated in on one of the banquettes, right in the middle of the action and beside the bar. We had a look at the dinner menu which had several sections: small plates (appetizers), salads, noodles, traditional main courses, rice and a few side dishes labeled to share.  We decided to order one small plate, two traditional dishes and a vegetable side dish, all of them to be served family-style.  A had a glass of the Patient Cottat Sauvigonon Blanc, an organic wine from the Loire valley, and I chose a Kesseler Riesling, another organic wine producer, this time from the Rheingau region.  If only we were beer drinkers, we could have had an ice cold Asian beer from their list of

Our starter of Burmese fresh noodle wraps was served not long after - five parcels filled with roasted dried red chili, lemon juice, palm sugar, cilantro and crushed peanuts wrapped up in a fresh noodle and served cold just like a summer roll.  This vegetarian bite was both sweet and salty and a good omen for what was to come.

The main courses were then brought out one after another with a bowl of steamed jasmine rice - Vietnamese style crispy prawns, the best dish we had that evening, deep fried shell-on prawns tossed in chili, garlic, shallots, spring onions and spices and cheekily served in a bowl lined with Asian newspaper and a banana leaf.  There was also the char-grilled Thai eggplant with stir-fried minced pork, basil leaves and oyster sauce which was surprisingly bland so we returned it and asked them to prepare a new one which came back much better with a hint of spice.  We also shared the stir-fried tofu with garlic chives, bean sprouts and chili - a simple vegetable dish with fresh flavors and such a pleasure to have as we often crave these vegetables in Puerto Rico where bean sprouts and garlic chives are nowhere to be found.

Asians don't normally have dessert except for fruit as sweets are usually eaten as snacks instead of after a meal but there is a small dessert menu at Khong River House with some Asian-influenced sweets.  We shared the Mango Napoleon - crispy filo layers filled  with mango mousse and served with cubed mangoes - it was a nice tart ending after all the spiciness but not really necessary.  Next time, because there will definitely be a next time, we'll skip dessert and have another delicious small plate or side dish instead.

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Khong River House
1661 Meridian Avenue
Miami Beach, FL
Telephone: +1 305 763 8147
*Open daily for dinner, lunch from Mondays to Fridays and brunch on weekends.
* Valet parking available.

Day trip: PLAZA DEL MERCADO

Half a year after moving to Puerto Rico, I finally decided to check out the Plaza del Mercado in Santurce.  Built in 1910, the market used to have two floors with the ground floor used for offices and ticket sellers and the upper floor for vendors of produce and butchers.  In later years, the second floor was removed and what remains now is just the main floor with several fruit and vegetable stalls, mostly selling bananas, plantains, yucca, sweet potatoes, chilies and chinas, the local oranges and the extra-large light-green skinned local avocados.  There is also a stall with hats and cigars for sale and a tiny souvenir shop off to one corner.  The butcher is now located outside the Plaza on the adjacent strip of la placita (small plaza or town square).

At sunset, la placita becomes a lively hangout for locals and tourists with the nearby bars and restaurants lining the side streets open and set up tables outside and live music blaring onto the square.  Closer to midnight, the street becomes livelier when the locals and tourists start to relax after several rum concoctions and impromptu salsa dancing takes place.  We went late in the morning, explored a bit then had a lovely lunch at nearby Santaella, one of our favorite San Juan restaurants, and by 3:00 p.m. we were headed back home to Dorado.

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Plaza del Mercado
Santurce, Puerto Rico
*Open Mondays to Saturdays from 6:00 a.m. to 6:00 p.m., Sundays from 6:00 a.m. to 12 noon
*Bars and restaurants on La Placita open in the evenings till very late.

HAKKASAN

I did a girl's holiday with my friend  T in New York a few weeks back and on our first evening we booked an early table at the newly-opened Hakkasan.  Although they got slammed by the NY Times, we decided to give it a go as we had fond memories of our last girl's holiday together in London and our wonderful lunch at the original Hakkasan off Tottenham Court road.

The interiors (see photos from the NY Times here) are dark with rich colors, lots of reds and purples, and cozy corners making this one of the sexiest Chinese restaurants ever.  There is a long runway-like white marble hallway for an entrance that leads to the dimly-lit bar and further on to the screened-off areas making it seem like different rooms in a home instead of a large restaurant.  We opted to sit at the far banquette nearest the frosted glass windows to enjoy some of the summer evening light and so I could take photos of our dinner without using a flash.

