Hidden 秀殿 (Hong Kong, CHINA) ★★★★☆

Hidden (秀殿) was an itch I have been looking to take care for a while and it finally got the better of me. The notoriously difficult to book Japanese skewer spot in Causeway Bay has obviously gotten easier to book these days. With a few clicks last week, I managed to secure a counter seat for tonight — something that used to take weeks, if not months. 

I arrived almost an hour earlier than my booking time but the folks here were kind enough to let me start early.

If my memory serves me correct, from left to right: red wine sauce, soy infused with ponzu and sea salt. Pretty much the usual lineup of condiments for the deep-fried goodness here.

Potato salad (薯仔沙律) ($50) — As I always do, I started things off with their potato salad to whet my appetite. This came with onion, ham, egg white, egg yolk, and some diced cucumber pieces for a nice finishing punch.

Kinmedai (金目鯛) ($75) — Our family has all been hooked on kinmedai, after our Mother's Day celebration.

The flesh was really tender and succulent. I wouldn’t mind ordering another piece of this tonight.

Chicken breast with wasabi mayo (芥辣雞胸肉) ($45) — The chicken fillet was firm and flavorful, and the spicy kick from the wasabi mayo delivered an incredibly satisfying finish.

Angel shrimp (天使の海老) ($80) — The premium brand of blue shrimp cultivated in the pristine, crystal-clear waters was available on the menu!

As usual, I started with the shrimp head (蝦頭) first. This was very very flaky like having chips. The angel shrimp itself (forgot to take a photo again!) was springy and packed with flavors. Outstanding!



Asparagus bacon roll (蘆筍煙肉卷) ($35) — It's been a while since I last had this.



The bacon (more like a piece of ham) added savory depth to the earthy green asparagus. Nicely done.

Scallop salmon roes (帶子三文魚籽) ($55) — Always the finale dish.

The scallop was hidden under the pile of homemade tartare sauce and explosive salmon roes. I couldn't see the crispy thin batter from this angle but I'm sure it's there.

It was an hour of indulgence in what may be the best deep-fried skewers in the city. Once again, I’m pretty blessed to have secured my seat tonight without the usual few weeks/months in advance. Let’s see if I can do it again in June.

Food Rating: 7.5/10

Price: $$$$

Address: Room D, 3/F, Prosperous Commercial Building, 54 Jardine's Bazaar, Causeway Bay, Hong Kong

Closest Metro Station: Causeway Bay

Tel: +852 2504-1511

Website: https://hiddencwb.com/

Opening Hours: 6:30pm - 1:00am (Tue - Sun)

Meet the Bund BFC 遇外灘 外灘金融中心店 (Shanghai, CHINA) ★★★★☆

Last week, the award ceremony for Asia’s Best 50 Restaurants was hosted for the first time in Hong Kong. There was one slight surprise, as Meet the Bund (遇外灘) appeared to come out of nowhere and claimed the No.6 spot over a slew of restaurants who have been in the top ten of the list for quite some time (to their credit, they were No.14 last year). 

Although I have already made plans for all our meals for our upcoming shanghai trip, I was more than happy to re-arrange our schedule to fit this highly regarded restaurant in. 

Apart from being the highest-ranked restaurant in Mainland China this year (according to the folks behind Asia Best 50), Meet the Bund is also a Michelin starred restaurant for five consecutive years and has been elevated to a Black Pearl 3-diamond one (黑珍珠三鑽) rating in 2026 💎💎💎.

We chose this branch of Meet the Bund at BFC (外灘金融中心) largely for its partial view of the Bund although, to be brutally honest, the table we were given didn’t offer any view whatsoever.

Meet the Bund is an upscale Min cuisine (閩菜) restaurant known for its modern interpretation of traditional Fujian dishes. The restaurant is helmed by Chef Yoda Chen Zhiping (陳志平), who has earned numerous accolades internationally. A Fujian native himself, Chef Chen blends traditional — often rustic — Fujian techniques with a more modern, refined presentation.

The food menu here features a number of exciting Fujian classics including the house specialty, Xiamen steamed glutinous rice with mud crab (廈門紅蟳蒸米糕) but since none of us were big fans of crabs, we decided to go with some of the simpler dishes this afternoon.

We started with the house snacks — some peanut cookies.

And cherry tomatoes while we were studying hard on the food menu.

Wuyi rock tea smoked horse mackerel (武夷岩茶煙燻馬友魚) (¥168) — Our meal started off with some tea smoked horse mackerel (馬友). I have never been a huge fan of horse mackerel but I am now. These were beautifully cooked with lovely smoky flavors. The fish fillets were best enjoyed with the shredded ginger on top to balance out any fishy notes. Very very tasty (that said a lot from a non fish lover).

Fujian five spice rolls (福建五香卷) (¥68) — Crisp on the outside, with minced pork, water chestnut, and onion inside, topped brilliantly by a small dab of chili sauce for a sharp little kick.

