My Second-ever football game at Kai Tak Stadium

Thanks to our good friends, for the second year in a row, we’ve been given tickets to a live football match at Kai Tak Stadium. This time around, the seats were even better.

Tonight’s match was a duel between Chelsea and Juventus. I only knew a handful of players from both squads, and honestly for me, it wasn’t really about the teams or the scoreline. It was about the incredible atmosphere. Sitting 10 rows up from the pitch, surrounded by 40,000+ others, the whole experience was electric.

I’ve never watched a football game this close. The only thing I’ve experienced which was remotely similar was attending ice hockey games — something I’ve done quite a few times. But this was different. At this distance, the game seemed to move in slow motion. You don’t get those wide, TV-style angles, but you do get to see the players’ reactions up close and their subtle movements, and the tension you can’t quite capture on screen. 

I guess that’s why these tickets cost so much.

Little nugget was my companion tonight, and he was super hyped. He started off a little nervous — no idea why, because he wasn’t the one on the pitch battling for the possession of the ball. So why the butterflies? 

But once the game got going, he was fully into it.

As a world-class city, Hong Kong deserves a world-class sporting facility like Kai Tak.

Fine Foods (Hong Kong, CHINA) ★★★☆☆

It’s been a while since I last visited Fine Foods at the Royal Garden Hotel in East Tsim Sha Tsui. After getting my ramen fix at Nadaman, I thought the popular cake shop would be a convenient stop before heading home to get some work done.

I spotted some familiar creations from my previous visits years ago, but I made it clear to myself that I wanted to try some new flavors this afternoon.

Rose, watermelon, strawberry & Earl Grey ($68) — It isn’t the first time a cake shop has attempted the idea of a rose–watermelon–strawberry cake without following the mold of the patented Black Star recipe, and it won’t be the last.

The varying textures of the rose, watermelon, and strawberry weren’t bad, and the introduction of Earl Grey tea was a nice touch. However, the design — everything hidden inside a chocolate hemisphere (meant to be half of a watermelon) — made the dessert much less enjoyable to eat. 

Even with my best attempt to break the chocolate crust apart, the watermelon slice still got in the way.

Pandan mango sticky rice ($64) — Much better than the previous dessert.

It had all the elements of a solid Thai-style mango sticky rice: mango, glutinous rice with a mochi-like chew, and the pandan sponge neatly combining everything into a pillowy cake. While the execution wasn’t exactly perfect, the balance of flavors and the mix of textures were enough to excite even the ordinary palate.

This was definitely a long overdue visit. While I still enjoy the consistently stable quality of Fine Foods’ pastries, a few smaller French patisseries—such as Finesse Patisserie, Relive Patisserie, among others have already quietly overtaken Fine Foods on my short list.

Food Rating: 6.4/10
Price: $$$$
Address: Lobby Level, The Royal Garden, 69 Mody Road, Tsim Sha Tsui East, Hong Kong
Closest Metro Station: East Tsim Sha Tsui
Tel: +852 2733-2045
Website: theroyalgardenhotel.com.hk/index.asp

Opening Hours: 11:00am - 8:00pm daily

Ramen Ginza Onodera Pop-Up at Nadaman (Hong Kong, CHINA) ★★★★☆

Ramen Ginza Onodera (麺 銀座おのでら) is an acclaimed ramen brand from Tokyo’s Onodera Group, celebrated for its French-influenced approach to traditional Japanese ramen. Their menus are conceptualized by Executive Chef Keiichi Terada. They’ve just recently launched an exclusive 5-month collaboration, running from July 31 through the end of the year at Nadaman (灘萬日本料理) Kowloon Shangri-La (九龍香格里拉).

The pop-up is hosted in one of Nadaman’s newly renovated private dining rooms, which has been transformed into a sleek, dedicated ramen haven.

The restaurant prepares signature recipes on-site using noodles and a complex chicken broth that’s shipped directly from Japan.

Their ramen is offered in Shoyu (soy sauce), Shio (salt), and spicy broth styles. Each bowl is generously topped with slow-cooked pork chashu (煙豚肉叉燒), tender roasted duck chashu (燒鴨叉燒), and an ajitama egg. Lately I’ve been especially hooked on shoyu ramen, so I knew exactly what I wanted — Special Soy Sauce Ramen ($148).

The broth was surprisingly light in volume, yet still rich and packed with deep poultry flavor.

True to its French fine-dining lineage, each bowl is served with a small side of homemade herb butter. Diners are told to enjoy the clean, pure flavor of the broth first then sink the herb butter into the soup midway through. That creates a richer, creamier transformation without losing the essence of the original base.

The bamboo shoot was thick-cut and juicy.

