THE BEST OF 2011

My Best of the Year post takes time to complete.  I go through all the meals of the past year and make a short list of the places that really impressed me with an unforgettable meal.  It doesn't have to be a fancy restaurant, it's all about the food and the experience.

Since 2011 was a year of travel for me, there were many restaurants to choose from.  New places were discovered - Bangkok and Beijing, some revisited - Sydney and San Francisco, along with the usuals - Singapore, Las Vegas and Manila and of course I explored my island home - Bali - as well.  After much deliberation and elimination, and in no particular order, here are my best gourmet experiences of 2011.

BEST BREAKFAST

No questions about it, my best breakfast this year was at bills in Sydney's Darlinghurst.  From the fantastic flat whites to the amazing ricotta hot-cakes, the delicious sweet corn cake to the homemade oatmeal, the breakfast was amazing and the service friendly.  How I wish there was a bills near me!

BEST IN THE PHILIPPINES

Since I'm from Manila, I had to include two restaurants that really impressed me back home: Antonio's and Cafe Juanita.  Antonio's is a no-brainer and on most foodies best list.  It made the drive up to Tagaytay worth it and their fine dining and Colonial atmosphere is just the right mix of fancy and simple.  Cafe Juanita is a bit off the beaten track but also worth the drive to Pasig for home-cooked Filipino food.  This is the kind of food I crave while living abroad.  It felt like I was back at my lola's (grandmother's) house having one of those long leisurely Sunday lunches.

BEST IN SOUTHEAST ASIA

Here in Bali, a restaurant that that's a favorite for local food is Cafe Degan for classic Javanese cuisine in a classic wooden joglo (wooden house).  Simple food and friendly service.  They also have half their menu dedicated to Thai dishes as the chef used to work in Thailand.  Whether you order from the Thai side of the menu or the Javanese side, you won't be disappointed.

In Singapore, where I was almost every six weeks, my cousin took me to Ippudo where we had a fantastic noodle lunch - flavorful broth, al dente ramen, chunky pork belly - everything was good.

Two new places we visited this year were Bangkok and Beijing.  In Bangkok, I had my first taste of the real flavors of Thai cuisine.  I tried many types of Thai food and enjoyed most of them but it was chef David Thompson's fine dining take on classic Thai street food at Nahm that left me with a clear idea of how sophisticated Thai food is.

In Beijing, we had the best Beijing duck (aka Peking duck) I've ever tasted at Made in China  - extra crispy non-fatty skin with either sugar for dipping (a novelty!) or the traditional Hoisin-pancake-scallion-cucumber roll.  And it wasn't just the duck, the other dishes were also outstanding and it was the best Chinese meal I'd had all year.

BEST IN THE AMERICAS

In the Americas, we start down South where we made our usual pilgrimage to Buenos Aires and where surprisingly, we didn't eat at our favorite El Mirasol as often as we usually do.  Instead, we rediscovered a Recoleta classic - Munich (or as the locals call it - "el munitch") where we had dinner almost every night and never got tired of their repertoire of classic dishes - a perfectly grilled matambre (pork steak), crispy papas paille (shoestring fries), a simple green salad, the retro Chicken Maryland and Chicken Kiev plus lots of other home-style dishes from the past and the impeccable service from the white-jacketed old-timers just added to the atmosphere.

Finally to North America, first at our usual stop in Las Vegas where we had a superb tapas meal at Jaleo where it felt like we were back in Spain.  It was great to see the quality of Spanish food so lovingly recreated at chef Jose Andres' hip and happening tapas restaurant.  We also revisited our favorite city - San Francisco - so many lovely memories from past visits and so long since our last encounter in 2004.  Dinner at RN74 was impressive - cool concept, fantastic Burgundy wines, packed with a mixed crowd and best of all, the food was really good - simple classic dishes made of incredible ingredients which is what San Francisco is all about.

Last but not least, we go back to breakfast where I just have to mention the best coffee I've had all year (lots of close seconds - Sambalatte in Las Vegas, bills in Sydney and Liberica in Jakarta) but this one topped my list and made my mornings better - Blue Bottle Coffee.  The coffee was prepared with so much love and they took their time getting it right which just goes to show that after all these years, San Francisco's foodie ways haven't changed, it's only gotten better.  And with that I look forward to another year of eating and traveling.  I hope that 2012 will be as food-filled as 2011 was.  Happy Gourmet Travels!