Hakkasan's dinner menu is bound in a leather-covered book and as expected from a Chinese restaurant, lots to choose from.  Along with the regular menu was the prix-fixe menu offered for NY Restaurant Week (most restaurants had a lunch prix-fixe for $24.07 and a dinner one for $35).  As there were three of us for dinner, we decided to go for the bargain $35 menu and add another dish from the Small Eat section and share everything family-style the way Chinese food is supposed to be eaten.  The 3-course prix-fixe dinner menu had a choice of three appetizers, three main courses and three desserts plus either fried rice or steamed rice.  To make it easy and to give us a chance to taste the most dishes, we chose one of each along with some Riesling by the glass.

First up was the selection of appetizers: fried dim sum, steamed dim sum and the salt and pepper squid. The steamed dim sum was excellent - four pieces of delicately flavored beautiful steamed parcels - a classic har gao (steamed prawn dumpling), scallop siu mai topped with shrimp roe, black pepper duck dumpling and an all-vegetable chive flower dumpling.  The fried dim sum starter had roasted duck and pumpkin puff, crispy prawn dumpling and XO seafood puff - all three were different in shape but quite similar in taste with the ribbed crispy prawn dumpling having the best flavor mix of salty crunch. The salt and pepper squid was less successful and quite bland for a traditional Chinese dry-fried dish - not enough salt or pepper or spice.  The extra order of our favorite fried soft shell crab with curry leaf and chili ($19) was also served with the appetizers.  One of Hakkasan's signature dishes the battered and deep-fried soft-shell crab chunks came tossed in curry leaves and chili, and topped with shredded crunchy egg-yolk threads.  The soft-shell crab was a burst of flavor with each sweet-salty-crunchy-seafood-umami bite making it quite hard to stop popping more in the mouth.

We took our time finishing off the appetizers as the portions were quite big for a prix-fixe menu.  The main dishes came next - sweet and sour pork tenderloin with pomegranate,  spicy prawns with lily-bulb and almonds in a light curry sauce and the vegetarian stir-fried sugar snaps, water chestnut and cloud ear mushrooms and the spring onion and egg fried rice for all of us.  Surprisingly, the sweet and sour pork was very good and interesting with the pomegranate seeds providing the sour crunch to the dish.  The vegetables were not soggy and overcooked but crisp and fresh with the sugar snaps retaining their crunch and sweetness, the water chestnuts like crispy turnip chips and the addition of the cloud ear mushrooms giving the dish a smoky twist.  The dish that was a letdown was the spicy prawn which was not spicy at all and quite bland with the prawns looking and tasting like they were just steamed then tossed in the curry sauce and almonds.  The egg-fried rice was, again, bland.

Dessert was much more refined than anything one would ever get at a Chinese restaurant - apple tatin with green apple sorbet, summer cherry ganache and the PB&J.  The classic tarte tatin was served in a perfect rectangle along with a tart green apple sorbet to complement the sweetness of the caramelized apple layers.  The cherry dessert was a long slice of dark chocolate ganache over a chocolate dacquiose (chocolate flavored meringue) with 2 dollops of sorbet - white tea and cherry.  Finally, the PB& J, a riff on the classic peanut butter and jelly which was modernized into a peanut butter parfait, raspberry jelly and passion fruit sorbet concoction.

Dinner at Hakkasan was ok.  Several hits but also lots of misses which shouldn't be the case for a high-end overpriced Chinese restaurant especially in New York where a short subway ride downtown can mean a fantastic Chinese meal sans the sexy fine dining ambiance of Hakkasan.  Could it be because uber-chef and creative founder Alan Yau is no longer involved in the Hakkasan group of restaurants or because they haven't worked out the kinks in their menu yet since they opened in less than six months ago?  Whatever it is, Hakkasan has lost some of it's shine food-wise and in a super competitive high-end restaurant environment like New York, their tried and tested formula needs reworking.

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Hakkasan

311 West 43rd Street

New York NY 10036

Telephone: +1 212 776 1818

*Open daily for lunch and dinner from 11:30 till late.  Dim sum brunch served on weekends.

