Foodography
Posted on May 13, 2012
by admin 
0 BEST POPOVERS
Today is another peaceful Sunday in Miami and we decided to go to BLT Steak House on Ocean Drive. You may wonder, what’s a pop over? The round bread in the picture, and to your surprise the inside is hollow which is a great thing as most of the restaurants serve you bread when you order your main dish and by the time the dish comes, your so full to even enjoy it. The paper that says BLT pop over is actually the recipe of how to make this, but from reading this, I had no clue how it was made. Anyway we also ordered this delicious seafood salad, enough for two people as a main dish, YES THIS IS THE U.S.
BLT Steak House at BETSY HOTEL
When I miss home…
There are so many Japanese restaurants around the world, but so hard to find ones that are as good as ones in Japan! A Pakistani person actually showed me this restaurant, and it has been the best Japanese restaurant outside Japan. Then I found out that they have the same one in Tokyo as well so then I realized that they had kept the standards because of that. This is more of a home cooking style on Orchard road in the Mandarin Gallery 4th floor. Everybody comes to this area to go to “IPPUDOU” which is a famous Japanese ramen chain, but you should go to SUJU next door, much better food.
On hungry go where http://www.hungrygowhere.com/singapore/japanese_restaurant_suju_mandarin_gallery/
BLACK COD AT STEAK HOUSE?
Miami South Beach is filled with Steak Houses EVERYWHERE! So then you sometimes get over dosed with them. A little odd but we decided to have honey glazed black cod at a Steak House. It tasted like the Japanese miso black cod, which is strange as BLT is considered as an American cuisine but the fish was very tender and melted in my mouth.
BLT STEAK HOUSE
Yummy enchiladas
Many of the Mexican restaurants I have eaten seem to use flour tortillas and not the real corn ones, but Rosa Mexicano does it right! One thing I love about this enchiladas is that the sauce is generously poured over and there is more meat inside than vegetables!
For that generous meat and sauce go to Rosa Mexicano
Best truffles appetizer
So I was in Singapore and flicking through one of those magazines like “PRESTIGE” and “TATLER”, I forget. I am crazy about truffles and I saw this one page add about Casa Tartufo on Orchard Road and reserved seats right away for dinner.
We had a 6 course dinner with Brunello. Every dish, even the ice cream and grappa was made with truffles. The Italian chef used to work for a 3 star Michelin restaurant and then started his own business. This particular dish was an appetizer with mashed potatoes. DELICIOUS.
Definitely worth a visit! http://casatartufo.com/
SHREDDED VEG. EVERYWHERE
Unfortunately I don’t remember the name of this restaurant but it was a Vietnamese restaurant in Tribeca. I have been to Vietnam once and compared to the real cuisine, this one has definitely over done the shredded vegetables for every dish! We had 3 dishes, one with noodles, one as a spring roll, one as roasted duck and it all tasted like shredded vegetables with fish sauce. But the ambience was nice, and they had the local Vietnamese beer there.
JAPAN CRAZY
We got into Taiwan after midnight and no restaurants open, I mean if it was Korea or Japan, there are restaurants serving food till 2 am at least. So I had to go to Seven Eleven to quench my hunger, yes I am always hungry… And then I found mini “dorayaki” which is a Japanese snack, tastes kind of like pancakes, usually with bean paste inside. I must say all Asian countries especially Taiwan is all about imitating the Japanese, from looks to mannerisms. The “dorayaki” was not that great but loved the packaging.
The spiciest Thai Food I ever ate!
So we are in Sun Valley, Idaho skiing and we are already craving for Asian food. When we walked in, we were surprised the chef and the owner was from Thailand! I thought I was the only asian in town. And as I am obsessed with eating spicy food to the point where I cannot literally breathe anymore, I asked her to make my “yam woon sen” glass noodle salad extra spicy. Outcome, it was spicier than the Thai food I ate in Thailand, and I was breathing out fire. But every time I look at the photo, I start drooling….
If you have a chance to come down to small town America http://www.urbanspoon.com/r/170/1656693/restaurant/Idaho/A-taste-of-Thai-Sunvalley-Ketchum
The secret of longevity
Okinawa has probably the highest life expectancy in the world and nutritionists claim it is because they love to eat seaweed and fatty pork that has been boiled for hours and hours. I honestly do not like Okinawan food but would love to live long! Today we went to a very posh restaurant called MUKU inside the hotel. It was a 8 course meal but very friendly to the stomach. This dish is pork belly boiled with sugar and soy sauce for hours on end. Your supposed to eat the fat with the meat as it melts in the mouth, but I couldn’t… In conclusion, Okinawan food is just not for me.
Restaurant MUKU
IBERICO HAM-ING
The second day in Okinawa, we decided to eat dinner at the tapas restaurant in the condo hotel. I always have this perception that a tapas place is always a bar setting and pretty casual, so when we got there, we thought it was a bit too clean and too much like a restaurant and not a casual bar. The food was great but we were missing the Spanish ambience, replaced by Japanese well mannered hotel waitresses.
By the way, WAGYU means Japanese Beef ONLY
It’s really funny how people think WAGYU is this super branded meat from Kobe and then you have these Australians trademarking the name, imported some cows from KOBE and started their own brand name, which is now distributed pretty much internationally. Anyway from my experience, a lot of the western people cannot take the real high grade Japanese beef, that is so marbled up, it melts when you put it in your mouth. I used to love this fully lard-up meat and then when I went back to Japan and had dinner with my mum, I just couldn’t take it anymore! This restaurant was near the American base in Okinawa but unfortunately I forgot the name of the restaurant… Great food but would definitely be too much for western people.
