De nuit (Taipei, TAIWAN) ★★★★☆

I am going back to De nuit for tonight’s dinner and hoping to bump into one of my favorite chefs in Taipei — Hong Kong-born Executive Chef Kei Koo (古俊基), who refined his skills under Chef Maxime Gilbert at Amber and Écriture.

The intimate French fine-dining restaurant was a full house on a Friday night. With Chef Koo’s exquisite French cuisine, I bet there won’t be many empty tables on most nights.

I didn't have to wait very long to see Chef Koo in action. He recognized me immediately and graciously stopped by to share details about tonight's tasting menu.

Dinner started off brightly with the only amuse bouche tonight, a deep-fried potato ball filled with parmesan cheese, topped nicely with French black truffle. Nice, fluffy and packed with flavors.

Oyster, plankton, fennel – The first starter of the night was Normandie Oyster ice-cream with fennel cream and dabs of plankton that mimicked the tastes of seawater and seaweed.

With the dim lights, I mistakenly thought it was a real oyster for a moment but that turned out to be just a scoop of oyster-shaped ice-cream. I loved its temperature and the fresh, clean flavors. I remembered having something similar a few years ago at different French restaurants so it’s nothing new but this was a refreshing déjà vu.

Salmon, passion fruit, gooseberry – Next up, lightly cooked New Zealand king salmon, paired with a vibrant sauce of passion fruit and gooseberry (燈籠果), elegantly topped with salmon roes and edible flowers. An incredibly appetizing (醒胃) starter.

Two types of housemade bread, a sourdough and a flaky danish were served up at this point. 

To match the bread, we have two types of butter too, a traditional French one made in France and a homemade one infused with seaweed.

Crab, Jerusalem artichoke, clam – An elegantly plated dish featuring Japanese snow crab (松葉蟹) served in umami-rich dashi, combined with variations of Jerusalem artichoke, including espuma and crispy chips, all finished with Kristal caviar atop. 

This dish offered a wow factor, pleasing both for the eyes and the palate.

As instructed, I scooped up a spoonful of crab meat, dashi, and artichoke variations, ensuring a perfect balance of flavors.

Porcini, foie gras, kombu – Foie gras was served in a fish and kombu consommé, topped with delicate shavings of porcini artfully arranged like a flower. 

I would love the foie gras to stand out a little more but the depth of the broth was truly remarkable.

Pompret, girolles mushroom, mussel – Local pomfret (馬友) superbly pan-fried and paired with mussels and girolles mushrooms. A mysterious greenish sauce (forgot to jot down the actual ingredients) added herbal notes to the dish.

Pithivier, quail, morel, vin jaune – Chef Koo was back in center stage serving up the next dish tableside. It's his signature pithivier. 

Chef Koo told me to first start with the quail leg which was stuffed with morel mushrooms and chopped into small pieces like our Chinese preserved sausages. These came with very nice smoky flavors.

The star, however, was the pithivier itself, perfectly filled with quail breast, parsley, and finely diced morels. The pie was accompanied by three condiments — parsley purée, quail jus, and vin jaune sauce. Just love the minimal seasoning here allowing the ingredients to shine brilliantly.

Lobster, ginger, tarragon – My main course was charcoal-grilled Boston lobster topped with ginger-pickled beetroot and lardo, served in a rich bisque made from lobster coral, lobster oil (Chef Koo's secret recipe), sea urchin, and tarragon oil. 

There were crispy kale and pickled onion served on the side to add contrasting texture and flavor to the lobster which was perfectly mi-cuit.

Like many of Chef Koo's brilliant offerings, there were two dishes within a dish. The second serving of the lobster was a delicious dumpling of lobster and pork meat flavored with lobster oil, crowned with tarragon mayo and a buckwheat wafer.

The lovely smokiness in the dumpling tied everything up beautifully. Very tasty.

While I waited for pre-dessert, Chef Koo surprised me with an extra treat – an elegantly decorated French cream cheese, with fruit chutney and crispy pastry hidden underneath. I don't usually go for the cheese trolley as my dessert but this was a nice pre-dessert before the real pre-dessert. 

Pear, sake lees, ginger lily – Sake lees ice-cream with in-season pear (水梨), sake jelly, and ginger lily oil. A refreshing pre-dessert that served as a perfect palate cleanser.