ALDO'S

In a country that has recently become a popular wine producer, there seem to be lots of wine boutiques in Buenos Aires but only a few wine bars.  One of them is the recently opened Aldo's off a nondescript street in the old-style neighborhood of San Telmo.  (We went there for dinner on a Saturday evening with our very good French friends, J & V who we met in Chile more than ten years ago.  J is godfather to our firstborn and he and V had flown over for the weekend from Santiago where they still live just to see us and meet their godson again.)

First thing one sees is the entryway flanked by large store-like window displays of wines on open shelves.  Once through the door, the restaurant is one large square room with wooden floors, cozy dark blue velvet banquettes and a bar at the far end of the room.  Tables are set simply with a wine glass and a water tumbler, linen napkins over a paper tablecloth with a double red stripe running through it.

At Aldo's it's all about the wine and their comprehensive wine selections lists all the different grape varieties of Argentina leading with the Malbec and Torrontes.  The menu is a simple one-page sheet with a few appetizers, some quiches (called tartas), half a dozen main courses with most items cooked on the grill and a handful of desserts.  Keeping with the wine-centric evening, the knowledgeable Peruvian sommelier guided us through the wine list keeping in mind our budget.  To start, we chose a Colomé Torrontes 2011 which showcases the typical white grape variety grown higher up than Mendoza in Salta with vineyards more than 2000 meters above sea level.  Part of the Hess Collection of wineries, Colome was established in 1831 making it the oldest winery in Argentia.  Here both Torrontes and Malbec are produced with great success.  We were pleasantly surprised by the wine and it's flowery aroma and it's freshness.  With this we shared two appetizers: a marinated salmon with paper-thin slices of cucumbers and dill and a plate of jamon crudo topped with dried figs and arugula.  Both starters were simple but quite good and served with a basket of bread.

For our main courses, A and J had meat - Milanesas con pure and the 8-hour lamb while V and I both had the fish of the day - grilled cod with two sauces: salsa verde and a creamy butter sauce which we were then going to have with a Zorzal Reserva 2009 Malbec from further south of Mendoza in the Valle de Uco.  The wine complemented the boy's meat dishes and although we had a few sips, we stuck to our Torrontes.  It's good that the wines were interesting as the main courses were disappointing - the milanesas (breaded beef) were battered in sesame breadcrumbs and the lamb was a black mass of meat on a plate, not very appetizing to look at and dry despite the many hours of slow-cooking.  The fish of the day was dry and the sauces bland.  We shared a dessert of fresh fruit with mint and grapefruit granita which was just that, nothing more, nothing less.  Considering that the place has only been open a few months, they can still improve their menu.  Don't come here for the food because Aldo's is a wine bar and in that sense, they have succeeded with their extensive wine list and very reasonable wine prices.

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Aldo's Vinoteca

Moreno 372

(at the Hotel Moreno)

San Telmo, Buenos Aires

Telephone: +54 11 5291 2380

MAMASAN

We got back from Buenos Aires a few days ago and I was all set to post my Argentina eats until I went for lunch at two week old Mamasan in Seminyak and decided that this post had to go out before anything else.

Mamasan is the new restaurant from the same owners of Sarong and specializes in noodles and wok-stir-fries with lots of designer drinks to go along with the spicy food.  P and I went for lunch last Thursday and were pleasantly surprised by the modern funky interiors, the comprehensive southeast Asian menu and the cool bar on the second floor.

There were several tables taken for lunch but not as packed as we hear dinner is (book ahead!) with two seatings in the evening and lots of people waiting at the upstairs bar for a table to free up.  To start, we looked through the extensive bar menu - lots of cocktails and non alcoholic drinks and a decent wine list with most New World wines.  I decided to try one of their frozen teas - the honey and lime which was black tea with honey and lime sorbet - refreshingly cold especially now in Bali's scorching 30C days.  P opted for the passion fruit juice, another frozen concoction of fresh juice and fruit sorbet.  We shared a Vietnamese starter of minced pork wrapped in Betel leaves - delicious minced pork, like a spring roll without the crunch, with a sweet chili dip alongside.  Next up were two main courses.  We decided to order two dishes to share, family style: one noodle - Khao Soi, the northern Thai dish of curried noodles with chicken and one wok stir-fry - the Peking duck fried rice.  Portions are big so the dishes are meant to be shared.  First came the curry noodles - flat fettuccine-like noodles in a rich curry flavored broth which was creamy and spicy at the same time.   The Peking duck fried rice was served last and was a large plate of smoky-flavored fried rice with pineapple chunks, red chilies and onions and topped with several slices of roast duck.  We managed to polish off most of the curry noodles but only ate half the fried rice as we were full by then and still wanted to leave space for dessert.  We shared the mung bean cake - a sweet bean and rice cake dessert which, strangely, came with fried crispy garlic on top that we scraped off the palm sugar glaze.  The cake came with a light coconut ice cream and worked well with the sweet bean cake.  Illy coffees to end our large lunch and a promise to lunch again together soon.

