The Principal (Hong Kong, CHINA) ★★★★★

I was a bit sad to find out that one of the long-time stalwarts at Star Street, Cinecittà, officially closed down for business last month. Cinecittà used to be one of my personal favorites in the past.

Replacing Cinecittà is a contemporary Spanish restaurant by the name of The Principal. I did some research online and found out that The Principal does have a pretty impressive resume. Firstly, the restaurant came from the same group that was behind The Pawn, SML and Classified. Then their young Chef de Cuisine, Jonay Armas, has quite an extensive credential having working under different Michelin starred restaurants in Madrid and Barcelona for almost 10 years.




The amuse bouche of the day was a slow-cooked salmon cube topped with a creamy avocado sauce and lemon foam. That was very refreshing and what I particularly liked about this little nibble - that little plate was very cute (6/10).



Scallops, 6/10
My starter were three slices of seared scallops with crab roe emulsion and arbequina oil. The crab roe emulsion acted as a strong bisque to help simmer the pan-seared scallops. 



Suckling pig, 7/10
But more successful was our main courses, starting first with a suckling pig that was served with a lemon purée, sautéed red endives and pomegranata reduction.



Beef Sirloin, 7/10
Equally impressive was the charcoal grilled beef sirloin. The beef sirloin was marinated with the bone marrow and mustard before being chargrilled giving it that extra rich flavor. It was served medium as per instructed.  

Apart from the outstanding taste of this dish, what was even more astonishing was the way that they presented it. The sirloin together with the roasted potatoes, pearl onions and cherry tomatoes formed a picturesque 3D painting.



Baileys Oreo, 3/10
The only blemish of this lunch came from the dessert which was a Baileys foam with oreo crumble, milk air and caramel tofu. It reminded me of a famous dish I had at Le Calandre called the cuttlefish cappuccino.

Unfortunately the texture was too fluffy for me and I thought the ingredients did not mesh well together. 

Despite being open for only 2 weeks, I was surprised to find that the team is already working extremely well together. The service and food quality were very up to standard and you would think they could only get better with time. As long as they could keep this up, I am sure the Michelin guide will come knocking on their door.


Food Rating: 7/10
Price: $$$
Address: 9 Star Street, Wan Chai, Hong Kong
Closest Metro Station: Admiralty
Tel: +852 2563-3444
Website: www.theprincipal.com.hk



View Larger Map

Caprice (Hong Kong, CHINA) ★★★★★

I had lunch here at Caprice almost five years ago when this French restaurant made their debut. However, it was a rather disappointing and forgettable lunch and we haven't been back ever since.

Things have changed a bit over the last few years. Caprice is now one of the top French restaurants in Asia having garnered three Michelin stars starting in 2009. That had us approaching this dinner with much anticipation. 

Despite it was a weeknight, the restaurant was totally packed with customers, mostly gentlemen in expensive Armani suits. Luckily for us, we got here early and were provided with a table at the corner overlooking the harbour.



Amuse bouche was a beef consommé jelly that was almost flawless (9/10). This looked completely different from our experience 5 years ago.



What appeared to be a French toast from a local cafe was in fact a Tourteau Crab Tiramisu.

The three-layer tiramisu consisted of a bottom layer of French Tourteau crab, a middle layer of fruity marinade including mango and papaya and finally atop with exotic tandoori spices and sweet pimento. That was sublime and wonderfully prepared. (10/10).



Fast forward to our main courses. We first started off with a racan pigeon feuilleté.
The mille feuille had pigeon fillet that was cooked to medium, melt-in-your-mouth foie gras and crispy seaweed all wrapped around by a pastry and served with a sweet potato puree and vinegar sauce. That was yet another brillant dish (9/10)!



Our final main course was a smoked French beef tenderloin. It didn't come as flashy as the previous dishes but nevertheless it was a well executed meat course from a very talented kitchen.  (7/10).



Whatever happened 5 years ago, we could throw that away. This was well worth the three stars.