Fig, cheese, komatsuna – The main dessert was one of my favorite dishes of the night, an artful creation featuring a ball of fig compote, cream cheese and fig cream. 

It was finished off with a sauce made with fig and Hibiscus (洛神花).

Light and airy, it was surprisingly packed with a mix of fresh, fruity notes. I didn't think I've had something like this before in my life. 

On the side, a scoop of komatsuna (小松菜) ice-cream was served with wasabi leaf on top, along with puff rice flavored with matcha. It was inspiration from Chef Koo's summer travels to Japan.

Our mignardises began with a melt-in-the-mouth bite filled with gooseberry juice.

It was followed by a mini persimmon tart with parmesan cheese and chocolate with hojicha. I told Chef Koo he's truly a master of persimmon, a consistent highlight in his offerings.

Once again, I was treated to a magnificent array of dishes, meticulously curated by Chef Koo and his team. Special thanks to him for taking care of me throughout the night. Despite being exceptionally busy and often seen flying around the dining room to ensure that guests were enjoying themselves, he still found time for his brief visits with me. 

I was thoroughly entertained tonight, as always at De nuit, and I truly look forward to my next journey with Chef Koo — hopefully sometime this year.

Food Rating: 7.7/10

Price: $$$

Address: No.175, Section 4, Xinyi Road, Da'an District, Taipei, Taiwan

Closest Metro Station: Xinyi Anhe

Tel: +886 2-2700-1958

Website: www.denuit.com.tw

Opening Hours: 11:30am - 3:00pm (Fri - Sat), 6:00pm - 10:30pm (Tue - Sat)

Le Pont De Ciel (Osaka, JAPAN) ★★★★★

Team Aussie is off for a team dinner at Cafe Kirby, so mom and I finally got to enjoy a quiet dinner without the kids tonight. Le Pont de Ciel in Yodoyabashi (淀屋橋) has been on my radar for quite some time now. The only thing that really held me back was its strict no-children policy… until tonight, when little nugget got whisked away by his cousins from Australia, and somehow everything just aligned.

Le Pont de Ciel is tucked away on the lower level of a large commercial building. Outside, there was a sculpture standing solemnly in front of the restaurant’s sliding glass door and the whole exterior felt more like an art gallery than a Michelin-starred restaurant.

Once we stepped in, the “gallery” vibe continued immediately. There were art pieces and paintings on the walls, turning the waiting space into something that was calm, curated, and almost cinematic. That was before we were guided down the path towards the dining hall.

It really felt like we were walking through a secret passage into another dimension where the night truly unfolded.

Hailed from Sasebo in Nagasaki Prefecture, Executive Chef Osamu Ogusu (小楠修) is the commander of this kitchen. He spent years training under legendary French masters, including Pierre Orsi and Guy Martin. After joining the restaurant in 1994, he took over the reign of the kitchen in 2020 and is credited with bringing in the current “counter French” format, built around firewood cooking.

The 9-course tasting menu (including amuse bouche) begins with a beautifully plated set of little nibbles — small enough to be playful, but detailed enough to signal the high standard of the night.

Sweet acacia juice made with spherification. Explosive stuff!

 

Grilled conger with zesty lemon

Italian zucchini topped with tomato confit, olive and Parmesan, and cheese biscuit with bacon

Potato cake topped with ricotta cheese, and micro radish 

Okra topped with passion fruit

 

White and yellow corn soup, milk foam, truffle — A chilled white and yellow corn soup topped with milk foam, finished with a delicate touch of black truffle to elevate the flavor without ever overwhelming the sweetness of the corn.

Légume — While Le Pont de Ciel is famous for its intricate seafood and meat courses, this vegetable dish remains a permanent fixture for its outstanding artistry and execution. Instead of cooking the vegetables together, Chef Ogusu prepares each vegetable separately using distinct techniques. The final result is an edible bouquet (certainly looks like one) — meticulously arranged like a piece of art you can actually taste.

This salad dish came with 25 different fruits and vegetables including apple, grapes, dragon fruit, pineapple, radish, beetroot, and more layered across three levels, with toasted pastry in between. The best part was that we were invited to break and mix everything ourselves, then enjoy it with the accompanying sauces.

