Crystal Lily Restaurant 晶百合餐廳 (Hong Kong, CHINA) ★★★☆☆

We are finally back to our usual routine after spending a week in Osaka. Yesterday, I returned to my office for the first time in a long while and then today, I had an AI training to attend on New Year's Eve. Not exactly how I planned to wrap the year. Afterwards, I quickly ventured over to Kowloon City for a highly anticipated hotpot gathering with a few families. Of course, we will be doing our countdown there as well. 

It's been a while since I last visited Kowloon City so I arrived early to stroll around the old streets hoping to find a place for afternoon tea. While Luet Fat Restaurant (聯發茶餐廳) While Luet Fat Restaurant (聯發茶餐廳) remains at the top of my list for afternoon tea in Kowloon City, I found myself bumping into this recently opened cha chaan teng called Crystal Lily Restaurant (晶百合餐廳) coming out of the MTR. Worth a punt?

My adventurous side got the best of me this afternoon so I decided to come in for my snack. Starting things off was a glass of pantyhose milk tea. This was more on the milky side. The tea wasn't particularly strong but I like its creamy and silky texture. Not a bad start.

Less successful was the toast with scrambled eggs and luncheon meat. This actually tasted alright but its presentation had some room for improvement.

Just happy to be back in Hong Kong and having non-Japanese food for a while. 😆😆😆 It's going to be 2025 in a few hours and I have a lot written down for my New Year's resolution.

Food Rating: 4.7/10

Price: $$$

Address: Shop A-B, G/F, 5-9 Fuk Lo Tsun Road, Kowloon City, Hong Kong

Closest Metro Station: Sung Wong Toi

Tel: +852 2129-2999

Opening Hours: 6:00am - 12:00am daily

Café DIOR by Anne-Sophie Pic Kansai International Airport (Osaka, JAPAN) ★★★★☆

It took us a while to get through customs but we finally made it to the gate. Just as we were heading to grab a sandwich or two for the plane, we stumbled upon the newly opened Café DIOR by Anne-Sophie Pic, right before boarding.

We are no strangers to the renowned three-Michelin-starred chef Anne-Sophie Pic, so there was no way we could pass up this sweet experience even if it meant risking our flight!

Café DIOR by Anne-Sophie Pic is a luxurious dessert bar located in the departure hall of Kansai International Airport. It is a great reflection on the elegance of the Dior brand, combining fine-dining with a chic atmosphere.

Some of Chef Anne-Sophie Pic's imaginative (mostly sweet) creations were on display in front of the entrance area.

Since we only had less than 20 minutes to spare, we quickly grabbed ourselves a seat at a quiet corner of the café.

Le Granville (4,000 yen) – A creation showcasing the flavors of Normandy, France. The tube filled with apple and yuzu coulis was elegantly topped with Calvados caramel and cinnamon vanilla chantilly cream.

This was an incredibly refreshing dessert highlighted by the fruity flavors of apple and yuzu, which were beautifully complemented by the subtle notes of caramel and cinnamon. I love the crunch from the sobacha Breton sablé too, adding some punch to the lightness of the dessert.

La Rose (4,500 yen) – The most beautifully presented of the four.

There were a lot of complex flavors packed inside this small package. A flavorful "Flower" mousse, strawberry and geranium rosat confit, and rose almond ice-cream all resting on a base of rose financier. And there was the subtle notes of genmaicha (玄米茶) infused into the dessert as well. Very interesting.

La Rose da Vents (3,500 yen) – Your typical dessert with a mix of exotic flavors. We've got

Mikan and saffron confit, Amaretto mousse with vanilla, atop of an orange biscuit with almond. Not bad.

Le Lady (3,500 yen) – For me, the least successful dessert, as it attempted to harmonize savory and sweet flavors through a combination of hazelnut praline, Earl Grey creme anglaise, and Madagascar chocolate mousse infused with Earl Grey.

This trip has provided us with a number of highlights of Osaka's hugely underrated dining scene including memorable visits to YUNiCO, Tempura Shinsaibashi Ittetsu, and SINAE. Each restaurant provided a unique culinary experience that showcased some of the best in Japanese cuisine. But what we didn't anticipate was the unexpected visit to Café DIOR by Anne-Sophie Pic at Kansai International Airport (with less than half an hour for departure). The elegant atmosphere and exquisite pastries, which came as a delightful surprise for us, provided the perfect finishing touch to our journey, wrapping it up on a sweet note.