Food Rating: 8.6/10

Price: $$$$

Address: 8 Finance Street, Four Seasons Hotel, Hong Kong
Closest Metro Station: Hong Kong Station
Tel: +852 3196-8860
Website: www.fourseasons.com/hongkong/dining/restaurants/caprice
S. Pellegrino World’s 50 Best Restaurants: 54th (2012)
S. Pellegrino Asia's 50 Best Restaurants: 12th (2013)

 

Armani Aqua (Hong Kong, CHINA) ★★☆☆☆

Ever since the crossover between fashion giant Armani and local food and beverage company Aqua was announced early this year, there's been a lot of buzz around the city. It sounded too good to be true.

In late August, Armani Aqua finally opened doors for business.

The restaurant staff warmly greeted us upon our arrival and after stepping through a sliding door, we found ourselves inside a dark corridor with pillars on the side and a black carpet leading us to the other end of the door. And over there, there was another sliding door.

And behind the second sliding door, it was a totally different world. More precisely, it was a spacious restaurant and bar area in a much warmer color palette. 

Very much like their flagship restaurant on top of Peking No. 1, Armani Aqua offers a mix of modern Italian cuisine to go along with their authentic Japanese dishes. 

I went for their 3-course lunch set and things got rolling with the starter - a home made smoked salmon with potato salad.

Unfortunately, the smoked salmon did not have the usual fat content and more disappointing was the pesto sauce that they had prepared to go with the salmon and salad (3/10). 



A little bit more encouraging was the first main course - penne with scallops and cherry tomatoes. The cherry tomato sauce was a fairly decent choice to go with the penne but still something seemed to be missing (4/10).



The second main course was one of the most popular Italian dish of all time - pan fried veal scaloppine. Disappointingly, it lacked the tenderness and flavors to score a high mark (3/10).



Perhaps the dessert could spice things up a bit? Not quite. I had the 62% chocolate mousse tart and it was nicely presented but tasted average at best (3.5/10).

Food Rating: 3/10

Price: $$$

Address: 8 Connaught Road, Central, Hong Kong

Closest Metro Station: Central
Website: www.armani-aqua.com

Quay (Sydney, AUSTRALIA) ★★★★☆

The Quay is the most highly rated restaurant in Sydney. The restaurant has a view of the Sydney Opera House and a short walk from Circular Quay. It is easy to be accessed by all terms of transportations. It was a relaxing and lazy afternoon when I walked to the restaurant from Circular Quay, the walk includes some photo shot spots which is ideal for tourists.



The entrance

The restaurant is not large, I was offered a table near kitchen at the end of dining room where I could see all the activities happened. My first impression was not good because no one has come over once to ask if I wanted something to drink while waiting for my friend to come.

The view from restaurant

Price for set lunches is designed for businessmen. A$125 for 3-course, A$145 for 4-course and A$220 for a 8-course tasting menu. The price for tasting menu sounds more reasonable in such a case.



Sashimi of blue mackerel

Mud crab congee

Slow cooked coturnix quail breast

Butter poached native Clarence river goat fish

Gentle braise of black lipped abalone, rare breed pig belly

Organic heirloom carrots, cumin, fennel & celery seeds

White nectarine snow egg

All the dishes were well presented. The restaurant deserves to sit at the top of the notch. However, improvement can be made on customer service. Regular maintenance for the restaurant is needed, part of the ceiling fell down and hit on a seated dining table. It shocked everyone and should not be happened in any occasion.

Food rating: 8/10
Price: $$$$
Address: Upper Level, Overseas Passenger Terminal, The Rocks, Sydney, Australia
Tel: +61 2 9251-5600
Website: www.quay.com.au/index.html
S. Pellegrino World's 50 Best Restaurants: 26th (2011)

Midtown Grill (Amsterdam, THE NETHERLANDS) ★★★☆☆

Midtown Grill is a steakhouse brought to us by the Marriott Hotels. We can find them in several European cities including Copenhagen, Berlin, Prague, Brussels and Amsterdam.

On a typical Sunday night in Amsterdam with dismal weather, we knew our options were limited. Well, at least Midtown Grill was "strategically" close to our hotel.



