Picture of the Day: Chocolate Souffle

It's not easy making a good souffle, but Hugo's does it well

A good souffle is not easy to execute. The egg whites need to be completely clean, devoid of any yolks, and whipped with sugar until peaks form. Meanwhile the flavouring needs to be mixed separately and cooled down before the egg whites are folded in.

This is a chocolate souffle from Hugo's in the Hyatt Regency Hong Kong. The fine dining European restaurant is celebrating its 50th anniversary, and it has its classic desserts perfected over the decades, from crepes Suzette to Bombe Alaska.

And this souffle is perfect. It's a large one, big for one person, but too delicious to share, and inside it's not wet at all, cooked through with a very light texture.

A souffle can't be rushed either -- it takes about 15 minutes to bake in the oven and you hope you did everything right so that it rises evenly and high, and this one does.

Guests can add either vanilla or chocolate sauce to the souffle
. Why more chocolate? We added some vanilla.

The bonus is having the rich chocolate sauce on top with a piece of gold leaf.

So good.

Hugo's
Hyatt Regency Hong Kong
18 Hanoi Street
Tsim Sha Tsui

London: Afternoon Tea at the Langham

 

Our desserts and scones at the afternoon tea at The Langham London

A trip to London is not complete without a proper afternoon tea. Where to go? The Langham London. When we found it in the West End, we discovered it is steps away from the BBC's new headquarters which was cool. Too bad the broadcaster had an event in the courtyard area which was cordoned off, otherwise we'd have wandered a bit closer...

In any event the Langham London is a pretty grand place and we made a reservation for tea at 3.30pm, though we arrived a bit earlier. Afternoon tea was already in full swing in Palm Court, and we were seated near the piano, where the pianist played easy-listening classics that were enjoyable to listen to for a few hours.

Really delicious sandwiches to start off

The afternoon tea here is not cheap -- starts at £62 (US$78) per person to £68, which includes a savoury dish -- but you will be extremely full afterwards and the service is impeccable. The staff are very courteous and attentive to your needs.

The first order of business is deciding which tea to drink, and there is an extensive tea menu of black, white and green teas, infusions, and oolong teas. Guests are even encouraged to try different teas throughout the afternoon.

We started off with sandwiches, and usually these savouries are not given much thought, tasteless and dry. However here, each one was delicious -- cucumber and cream cheese, Scottish smoked salmon with horseradish cream, peppered beef pastrami with artichoke, smoked chicken, and brown egg and autumn truffle brioche bun.

An extra course of tomatoes and goat cheese tart

When we were finished them, a server came around with a silver tray with more of the same sandwiches. If you insist! We took one each.

Our next "course" was an extra savoury dish. I tried the Isle of Wright tomato and goat cheese tart, with lots of slightly unripe tomatoes, though the pastry was crispy, while my cousin had the Orkney scallop with dill beurre blanc.

Then came our sweets with fun names. For example Precisely Prescilla! is a raspberry sponge roll with raspberry confit, while It's all about Brigitte is caramelized puff pastry, coffee pecan and chocolate. I really liked Brigitte and the fig tart. Oh and the blackcurrant sorbet with green apple compote.

Desserts with scones in the back and champagne if you wish!

If that's not enough, the main event are the scones. Each person gets a plain one and one studded with raisins. Even though both have been sitting at the table for a while, they are still fluffy and delicious with clotted cream and a choice of strawberry jam or marmalade. When you finish those, you can have more, if you can fit them into your stomach. We sadly declined seconds.

And before we left, we each received a small round lemon and olive cake. I brought mine back to Hong Kong for my colleagues to try and it was still moist. It sounds like a strange combination of olive and lemon, but it works.

The afternoon tea experience wasn't complete without lots of people watching in the room, young couples, young women catching up, a business meeting, a husband and wife indulging in some time together, and even a baby took in the sights and sounds.

Freshly-baked scones that were fluffy

We literally rolled out of there around 5.30pm with memories of a delicious afternoon tea. Those scones are seared in my memory as some of the best I've had!

