Foodle

Incredible Typhoon Shelter Crab from @heekeecrab_hk 🦀🦀🦀
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One of my favourite bites from Hong Kong. Stumbled upon this place in a local mall and walked straight in and ordered. They usually use local flower crabs or mud crabs here. The crabs are fresh. Chopped up and thrown straight into a scorching hot wok to deep fry. As the grey turns to orange, buckets of chopped garlic and both dried and fresh red chilli’s are thrown in. Literally buckets of this stuff is added until it crisps up and turns into a sort of crispy breadcrumb texture. The flavours in the crumb were wild - so much umami. The crab is then brought to the table and cracked by the staff for easy eating. Honestly, it was so juicy. Loved every bite. Intense and aromatic, really addictive. Also in the crumb are lots of chopped spring onions. On the side, the chilli oil fried noodles are a must. So tasty with the crab essence and texturally satisfying. Chewy and pleasant to eat with crispy bits across the top. A tad oily to be honest but with all that delicious flavour I couldn’t stop. You can choose the crab size and spice level. I went for a medium crab and medium spice. Definitely could have upped to a large crab and hot spice.. but there’s always next time. Definitely go! #notoriousfoodie 🙅🏽‍♂️
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#seafood #crab #lobster #china #hongkong #hk #hongkongfood #chilli #spicy Less

Dinner at @yardbirdyakitori 🦅🥷🇭🇰
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A great dinner at Yardbird. This one Michelin-starred yakitori and izakaya restaurant specialises in all things chicken. Lots of creative dishes on the menu as well as some safer bets for those not wanting to experiment. They use the three-yellow-chicken breed here, known for its ultra tender meat and beautifully thin and crispy skin. From the yakitori, I loved the ume thigh, acchilies and meatball - all beautifully cooked, well balanced and thoughtfully topped. The chicken throughout was flavoursome and juicy - especially the tskune! If you’re going for yakitori here, go early, as they often sell out of the best bites - lots of stuff I wasn’t able to order. I saw they had a speical on the black board too. Sounded great and looked the part - glutinous chicken and rice, wrapped in crispy chicken neck skin. Tasted fantastic - really rich, satisfying and wholesome. A big umami hit on that first bite. It’s a nice vibe in here, bustling and busy with good music on in the background. Staff were amazing, every single one of them knew the menu inside out. A great spot for dinner. The strawberries and cream ice cream monaka was the best way to finish. A really delicious dessert. Solid spot #notoriousfoodie 🙅🏽‍♂️ Less

Dinner at @thechairmanrestauranthk 🔥🇭🇰
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An incredible dinner. Finally made it here and what a menu. So many of you said that I needed to eat here and very glad I did. Voted as one of the top 10 restaurants in the world, the focus here is on traditional Cantonese cuisine, but using carefully sourced, local ingredients of the highest quality. It’s a tasting menu but one where you are sent the options a few days before and then select what you feel like having. Love this kind of set up, although big food envy when you see other tables getting crazy looking dishes. The star of the show is hard to decide, there were a few, but the steamed flowery crab is a good place to start. One of The Chairman’s signatures. It’s prepared with 15-year aged shaoxing wine and chicken fat - giving the sauce the most incredible umami, depth and silky consistency. It’s served with flat rice noodles that are super wide, chewy and bouncy. Honestly the sauce was so buttery and addictive with the sweet crab tender crab- and those noodles were a delight. Beautiful. The thick cut char siu was the next showstopper, ultra marbled top blade, roasted over camphor wood for a sweet and Smokey bite. A texture akin to Wagyu - tender, juicy and with a lovely char. Loved the crispy taro cake with smoked duck too, but the barbecued lamb belly and abalone roll was the winner from the small plates. Like a Cantonese ‘pigs in blanket’s’ - spiced, well rendered and charred lamb belly on the outside, soft abalone in the centre - so beautifully made. A really creative menu. The Beef noodles, the clay pot rice (more on this in a separate post), lots of intricate cooking and deep layers of flavour. A must visit worth all the hype #notoriousfoodie 🙅🏽‍♂️ Less

Dubai’s new Woodfire grill is quite the spot.. @ina.dubai @glen_ballis @evgenykuzindxb 🔥🥩🐠
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A beautiful new addition to J1 beach. There have been a couple of Woodfire grill openings in the last year or so but Ina has definitely made its mark on the scene. It’s an open-air restaurant that has a totally unique vibe to it - dark and moody but inviting and warm at the same time. On the menu, lots of grilled seafood, meat and vegetables. Quite an impressive selection of Australian and US dry-aged beef - the cowgirl split bone ribeye caught my eye from the get go, as did the tomahawk with its aggressive marbling. To start though, the beef carpaccio was one of the standouts. Wafer thin, super marbled and drizzled with a fresh, floral and herby green dressing alongside some caviar. Rolled up and eaten in one bite, this was lovely. The Greek Manouri cheese with smoked grapes and olive oil was sensational too, couldn’t get enough of that crumbly sweet and savoury plate. Tomato carpaccio wasn’t really a carpaccio but fresh, sweet and enjoyable. From the crudo’s, the pink bream was both the eye and flavour catcher - a nice spicy charred jalapeno dressing across the top. Raw Hokkaido scallops and kiwi were tasty too. The steak was also fantastic. The ribeye was funky and mature - a meatier profile than the tomahawk, which was milder and more tender. Both steaks nicely cooked, smokey and flavoursome. I preferred the AUS to the US though. Lots of tasty plates to choose from here, all kissed with some sort of smoke. It’s a great spot for dinner - you’re unlikely to find a restaurant with this vibe and style of food anywhere else in Dubai #notoriousfoodie 🙅🏽‍♂️
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#dubai #mydubai #caviar #finedining #dxb #visitdubai Less