The seasoned soft-boiled egg was spot on, and even the presentation looked perfect.

The smoked pork char siu (煙豚肉叉燒) was tender, and slightly chewy in a good way with subtle smokiness

The grilled duck char siu (燒鴨叉燒) was succulent with a deep gamey duck flavor. It tasted a little better than the pork char siu but that's coming from a grilled duck lover.

My only complaint was the noodles: they didn’t absorb the broth’s essence as well as I expected.

I didn't get the chance to try their truffle pork wontons and mini charsiu rice bowl, both of which are supposed to be famous. I guess those will have to be my next mission.

Food Rating: 6.6/10

Price: $$$

Address: Nadaman Japanese Restaurant, Kowloon Shangri-La, Lower Level II, 64 Mody Road, Tsim Sha Tsui, Hong Kong

Closest Metro Station: East Tsim Sha Tsui

Tel: +852 2733-8751

Opening Hours: 12:00pm - 2:30pm, 6:30pm - 10:30pm daily

Chill Vietnam Cuisine and Bar (Hong Kong, CHINA) ★★★★☆

The Queen of News is back in town! A few months ago, we already settled on a day to catch up and the only thing left was deciding where to meet.

And last week while I was still in Osaka, we finally nailed down the venue. It was my neighborhood Vietnamese restaurant, Chill Vietnam Cuisine and Bar at D2 Place.

Vietnamese platter (越式拼盤) — This came with chicken wings marinated in lemongrass, Vietnamese-style spring rolls, and rice rolls. We each had a piece of the trio, and it was just a great way to kick things off.

Fried soft shell crab with salt and pepper (椒鹽炒軟殼蟹) — At first, we thought there weren’t many fried soft shell crabs hidden under all that salt and pepper. But after digging in a bit more, we found quite a few of these babies. They were cooked like soft shell crab tempura, with an extra kick from the pepper.

Fried rice noodles with pork neck and bay leaf chili paste (香葉辣椒膏豬頸肉炒河) — We asked our server to tone down the spiciness, but even with that note, it still came with a pretty strong kick. It was still pretty tasty and of course, we love the wok hei from the rice noodles.

A cold drink to cope with the spicy dishes.

It was always nice to see my friend back for the summer. We always seem to have endless topics to talk about, and the best news was hearing that she might actually come back here to work. Hong Kong has lost so many talented people over the years, so it'll be amazing to get some of them back.

Food Rating: 6.1/10

Price: $$$

Address: Shop 301, 3/F, D2 Place ONE, 9 Cheung Yee Street, Lai Chi Kok, Hong Kong

Closest Metro Station: Lai Chi Kok

Tel: +852 2858-8606

Opening Hours: 11:30am - 10:00pm daily

The Lobby Lounge at The Ritz Carlton Osaka (Osaka, JAPAN) ★★★★☆

I thought I wasn’t going to make my usual visit to The Lobby Lounge at The Ritz-Carlton Osaka this time, given our super tight schedule. But I managed to negotiate some me time with my boss, and everything was good.

As usual, the lobby was buzzing, and I could only find a seat a bit farther away from the pianist. Still, it didn’t affect my enjoyment of the live music.

When I was presented with today’s pastries, I wasn’t particularly impressed — but it happens here sometimes. Occasionally, you just can’t find anything that appeals to you visually. That’s when you go back to their roots.

As a dessert-bakery institution, The Gourmet Shop at The Ritz-Carlton Osaka is generally excellent with its old-school favorites — mille-feuille, Paris-Brest, and more. So I decided to turn back the clock and try some classic French desserts.

Paris-Brest — The choux pastry had the perfect texture.

And there was a delicate, rich hazelnut praline cream in the middle, tying everything together and making the trip worthwhile.

I also got to enjoy a cup of tea. It's been a week since I had my tea fix, so that felt truly priceless.

I’ve always wanted to check out Café Del’immo at Herbis Ent next door, but they’re always full—this time was no exception. I couldn’t help wondering why…

Food Rating: 6.8/10

Price: ￥￥￥￥

Address: G/F The Ritz Carlton Osaka, 2-5-25 Umeda, Kita Ward, Osaka 530-0001, Japan

Closest Metro Station: Nishi-Umeda 

Tel: +81 (0)6 6343-7020

Website: lounge.ritzcarltonosaka.com

Opening Hours: 12:00pm - 9:00pm (Mon - Fri), 11:00am - 9:00pm (Sat - Sun)

 

Nakajima Taishodo Daimaru Shinsaibashi Store 中島大祥堂 大丸心齋橋店 (Osaka, JAPAN) ★★★☆☆

Nakajima Taishodo (中島大祥堂) is a historic and highly regarded Japanese confectionery brand that dates back to 1912. Known for its premium Japanese–Western fusion pastries, cookies, and seasonal gift boxes, it’s a familiar presence in the food halls of major department stores across Osaka.

