Bills Ginza (Tokyo, JAPAN) ★★★★☆

It was tough to get out of bed this morning following our little scare last night. Like all my teammates, I went to bed late and my sleep was cut short by the alarm clock signaling time to wake up. Fortunately, I have a series of activities to look forward to and the first one coming up, breakfast at Bills Ginza.

It would be my third dining experience at Bills and let's just say the previous ones didn't really work out very well. But this proved to be a totally different affair altogether with the hipster vibe making a very strong first impression. 

Black sesame shake (1,300 yen) – Silky smooth and very grainy with rich, black sesame flavor. Reminded me a lot of the black sesame shake at Shake Shack Osaka.

Full Aussie (3,100 yen) – The Full-Aussie breakfast came with scrambled eggs, sourdough toast, bacon, roasted tomato, herbed garlic mushrooms, pork and fennel sausage. It would be really great to have something like this once a week.

Gravalax (680 yen) – I added a few slices of gravalax for good measure. Not bad.

Ricotta hotcakes, fresh banana, honeycomb butter (2,400 yen) – One of Bills' most iconic dish so it was well worth the 15-minute wait. This tasted almost like the Japanese soufflé pancakes. Very soft and fluffy with subtle ricotta cheese flavor. I can see why this can be pretty addictive for some of us including mom.

Everyone had a great time at Bills this morning making the short sleep worthwhile. I am having a short break after breakfast and up next the main event, my highly anticipated lunch at three-Michelin starred L'Osier.

Food Rating: 6.7/10

Price: ￥￥￥￥

Address: 12/F Okura House, 2-6-12 Ginza, Chuo-ku, Tokyo 104-0061, Japan

Closest Metro Station: Ginza

Tel: +81 3-5524-1900

Website: www.billsjapan.com

Opening Hours: 8:30am - 11:00pm daily

Arcane (Hong Kong, CHINA) ★★★★☆

A decent meal has been hard to come by for me in July. Looking back at my own blog posts, I started realizing that it's been months since I last had a satisfying meal (in Hong Kong). That was SO SAD! In an effort to reverse my fortune, I knew I had to pick the right place for my upcoming lunch over the weekend. And this is a place I know I can always count on to deliver. 

Chef Shane Osborn's Arcane.

This visit has been long overdue. Checking my records again and my memories now started coming back. I was last here in 2019, before our bout with COVID-19.

Confit king salmon – This was Chef Osborn at his best.

The confit king salmon fillet topped with noirmoutier potato and ikura, was served up beautifully with soft-boiled taiyouran egg, buttermilk and dill. I thought there was also lime juice in play, with its lovely acidity cutting through the salmon beautifully. A simple, refreshing dish that was perfect to whet one's appetite with to start off the meal.

Yellow chicken – A lot of western restaurants have been doing yellow chicken these days. This was a well-executed yellow chicken dish with the succulent chicken matched wonderfully with leeks, mousseron ragout and mustard greens.

Lemongrass parfait – Sticking with the theme of refreshing flavors, I went with the lemongrass parfait as my dessert this afternoon.

The lemongrass parfait was paired with tropical flavors of coconut cream and lychee sorbet, while the puffed buckwheat added some extra crunch to the mix. A lovely sweet ending to the meal.

Like I said, this was Chef Osborn at his best with his style of simple, honest cooking and a cuisine driven by fresh ingredients. This was truly long overdue.

Food Rating: 7.6/10
Price: $$$$
Address: 3/F, 18 On Lan Street, Central, Hong Kong
Closest Metro Station: Central
Tel: +852 2728-0178
Website: www.arcane.hk
Opening Hours: 12:00pm-2:15 pm, 6:00 pm-12 :00am (Mon - Sat)

Gods of the Sea (Gold Coast, AUSTRALIA) ★★★★☆

For the past few weeks, Jelloman and I have been going back and forth on whether to embark on a side trip to Gold Coast during our stay in Brisbane. The sticking point was when and where to pick up and drop off our rental car (if we decide to rent one). But once we learnt about GoGet from her cousin, there was no turning back!

By the way, GoGet is truly a brilliant concept. More on that here.

Gold Coast is just a 50-minute drive from the Brisbane CBD if you happen to be a crazy driver like Jelloman. We originally planned a couple of attractions before lunch but thought better of it. Let’s enjoy a relaxing lunch first. That was the final plan.

Gods of the Sea is a hatted restaurant in Gold Coast and one of the few that opens on a Sunday. They made my choice a little easier with their 100% Australian seafood centric menu and the water view across the Gold Coast broadwater certainly didn’t hurt the cause.

Finnish co-owner and executive chef Jon Nurminen started his career as a dishwasher at the age of 16, and following a meteoric rise to sous chef, he eventually took the helm at The Fish House where he made a name for himself. At Gods of the Sea, chef Numinen aims to deliver a menu with emphasis on sustainably caught seafood and native Australian ingredients using his creative cooking techniques.