A few days after, I went back again for lunch, this time with the family as I was eager to show off my discovery to A.  Again, the restaurant had several tables filled but wasn't so full that reservations were needed.  We settled into the corner banquette and had a longer look at the menu.  We decided, as usual, to do family style and ordered several dishes to share.  To start, we had the Thai prawn cakes - sticky sweet and spicy prawns shaped into a patty and fried then served with a sweet chili sauce - delicious!  Then the table started to fill up with our orders: a triple-tier metal tiffin container was served for Hainanese chicken rice set lunch with some clear chicken soup in one container, rice cooked in the chicken broth in another and slices of steamed chicken in the third.  Standard sauces of ginger, green onion and dark soy were served alongside.  We also had prawn Pad Thai with a tiny plate of dried chili and sugar so you can make the noodles as sweet or as spicy as you like,  a Vietnamese salad of thin strips of carrots and cucumber flavored with lemongrass, mint, Thai basil and crunchy shallots in a fish sauce, lime and sugar dressing with several fired pork patties thrown in the mix.  We started on these two main courses before the next two were served: fiery Thai minced chicken, garlic, chili and basil with steamed Jasmine rice topped by a fried egg and the same Peking duck fried rice which P and I shared a few days ago.  As much as we tried, we only managed to finish the salad, the noodles and the chicken rice and had some leftover fried rice and Thai minced chicken to take home.   To soothe our burning palates, we shared the creme brulee - a crunchy-sugar-topped vanilla bean custard served with a Vietnamese coffee affogato (usually vanilla ice cream in which a shot of espresso has been added, this version has the vanilla ice cream in a glass topped with a Vietnamese coffee maker so the the hot and milky Vietnamese coffee drip-brews onto the ice cream).

Less than a month open and after two yummy lunches, this is now my new Bali favorite for the delicious dishes, the casual yet cosmopolitan interiors, the creative drinks menu and the courteous service.  Did I also mention that it's fully air-conditioned and that they have valet parking?  What more can one ask for?  It's going to get very crowded soon so book your dinner table now or pop in for lunch when it's less busy.  I bet it's going to be the favorite of many Bali residents too so don't say I didn't warn you.

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Mamasan

Jl. Raya Kerobokan 135

Seminyak, Bali

Telephone: +62 361 730 436

*Open daily for lunch and dinner from 11:30 till late. Closed Sundays

*Kitchen open for lunch till 3:00 and dinner till late. Drinks served in-between lunch and dinner hours.

TIPPLING CLUB

Tippling Club - menu and details

Every time I go to Singapore, even if it's just for a few days, I make it a point to try a new restaurant.  Sometimes it's fine dining like when I had lunch with a friend at Iggys in April or just fun dining when we splurged on a Japanese robatayaki meal at Akanoya last November.  On our last trip a few weeks ago, we had dinner at the Tippling Club.

Tippling Club is a funky bunker in hip and happening Dempsey Hill.  It's basically a steel tent covered structure that looks like it could be packed up in a day.  The interiors are simple, with a large counter dominating the whole room with lots of stools lined up.  Right behind the counter is a large metal rack where liquor bottles hang from s-hooks like an art installation but which in fact is their actual working bar where their famous cocktail concoctions are prepared.  Further down the middle are several open shelves filled with identical-looking labeled brown glass bottles filled with powders, spices and all sorts of ingredients.  Towards the back is the bright open kitchen where British chef Ryan Clift sends out his experimental creations.  On the other end of the bar is another large metal rack where more bottles hang from s-hooks.  These ones are for members of the Tippling Society who purchase the liquor at a discounted price and then leave their bottles there for when they come over for a drink and join the monthly cocktail-paired tasting menu.