Steamed handlined large squid with premium nori seaweed (頭水紫菜蒸手釣到大魷魚) (¥299) — This dish came in two different sizes and in order to sample more dishes, I decided to get the smaller one (despite I am a sucker for squid).

The large squid fillets were superbly cooked into an unbelievably tender texture. But what made the dish extra special was the dashi-cooked nori seaweed underneath, which acted like the “noodle” for a perfect pairing with the crunchy squid. In my view, this was the best dish of the afternoon, with the smoked mackerel and tea panna cotta closely behind as second and third.

Crispy Duck with taro paste (芋泥香酥鴨) (¥108) — An interesting spin on the traditional crispy duck with taro. 

These were shaped like deep-fried taro balls, with a layer of taro paste and diced duck hidden at the centre. However, what I appreciated most about the dish was the shaved parmesan cheese, which added a nice East-meets-West flair.

Red shallot infused oil and pork gravy baked Li Pu taro (原創蔥頭油肉汁焗荔浦芋頭) (¥98) — Another one of the restaurant’s signature dishes. This thick sauce made from the meat, taro, red shallot oil and dried shallot gave the baked Li Pu taro plenty of flavors to work with. That said, aside from the sauce, I expected the taro itself to be a bit more fluffy and refined.

Quanzhou rice noodles with cornstarch broth (泉州麵線米粉芡) (¥138) — This turned out much soupier than I first expected. The broth was a bit porridge-like (糊), and after simmering in the broth for a while, the rice noodles became very, very soggy.

I usually hate soggy noodles but not this time. Yes, they were soft but they soaked up the fish broth brilliantly, and the essence of the broth worked wonderfully with the shrimps, fish, and gourd. It was a hearty, homestyle dish that brought the meal to a comforting close.

Wuyi Mountains Da Hong Pao Tea jelly (武夷山大紅袍茶凍) (¥48) — Dessert was a refreshing panna cotta flavored with Da Hong Pao tea from the Wuyi Mountains, with small cubes of tea jelly scattered around the centre. It was a delicious sweet finale — an exclamation point to an excellent lunch.

This was the second year in a row that we decided to explore a Mainland city during the Easter holidays. Last year, we visited Ningbo, then Hangzhou (杭州), and had an amazing dining experience at Jiexiaolou (解香樓). Not to be outdone this year, the meal at Meet the Bund reminded us just how many wonderful restaurants are tucked away across Mainland China. We feel truly blessed to be able to build them into our travel plans.

Food Rating: 7.7/10

Price: ¥¥¥

Address: Shop S301, Level 3 BFC, 600 East Zhongshan Road, Huangpu District, Shanghai, China

上海市黄浦区中山东二路600号BFC外滩金融中心南区三层S301

Tel: +86 (021) 6377-7668

Website: https://www.instagram.com/meetthebund_sh/

Opening Hours: 11:30am - 2:00pm, 5:30pm - 9:00pm daily

S. Pellegrino Asia's 50 Best Restaurants: 6th (2026)

S. Pellegrino World’s 50 Best Restaurants: 94th (2025)

Map: https://j.map.baidu.com/d7/yYhM

 

Roganic (Hong Kong, CHINA) ★★★★☆

For years, Roganic has been one of my go-to restaurants whenever I wanted a casual fine-dining experience. That said, things changed after their relocation to Hysan Place last year when their online booking system no longer accepts reservations for solo diners. As a result, I’ve only been back once.

I had a company event in the morning, and thanks to the early start, I arrived at the restaurant slightly ahead of schedule. It didn’t take long before I was comfortably seated by the window, with a great view of the entire dining room.

Chioggia beetroot, ox tongue, pine nut crumbs — The meal got off to a fast start with a small nibble made with aerated Chioggia beetroot, sour cream, slow-cooked ox tongue and pine nut crumbs. I’m a complete sucker for anything with beets, so this was right up my alley. Even better, the contrasting textures and flavors made it genuinely enjoyable.

Preserved winter truffle honey bread, cultured brown butter — The winter truffle honey brioche was nice and flaky.

But my favorite cultured brown butter (now topped with sea salt) in town lost its soft touch. 😪😪

Heirloom tomatoes 🍅, whipped mussel, sugar kelp — The amazing tomatoes from Chiayi (嘉義) in Taiwan served with tomato water and seaweed oil as a base, were finished off with fresh mussels, dill, crunchy kelp crumbs, and a very interesting mussel emulsion. Light, bright, balanced and very refreshing.

Dry aged duck, longan honey, Kalibos cabbage, blackcurrant, perilla — My main dish was dry aged duck from Guangdong, roasted and drizzled with longan honey. The sauce made from the duck bones and the accompanying beetroot purée added depth to the dish without overpowering the duck.

The crispy duck has long been one of the true highlights since the restaurant first opened here, and it has never disappointed. Today was no exception: the duck was succulent, full of flavor, and beautifully executed from start to finish.

The second serving came as braised duck meat, elegantly topped with a slice of blackcurrant-flavored Kalibos cabbage dotted with beetroot gel.