Palm Court
The Langham London
1c Portland Place, Regent Street
London
W1B 1JA
langhamhotels.com

Picture of the Day: Greek Doughnuts

Doughnuts in a honey cinnamon sauce with nuts and yogurt ice cream

We discovered a delicious dessert from a place called Lukumades. The Greek word lukumades refers to the sweet dessert of crispy doughnuts drizzled with honey, cinnamon and chopped nuts, but the dessert shop has made them even more of a treat with the addition of toppings such as melted chocolate or gelato ice cream.

There were so many choices that we chose yogurt twist (5 euros), which meant our doughnuts had a sauce of honey, cinnamon and chopped walnuts along with a big scoop of Greek yogurt ice cream.

It turned out to be a perfect combination of the hot, sweet doughnuts with cold gelato that's on the sour side. Our entire palate was sated by all these sensations and flavours in our mouths!

It's a pretty big portion and thankfully we shared one. Very indulgent!

Lukumades
21, Eolou and Aghias Irinis Street
105 51 Athens, Greece
+30 210 3210880
lukumades.com

San Francisco's Food Truck Dining Scene

Fort Point is the building under the Golden Gate Bridge under blue skies

Yesterday morning we arrived in San Francisco and the blue skies were such a welcome sight from so much rain in Hong Kong.

My cousin took us around in the afternoon, first to Fort Point, which is located under the Golden Gate Bridge -- but it was the fort that was built just before the Civil War, and that position considered as the "key" to the whole Pacific coast.

Looking down inside the fort, that was never used in warfare

The thick brick walls were considered impenetrable, but in the end the fort was never used in warfare.

We got to take look around -- free admission as it is considered on national park land -- though there isn't much to see. My cousin and I climbed up three floors to get to the top to see the underbelly of the bridge, and have a better view of both the Bay Area and the Pacific Ocean on the other side.

Afterwards we grabbed an early dinner at Off the Grid at For Mason nearby in the Presidio area. Every Friday, several food trucks gather in this spot, and with a DJ, some stands selling beer, wine and cocktails, the place was rocking, and hot, with the sun still blazing at 6pm.

Delicious grilled half lobster from Maine with parsley

As my parents had never been to a food truck festival before I was worried about their reaction, but they were game to try this new way of dining. We managed to grab a very tall table and eventually some high stools and we were in business.

Our first dish was a no brainer -- fresh half lobster from Maine cooked on a mesquite grill. The lobster wasn't too big, but the taste was delicious, juicy, meaty and a smoky taste. We even tried to dig out as much meat from the claws as possible.

Then we got some carbs -- a paella with chick peas, chicken, tomato and shrimp. It was quite filling but also very tasty, evidenced by the rice dish being cooked for a long time so that it soaked up all the flavours of the ingredients. Another dish we tried were tater tots garnished with some sour cream and chives.

A few food trips served Filipino food

We washed it all down with some fruit juices from Hawaiian Sun -- the guava and passionfruit with orange flavours were refreshing! And we did some people watching as many brought kids or their furry ones (ie dogs) with them.

There were many other dining options, particularly Filipino, such as lechon, sisig, and adobo, while a Shandong-style dumpling food truck was extremely popular with its constant long queue. You could also get pizza, satays, and Nepalese momos.

For dessert, there was a frozen custard bar that could be covered in chocolate sauce with nuts, and looked so good, but we were already too full. There was also a stand that sold cookie dough, or macarons, or ice cream in between two maracons. Tempting but we had reached our quota!

A big crowd for a Friday evening chowing down

Off the Grid
Fort Mason Center for Arts & Culture
2 Marina Boulevard
San Francisco, CA
94123
offthegridsf.com

Japanese Sweet Treat

Pineapple and coconut soft serve ice cream at I Cremeria

After dinner today in Harbour City in Tsim Sha Tsui, we decided to have some dessert and found I Cremeria, a Japanese ice cream shop that serves soft serve ice cream with various combinations. The most famous one is pairing vanilla ice cream with Japanese melon -- but we didn't see anyone order that.

The ultra decadent ice cream cone topped with gold foil

Instead there were a few people who had vanilla ice cream wrapped in gold foil -- apparently it's a thing -- for HK$98, while most people ordered plain vanilla, or matcha flavour soft serve.

