Manteigaria (Hong Kong, CHINA) ★★★★☆

I’m back at Manteigaria for the first time since they debuted in Hong Kong back in June. The artisan bakery from Portugal, who has gained a loyal fanbase over the years, opened its first store in Hong Kong near The Central Market (中環街市), and I was on hand during its first week of operation to get my first taste of their signature pastel de nata. 

I brought some home for my team, and they just love the texture of the vanilla-infused egg custard and the crisp but slightly chewy shell. So, I wrote it down as a note to myself — a return visit is a must.

And return I did in August — but not to their Hong Kong outpost. Instead, I went to their branch in the heart of Paris, just steps from our apartment hotel during our stay in Paris. The textures and flavors were exactly how I remembered them from June.

Here in Hong Kong, it looks like the price has gone up a little since my first visit (now $15 each), but the flavors remain top-notch.

While Hongkongers might find it a little too sweet for their liking, I love the hint of vanilla and cinnamon. It makes it unique from the local egg tarts.

Food Rating: 7/10

Price: $$$

Address: Shop B G/F, Man Hing Commercial Building, 79-83 Queen's Road Central, Central, Hong Kong

Closest Metro Station: Central

Tel: +852 6336-5059

Website: https://www.instagram.com/manteigaria.hk/?hl=en

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

Tao Tao Ju One Avenue 陶陶居 卓悦中心店 (Shenzhen, CHINA) ★★★★☆

After a very busy work schedule in early August, and two weeks in Europe, I finally found myself back in Shenzhen for the first time in nearly a month. Good thing I’m on my own this afternoon, so I can move a lot quicker without the group around me.

My first stop was Tao Tao Ju (陶陶居) at One Avenue (卓悦中心), my go-to dim sum spot in Futian to see if they have any new creations since our last visit.

Despite having an online ticket, I waited almost 30 minutes for my table which wasn’t ideal. I should have timed it more accurately!

Congee with lean pork and century egg (生滾皮蛋瘦肉粥) (¥30) — I like the one at Sense 8 Cantonese Cuisine (譽八仙粤菜) a little more for its velvety (綿) texture. 

This was just OK.

Guangzhou-style steamed rice rolls with fatty char siu and scrambled eggs (廣式叉燒滑蛋腸) (¥33) — As I promised myself, I would try at least one brand-new dim sum here and there are quite a few options on the menu this afternoon.

This was pretty tasty. The rice rolls looked more “transparent” than most ones we’ve seen at Cantonese restaurants, which actually gave us a clearer view of the fillings — diced vegetables, runny scrambled eggs (just a tiny bit), and, of course, fatty barbecued pork.

I always enjoy having steamed rice rolls so I knew I would love this. One thing they could really improve here was using less fatty barbecued pork, which sometimes made the rice rolls a bit chewy.

So glad I’m back in the swing of things again. Next up, some game time, and hopefully I can squeeze in an afternoon tea afterwards.

Food Rating: 6.5/10

Price: ¥¥¥

Address:  Shop L233, East Zone, Level 2 One Avenue, Fuhua Road, Futian, Guangzhou, China

深圳市福田区福华路卓悦中心商场东区L233号铺

Closest Metro Station: Gangxia (岗厦)

Tel: +86 (755) 8299-8870

Opening Hours: 10:00am - 9:30pm daily

Map: https://j.map.baidu.com/39/WOi

Santa Nata (Hong Kong, CHINA) ★★★★☆

The acclaimed Santa Nata from London has opened its first Asian venture in Central this July. Known for its 300-year-old traditional monastery recipe for making Pastel de Nata (Portuguese egg tarts), the brand has added an exciting twist to the local food scene just after Lisbon-based Manteigaria was welcomed here last month.

The shop features an open kitchen, allowing customers to watch their pastry chefs work diligently behind the scenes.

Pastel de Nata ($14) — This was noticeably less sweet than the ones from Manteigaria or those we’ve tasted in Portugal. Perhaps the recipe has been finely tuned to better suit local palates?

What I enjoyed most was the flaky pastry shell and the caramelized custard centre, infused with vanilla, cinnamon, and lemon zest. Overall, the flavor is gentler on the palate, thanks to its subtler sweetness.

Verdict:

Known for my seriously spoiled sweet tooth, I would say the Pastel de Nata from Santa Nata and Manteigaria are equally delicious. The difference really comes down to preference: do you like it sweeter (more authentic) or slightly less sweet (more healthy)?

Food Rating: 7/10

Price: $$$

Address: G/F, 25-27 Lyndhurst Terrace, Central, Hong Kong

Closest Metro Station: Central

Tel: +852 3594-5724

Opening Hours: 8:00am - 9:00pm daily

L’Oignon (Strasbourg, FRANCE) ★★★★☆

When we returned to Strasbourg after a full day of activities in Colmar, it was already a little after 7 pm, leaving us very little time to explore the city’s historic centre. I thought, if there’s a place to soak up Strasbourg’s medieval charm with our remaining time here, it has to be Petite France.