BVLGARI 125 YEARS RETROSPECTIVE

On our last evening in Beijing, we attended the opening of the Bvlgari 125 Years of Italian Magnificence at the newly-renovated National Museum of China.  We all met at the lobby of the Grand Hyatt hotel and then rode one of the many cars lined up on the driveway to ferry guests to the event at the museum near Tiananmen square.  We arrived just in time to see the wide expanse of steps and the red carpet all the way up to the museum's entrance.  After hearing a few welcome speeches, the doors to the exhibit were opened and over 1500 guest shuffled their way to the exquisitely displayed jewelry collection.

Soon after, we took another car and went off to dinner at the Great Hall of the People, another massive structure just across the square from the museum where a private dinner for 250 guests took place.  The hall was impressively ornate and was decorated with large red and gold screens where 25 round tables covered in gold and large flower arrangements.  The dinner was a multi-course meal of small Chinese dishes starting with a cold starter of steamed chicken, roast duck and pickled vegetables followed by a clear soup with sea cucumber then a small terra-cotta pot of the classic Buddha jumps over the wall (named thus because Buddha supposedly ate this even if it contained meat since it was so delicious) which had mushrooms, shark's fin, bamboo shoots and more sea cucumber.  Abalone came next then some small dim sum and then the incongruous main course of roast beef with potatoes.  Vegetable fried rice came next and finally, some ice cream.  During dinner, a soprano and a tenor entertained the guests with renditions from classic Italian operas.  We finished at around ten p.m. and headed back to the hotel to pack for our early flight back to Bali the following morning.

__________________________________

Bvlgari 125 Years of Italian Magnificence

Exhibition from September 4 to November 3, 2011

National Museum of China, Beijing

48 Hours in Beijing: Day 2

On Saturday, we had the whole morning and decided to explore 798 in Dashanzi.  This area of former factories and dilapidated warehouses, including the main Factory 798 which produced electronics, has been transformed into Beijing's trendy art district over the years.  Most of the buildings and warehouses in Dashanzi were designed by the East Germans in the 50's Bauhaus style and Located in the northeast part of the city, towards the international airport, the area has many art galleries and studios, cafes, restaurants, design boutiques, bookstores including a bar situated in the old 798 factory aptly called the Old Factory Bar and anchored by the impressive collection at the UCCA (Uhlens Center for Contemporary Art).

The UCCA was created by Belgian couple, Guy and Myriam Ullens, in November 2007 and is housed in an original 1950's Bauhaus-style brick factory.  Aside from their extensive collection of Chinese contemporary art that the Ullens' own, the UCCA holds exhibitions of other contemporary artists.  On our visit last month, the main hall had a large light structure by Tatsuo Miyajima (until October 8) and a larger art installation by Song Dong (which ended on Sept. 8) reflecting the life in Beijing's traditional Hutongs (courtyard-based residences found in narrow streets and alleys of Beijing), many of which have now been razed to make way for larger, newer developments.

We spent some time at the museum walking through the exhibits then finished our visit with a long look through the stylish UCCA museum store.  There were lots of fun things to be had and we especially liked Sui Janguo's Made in China colorful dinosaur resin scultpures.  In the end, we settled for a poster of Yue Minjun's Great Criticism series to add to our kitchen wall collection.

We walked around 798 and saw the cafes and restaurants start to fill up for lunch with a mix of trendy locals, expat residents and tourists.  On the main square was a large Botero-like sculpture and everywhere else were whimsical street art installations fronting galleries.  For local flavor, there were also several bike-mounted food carts on or around the main square.  We spotted coal roasted sweet potatoes, candied fruit on a stick, assorted fried pastries and a delicious-smelling extra-thin pancake spread with a black sesame paste, sprinkled with herbs and filled with a crunchy cracker which was then folded up into a rectangle piece - a Chinese version of the French crepes.  It was past noon and the day was humid so we wandered around for a bit more before we hopped in a cab to head back to our hotel in the Financial District and spent the rest of the afternoon getting ready for the big museum event that evening.

___________________________________________________

798 Art District in Dashanzi

Most galleries are closed on Monday

Map of 798

List of 798 shops & services from Time Out Beijing

UCCA (Ullens Center for Contemporary Art)

Open Tuesday to Sunday from 10:00 - 7:00, Closed on Monday
Free admission on Thursdays

MADE IN CHINA

After a whole day of sightseeing, we were looking forward to our dinner reservation at the Grand Hyatt's Made in China which was highly recommended by several friends as the best place for the city's eponymous Beijing Duck (a.k.a. Peking duck when the capital was still called Peking).  We were meeting R & L at 8:00 p.m. and were advised to leave our hotel an hour before as rush-hour traffic in Beijing can mean double the usual travel time.  When we got there fifteen minutes early, they were already waiting for us at the bar so we went straight to our table.  The restaurant was packed for a Friday evening with all seats taken and several waiting at the bar for tables to free up.