We first stumbled upon their boutique while heading to Le Pont Du Ciel for dinner. As a fan of the prized Tamba chestnuts (丹波栗), of course mom didn’t hesitate to peek at the shop’s signature offerings made with Tamba chestnuts. 

But surprise surprise, we ended up not grabbing any dessert that day.

This time around, mom was determined to finally cross it off her bucket list. So when she spotted a Nakajima Taishodo counter at the Daimaru Shinsaibashi Store (大丸心齋橋店) this morning, she couldn’t hide her excitement.

Chestnut kayabuki (850 yen) — Nakajima Taishodo’s signature Mont Blanc cake, crafted to resemble the traditional thatched roof of their historic main store in the Tamba region of Hyogo Prefecture. It’s especially touted for the extensive use of rare, premium Tamba chestnuts — highly prized across Japan for their large size and rich, deep flavor.

I didn’t get to try it myself, but according to mom, it was totally worth the stomach space, and we’ve got plenty of it especially after skipping breakfast this morning!

Food Rating: 5.8/10

Price: ￥￥￥

Address: B1F Food Hall, Daimaru Shinsaibashi, 1-7-1 Shinsaibashisuji, Chuo-ku, Osaka, 542-8501 Japan

Closest Metro Station: Shinsaibashi 

Tel: +81 (0)70 2273-1057

Website: https://www.ntdshop.jp/

Opening Hours: 10:00am - 8:00pm daily

Bills Osaka Station (Osaka JAPAN) ★★★★☆

It was supposed to be our afternoon tea session, but we lost a couple of guys to shopping, and another couple simply decided to grab a seat at LUCUA instead of sitting down for food. I guess we all had too much to eat on this trip.



So rather than finding a table for the whole village, it’ll just be me and little nugget.

Our destination was Bills Osaka, a popular all-day dining restaurant that originated in Sydney, Australia, and now has branches across Japan and Seoul. This location is on the 7th floor of LUCUA 1100, which is directly connected to JR Osaka Station.

I always enjoy dining at Bills, especially their breakfast plates. But their modern, chic decor and friendly service also play a huge part in why I keep coming back.

Black sesame and vanilla shake — Velvety and packed with rich vanilla flavor, but a tad too sweet for me.

This guy didn't think so...

Price: ￥￥￥

Address: 7/F LUCUA 1100, 3-1-3 Umeda, Kita-ku, Osaka 530-0001, Japan

Closest Metro Station: Umeda 

Tel: +81 (0)50-3155-1472

Website: https://www.billsjapan.com/jp/locations/osaka-station

Opening Hours: 8:30am - 10:00pm daily

We❤️Donut × Takagi Coffee Umeda Station (Osaka, JAPAN) ★★★★☆

We were circling around Umeda Station (梅田車站) pondering about our next move when I suddenly spotted We❤️Donut (WeLoveDonut) x Takagi Coffee. While I initially just wanted to take a few photos of their nama donut tower, a few of us decided to sit down to rest our feet.

Conveniently located underground just three minutes from the gate of Umeda station, WeLoveDonut is a nama donut specialty shop that doubles as a coffee shop, but make no mistake about it, their soft, airy nama donuts are the real star.

Little nugget wasted no time grabbing an Oreo chocolate donut.

They have all kinds of flavors here and they kept replenishing the trays. I wish they had a branch in Hong Kong. 

While most of the group went with a sweet donut as an afternoon tea snack, I decided to go a different route. In fact, they offer quite a few savory options including ham and potato salad, egg salad, salmon and broccoli, bacon and Camembert, and spicy curry.

Homemade egg salad donut (350 yen) — The dough was a little thicker than normal, presumably to help hold the egg salad together.

I have to admit, this tasted a little weird with the slightly sweet dough on the outside and savory egg salad inside. 

Salmon and broccoli (520 yen) — If I was not having the egg salad donut, this was the one that I would be getting.

Creme brulee (380 yen) — This was looking good too.

Maybe I’m just a guy with an old man’s palate, but to me, doughnuts are supposed to be sweet.

Food Rating: 6.2/10

Price: ￥￥￥

Address: Whity Umeda Underground Shopping Mall, 8-5-6 Kakudacho, Kita-ku, Osaka 530-0017, Japan

Closest Metro Station: Umeda 

Tel: +81 (0)6 4792-7198

Website: https://welovedonut.com/

Opening Hours: 8:00am - 10:00pm daily