I tried the pineapple coconut flavour that came in a cone topped with a wedge of pineapple -- not canned! -- that had cinnamon sprinkled on top. It was an interesting flavour combination I never had before. And how does the pineapple stay perched on top of the ice cream? Through a tiny fork of course... I didn't find that out until I was eating into the pineapple and found something hard in the middle of it.

My cousin had a dessert combination that included matcha ice cream, mochi, red bean and some jelly cubes at the bottom. It was quite the decadent dessert, but not as much as the gold leaf one that we saw at least two people order.

Why one would want to eat a whole sheet of gold foil is beyond me, but hey if people are willing to pay for it...

Match ice cream with mochi, red bean and jelly!

I Cremeria
Shop OTG03A, G/F, Ocean Terminal, Harbour City
Tsim Sha Tsui
2386 6266

Germany's Basic Cuisine

This crispy pork knuckle in Munich was so good! The skin really was crunchy

When you think of German food, the first things that come to mind are sausages, pork knuckles, schnitzels and sauerkraut. Oktoberfest food!

A disappointing currywurst that was hardly fiery hot

You would be correct. Most of the restaurants serving German fare in touristy spots serve the above items. In big portions.

First we tried the currywurst and they are advertised on signs with flames to indicate how spicy they are, but it's a pathetic sham. Even eaters who can't stand a piece of chilli on their food can eat the currywurst because it's basically a boiled sausage with a kind of ketchup sauce with curry powder sprinkled on top of it.

Seriously it was really disappointing.

Then we tried roasted pork knuckle in Berlin, Frankfurt and Munich. The one in Berlin was tender but the skin was very tough and hardly crispy. We thought perhaps the Germans could learn a thing or two from the Chinese when it comes to roasting pigs to ensure a crispy skin.

A pretty bland sandwich of pickled herring with onion rings

In Frankfurt, the situation improved a bit, with the meat from the pork knuckle meat very tender, though the skin was less tough, but again not very crispy.

However, by the time we made it to Munich, at a German restaurant near our hotel called Munchner Stubn, we were surprised and impressed that the menu item "crispy pork knuckle" really was crunchy! It was probably deep fried, but the skin delicious and the meat was not salty either.

The schnitzels I tried were good, hardly tough, even though they were breaded and fried. The meat was very tender and the flavour was helped along by some freshly squeezed lemon juice.

Meanwhile I tried eat as much sauerkraut as I could as it's not often found in Hong Kong and I basically eat it once a year during Oktoberfest. We also liked the braised red cabbage, more on the sweeter side though equally delicious.

A hearty portion of schnitzel in Dresden

The potatoes are either boiled, made into a potato salad with a tangy mayonnaise, French fries, or potato dumplings, which are chewy in texture, but not very palatable!

My friend YTSL asked if I had tried pickled herring, but I didn't see it on any menus. However at a rest stop along the autobahn from Frankfurt to Munich, I did try a pickled herring sandwich for 4 euros, garnished with onion rings and pickles. It was on the bland side, but oh well. At least I tried some seafood!

Perhaps the bonus of coming to Germany in the late spring is white asparagus season! I sometimes get to try it at fine dining restaurants in Hong Kong (at inflated prices because they are shipped over), but in Germany they were very fresh and meaty, and not too expensive.

Some restaurants offered several white asparagus spears with a side order of say schnitzel or smoked salmon or beef. It was the perfect combination with schnitzel. However, in Dresden I tried the white asparagus soup and it tasted way too salty.

Fantastic white asparagus in season wit boiled potatoes

We had dessert only a few times. Once was at a cafe in the Palmengarten, or Botannical Garden in Frankfurt, where we each tried different desserts. My apple pie was pretty good, a hearty slice. However, we had a fantastic apple strudel in Munich (the same restaurant as the crispy pork knuckle!) with a scoop of vanilla ice cream.

The strudel wasn't saccharine sweet, and was choc full of thinly sliced apples marinated in sugar and cinnamon and wrapped in several layers of pastry. Oh so good!

In terms of drinks we did try apple wine that was quite sour so it had to be paired with something sweet to eat, though the draft beers were refreshing, even the dark beer brewed with malt made from at least 50 percent wheat. It's easy drinking and doesn't have much of a bitter aftertaste.