Petite France (or Little France) is easily the most picturesque quarter of Strasbourg, located on the southwestern edge of the city’s central island. Best known for its fairytale-like atmosphere, this UNESCO World Heritage Site is highlighted by its winding canals, cobblestone streets, wooden bridges, and beautifully preserved 17th-century half-timbered houses.

We did our best to soak up the storybook vibe by visiting a few sunset viewpoints and aimlessly wandering around the main thoroughfare. Before we knew it, half an hour had flown by right into dinner time.

This was when we arrived at our dinner destination — L’Oignon, a local institution celebrated for its warm, cozy atmosphere and excellent Alsatian cuisine. We all thought it would be silly to pass up the chance to sit on the lovely outdoor terrace right along the narrow cobblestone streets and immerse ourselves in the area’s historic charm.

Alsatian snails (6 pcs, €12) — Little nugget specifically asked for these, so as expected, he ended up finishing them all.

As usual, the snails were baked with parsley butter. I just wish there had been more left (before this guy finished it all) so I could have used it as a dip for the bread.

French tarte tatin of caramelized shallots (€11) — I mistakenly thought this was the traditional French onion soup (the restaurant's signature dish), but it turned out to be something different. On top of the caramelized shallots was a pool of cream cheese with herbs. It had most of the elements of an onion soup, but without the delicious broth.

Traditional sauerkraut with five kinds of meat and sausages (€22) — With Strasbourg situated so close to the German border, it came as no surprise that the restaurants here boast some of the most amazing “homestyle” German dishes.

I didn’t exactly count how many different kinds there were, but it definitely included pork belly, knuckle, and sausage… and these were really, really tender and succulent.

Alsatian chicken supreme (€22) — The chicken fillets were pretty tender and were nicely complemented by a creamy oyster mushroom sauce.

Some roasted potatoes as a side dish.

Choosing to sit on the terrace was the best decision we have made in a while. To enjoy front-row seats to the neighborhood’s half-timbered houses, weeping willows, and the gentle reflection of historic architecture on the water, it was priceless.

And honestly, the night scene only got better as the evening went on. (Photo touched up with AI.)

Food Rating: 6.8/10

Price: €€€

Address: 4 Rue des Moulins, 67000 Strasbourg, France

Tel: +33 (0)3 8816-5981

Website: http://www.restaurantloignon.fr/

Opening Hours: 12:00pm - 2:00pm (Mon - Thu), 12:00pm - 3:00pm (Fri - Sat), 12:00pm - 4:00pm (Sun), 7:00pm - 10:00pm daily

L'Atelier de Yann (Colmar, FRANCE) ★★★★☆

I have tagged two dessert spots in Colmar on the map as “must-do” for this afternoon. After a pretty long lunch at Bord’eau Restaurant, I managed to quickly cross the first one off my list (Patisserie Gilg) before heading over to the second. Luckily, Colmar isn’t a very big town, so I was able to arrive within a few minutes.

I was supposed to meet up with my team there, but they were nowhere to be found. I guess I would just go in on my own.

L’Atelier de Yann is an upscale artisanal pastry shop, chocolatier, and tea salon located in the historic centre of Colmar. Founded by pastry chef Yann Navarro, the famed dessert spot features an indoor tea salon and an outdoor garden. Some online reviewers also raved about its gorgeous view of the nearby Saint-Martin Collegiate Church.

After seeing all the beautifully presented pastries inside the display counter, I was even more impressed. So I quickly got in line to be served. 

Like little kids in front of a candy shop, my eyes stared wide-eyed at the colorful treats inside, almost jumping up and down with joy.

Nirvana (€8) — I decided to sit down and indulge on a quick afternoon tea.

One of the signature pastries created by Chef Navarro, designed especially for chocolate and hazelnut lovers. 

This decadent, texture-rich dessert features a base of soft, moist hazelnut biscuit, paired with a crunchy praline crust. In the middle is a rich, velvety milk chocolate mousse, finished with a smooth chocolate coating mixed with toasted, grilled hazelnuts for a satisfying crunch.

The real surprise here was the hidden crunchy chocolate pearls embedded inside, adding an extra dimension to every bite.

I’m glad I got to cross both Patisserie Gilg and L’Atelier de Yann off my bucket list today. We’ll take it easy with the remaining minutes we have in Colmar, and next on our agenda — dinner at Petite France in Strasbourg.