Beetroot carpaccio – Thin slices of beetroot topped with dabs of smoked tomato emulsion, crunchy pickled carrots and leaf salad.

The beetroot and carrot really surprised me with their different degrees of crunchiness; and I thought the mix of smokiness from the tomato emulsion and acidity from the pickled carrots came through nicely. The dish came with a very distinctive flavor, both salty and fragrant (minty), which Jelloman thought was spearmint leaf (香花菜) but I wasn’t entirely sure. My guess would've been shiso leaf.

But this I know, it’s a very simple but well-designed and executed dish that set the tone the rest of the way.

Grilled tiger prawns – The prawns dusted with coriander, were served with a fermented chili and lime sauce on the side. Pretty happy with the smoky flavors from the prawns and their charred shells. Again simple but pretty delicious.

Charred octopus – Very tender. Thought the salad of confit capsicum, shallots, celery and tomato vinaigrette was pretty Asian.

Not quite the size as the one we had in Santorini but fairly close.

Grilled rainbow trout – At first, I was a little hesitant to order this dish when our server mentioned a “whole trout”. That sounded like a lot of fish and I am not a fan of fish. But as soon as she suggested us sharing this together as a main course, I was content to give it a try. And so glad I did.

Turns out the rainbow trout was much smaller than I thought, and having it deboned, just music to my ears!

This looked like a dish we could do at home. The trout was steamed and later garnished with a fennel and herb salad. A buttery lemon beurre blanc was served up as a dip and it was so good that I ended up finishing the entire bowl (and almost asking for an extra one!).

We have a pretty jam-packed schedule in the afternoon, so there will be no dessert for us just the bill.

The relatively short food menu was one that both of us have enjoyed tremendously here at Gods of the Sea today. The dishes were simple yet beautifully presented. If their objective is to simply let the ingredients (seafood) shine, they were very successful at that this afternoon.

Food Rating: 7/10

Price: $$$

Address: 74 Seaworld Drive, Shop/16 Marina Mirage, Main Beach QLD 4217, Australia

Tel: +61 452 652-215

Website: www.godsofthesea.com.au

Opening Hours: 12:00pm - 3:00pm (Tue - Sun), 5:30pm - 10:00pm (Tue - Sat)

GOMA Restaurant at Gallery of Modern Art (Brisbane, AUSTRALIA) ★★★★☆

We didn't have to go very far for our first meal in Brisbane. GOMA Restaurant, a hatted Brisbane restaurant inside the Gallery of Modern Art (GOMA), is our lunch venue this afternoon and it's a comfortable 10-minute walk from where we were staying. 

The casual fine-dining restaurant is helmed by head chef Matt Blackwell, considered by some as one of the state's finest chefs.

The light-filled corner room consisting of two floors is the playing field of Chef Blackwell's nuanced cooking and we were more than ready for it (considering we haven't had much to eat except for half a burger at the domestic airport in Sydney).

Oyster, yuzu, brown rice miso, bonito – We got the ball rolling with the chef's omakase menu and kicking things off for us was fresh rock oyster served with a variety of ingredients including parsley oil, bonito and brown rice miso purée. It was finished off with some lovely acidity from the yuzu vinaigrette.

I thought the yuzu and miso would be way too overpowering for the oyster but I was happy to be proved wrong. The mix of flavors actually harmonized each other nicely while letting the sweetness of the fresh oyster shine. Very nice start.

Bluefin tuna, yuzu kosho, sour cream, pickled turnip – Our second starter was bluefin tuna tartare, with yuzu kosho and a bit of sour cream underneath a few sheets of pickled turnip. 

The pickled turnip turned out to be a lot sweeter than I originally thought, which wasn't a bad match with the tuna tartare. But I definitely enjoyed my first starter a little more.

Rosemary sourdough, cultured honey and miso butter – We were offered some rosemary sourdough bread following our starters. While the sourdough bread looked nice and fluffy, what really got us drooling was the cultured honey and miso butter. This came with great balance of savory and sweet flavors and immediately reminded me of Roganic's signature cultured brown butter which was equally addictive.

AACo Wagyu short rib, bone marrow, onion, green peppercorn – We didn't get to have too many meals with Australian Wagyu beef back in Sydney so I was really looking forward to this. 

The soft and succulent short rib was very tasty and not surprisingly, working well with the caramelized cipollini onion, potato cream and bone marrow. The potato chips? Perhaps, we could do without them. But if there's any consolation, I probably won't mind a slice of tenderloin instead of the short rib.

Iceberg, wholegrain mustard, palm sugar, crispy shallot – Some side dishes for us to share. Firstly, some iceberg lettuce peppered with wholegrain mustard, palm sugar and crispy shallot.

Crispy potatoes, fermented honey and truffle vinaigrette – I like our second side dish a bit more.

The young potato drizzled with a rich-flavored, truffled potato cream on top. Yum~

Milk chocolate mousse, raspberry, hazelnut praline – Dessert was milk chocolate mousse served with variations of raspberry (including ganache and snow). 