Absolutely divine apple strudel with vanilla ice cream

We didn't just eat German food -- we did eat quite a bit of pasta thanks to a casual Italian cafeteria-style restaurant called Vapiano that seems to be a chain all over the country. It's relatively fast and good value for money.

In Dresden we saw a Vietnamese restaurant and decided to give it a try. The pho ga or chicken pho was basically rice noodles in a delicious broth, but with thin slices of chicken that probably came from a deli. There was way too much chicken meat in the bowl. That was the only Asian food we had the entire trip. And what was I craving as soon as I came back to Hong Kong? Soup noodles with vegetables!

Frankfurt's Insightful Sights

Cathedral of St Bartholomew was spared during the war

Today we had a private guide and driver to show us around Frankfurt and a bit beyond. Originally from Frankfurt, he gave us some interesting details about some landmarks in the city.

The original 15th century stained glass

One of our first stops was to Romer, in the old city square. It's a medieval building that dates back over 600 years from the Romer family that made its money as merchants. It later sold the building to the city in 1405 and was later known called the Kaisersaal, or "Emperor's Hall".

Today is the old city hall where people can have a civil wedding, and if the football team, Eintracht Frankfurt wins a major match, the players can be seen on the balcony.

What's interesting is that across from the Romer is a spring water fountain, one of 160 of them in the city, though many are not in use anymore. On top of the fountain is Lady Justice, but on closer examination, she is not blindfolded -- that's because she is looking straight at the King and hinting that she is watching him and he had better make a fair judgment.

A short distance away is Cathedral of St Bartholomew (Dom St Bartholomaus) that was built from the 14th to 15th centuries. Our guide asked us to think of the many artisans who worked on the cathedral over 100 years. Designs changed according to styles of the time, and also how much money could be rustled up by the parishioners.

This popular sausage shop has been around since 1954

During World War II, the allied forces specifically used fire bombs on Frankfurt because it is a living city -- that meant the bombs would burn down buildings, while some facades managed to continue standing.

They did not bomb churches -- our guide explains this is because the war was not about religion, but also because they used them as landmarks to know their positioning. So the church was not damaged per se, but the fires were so hot that they melted the designs on the stained glass.

Sausages with mustard and bread. So good!

However -- all was not completely lost. One panel happened to be taken down for restoration and subsequently kept in a safe place -- and we are now very privileged to see the stained glass from the 15th century. The other stained glass panels looks very modern and the colours are muted pastels.

The tower of the cathedral is also 100 metres high and for a few euros you can climb up to the top to have a good view of the city.

After the war, people in Frankfurt didn't have much if anything left. Some had bunkers that may have stored some food, but other than that no one had much to eat. They would meet at this marketplace called Kleinmarkethalle and exchange food or give away some food so that everyone had a bit of something to eat and it was also a morale booster that the community would rebuild the city again.

The carousel in Wilhelmsbad State Park

We visited that marketplace, which is quite small and indoors, and today houses stalls selling fresh vegetables, fruit, meats and pastries, as well as cooked foods. One of the stalls is called Schreiber that has been there since 1954 and hasn't changed since then.

It sells thick sausages that are boiled and served with a blob of mustard and a portion of bread for 2.30 euros each. We got there just in time before the line started, which our guide says goes all the way out the door everyday.

The wooden horses are beautifully made

Because it was rainy and chilly today, having a bite of the hot sausage hit the spot, and it wasn't salty, and very meaty. The owner, Ilse Schreiber, prepares the sausages using a family recipe from her grandfather-in-law who started the business on Metzgermeile or "butcher's mile".

Then we had a short drive on the autobahn to Hanau, where we visited the Wilhelmsbad State Park that was originally the hunting grounds for Prince Wilhelm IX of Hessen-Kassel. To make his visit there more fun, a carousel was built for him in 1780 by Franz Ludwig Cancrin, who used his mining engineering skills in this project.

The carousel is built on top of a mound and is decorated with wooden horses and carriages. But underneath it is actually pushed around by donkeys and horses who walk around in circles. How ironic is that?

