My two pennies
Jean May is named after Chef Tiffany Lo's grandmother, which immediately gives the place a personal touch and loving glow. Lo has trained under Pierre Koffmann, whose protégés include Tom Aiken and Gordon Ramsey, among a long list of reputable chefs all over the world. Bringing home skills from one of the most talented chefs… Continue reading Jean May: Loving work from the kitchen (8.9)
Salisterra perches atop Upper House and replaces Café Gray Deluxe which closed its doors earlier this spring. The name of the restaurant literally means salt and earth in Latin, and alludes to flavors of the coast along the Mediterranean. The head chef is American born, UK-raised, Japanese-British chef Jun Tanaka, a somewhat well-known TV personality… Continue reading Salisterra: Pleasant food with a view and lots of sunshine (8.0)
Shanghai Spot closed its doors recently and it appears that its head chef has moved over to King's Delicacy in Causeway Bay, a Chinese restaurant with a duck logo. The restaurant is possibly the largest on Fashion Walk food street, occupying the corner area facing Gloucester Road, where the row of restaurants seems always to… Continue reading King’s Delicacy: Superb Peking Duck
Cornerstone's brainchild Shane Osborn is the chef behind the better known Arcane. You might also recognize him from Netflix's The Final Table, where he made it to the finals. Arcane has one Michelin star, and Cornerstone also made it to Michelin's Bib Gourmand guide. Michelin stars are hardly a foolproof guide to consistent, first-rate fare,… Continue reading Cornerstone: Solid, first class offerings despite the razzmatazz (9.0)
I miss a good shish, partly because my brain associates it as a comfort food, whether as a late night snack or after a boozy episode in the earlier years, but mostly still because spiced meat is delicious in itself. Despite having spent some time in parts of the Middle East, given how culturally diverse… Continue reading Bedu: Great vibes and hospitality (7.8)
Ganguya literally means "toy store", and the storefront looks exactly like one, with a life-sized ultraman and lots of anime figurines lining the cupboard on display. But once you open the door, you are led down to a basement restaurant that's decorated more like a home than an izakaya. The main dining room is centered… Continue reading Ganguya: Otaku-style izakaya (7.3)
Mr Brown is a lively restaurant run by the founders behind Francis and continues the concept of a sleek menu with only a handful of dishes to ensure quality and maximum economies of scale. Brown refers to browning from grilling, and as you may have correctly guessed from the title, Mr Brown specializes in just… Continue reading Mr Brown: Casual smoking and grilling action (7.9)
I saw news about Iwate Kin's opening in a Japanese magazine. It's operated by a local chef who has quite some experience as a chef in Japanese kitchens and who I suppose had just decided to venture to open a shop of his own. I tend to feel that sometimes people who do that are… Continue reading Iwate-Kin: Mom-and-pop izakaya (7.5)
Taylor Shellfish Farms is a company that has been in the shellfish farming industry for five generations and when I found out that their focus is very specialized, I felt optimistic about giving them a shot. If you do visit, you will see that amenities and décor are fairly basic at their restaurants and that… Continue reading Taylor Shellfish: Great All-around (8.5)
Chaiwala takes up the space that previously housed Zafran, a huge Spanish tapas restaurant with a nice bar and great ambience, and the area still feels more or less the same despite some décor tweaks and change in furniture. I get the sense that the mainstream view is that Chaiwala is a great, hip place… Continue reading Chaiwala: Good hospitality, OK food (7.2)
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