Tippling Club Amuse-Bouches

Tippling Club is open only for dinner (except for Saturdays where a reasonably-priced lunch menu is also served for S$55++).  There are about tow dozen seats at the counter where the two tasting menus are served: the five-course Classic menu (S$145++ or S$230++) or the ten-course Gourmand menu (S$240++ or S$390++) - the first price for just the food and the second one when paired with cocktails and wines.  We all chose the Classic non-pairing menu but switched the first course of Ocean trout with the Gourmand menu's foie gras and apple.  From their extensive wine list, we chose a Pinot noir, the 2008 Bouchard Pere et Fils, Beaune du Chateau, 1er cru (S$165) to accompany our meal.  Before we started, J also chose a vodka martini that was served smoking from a classic glass - a sign of the food and drinks alchemy to come.

We started out with several amuse-bouches (tiny appetizers) that came one after another: the first came in a glass yogurt container and was a yellow-colored curry flavored mousse topped with dehydrated yogurt crystals and mint - it was served at room temperature and was an like a modern take on classic Indian flavors.  Next up, and the most unforgettable starter of the meal, were two fried Spanish green peppers served on a slate with what looked like a raw egg-yolk and surprisingly, some metal tweezers.  The crispy hot and slightly spicy pepper was to be dipped in the yellow wasabi-soy egg-yolk looking sauce.  The flavor combination of the two was stunning and such a creative way to present a traditional Spanish dish and give it an Asian-inspired twist.  Three other one-of-a-kind amuse-bouches followed (as you can see what was supposed to be a five-course menu is in fact, ten courses when all the tiny starters are added too): vichysoisse, cold potato soup, in a glass tube with some caviar on jelly, then there was the pickled quail egg on a bed of powder and finally, a tiny glass beaker filled with a clear liquid of tomato soup that was to be sipped using a basil-infused straw.

Tippling Club Classic Five-course Tasting Menu

After those tiny bites, our menu started off with the Foie Gras Apple - raw foie gras mousse with granny smith three ways: a small wedge of fresh crispy green apple, dehydrated as a chip and in a gel, topped with a spiced gaufrette (tuile-like thin crispy cookie) which we were instructed to smash onto our foie gras in shards before eating.  Next up was the fish course - his version of the classic Singaporean Chili Crab which was deconstructed into chunks of crab meat with celery and roasted cashews served alongside a chili-infused broth.  A pasta course of Gnocchi followed which were classic potato gnocchi accompanied by crispy shredded leeks, grain mustard and a hot onion soup - another classic rendered in a creative way, the soup was so flavorful yet the dish seemed so simple.  The meat course came next - Wagyu beef cheek cooked sous-vide (cooked in a bag in water kept at a very low temperature) which was an all-red concoction of beef, roasted beets and red wine quinoa.  At this point, we were about to be served dessert when we swerved off-piste after seeing our next-counter diners having a squid dish which we decided we had to have as well.  The extra Scampi course was slightly poached and served on top of warm, squid ink flavored kuzu noodles.  At this point, I was full but not yet stuffed and there was still dessert to contend with.  A moonscape looking creation of a large gooey white ball, like a marshmallow but not soft, filled with white chocolate with crunchy black meringues scattered around and another egg-yolk looking thing at the bottom which was actually lemon curd.  I struggled through this last course and there were still the mignardises (tiny sweets) to end the meal: a raspberry flavored cone filled with (was it?) yogurt or fromage frais and several flavored chocolate truffles, one with cherry liqueur, another with coffee and a few others and finally, espressos for us and cafe lattes for them to end our two-hour tasting evening.  We staggered out of there with our stomachs full and our pockets empty because as expected, dinner in a place like the Tippling Club is eye-wateringly expensive.  Was it worth it? Yes.  Would I eat there again? Maybe.  The food was good but it's not the kind of place you would walk into mid-week for a quick satisfying meal, it's more of a once-in-a-while kind if place. Word of advice, snag one of the terrace tables and try the food from their limited terrace menu where you can experience an affordable version of Tippling Club's modern cuisine along with their designer cocktails.

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Tippling Club

8D Dempsey Road

(in Dempsey Hill)

Singapore 249672

Telephone: +65 6475 2217

*Open for dinner Mondays to Saturdays and lunch on Saturdays only.

*The tables and the stools on the terrace are strictly for drinks although a simple bar snack menu of salty bites and some desserts is also available.