Palmengarten is very lush and green (and wet today!)

After lunch of pork knuckle, sausages, sauerkraut, potato dumplings, and apple cider (very sour!) we went to check out the Palmengarten or Botannical Garden. It's near Bockenheimer Warte subway station and best if you can go on a sunny day. Unfortunately for us, all day it would rain lightly then suddenly get heavier, then light again.

When we arrived here (admission 7 euros/$7.85), it rained lightly then got heavier and we would go into the various indoor gardens to try to stay as dry as possible. The garden was started by landscape gardener Heinrich Siesmayer in 1869 for Frankfurt residents.

The gardens house plants from then inaccessible, distant parts of the world, and includes a lot different species of palm trees, even cocoa trees, orchids, cacti, lotus, and even pitfalls, plants that have giant bucket-like receptacles that trap insects inside.

School children playing inside one of the pavilions

There wasn't too much organization in terms of the groupings of the plants, but it was a nice respite from the weather and warm too because of the tropical temperatures these plants usually live in.

However, when we finished, the rains still wouldn't let up and we found our way to a cafe on the grounds called Siesmayer Cafehaus where we had pastries and coffee. It turn out our server was from Xian, China and spoke to us in Mandarin. It turns out he has been in Germany for 30 years.

In any event, we tried some desserts -- I sampled the apple pie that wasn't too sweet, but a bit on the bland side. The lime yogurt cake was delicious and the Black Forest cake was heavy on the cream, but also not too rich.

Apple pie with cafe au lait for an afternoon treat

When we made our way back to the hotel, the sun started to peek out behind the clouds. Why now when the day is over?! It seems the rain is following us...!

Picture of the Day: Entertaining Slide

Would you shop and slide in Macau?

I’m in Macau for an assignment and we had a long day of work.

After dinner we wandered around a complex that has casinos, hotels, restaurants and shops, and promptly got lost trying to find a place to eat dessert.

But what we did find was this crazy slide that is two stories high and winds its way into a store...

We walked by it again a few minutes later and a security guard had to shoo mainland parents and their children off of it, as they were taking pictures at the bottom of the slide, even though it was cordoned off...

Vancouver Eating Part 2

The flavour of Joe Fortes in a bowl, a seafood bowl to be exact

My eating odyssey in Vancouver continued with a visit to Joe Fortes for lunch. I don't think I have ever eaten in this well known establishment and glad I finally made it.

It looks like a power lunch place with its downtown location and everyone seemed to be having meetings while they ate -- except us.

Clams with chorizo sausages in tomato broth were a hit

According to the menu, there really was a Joe Fortes -- Seraphin "Joe" Fortes, who was a sailor from Barbados who went to Liverpool then Vancouver. He came to the Canadian city in 1885 where he was a bartender at a hotel and then was a fixture at English Bay where he was the unofficial security guard and taught many children how to swim.

The city appointed him the first official lifeguard in the early 1900s. When Fortes died in 1922, the city held the longest-ever funeral procession, which was unusual for a black person.

Joe Fortes the restaurant was opened in 1985, exactly a century after he arrived in Vancouver.

Perhaps as a link to his being at English Bay, the Joe Fortes menu is best known for its seafood, freshly-shucked oysters and blue plate specials at CAD$12.95 that are a real deal -- if you can snag one.

A lot to munch on in the lobster and shrimp roll

On the day we went it was panko-crusted haddock, but by the time we ordered -- around 1pm -- they were already sold out. That was disappointing to say the least for my friend, who was very keen to try it.

Nonetheless we were very happy with the seafood bowl (CAD$25.95), a kind of bouillabaisse with salmon, mussels, clams, tomato broth, rice and garlic bread. Everything was cooked perfectly, the clams didn't have any sand in them and the mussels plump.

The roasted mushroom soup (CAD$9.95) is cooked with sherry, cream and sage, the steamed clams (CAD$25.95) were seasoned with chorizo sausage, tomato-wine broth and had garlic focaccia.

Starter of hamachi, coconut, fennel and mandarin

My other friend had the lobster and shrimp roll (CAD$25.95) and it was a mouthful! I had a small bite of the filling and it tasted very fresh, topped with a dill pickle and a generous salad on the side.