Hidden underneath the pile was hazelnut praline for some extra crunch. I thought there was another savory element in the dish, from what I thought was miso.

It was a very very good meal to start off our stay in Brisbane. Chef Blackwell's cuisine was innovative and cutting edge. I particularly enjoyed the Asian twist (of yuzu, miso etc.) which was pretty slick. Now, time to get on our horses and begin exploring the city.

Food Rating: 6.5/10

Price: $$$

Address: G/F, Gallery of Modern Art, Stanley Place, South Brisbane QLD 4101, Australia

Tel: +61 7-3842-9916

Website: www.qagoma.qld.gov.au/visit/eat-and-drink/

Opening Hours: 11:30am - 3:00pm (Wed - Sun)

Mint Casual Dining at Rowers On Cooks River (Sydney, AUSTRALIA) ★★★☆☆

After lunch in Wolli Creek, Jelloman's cousin drove us around Southern Sydney until dinner time when we duly returned to where it all started for us today, Wolli Creek! We took a relaxing walk along Cooks River before meeting up with the gang at The Rowers Club.

The Rowers Club is a waterfront facility that combines a restaurant, bar, function room and lounge all under one roof.

Situated on the first floor of the building, Mint Casual Dining is a refined waterside eatery featuring bistro style comfort food with an Asian twist.

As a popular dining destination in Wolli Creek, it wasn't surprising at all to find the restaurant to be totally packed on a Saturday night. Thankfully, we have advance booking.

Caesar Salad – Classic Caesar with baby gems, crispy bacon, soft-boiled egg, shaved parmesan and croutons. Yeah, we needed some veggies badly.

Kinkawooka Black Mussels – Jelloman had the same black mussels from Kinkawooka last night but this was done a little differently with white wine, onion, garlic and ciabatta. Not bad.

Rangers Valley Wagyu Rump Fillet – I was really looking forward to this since we have yet to enjoy any Australian wagyu on this trip which was just two days young. 

I thought the rump fillet wasn't bad. Nicely charred crust and smokiness coming from the grill. The supporting cast of crispy salted baby potatoes, charred broccolini and jus also played its role diligently but texture-wise, the lamb skewers were slightly more tender.

I was fatigued coming off a long flight from Hong Kong so honestly speaking, I wasn't feeling right the whole night. I missed taking photos on a number of dishes and my palates were a little numb (OK, more than a little actually!). But all of that didn't really matter, because it's the fun time spent with family that we cherish most!

Price: $$$

Address: 1/F Rowers on Cooks River, 1 Levey Street, Wolli Creek NSW 2205, Australia

Closest Train Station: Wolli Creek

Tel: +61 2-9599-1932

Website: https://rowersoncooksriver.com.au

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

NINETYs K11 Art Mall (Hong Kong, CHINA) ★★★☆☆

For months, I have been eagerly waiting for the new eatery that would effectively replace the now-defunct crepe cake specialist Shaz Confections on the ground floor of K11 Art Mall. Finally, we had the answer late last week. It's one of the city's most beloved Australian-style cafe NINETY and I decided to check it out with Jelloman after we dropped little nugget off for his class.

I had their hot milk chocolate when I visited their Star House branch a few months ago and that was really rich and velvety. This time around, it was its iced version getting the call but disappointingly, it was nothing compared to its hot counterpart in terms of richness. Perhaps they should take a page out of the local cha chaan tengs and start making some ice cubes out of their milk chocolate to preserve that richness.

Red bean mochi muffin – A lot of fusion food looks good on paper but fails horribly in execution and this is probably a good example of it.

The layer of red bean mochi was certainly there but it never meshed with the bottom part which was supposed to be the muffin (but tasted nothing like one).

We have a choice of 4, 5 or 6 side dishes on our brunch board. Since I wasn't particularly hungry, I thought 4 was enough to get me through to dinner time.

Miso scrambled eggs – Not surprisingly, the miso flavors worked brilliantly with the scrambled eggs. It was a little heavy but nevertheless pretty tasty.

Grilled sausage with confit lemon mayo – They called this their yaki portion of the brunch board. Jelloman had the grilled lobster with passion fruit mustard but I was looking for some meat.

This came with some nice smoky flavors after finishing on the grill. Not bad.

Torched avocado / pork belly with kimcheese – Out of my 4 side dishes, I thought the most delicious one was the torched avocado hands down. It was simple but it got the job done for me. The pork belly was a little bit on the hard side and the kimcheese (presumably kimchi with cheese) did very little to enhance the flavors of the pork.

We had to scramble to get all the dishes finished up. It was a long way from K11 to where little one was having his class but we were just glad that we managed to squeeze in this quick brunch within such short span of time.

Food Rating: 5/10

Price: $$$

Address: Shop G17A&B, G/F, K11 Art Mall, 18 Hanoi Road, Tsim Sha Tsui, Hong Kong

Closest Metro Station: Tsim Sha Tsui

Tel: +852 2368-9123

Website: www.ninetys.com.hk

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