Food Rating: 7.3/10

Price: €€€

Address: 11 Place de la Cathédrale, 68000 Colmar, France

Tel: +33 (0)3 8920-0100

Website: http://www.atelier-de-yann.com/

Opening Hours: 9:00am - 6:00pm (Tue - Sat)

Bord’eau Restaurant by Jean-Yves Schillinger (Colmar, FRANCE) ★★★★☆

I didn’t quite remember why we chose to visit Riquewihr instead of Colmar back in 2012 but let’s just say it was one of my less favorite decisions for a long time. It ended up taking me 14 years to finally make it right.

I can really see why tourists keep coming back to Colmar — it’s a perfectly preserved medieval, fairytale-like setting. That charm comes from centuries of architectural preservation, a unique regional blending of French and German influences, and a deliberate effort to keep the historic centre looking like a living storybook.

We had a lot planned for our day in Colmar, but first, it was time for a highly anticipated lunch at Bord’eau Restaurant which kicked off the visit in style.

Bord’eau is a hugely popular, chic bistronomic restaurant in the heart of the romantic Little Venice (La Petite Venise) district in Colmar. Tucked right along the scenic banks of the Lauch River, it’s known for a casual yet innovative menu that blends local terroir flavors with contemporary, global influences.

The restaurant is owned by renowned Alsatian chef Jean-Yves Schillinger, who is also behind flagship restaurant JY’s, an acclaimed two-Michelin-star fine-dining temple specializing in creative, cosmopolitan cuisine made with local Alsatian ingredients.

I asked for the best seat in the house — a table at the corner of the terrace, right at the point where the Lauch River meets the picturesque backdrop of traditional timber houses. From where we sat, it felt almost like a postcard.

After wasting a ton of time taking photos, we finally got down to business. A small nibble to start things off…

…and brioche.

At this point, everybody realized just how hungry we really were.

Sea bream, tiger’s milk, pink radish, mango — The tiger’s milk added a nice, velvety texture to the sea bream. The thin strips of pink radish and ruby corn delivered a lovely crunch, along with a mango gel that brought a touch of acidity to the dish. This wasn’t bad, but they could have leaned in a bit more on the acidity to bring out the sea bream’s sweetness even further.

Duck foie gras, figs, raspberry caramel — Some of us enjoyed a slice of duck foie gras with roasted figs and a raspberry caramel gel instead.

Muscovy duck, Chinese cabbage, peanuts, turnips, lemon — As a fan of meaty French duck, this was a no-brainer. I thought the duck breast could have been a little more charred on the edges, but overall they did a more-than-fine job. The lemon-infused duck jus was spot on, meshing beautifully with the Chinese cabbage and honey-glazed turnips.

A duck shepherd’s pie was served as a side to the duck breast.

Seared octopus, vegetables, saffron — The other main dish was seared octopus, paired with Thai vegetables with basil, saffron rouille, and finished with a relatively light shellfish broth infused with miso.

Then our new friends were back with us — wasps and bees 🐝🐝🐝 — and that killed the mood almost instantly. While we knew we’d miss the amazing river view on the terrace, we couldn’t bear the risk of being bitten again. So, we ended up moving inside.

White peach, verbena, diplomat, peach tuile, Fior di latte ice cream — The starter and main dishes were pretty good (good, though not exactly great), but the dessert turned out to be an outstanding exclamation point — perhaps even a knockout punch for the nasty heat this afternoon. 

From the first bite, I could tell verbena was in play, and it always seems to form a great bond with white peach. Not surprisingly, the verbena flavors were front and centre, from the verbena soup to the verbena diplomat cream. It effortlessly elevated the juicy white peach with its floral, grassy, and lightly mint-like undertones. And finally, the layer of Fior di latte ice cream underneath the peach tuile tied everything together beautifully.

The result? Refreshing, bright, and absolutely perfect summer dessert.

As expected, our lunch was a retreat for both our eyes and our palates. It also burned a little more time than we first thought. I think we’ll really need to manage our remaining time in Colmar now.

Food Rating: 6.9/10

Price: €€€

Address: 17 Rue de la Poissonnerie, 68000 Colmar, France

Tel: +33 (0)3 8921-5365

Website: https://www.jean-yves-schillinger.com/bord-eau-restaurant/

Opening Hours: 12:00pm - 1:30pm (Wed - Sat), 7:00pm - 10:00pm (Tue - Sat)

Au Crocodile (Strasbourg, FRANCE) ★★★★☆

When we first arrived at the stunning Cathédrale Notre-Dame-de-Strasbourg, it was starting to pour heavily from the sky. So, we decided to rush through our tour at Place de la Cathédrale and then head straight to our dinner venue. And with my little umbrella that wasn’t quite doing its job, I ended up soaky wet and dripping with water by the time we arrived at Au Crocodile.