We were too full for dessert after.

Later that evening we paid a visit to Hawksworth for dinner. I haven't been there for a few years so I was keen to see how the restaurant has developed. In short the food was fantastic -- every dish was plated nicely, featuring choice ingredients.

Absolutely divine roast duck with lentils, squash and figs

To start I had the hamachi with coconut, fennel and mandarin wedges (CAD$25). It's more of a summer dish, but we liked it anyway, very delicate flavours on the plate with a hint of coconut sauce at the bottom.

My main was a delight -- Yarrow Meadows duck breast with squash, red cabbage, lentil and fig (CAD$43). The duck is very lean --- there isn't the fattiness you get from most other ducks, or perhaps it was slow roasted to remove the fat, but also retain the juiciness of the meat.

It was accompanied with very earthy flavours: squash puree, lentils, red cabbage, and sweet figs that all went well together, and keeping the duck as the star of the dish.

The ling cod with black rice and curried root vegetables

Another standout was the salmon with cucumber, potato, mussel and dill (CAD$42), as well as the ling cod (CAD$48) with black rice, curried root vegetable, and orange lassi. A decadent meal for two is the lamb shoulder (CAD$130 for two), that could even be for three, as the feast includes polenta, root vegetables, and a generous portion of lamb that falls off the bone.

Dark chocolate was the theme of the evening, as one of our party suggested eating it would stave off dementia. As a result a few of us ordered the dark chocolate chantilly, a decadent-looking treat complemented with raspberry sauce and almonds (CAD$14).

I had the Meyer lemon for dessert. It was a lemon custard topped with a mixture of mandarin oranges and shaved lemon on top and jasmine-flavoured meringue cubes. Again more a summer dish than winter, but we like tart finish.

Meyer lemon dessert with mandarin and jasmine meringue

The deconstructed apple tart (CAD$14) was delicious too, with milk chocolate, pecans and caramel.

While we enjoyed the food immensely, service was lacking in attentiveness that marred the overall experience. At first I thought it was because we had ordered several "Chinese martinis" -- hot water with lemon, but I later found out from a few friends that they had also been disappointed by the service when they went.

And as a friend pointed out, even if you drink tap water the whole evening, the service should still be good, and I agree.

A decadent dark chocolate chantilly dessert

Joe Fortes
777 Thurlow Street
Vancouver, BC
(604) 669 1940

Hawksworth
in the Rosewood Hotel
801 Georgia Street
Vancouver, BC
(6040 673 7000

Last Call for Bamboo Noodles

Shrimp dumpling noodles in soup were delicious at Wing Wah Noodle

Yesterday I passed by Wing Wah Noodle in Wan Chai on the bus and noticed the sign was not covered with white paper saying it was closing so I wondered if it was bought out.

I was right. Today I found out -- a month late -- that Wing Wah Noodle was indeed bought out by a restaurant group called LHGroup, though the shop will be closing in its current location tomorrow.

If you like spicy, the chilli pork noodle is your favourite

LHGroup is run by Simon Wong Kit-lung, whose father started the company 40 years ago with various restaurants including Lucky House seafood restaurant, and other ones whose names I don't recognize.

Nevertheless, while it's nice to know the name Wing Wah Noodle with 68 years of history will live on, will its noodles kneaded with a bamboo pole taste the same? Wong cannot promise the old school way of doing things will continue, only saying the operations will be "modernized"; and some of the menu items will be kept, but not all.

So I figured I should go back one last time. I made my way over there around 8.45pm tonight and walked straight in. It wasn't too busy, but maybe the staff was tired as the food came out slowly.

I tried a bowl of the chilli pork noodle (HK$48) that was quite spicy! The bits of pork were on the tough side, but when mix up with the sauce and the noodles it was quite good.

Walnut soup with glutinous rice balls filled with black sesame

Next I ordered the dumplings (sui gao) with soup noodles (HK$46) and it took a while for them to arrive. By this point there was no more pork knuckle and char siu, so many people resorted to eating wonton noodles. I like their noodles, but not the wontons -- Mak's Noodle's wontons are far superior.