Made in China is a long narrow room flanked by the bar, a private dining area and several open cooking stations - a steamy dumplings section, a wok-fried section and a wood-fire brick oven where the ducks are roasted.  We had pre-ordered a Beijing duck (24-hour notice needed for this and their other special dish, Beggar's chicken) so we knew what our starter would be.  In the meantime, L who is a fluent Mandarin speaker, proceeded to order several dishes to share family-style.  

As soon as we had ordered, they set down two tiny bowls - one with herbed soya beans and another of tofu and cucumber, both delicious and a good sign of what was to come.  The dishes started coming one after another soon after - shredded potatoes with chili, cold braised beef shank with pickled vegetables, spinach leaves smothered in a creamy peanut sesame sauce,  sauteed beef and green chili peppers, stir-fried vegetables with dried white shrimp and pot stickers.  The food was hot and delicious - each one distinct in flavor and a far cry from our lackluster lunch near the Great Wall.  The stir-fried vegetables, mostly cabbage, was made distinct with the addition of tiny, dried white shrimp giving the dish a salty kick.  Especially good were the pot-stickers - crunchy and gooey fried dumplings that came served with a lace-like crispy cover and a tray of sauces to mix together - black vinegar, soy sauce, chili oil and a tiny amount of white liquid which turned out to be the secret ingredient - a sinus-clearingly-spicy mustard-infused oil which was meant to be used sparingly, except that A put a bit too much in his sauce mix and had to hold his nose for a few seconds after.  The dumplings dipped in this sauce were spectacular.  This is the kind of Chinese food we had expected to find in China.

While we were enjoying our food, the chef came out carrying a tray with our whole Beijing duck.  After presenting it to the table, he proceeded to slice the skin off then the meat which he served in separate plates along with the usual accompaniments of pancakes, Hoisin sauce and shredded spring onions and cucumber.  What was unusual was two other things they served with the duck - a tiny container of sugar and another of pureed garlic.  Apparently, the way to eat the duck was to dip the extra-crispy skin in sugar and eat them like crackling. (Just writing this makes me want to fly back there and have the Beijing duck all over again).  The garlic was meant as another spread to add onto the pancakes along with the duck meat and the other condiments.  When in China, do as the Chinese so we proceeded to snack on the crunchy, salty, skin dipped in sugar and had several rolled pancakes of duck meat.  Having this version of Beijing duck has spoiled me for life and from this day onwards my Beijing duck standard has been raised.  When we were just about finished, the second part of our Beijing duck dinner came - a bamboo tumbler of steaming hot and flavor-rich consomme made from the duck carcass.

We finished off our meal with a quick look at the dessert list.  R & I shared the mango pudding - a mousse-like mango topped with sweet tapioca, L had the Szechuan pepper chocolate pudding - a modern Chinese take on the typical soft-centered chocolate cake and A had coconut waffles with a Pandan-flavored ice cream. Espressos for us and a glass each of Chardonnay for R & L before we rolled ourselves out of the restaurant and finished what was our best meal in the two days we were in Beijing.  If we had stayed longer, I would have gone back for another chance to eat that delicious duck.

_______________________________________

Made in China

Grand Hyatt Beijing

1 East Chang An Avenue

Beijing, People's Republic of China 100738 

Telephone: +86 10 8518 1234

E-mail: beijing.grand@hyatt.com

Reservations essential (We emailed our booking request and received an immediate reply)

*Open daily for for lunch from 11:30 am to 2:30 pm and dinner from 5:30 pm to 10:30 pm

48 hours in Beijing: Day 1

We arrived close to midnight on the first of September at Beijing airport.  First impressions were good - the airport was modern and clearing immigration was quick.  We set off for the city, a 45-minute drive to the center where we whizzed through check-in at the Ritz-Carlton Beijing Financial Street and into our Executive Suite for the next 48 hours.  We were pleasantly surprised by the amenities that awaited us - a cheese platter, an ice-cold bottle of Veuve-Clicquot, carafes of fresh orange and grapefruit juices, assorted bottled water, a large fruit bowl, a tray of strawberries, raspberries and blueberries with fresh double cream and bunches of white roses everywhere.  The suite had a separate living and bedroom area with large closets and a white marble bathroom with separate shower and extra-large tub in between.  We had a midnight snack of cheese and berries, unpacked and went straight to bed.