Au Crocodile is our first serious dining adventure on this trip.

To say that Au Crocodile is a storied culinary institution is not an overstatement. Founded in 1840 around a legendary stuffed crocodile brought back from Napoleon’s Egypt campaign, Au Crocodile grew from a historic Strasbourg tavern into a global pillar of French gastronomy. The restaurant reached its absolute culinary peak under the helm of Chef Émile Jung, holding three Michelin stars from 1989 to 2002.

Today, its historic legacy as a premier dining destination continues under Chef Romain Brillat after a complete modern revitalization. The restaurant also regained its Michelin star in 2021.

The ground-floor main dining room features an intimate, romantic atmosphere of light and shadow. The stunning centerpiece of the space is a massive, meticulously restored 1874 oil painting, adding a grand sense of Alsatian history to the spacious room. However, what caught our immediate attention was the breathtaking framed crocodile specimen at the entrance of the dining room.

Unfortunately, with little nugget with us, that was all the time we could spend in the main dining room. We were quickly escorted to an elevator near the front desk and taken to the second-floor dining room — a smaller, but equally elegant space (all while water continued to drip from my clothes!).

Today’s amuse-bouche was salmon tartlet with salmon roe and capers, some sort of chicken rillette (or liver pâté), and lastly a celery horseradish “dumpling” with an extra kick.

Our small nibbles were accompanied by buttery mini brioche served with homemade butter.

A further amuse-bouche arrived just before our first starter, and was introduced as smoked tomato gazpacho with shaved Parmesan. Interestingly, a few of us thought it tasted more like plums or more specifically, mirabelle plums, which are in season in Alsace right now.

Our first starter was beautifully cooked turbot, nicely paired with crunchy vegetables like broad beans and zucchini, and competently finished with an intense sauce made from the turbot bones. The sauce was the star here, tying everything together perfectly.

Next up was duck foie gras terrine. There were a few thin slices, placed over some warm duck meat. The dish was finished with small cubes of vinegar jelly, among other condiments.

Homemade brioche was served on the side, presumably to enjoy with the foie gras as a “spread”.

Next up was superbly cooked abalone from Brittany, matched with a hazelnut ragout and chewy fresh seaweed. The flavors were fascinating, highlighted by that distinct “sea water” note from the seaweed, which complemented the abalone brilliantly.

Some homemade bread was served while they get the next dish ready.

Brittany blue lobster tail, cooked tableside. Everyone loves tableside cooking in fine dining.

Our server carefully transferred the lobster tail into a container filled with rich lobster broth. Within a matter of seconds, the lobster tail was removed and placed on top of a buckwheat risotto, along with an open raviolo. A nice pour of the subtle lobster sauce soon followed.

The lobster was really delicious, with excellent, bouncy texture.

A glass of lobster broth was served on the side to be sipped after enjoying the lobster tail. Unlike the sauce served with the lobster tail, this broth was stronger and far more intense, with a hint of cognac.

Our first meat dish was a lean cut of beef from Belle Robles farm. 

It was served with mashed potatoes and a slightly earthy sauce made from melanosporum truffle.

Our last savory dish was roasted pigeon, matched with variations of artichoke and pigeon jus. The pigeon breast itself was nicely cooked, but I thought the jus did very little to elevate the flavors of the pigeon.

Our pre-dessert was a refreshing one — fresh strawberries and raspberries, nicely paired with a herby rocket pesto.

The sweet ending came courtesy of an iced and creamy vanilla dessert trapped inside a sugar ball. 

There was a small core of caramel in the middle to complement the vanilla, while extra virgin olive oil added more savory-sweet flavors.

Our mignardises tonight were white chocolate with frozen lemongrass (and what my son thought was pear), a tartlet topped with jasmine-infused mousse and what I thought was a mini mirabelle plum pie.

By the time we walked past Place Kléber, Strasbourg’s main square, on the way back to our apartment hotel, it was already 11pm, a familiar scene from 2012 that kept coming back to us from time to time.

Looking back at our dinner tonight, I thought the service was excellent throughout. The restaurant manager and her crew of outstanding servers thoroughly entertained us all night long. There was one dish I particularly liked (the sugar ball with vanilla) and a few others that were pretty darn good. But there were also a couple that were less satisfying.

Surprisingly, even with such a long parade of dishes, I wasn’t totally stuffed like I thought I would. I guess that’s a very good sign, considering we still have three or four big meals coming up in the next few days.

Food Rating: 7.4/10

Price: €€€

Address: 10 Rue de l'Outre, 67000 Strasbourg, France

Tel: +33 (0)3 8832-1302

Website: https://www.au-crocodile.com/

Opening Hours: 12:00pm - 1:00pm (Thu - Sat), 7:00pm - 9:00pm (Tue - Sat)