Here the sui gao were fantastic -- most of the dumplings were filled with whole shrimp, wood ear fungus and a bit of minced pork to hold it together in a thin wrapper. There were three precious dumplings in one serving.

Finally I ordered the walnut soup with glutinous rice balls with black sesame filling (HK$56). I had seen a middle-aged woman sitting across from me having a bowl -- she knew the owner -- and I asked her how good it was. She reported it wasn't runny like other ones, not mixed with other things in it, so I decided to give it a go.

It took a very long time to arrive, but when it did, the bowl was piping hot. The walnut soup wasn't freshly ground, but as the woman said, it wasn't runny either, a decent consistency that was a bit more sweet than nutty-flavoured.

The glutinous rice balls filled with black sesame paste were delicious and together with the walnut soup made a nice hearty combination, a comforting dessert.

When regular customers were leaving the restaurant, many told the staff they would come back tomorrow, the last day. The owner, Cheung Tse-sau looks happy to finally pass on the shop to someone else for a pretty penny. Does she care what happens to the name from now on?

She claimed the new owner Wong was "young and sincere"... we'll have to see what he does with Wing Wah Noodle. People will very easily vote with their feet...

Secret Treat

Two servings of Japanese red bean and milk, with a grass jelly drink

A nice tip if you happen to be in the Grand Lisboa in Macau and want a nice and relatively cheap treat.

On the second floor is Crystal Lounge — and no it doesn’t serve Cristal Champagne.

Instead it’s Hong Kong-style snacks like pineapple buns, French toast with peanut butter filling, egg tarts, and chicken curry served like a cafeteria.

But apparently the best treat is the red bean float made with Japanese red beans and milk.

We only heard about this local secret after we finished a six-course dinner, but some of our dining companions somehow managed to find more space for a second dessert.

They reported the red bean was very thick, unlike the ones in Hong Kong that are very watery.

Not bad for MOP 50!

Memorable Lunch at Odette

Odette with its light pastel palette and high ceilings

Back in June I had a chance to try chef Julien Royer's food at a pop-up he did at the Ritz-Carlton Hong Kong. Despite cooking in an unfamiliar kitchen, the dishes he presented were beautifully plated, and of course delicious. I vividly remember the beetroot, and the pigeon dishes, so flavourful and not heavy.

So on my recent trip to Singapore I had to try his food again in his restaurant, Odette. It opened in 2015 in the National Gallery Singapore, the Supreme Court building re-purposed into an art gallery. Odette isn't the only restaurant -- there are many others, like National Kitchen serving Singaporean cuisine, Yan with Cantonese food, and even a bar called Smoke & Mirrors on the sixth floor.

Chef/owner of Odette, Julien Royer

But back to Odette, which is named after Royer's grandmother. He watched her cook as a child, getting all her ingredients from the farm in Auvergne, France -- he didn't grow up buying food from a supermarket like the rest of us.

After working with the likes of Michel Bras Bernard Andrieux, Royer had a chance to go to Singapore -- at the time he didn't even know where it was on the map -- and worked at the St Regis Singapore's Brasserie Les Saveurs and then Jaan, in the Swissotel The Stamford before opening his own restaurant.

A cep mushroom tea with a slice of truffle brioche

Inside it's airy with high ceilings, a very romantic palette of dusty pink, cream and beige, with an open kitchen off to the side, and diners seated in comfortable banquettes. The staff are well dressed, friendly and chatty with guests as they introduce each dish -- there is no atmosphere of condescension or arrogance. Everything is politely explained. One server admitted to us he didn't like beetroots at all -- until he tried Royer's dish that I mentioned earlier.

There is a lot of attention to detail, from how the cutlery and tableware is designed to the execution of the dishes and how they are served at the table. We also liked the pacing that gave us enough time to eat, savour and digest a bit before moving onto the next course.

 

Uni with red prawn tartare, mussel foam and caviar

So what did we eat? A lot, but we were not overly stuffed.

First a trio of "snacks" -- a mini salad in a lettuce leaf with peas, cherry tomato, onion and pea shoots that were so dainty. This was followed by a tart filled with orange gems of salmon roe that bursted when we bit into them. Finally a tiny spoon with fish mixed with vegetable.