Nothing compares to mommy’s food…
I haven’t seen my mom for 6 months but haven’t eaten mom’s home cooked food for 9 months! So it was so good to go see her in Okinawa where she recently moved to live in a condo next to the beach. Everybody has to agree that no matter if you eat the most expensive food or go to the most famous restaurant, you always think your mother’s food tastes the best. My mom is all into eating healthy, organic food and minimum flavoring, no wonder she still looks great even after having 3 kids all over 20 years old now! So this photo was taken when she started cooking some caramelized pumpkin that she bought from the local farmer in Okinawa, the southern island of Japan. YUM.
Soy Milk
Did you ever think soy milk can be such a mouth watering meal? This hole in the wall restaurant was introduced to me by a local in Hong Kong. Apparently one of the most famous hole in the wall here and located close to SOGO in Causeway Bay. It was almost 12 am and having a hard time finding restaurants, but then remembered this one which operates 24 hours. Typical Shanghainese dish, basically boiled soy milk with some spicy sauce and salt topped over with chives and fried bread, served in a plastic bowl. If you ask for tissue, they will charge you, and there is no service but hey, it’s only 3 bucks and delicious!
3 star Michelin
This so called “X-TREME CHINESE CUISINE” is run by celebrity chef Alvin Leung Jr. and I must say my taste buds had an interesting experience there. You would expect a 3 star Michelin chef to be dressed proper with a chef hat, but this guy looks like a rock star, and has purple hair! The chef creates his dishes like how Picasso created art, and he takes the essence of food to create new forms in a modern interpretation. This dish here is an appetizer that had 3 different forms of tomatoes that did not look like tomatoes at all but tasted like it! My taste buds and vision surely had some confusion for every dish we tried. But I must say that if the food speaks for itself, there is no need for the celebrity chef to dress up like a rock star.
If your tongue is craving for innovation go here! http://www.boinnovation.com/html/index.php
With grumpy chef
Singaporean national food is surprisingly just street food! They are called Hawker Centers and there are all scattered around Singapore. From what I heard the best Hawker booths have all moved into the basement of shopping malls. The best of the best is located in ION Orchard shopping mall basement, and my favorite is the BAN MEE booth with tom yum soup and white noodles. When you order the dishes, this grumpy lady speaks to you in Singlish which I do not understand, and then starts making the dish with the tom yum broth, egg, spinach and noodles, and then she sprinkles dried fish and garlic, finished in literary 3 minutes and costs around $4.
Feature on TIMEOUT http://www.timeoutsingapore.com/restaurants/hawker-centre/food-opera-ion-orchard
Too clean?
For those who don’t know DIN TAI FUNG, it is this famous restaurant from Taiwan, famous for their Xiao Long Bao, which is a dumpling with soup inside. In China, they consider the thinner and delicate the skin of the dumpling is, the better. I truly think it is a work of art, I mean how can they keep this soup inside this dumpling without breaking? Anyway this post I decided to feature this dish we ordered as an appetizer, cucumber wrapped in thinly sliced pork sprinkled with chives and horse radish soy sauce. I have been to Din Tai Fung in many countries but they all have one thing in common, cleanliness. I think it loses that quality of a Chinese restaurant as it is too clean!
DIN TAI FUNG OFFICIAL SITE
Did you know Oyster Talks?
Who ever thought oyster talks? These oysters have been flown daily from France to serve the oyster lovers in Hong Kong. We come here quite often and have become such good friends with the owner Nikki that he even let me go into the counter to serve my boy friend. They are very quality conscious and while I was opening up the shell (which by the way is super difficult) they told me that they throw away oysters when the meat is not plump enough! I guess that’s why each oyster here is around $6.5 to keep that quality and by the way, I have never been sick eating oysters from here! The garlic bread covered in cheese is their speciality and if you do go there, try the Funghi Linguine aldente style, that’s my all time favorite!
If you want to see oysters talk? http://www.womguide.com/restaurants/restaurant-listings/o/oyster-talks-and-wine-bar
Yet another Sunday Brunch
A full course meal on a lazy Sunday in Hong Kong just before we left for Singapore. This restaurant is operated by a big restaurant group called Castelo and all their restaurants are at high standards. It is so rare to find spacious restaurants in HK but this one has a capacity of 120 guests in a 6,000 sq. ft space!! We started with strawberries and champagne followed by the typical dishes in a bistro, salmon and beef fillet, which was obviously delicious but I think too many restaurants serve the same things around the world…But then we had this chocolate ganache that was unexplainably delicious which made up for the full course meal.
If you miss the spacious restaurants go to Oolaa!
Who ever thought a hole in a wall becomes a Michelin?
Did you ever think a hole in a wall type restaurant in Hong Kong would be rated as a Michelin star restaurant? Well I didn’t! The restaurant doesn’t seem that spectacular, nor does this speciality dish above in this picture. But looks don’t tell you everything right? This is their masterpiece wonton noodle soup, just $3. The noodle is made from duck eggs, and this place apparently has been here for 3 generations. The wonton are hidden under the noodle and my favorite is to splurge the whole bowl with this red spice, and it gives me a good sweat every bite I take. It’s the only restaurant I go alone and enjoy. I think the name of the restaurant is “Wonton Noodle & Congee shop” located right next to Times Square.
Cooking Class