Food Rating: 7.4/10

Price: ￥￥￥￥￥

Address: Kansai Interational Airport Terminal 1 Building 2/F 1 Senshukukonaka, Tajiri-cho, Sennan-gun, Osaka, 549-0011 Japan

Tel: +81 (0)72 479-3821

Opening Hours: 8:00am - 8:00pm daily

Menya Saru no suke 麺屋 猿のすけ (Osaka, JAPAN) ★★★☆☆

Finally, we are down to our last few hours in Osaka. While some of us decided to go for a bit of last-minute shopping, mom and I decided to just walk around Shinsaibashi to kill the remaining hours.

We did forget to buy ourselves some bread for breakfast this morning so perhaps a breakfast ramen? 😜 If you're searching for a ramen shop open during breakfast hours, Shinsaibashi is the perfect destination. 

Menya Saru no suke (麺屋 猿のすけ) is one of those night owl ramen shops that opens from 10am till late, I mean really really late (3am the next morning). Their signature dish is a unique tori-paitan ramen infused with miso, offering a rich and flavorful experience. Let's see if it's as good as advertised.

Like in most ramen shops in Japan, we placed our order using a vending machine. However, we ran into a small hiccup – the machine didn’t accept the new 1,000 yen bills! In the end, we had to exchange them for the older bills with the chef.

Mom and I decided to set ourselves up at the counter table when the chef got things rolling in the open kitchen.

Tori paitan miso ramen (1,000 yen) – My nose was telling me that the miso flavors were pretty strong and as it turned out, it was. In fact, I thought it was overshadowing the creamy chicken broth a little too much.

Not surprisingly, the medium-thick noodles worked well with the flavorful broth that came with some extra smokiness.

The bamboo shoots were nice.

The charcoal grilled pork belly was a bit dry and rough. That was a real downer.

I can name at least half a dozen ramen shops open at 10am around Shinsaibashi. Here's another one.

By the name we finished up slurping our ramen, it was time to get back to our hotel and wait for our ride. Honestly, I am starting to fall in love with Osaka. The city is the perfect size for tourists to explore comfortably within a week, offering a rich blend of vibrant streets, delicious food and cultural landmarks. What makes it even more special is its proximity to Kyoto and Nara—both just a little under an hour away—allowing for easy day trips to experience even more of Japan’s rich history and heritage.

I hate to admit it, but compared to Osaka, Tokyo feels overwhelming at times. While Tokyo's allure as a mega city is undeniable, its sheer size and fast-paced nature can make it daunting to explore in a short period of time.

Food Rating: 6.2/10

Price: ￥￥￥

Address: 2-6-10 Higashishinsaibashi, Chuo-ku, Osaka, 542-0083 Japan

Closest Metro Station: Shinsaibashi 

Tel: +81 (0)6 6245-0883

Opening Hours: 10:00am - 3:00am (Sun - Fri), 10:00am - 5:00am (Sat)

SINAE シナエ (Osaka, JAPAN) ★★★★☆

Mom and I are capping off our Osaka trip with a decent meal tonight, like we always do on the final day of any trip. Our dining venue is Restaurant SINAE (シナエ), a contemporary French restaurant which I know very little about other than the fact that they have just received their first Michelin star in the 2024 Guide.

Located in the commercial hub of Kitahama, SINAE is an intimate restaurant featuring just five tables. Interestingly, despite the limited amount of space, they have managed to afford a cozy waiting room just below the dining room.

Just when the hostess started pouring hot ginger tea for us as our welcome drink, I started looking up information on SINAE and there wasn’t much on the internet other than the following.

Chef Kazuhiko Daito (大東和彦), the owner-chef and an Alain Ducasse alumni derived the name of the restaurant from the initials of his concept “SImple, NAtural, Essence”. A firm believer in utilizing local ingredients, he creates modern French cuisine infused with Japanese influences. SINAE slowly garnered attention for its elegant presentation, high-quality ingredients and refined flavors. And then the Michelin star. That was all I could find from my research.

As soon as I was done with my research, the hostess came over to signal that our table was ready and we were immediately escorted upstairs to the dining room.

Starting things off for us was our amuse bouche consisting of four small nibbles. A strawberry confit with white wine snow and pistachio rose petal, deep fried arrowhead fritter, cheese and meringue tart with white grape gel, and my personal favorite, a beetroot tart with gold leaf on top.

Bisque – Umami-rich shrimp bisque with a rich and foamy texture like a cappuccino.