Bright and early on Friday, we had breakfast at the Club lounge then met up with our hired guide for the day, Michael, and with our hired car/driver and set off for 70-kilometer drive to Mutianyu where a section of the Great Wall of China is located.  Luckily, we arrived before noon and although there were already several cars and buses, it wasn't as full as it usually is.  There are two ways to get up to the Great Wall - hiking or with the cable car and three ways to get back down: hiking, cable car or toboggan.  We opted for the easy cable car both ways so we could maximize our time do more sightseeing in the afternoon.  Our guide bought the tickets and led us to the cable car where the ride up took about five minutes.  It was a beautiful, sunny day and we could see clear across the valley below and the walled mountain pass above us.  This section of the wall has 3 main watchtowers and a seemingly-endless path that goes through the mountains in both directions.  We walked towards the first watchtower and marveled at the sixth century granite-wall construction and the sweeping views afforded by the upper floor. 

After about an hour, we took the cable car back down then went to a nearby government-owned cloisonné factory where we were shown the process of enamel decoration from the initial copper vessel to the painting and triple-firing and finally the finishing.  In the same location was a simple country-style restaurant where we had lunch, an uninspiring chicken, pepper and peanut dish, soggy sweet and sour pork, stir-fried water spinach with garlic and steamed rice.  As our first Chinese meal in Beijing, it was disappointing to say the least.  We then had a little nap in the car for the drive back to Beijing and the Forbidden City which was the second part of our sightseeing tour.

The Emperor's mountain residence up on Jingshan hill just on the north side of the Forbidden City.

The driver left us with our guide at the northeast corner of the Forbidden City where for 1 Yuan (about 16 cents) per person, we rode a shuttle to take us over to the East Glorious Gate where we cut through to enter the Forbidden City via the gate on the southern side.  Here, there are actually three large gates with the middle one called the Gate of Supreme Harmony was used exclusively by the Emperor while the side entrances were used by scholars, doctors and the few others allowed into the Forbidden City to visit the Emperor or to transact business.  As expected, the place was packed and heaving with mostly Chinese tourists, so we cut through the main square to get to the Hall of Supreme Harmony where the emperor used to conduct public celebrations or ceremonies.  Right behind is a smaller hall where the emperor would conduct his daily business and still part of the Outer court where the public was allowed.

We continued onwards to the north where the Inner Court begins and the palace and residential area is located with large private quarters for the emperor, a separate private room for the empress and adjacent private rooms for the many concubines conveniently located close to the emperor's quarters.  We also stopped by the Hall of Mental Cultivation where a nephew of the last Emperor and the last remaining descendant of the Imperial family displays his calligraphy along with antique pottery and porcelain for sale.  We continued on towards the Imperial Gardens toward Jingshan park where we admired the more intimate setting and beautiful walkways filled with trees and stone sculptures finally exiting at the large square right outside the Gate of Divine Might.  It was a good way to do a quick tour of the Forbidden City cutting through from south to north and eventually meeting up with the car on the other side.

Where the Great Wall is impressive and imposing, we found the Forbidden City to be vast but repetitive with the halls starting to look quite similar and the private quarters impossible to view as the glass was grimy and dirty and the displays were unlit from inside.   There were lots of amazing details though - the red gates and gold studs, the gold woodwork and tiles, the red lattice screens and the intricate roof ornaments were an important lesson in Chinese art and design that is still very much in use and fashionable to this day.  By this time, it was late afternoon so we headed back to the hotel through the snarl of Beijing traffic for a short rest before dinner.

Beijing Bound

After spending the whole summer in Bali, we are off on a mini-break to Beijing to attend the opening of the exhibition celebrating Bvlgari 125 years of Italian Magnificence at the National Museum of China.  The 125 years was celebrated in 2009 with the opening of the exhibit in Rome which was followed in 2010, by an exhibit in Paris' Grand Palais.  The Beijing exhibit will run from September 4 to November 3, 2011 and will showcase all the iconic Bvlgari creations from 1884 up to the 21st century.  It's our first visit to China (not counting innumerable trips to Hong Kong) and we're looking forward to discovering a new city.  It will be interesting to say the least.  As Facebook and Twitter will be difficult to access, I'll be posting about our Beijing weekend when we get back.