Another starter was a mushroom soup that was poured into ceramic tea cups filled with foam, light truffle shavings and tiny croutons with truffle brioche. Even the wooden board it was served on was shaped like a cep mushroom.

 

Japanese Kegani crab "ravioli" with Granny Smith, celery

Then came bread -- a pastry with truffle paste in it, a delicious crusty sourdough bread, and another with lemon flavour. What was even more interesting was the spread -- there was whipped butter with olive oil, and the other was lard! We didn't have too much of the latter.

Finally the meal started with an impressive-looking dish of the sea urchin shell and in it was uni, spot prawn tartare, a foam made of mussels and topped with caviar and gold leaf. An intriguing combination that worked well together.

Next a "ravioli" featuring Japanese Kegani crab meat mixed with Granny Smith apple and celery, with Vadouvan spices and kaffir lime oil that was so light and refreshing. The sweetness of the crab balanced the tartness of the green apple, and added celery for a crunchy texture. Wow was all we could say.

Heirloom beetroot variation in a colourful presentation

My favourite dish arrived -- heirloom beetroot variation, featuring segments of the humble vegetable that was also made into a sorbet, mini meringue and paired with horseradish, stracciatella and even honey. The plate was too pretty to eat, but we were encouraged to mix everything together to try the various flavours.

Making a dramatic entrance was the rosemary smoked organic egg, presented in a lowly egg carton, but with dry ice flowing out of it. In it were two 63.4 degree Celsius cooked eggs flavoured with rosemary. They were carefully poured into a smoked potato foam and in it were bits of chorizo Iberico and meuniere sauce. We were instructed to mix it -- but not too much -- so that the yolk flavour would be more pronounced. Another wow.

Crispy skinned amadai in a glass bowl made its way to our table, where smoked egg consomme was poured into the bowl that was garnished with yari ika and nori oil. The fish was delicate and perfectly cooked, what an intriguing consomme of eel! Who would think of that?

 

Crispy skinned amadai in an eel consomme and nori oil

The main event is Royer's signature roast pigeon dish, here it was covered in a pepper crust and cooked medium rare. It was accompanied with another humble vegetable -- corn and here it held its own with its crunchiness and sweetness against the juiciness of pigeon. 

 

Each pigeon leg has a different message attached to it tied with string, talking about how he loved eating pigeon as a child, or how one should eat the leg with your hands. We certainly polished it off down to the bone.

Before dessert we had a cheese platter with some goat cheese, a triple cream brie, and comte, with the largest dates I've ever seen.

 

Roast pigeon with a pepper crust and message attached to it

Then we had our pre-dessert, a refreshing cucumber sorbet with seaweed sprinkled on small bits of meringue, and green apple granita. We would have already been satisfied with this dessert. But there was more.

 

The actual dessert was clafoutis, a kind of flan cake, decorated with cherries, elderflower sorbet, vanilla cream and almond slivers.

But wait -- there's more! Royer came to our table with an oval-shaped hive that revealed layers of petite fours. On top were two pomegranate lollipops, next mini matcha cream puffs, caneles, and finally homemade caramels.

In the end the damage came to S$442 or HK$2,547 (US$325) for two. Considering we had two-star Michelin dining -- and the restaurant retained its two stars the following day when the announcement was made -- it was very good value.

 

Cherry clafoutis with elderflower sorbet, vanilla and almonds

Many media at the Michelin announcement were disappointed that Odette was not elevated to three stars, but Royer insisted he was very happy for the team that the contemporary French restaurant retained its two stars and they would work harder next time.

I asked him how he felt about the media's expectations of Odette, and he pointed out the restaurant was only three years old so there was plenty of time to develop and grow. Our meal the day before was almost perfection -- why not? But then again the Michelin ratings are mired with questions of who really deserves two stars and who should get three...

 

Nevertheless we were delighted, thrilled, amazed and sated by our lunch at Odette. A chance to savour and to catch up with a dear friend who accompanied me. What a treat.

Odette

National Gallery Singapore

1 St Andrew's Road #01-04

Singapore 178957
(65) 6385 0498