Caviar, squid, broccoli – Squid tartare concealed underneath a coating of broccoli powder, elegantly topped with caviar and finger lime.

Very nice combination of textures and flavors.

Mont-Saint-Michel mussels, leek – We've got a hot broth made with leeks, served over a delicate chawanmushi. 

There were about a dozen of poached mussels from Mont-Saint-Michel adding to the flavors and texture of the dish.

Yellowtail, freshly pickled of Shodoshima, pomelo, basil – Lightly cooked yellowtail, or buri, wrapped in a wasabi leaf, served with chopped olives, pomelo, and a peppery, slightly minty basil sauce.

I love the minimalist presentation.

The bread was really nice and fluffy.

Whey salad – Whey salad was served with a warm Parmesan emulsion. The key was the temperature of the sauce.

Celery, parsley, chervil – This dish was made with these three types of root vegetables, celery, parsley and chervil.

I really enjoyed the crispy celery "noodles" on top of the parsley and chervil. The dish was finished off with a creamy sauce made with fresh wasabi, also a root vegetable.

Venison, cep mushrooms – Our seasonal main dish tonight was supposed to be the prized shirako but since neither mom nor I am a fan, we opted for the chef's recommendation, vension.

The venison was deep-fried with a crispy batter made with cep mushroom powder, served up on a bed of mushroom purée. I thought the meat was pretty gamey and despite the chef's efforts to balance its strong flavors with mushroom powder and purée, it made only a very slight impact.

"Petit Pate Chaud" black truffle – More venison! A pretty powerful and gamey venison pate with foie gras and pistachio wrapped with black cabbage and pastry.

It's game season so not surprisingly, this version of "Petite Pate Chaud" was filled with venison meat and foie gras, finished with a red wine reduction and black pepper. Served on the side was mashed potato with black truffle and pickled onion. 

This was a slightly disappointing dish for the fact that the pate was a little on the hard side (possible due to the texture of the venison).

Strawberry, quince – Our pre-dessert was a couple slices of strawberries dipped in a fruity quince syrup.

Pear Belle Helene – Our dessert was the chef's modern take on the traditional French dessert, Pear Belle Helene.

Diced Pear, pear juice, vanilla ice cream, caramelized nuts and chocolate ganache combined for a refreshing end to the meal.

I was way too full for the mignardises which consisted of a white chocolate filled with some sort of fruit jam, raspberry tart, and I forgot about the rest.

A cup of Japanese tea to help with our digestion.

The boldness and cutting-edge creativity displayed in SINAE's menu reminded me of the similar qualities seen in fellow Michelin starred restaurants in Osaka such as Ad-hoc and Différence. I can see why the Michelin brass awarded them with a star despite its relatively short existence.

Food Rating: 7.3/10

Price: ￥￥￥

Address: 2-4-12 Fushimimachi, Chuo-ku, Osaka, 541-0044 Japan

Closest Metro Station: Kitahama

Tel: +81 (0)6 6201-6556

Website: http://sinae.jp/

Opening Hours: 12:00pm - 2:30pm (Wed, Sat - Sun), 5:30pm - 10:30pm (Tue - Sat)

Gokan Kitahama Honkan 五感咖啡北濱本館 (Osaka, JAPAN) ★★★☆☆

After spending the majority of our last day in Osaka at Mitsui Shopping Park LaLaport Kadoma, mom and I took off for our early dinner in Kitahama (北濱) leaving the rest of the crew behind. It was my first time setting foot in Kitahama, a district better known for its financial and business activities.

Right before dinner, we got the chance to visit Gokan Kitahama Honkan (五感咖啡北濱本館).

Patisserie Gokan is a French pastry shop with a Japanese twist, which I had previously visited before during my extensive travel in Japan. To be brutally honest, I have always had a mixed bag experience with them but since mom has never tried their cakes before, I told her to go and check it out personally.

This is their flagship store in Kitahama with a tea salon on the second floor.

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She got herself a chestnut cake for breakfast tomorrow. I was surprised she didn't go for a Mont Blanc. 

Reportedly, the chestnut cake was moist, subtly sweet, and had a nice nutty flavor. I didn't try it out myself so I would just take her word for it.

Food Rating: 5.3/10

Price: ￥￥￥

Address: Arai Building, 2-1-1 Imabashi, Chuo-ku, Osaka, 542-0085 Japan

Closest Metro Station: Kitahama

Tel: +81 (0)6 4706-5160

Website: https://www.patisserie-gokan.co.jp/

Opening Hours: 10:00am - 7:00pm daily