Momofuku Ssam Bar (New York, USA) ★★★☆☆

This world’s 37^th top restaurant is situated on a quiet street near Union Square. Unlike other awarded restaurants, Momofuku Ssam Bar looks like a very local family snack bar.

Choices are very limited, I ordered their famous duck rice and pork bun. It turned out they marinated the duck and pork with the same sauce, though both were tasty. The rice came with lettuce and chive pancake, wrapping them together with duck slice reminds me of roasted Peking duck. The rice was quite oily which I could see a tea spoon of cooking oil mixed together with rice at the bottom of the bowl.  


The open kitchen

The menu

Rotisserie duck over rice

S. Pellegrino World's 50 Best Restaurants: 40th (2011)
Food rating: 6/10

Price: $

Date of visit: 27/07/2011

Address: 207 2^nd Avenue at 13^th Street, New York

Website: www.momofuku.com/new-york/ssam-bar

Glo Restaurant & Lounge (Hong Kong, CHINA) ★★★☆☆

After its soft launch in May, Hotel de Edge by Rhombus in Sheung Wan recently welcomed its newest member, Glo Restaurant & Lounge to the team. Tucked away on the first floor of this stylish hotel, Glo Restaurant & Lounge is helmed by young Canadian chef Robert Lockwood who is best known for his creativity and cutting-edge cooking techniques.

I was quite excited to meet my fellow countryman Chef Lockwood this afternoon. Unfortunately, I went the wrong way after coming out of the MTR Sheung Wan station and ended up arriving there a little after 2pm. There I was greeted by 2 staff who looked uninterested to serve me (perhaps a little late?) but after I insisted to stay for lunch, they eventually decided to show me my table next to the open kitchen.

Much to my dismay, Chef Lockwood was not in this afternoon so I had to wait another time to meet him! 



The lunch set here was quite a bargain @$98 for 3 courses beginning with a cream of potato Soup that was very creamy.



Main course was a pan seared cod fish with tomato, potato, carrot and onion. The presentation might not be as good as those at fine dining restaurants but the taste was definitely up there.



Dessert was probably the weakest link.




Food Rating: 5/10

Price: $

Address: 1/F Hotel de Edge by Rhombus, 94-95 Connaught Road West, Hong Kong

Closest Metro Station: Sheung Wan
Website: www.hoteldeedge.com.hk/dining-en.html

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Daniel (New York, USA) ★★★★☆

My first day at New York was a tour of gastronomy. Lunch at Per Se and dinner at Daniel keep my stomach happy from jetlag.  Daniel locates at upper Manhattan on a quiet street. Taxi would be the easiest way to get there, parking space on the street is limited.

Amuse bouche

I like the entrance of Daniel. It is an old American style entrance which you cannot see how the restaurant looks like from outside. Behind the doors, there is a waiting area where the bar is located. The waiting area was full of customers at 10pm. We were asked to wait at the bar because our table wasn't ready. The wait was taken us too long, our table is at a corner of the dining room. Tables are very closed to each other. Our server tried to walk us through the menu but we could barely hear what he has said, because it was very noisy in the restaurant. We were starving and quickly picked the 3-course dinner menu.

Hamachi 3 ways (9/10)


Roast lamb (8/10)


Rabbit (7/10)


Pineapple tart (6/10)



Coconut and Beetroot (7/10)


Petite Four

Daniel's menu offers rare traditional food with innovated ways of cooking. The restaurant is well deserved to be starred but have room to improve for becoming the best of the best.


S. Pellegrino World’s 50 Best Restaurants: 11th (2011)

Food rating: 7/10

Price: $$$$
Date of visit: 23/07/2011
Address: 60 East 65th Street at Park Avenue, New York
Website: http://danielnyc.com/

Per Se (New York, USA) ★★★★☆

Per Se is the urban interpretation of The French Laundry, London. It situates at the most busiest part of Manhattan. The restaurant is not easily found, it locates at the top floor in the Time Warner Center. The signature blue door of the restaurant is easily spotted. The fireplace and garden are noticeable as the symbols of The French Laundry as well.

Signature Blue Door

 A New York high-end dining experience begins through this door

The use of natural light in dining room

We had a really late lunch but to our surprise the restaurant was full of diners. Everyone seems to enjoy a relaxing environment and chit chat with the restaurant manager. We did not manage to get a window table but the restaurant offers a view of the Central Park and Columbus Circle.