Ruby strawberries, hibiscus, baked rice pudding — Dessert was a symphony of berry flavors. Fresh ruby strawberries with preserved hibiscus, and strawberry sorbet served on a bed of Taiwanese vanilla-infused and baked rice pudding. It was very British. Comforting, refined, and at the same time wonderfully delicious.

I thought service was excellent today. Very attentive as usual and different servers came to check up on me to ensure that I thoroughly enjoyed my time here. I guess I should be coming back a lot more often.

Food Rating: 7.7/10

Price: $$$

Address: Shop 402 & 403, 4/F, LEE GARDEN ONE, 33 Hysan Avenue, Causeway Bay, Hong Kong

Closest Metro Station: Causeway Bay

Tel: +852 2817-8383

Website: www.roganic.com.hk

Opening Hours: 12:00pm - 2:00pm, 6:00pm - 9:00pm (Wed - Sun)

T+T (Taipei, TAIWAN) ★★★★☆

Like my previous two meals at Frassi and de nuit to kick off this Taipei trip, my third meal was a dandy. T+T is a Michelin starred restaurant specializing in Asian fusion. After stints at top restaurants in Asia including Singapore’s Restaurant André, Johnny Tsai opened his own bistro T+T in 2018. Short for “tapas tasting", T+T is best known for its small plates that blend western cooking techniques with an Asian twist, which helped the restaurant snag a Michelin star in 2021.

After checking out of my hotel this morning, I hauled my bags to breakfast at Capella Taipei and then headed to T+T.

Quail egg, sesame oil, seaweed — The tasting menu started off with a fun little bite inspired by Korean cuisine. A marinated quail egg sat on a jelly made with sesame oil and what I thought was Korean Doenjang (大醬, or soy bean paste), with the nori cracker and perilla tying everything together. A nice appetizing nibble.

Oyster, garlic, vermicelli — It was immediately followed by an off-menu treat.

 

This one was inspired by Taiwan's famous oyster vermicelli (蠔仔麵線). An oyster wrapped in crispy kataif noodles was deep-fried and served with garlic mayo and shaved katsuobushi. Seriously delicious! The crunchy kataif paired with the zesty, garlicky mayo really made the dish pop, and the oyster, marinated in milk and sake, was fantastic.

Scallop, pine nut, pumpkin — The second dish of the tasting menu was grilled scallop topped with chestnut purée and roasted pumpkin, and finished with a Korean inspired pine nut emulsion. There were some nice smoky flavors from the scallop and perhaps the pine nuts too.

Sea bream, winged bean, sambal — Pan fried sea bream was served with a powerful laksa sauce with crunchy winged green beans drizzled with the intense Sambal.

The spicy kick from the punchy laksa sauce really took the sea bream to another level.

Kanpachi, yuzu, Korean perilla — Thin noodles served cold in a light broth flavored with yuzu. 

The refreshingly cold noodles were topped nicely by a layer of marinated kanpachi and Korean perilla tempura. Not bad.

Duck, truffle, wheel pie — Next up, piping hot wheel cake (車輪餅).

The wheel cake was packed with duck confit and truffle cream sauce that brought a slightly spicy and peppery kick.

Wagyu, pear, scallion — This was inspired by the Korean barbecue. The charcoal grilled New York cut wagyu steak was nicely matched with a sauce made with scallion and beef jus.

Condiments of lettuce, apricot, pear, and Korean chili paste were reminiscent of a traditional Korean BBQ spread. The wagyu was juicy and succulent, working well with the garlic purée and savory-sweet scallion beef jus. My only complaint was that the sauce leaned a little towards the sweet side.

Abalone, ginseng, chicken — One more seafood dish came in the form of Korean abalone on a bed of rice soaking up the ginseng chicken soup underneath.

The piping hot ginseng soup burnt my tongue!

Lemon, chayote, dark plum — My pre-dessert was green apple sorbet and slices of green apple paired with dill, dark plum syrup, lemon juice, and chayote. It had a burst of acidity and fruity notes, helping to cleanse my palate almost instantly.

Coconut, peanut, Gula Jawa — Dessert was custard cream and coconut sugar mousse/gula jawa peanut wrapped in a coconut sugar wafer, served alongside a scoop of milk ice-cream.

And a cup of tea to help with my digestion.

I almost got killed by the amount of food being served here this afternoon!  😆😆 It was a lot for NT$2,680. This had to be the best NT$3,000 (including tax) I've spent on this trip.

P.S.  T+T is one of the toughest reservations to secure in Taipei. In the end, I was only able to get a high bar table instead of a regular one. But sitting at the bar came with some neon lighting from the wall, which made taking photos a bit tricky. So, my apologies for the poor quality of some of the shots!

Food Rating: 7.5/10

Price: $$

Address: No.11, Lane 165, Dunhua North Road, Songshan District, Taipei, Taiwan

Closest Metro Station: Taipei Arena

Tel: +886 2-2719-9191

Website: https://www.facebook.com/tt27199191/

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