The sauces came in three distinct “flavor directions”:

• romaine lettuce (green)
• mayo made with egg yolk and mustard (yellow)
• balsamic vinegar foam

The pastry worked beautifully with the sweetness and savory notes of the fruits and vegetables— light, refreshing, and a really delightful way to reset your palate.

At this point, they started putting our fresh yeast bread into the oven. 

Scallop, tomato, bell pepper, eggplant — Slices of scallops layered with tomato, bell pepper, eggplant, and scallop stock jelly all topped beautifully with caviar and edible flowers to create a visually appealing dish full of bright, vibrant colors. The final touch was the herbal scent of a homemade vegetable oil.

Packed with clean, fresh flavors, the natural sweetness of the scallops carried the dish while the herby and slightly grassy notes of the vegetable oil provided a rounded finish. It was the kind of starter that almost instantly wakes up your senses.

While we were enjoying the scallop dish, Chef Ogusu made his first appearance in the open kitchen directing traffic and adding final touches to the plates. Even that moment felt like part of the performance.

Calamari, squid-ink, asparagus, black truffle — Lightly torched squid from Kizu (木津) resting on a tower of diced green asparagus and Japanese herbs, was finished off brilliantly with shaved black truffle from Australia. The dish was completed with a nice pour of warm aromatic squid ink sauce.

I loved the satisfying crunch from the grilled squid and how the warm squid-ink sauce tied everything together so well. Balanced, bold, and refined.

And as promised, the bread fresh out of the oven arrived right on time when our next course was ready.

Red grouper, potato, tomato, onion — Grilled red grouper fillet with potato and tomato confit, Japanese onion, edamame was matched with an umami-rich sauce made with delicate fish stock, tomato and saffron. The broth was wonderfully soothing, while the clean flavors of tomato, onion, and edamame added textures and freshness without overpowering the main ingredient. Every bite stayed true to the ingredients, rather than hiding behind heavy seasoning.

A small lemon sorbet was served as a palate cleanser while the chefs put the finishing touches on our pigeon dish.

Pigeon — Grilled pigeon breast and leg from France with lovely smoky flavors of hay.

Once again, the dish was clean and elegant: simple garnish of radish and caramelized shallot, sharp acidity from rhubarb purée, and a pigeon jus that was light and spot on.

To round out the pigeon course, there were two accompanying sides. The first was a rice dish topped with herb foam, served in a scallop consommé. I’ll be honest. I wasn’t entirely sure how it fit in with the pigeon.

There was also a small salad to offset the richness of the meat.

Banana, coconut, passion fruit — A dessert played with exotic flavors in the best possible way. 

It featured caramelized banana, coconut cream, passion fruit, and crispy pastry, served with coconut milk ice cream on the side. It was refreshing, and the fruity notes carried through beautifully without being too heavy.

Finally, some mignardises including a purple violet macaron, lemon and honey tart, and chocolate madeleine cake.

We couldn’t resist the temptation to take a photo with Chef Ogusu when he stepped to the doorway to thank us for coming. It was another highlight that made the entire evening even more memorable.

A meal at Le Pont de Ciel isn’t just about flavor — it’s a full sensory journey. Each dish is curated with bright, vibrant colors designed to wake up not only your palate, but also your visual senses. The theatrical counter setting adds to the experience, giving guests a front-row view of the open kitchen, where everything is prepared with precision and finesse. It adds an entirely extra layer to the dining adventure.

As mom and I began making our way back to the hotel, it really hit me — this is what I love most about dining like this. It’s not just the food, but the atmosphere, the craft, the details, the hospitality, and those little moments that make the night truly unforgettable.

Special thanks to Kakumoto-san and his team for taking such great care of us throughout the night.

Food Rating: 8.2/10

Price: ￥￥￥￥

Address: B1F Nihonseimei Building, 3-5-29 Kitahama, Chuo-ku, Osaka, 541-0041 Japan

Closest Metro Station: Yodoyabashi

Tel: +81 (0)6 6233-5005

Website: https://pont-de-ciel.co.jp/

Opening Hours: 11:30am - 7:30pm (Tue - Sat)