The lunch menu changes daily. The basic lunch set has 5 courses (USD185) with limited choices, while the tasting menu offers 9 courses (USD295) but they are both expensive.  Per Se is charging a price for dinner at lunch.

Amuse Bouche

Island Creek Oyster "Vol-Au-Vent"

The Island Creek Oyster includes Compressed Cucumber, Watercress and Garden Dill Emulsion

Citrus-Cured Alaskan King Salmon

The Alaskan King Salmon includes Compressed Summer Melons, Petite Mint, Hass Avocado and Watermelon Sorbet

“Boudin Noir”

"Boudin Noir" includes Sunny Side-up Hen Egg, Cauliflower Veloute, Caramelixed Sour Apples and Sorrell

The appetizers are a little disappointing to us. The chef tried to use many ingredients to create new favor for the dishes, however I expect something more creative in terms of presentation and taste.

Butter Poached King Crab

The Poashed King Crab includes Brentwood Corn Risotto, Caramelized Spring Onions, Wilted Spigarello and Suncoke Mousselin. The risotto was tasty but too creamy. A small amount of saffron could be added to make the favor stands out.

Herb Roasted Elysian Fileds Farm’s Lamb

The Lamb includes Fennel Bulb, Cherry Tomatoes, Pickled Garlic, Young Basil and Toasted Pine Nuts. It was tenderly made and juicy.

Chocolate Custard

It includes Chocolate Mud Cake, Whipped Honey and Custard Ice Cream.The dessert combines four small desserts together which gives us variety but unfortunately they all taste similar. 

Mignardises

I had a great meal at Per Se, not because of the food and the wine. The overall dining experience was satisfied. However, I could not figure out their specialties in culinary. It is not traditional French cuisine nor as creative as the Scandinavian. The restaurant surely has room to improve for competing with Michelin starred restaurants in France.

S. Pellegrino World’s 50 Best Restaurants: 10th (2011)

Food rating: 6/10

Price: $$$$$

Date of visit: 23/07/2011

Address: The Time Warner Center, 10 Columbus Circle, 4^th floor, Manhattan, New York

Website: http://perseny.com/

8 1/2 Otto e Mezzo Bombana (Hong Kong, CHINA) ★★★★☆

Anyone familiar with fine dining in Hong Kong should be no stranger to Chef Umberto Bombana. He was the acclaimed chef at Ritz Carlton Hong Kong's famous Italian restaurant Toscana before its closure in 2008. In 2010 after months of preparation, he officially launches his own restaurant, 8 1/2 Otto e Mezzo Bombana in Central.

This latest venture by Chef Umberto Bombana sports a very cozy interior decor while the tables are generously spaced.

This is not the typical seafood salad you see every day. Lobster, squid and a white fish made up this exquisite salad that was further complemented by ratte potato, parsley and extra virgin olive oil dressing. It was a refreshing starter perfectly designed to kick off a wonderful lunch (7/10). 



When we first saw this appetizer on the menu, we thought it would be a boring dish with slices with parma ham and melon. But it turned out there's a catch to this.  

The parma ham riserva was not only served with slices of sweet cavaillon melon. Instead there was also a little cup of melon velouté to go with it.

So I followed the instructions carefully by first wrapping the melon with the parma ham and then dipped them into the velouté. That was sweet like a dessert (8/10)!



There was a bit of regression starting with the main courses. Our traditional veal scaloppine with white wine and capers sauce was slightly on the rough side. We expected more from a 3-starred kitchen (4/10).



The roasted black cod fish was better but still lacked the creativity shown in our starters. I liked the black olive, tomato confit and oberico ham bits on top of the fish. It added extra bite and flavor to go with the fish and the extra virgin olive oil and lemon dressing (6/10).



Dessert was the "8 1/2" chocolate tart served with a chocolate-flavored ice cream and a small cup of warm chocolate macchiato. Unfortunately I am not a big fan of dark chocolate (5/10).



Serviice was definitely top of the class. Food was also well prepared but I thought there was a lack of creative flare and wow factor missing from certain dishes.

Food Rating: 6/10

Price: $$$$

Address: Shop 202, Landmark Alexandra, 18 Chater Road, Central, Hong Kong

Closest Metro Station: Central
Website: www.ottoemezzobombana.com