The dining room was almost completely empty!



The tuna tartare with avocado and a touch of spicy soy sauce was not bad (5/10).



The pan seared scallops were fine as well (5/10).



Less successful was the Maryland Lump Crab Cake with sauce tartar and micro herbs  (4/10).



We opted for the roasted chicken with rosemary instead of one of their signature steaks (5/10).





Food Rating: 5.5/10

Price: $$$

Address: Stadhouderskade 12, 1054 ES Amsterdam, Netherlands

Tel: +31 20 607-5555
Website: www.midtowngrill.nl

Hotel Vondel (Amsterdam, THE NETHERLANDS)

Hotel Vondel wasn't even on my radar screen a week before our trip but soon after our booking for Mint Hotel Amsterdam fell apart, I started looking for its replacement and there we found this little townhouse-style boutique hotel with a pretty decent price.

Located just off the nightlife-centric Leidseplein in the Museum Quarter, Hotel Vondel is everything you look for from a boutique hotel. It's simple. It's modern and it's comfortable. And yes, it's quite affordable too.



There's a nice blend of modern and tradition in this contemporarily designed space.



Evidently, they've put a lot of thoughts into the design of each room to make it comfortable and at the same time very stylish.




This is a very quiet area especially at night but that's perfectly alright as central Amsterdam is just around the corner. 





Rating: ❤❤❤
Price: €€€
Address: Vondelstraat 26, Amsterdam, The Netherlands
Tel +31 20 612-0120
Website: www.hotelvondel.com

Brasserie Pakhuis (Ghent, BELGIUM) ★★★★★

What a way to kick off our 24-hours in beautiful Ghent of Belgium with a casual and relaxing meal at Brasserie Pakhuis! Just by looking at its stunning interior, we knew it was worth the visit.

The two storey brasserie was a restoration project from a former textile warehouse and the architect here did a marvelous job turning the space into a lively brasserie with a lovely industrial vibe. I love the skylight and Roman style sculptures providing a touch of vintage chic.
 
On paper, Pakhuis is an authentic brasserie offering many Belgian classics such as steak tartare with the meat coming directly from the restaurant's own farm. 




The house specialties also include fresh oysters directly from France and a wide variety of seafood. Needless to say, we were all over these fresh Belon oysters. Very creamy and perfect "sea water" flavors.



More seafood to come in the light of a smoked eel salad. Very refreshing start.



Duck liver terrine with caramelized pear and toasts was next. Not bad considering the size of that terrine but they should have given us more toasts and pear!



Butter poached lobster, that was heavenly too. The lobster was meaty and full of flavors. I was also impressed with the Asian style coconut rice with fresh coconut cubes and carrots. That was an excellent match for the lobster.



We had just enough room for one dessert and opted for this sponge cake served with a small cup of ice cream which I managed to forget about the flavor (caramel?).

After dinner, we took a scenic walk around The Graslei, Ghent's old city centre. That was one of the most memorable nights of my time in Europe. 

Ghent ranks in the top three of my favorite cities in the world and 24 hours are definitely not nearly enough to explore this amazing city. I am sure I will be back here at some point in time.

Food Rating: 5.5/10

Price: €€€

Address: Schuurkenstraat 4, 9000 Gent, Belgium

Tel: +32 9223-5555

Website: www.pakhuis.be

Pierre Marcolini (Brussels, BELGIUM) ★★★☆☆

Someone once told me a visit to Brussels is not complete without dropping by one of the local Pierre Marcolini boutiques. Obviously I have been listening all these years!



There are quite a few Pierre Marcolini boutiques in central Brussels but it was the one on
Rue des Minimes that we ended up running into.




Instead of their impressive pastries, we decided to go with their chocolate truffles.



And surprisingly, not as good as we thought (but that's coming from a guy who's not entirely into chocolates).



Food Rating: 5.5/10

Price: $$$$

Address: Rue des Minimes 1, place du Grand Sablon, 1000 Bruxelles, Belgium

Tel: +32 2514-1206
Website: www.marcolini.be