Dinner at @74dukemayfair 🤝🏽🇫🇷
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There are only a couple restaurants in London I can think of that ooze the New York style dinner vibe, and 74 Duke is one of them. Dim lighting, a bustling bar and waiters wearing sleek white blazers - it all works together to create an intimate and refined experience. It’s a a French-forward menu with lots of bistro classics like steak au poivre and that classic Parisian rigatoni with morels. For me, these were the favourites. The rigatoni was chewy and al dente with nice ridges to cling to the sauce. The sauce, well seasoned and rich but not over reduced and sticky. It flowed but lightly coated each piece and the morels soaked it up like a sponge. Delicious. The steakau poivre was nicely cooked, medium for the filet and with only a dash of cream for the sauce. I find alot of restaurants add too much and it softens the spice alot. This one was good. For starters, the white asparagus with summer truffle cream hit the spot - chilled, nicely cooked and still maintaining some bite. Sea bream carpaccio and tuna crudo were tasty too. There were a few dishes that weren’t quite as good though, but they have just opened so I expect the issues to be ironed out pretty quickly - the burger I think is still being tweaked + the harrissa pasta and king shrimp for me needed some polish. One thing that ticked the boxes was the desserts. The house baked cookies with banana ice cream were knockout. Warm, thin and chewy with a little sea salt and perfectly melted chocolate chips. Can see this place becoming a bit of a spot pretty quickly.. #notoriousfoodie 🙅🏽‍♂️
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#london #londonfood #londonfoodie #pasta #steak #steakaupoivre #french #frenchfood #bistro #brasserie #finedining #mayfair Less

Lunch at @himi_ldn 🍣🇯🇵
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A lovely lunch at the husband and wife run izakaya just off Carnaby. Lots of sushi and sashimi along with plenty of creative Japanese small plates utilising seasonal British and European produce. The torikara to start was delicious - fried chicken two ways. The crispy thigh balls and drumets each perfectly crisp and super juicy. The yaki-onigiri was tasty too - a binchotan grilled ball of sushi rice, serve in a rich savoury dashi. All the sushi was excellent. Nicely seasoned shari and refined use of wasabi. There are a few hand rolls here but the negitoro and hay-smoked otoro were my favourites. Delicate and well seasoned with the subtle kicks of smoke really penetrating the fish. It was the Wagyu tri-tip special that I loved the most though. Carefully grilled, rested and sliced - blushing pink and with nice marbling running through each piece. It’s only a small counter here, great little spot for lunch. Top sushi for the price and lots of innovative small plates to try. Would go back for sure #notoriousfoodie 🙅🏽‍♂️
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#london #londonfood #londonfoodie #sushi #sashimi #izakaya #japan #japanese #japanesefood #finedining #tuna #otoro #omakase Less

Dinner at @lachaumierenice ♥️
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Back at one of my favourites. There are very few restaurants as charming as this one. Located on the outskirts of Nice is La Chamuière. A restaurant with a focus on utilising the best seasonal produce, speciality meat and the Woodfire grill. It’s a fairly intimate spot that’s dimly lit, with a big butchers block at the centre of the dining room. I only really go here during summer but it’s such a nice vibe for dinner and I managed to sneak it into the schedule during Monaco GP. The grill master has been grilling meat here for over 20 years and his ability to perfectly cook so many things at once is impressive. Saw lots of tomahawks on this visit and the latest delivery was excellent so went for one of those monsters, as well as the A5 Kagoshima rib cap. It’s wild how he cooks it all at once. Directly over the fire for parts, and then off to the back for lower temp cooking with one final blast at the end. Both meats were perfect. Beautifully marbled, well rendered and Smokey. Buttery soft and utterly tender. Served with woodfired potatoes and a bunch of seasonal sides. The starters here are as good as the meat. That focaccia with heirloom tomatoes, truffles and prosciutto is just unreal - one of the most amazing bites. The baked Camembert, the punchy woodfired raw garlic bread and that sweet tomato salad. Delicious #notoriousfoodie
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#southoffrance #cotedazur #nice #cannes #monaco #sof #sainttropez #sttropez #steak #duck #steakhouse #finedining #truffle #truffles #michelinguide #michelinstar #steakhouse Less

I dined at Manao 24 hours before they won their first Michelin star. I’m not saying that had anything to do with it, but I’m not saying it didn’t either.

Manao is the love child of Chefs Abhiraj Khatwani and Mohammed Orfali – an unlikely duo, tackling an even more unlikely cuisine.

This is an Indian chef, partnering with a Syrian chef, to deliver Michelin standard Thai cusine. Only in Dubai.

Truth be told, Abhiraj has been cooking Thai since his Yellow Monkey days, and he’s grown since then. His cooking is much more refined, considered.

The dishes always had confidence and great flavour, but in Manao, with Orfali’s input, there is more refinement and sophistication.

For the few that aren’t familiar with Manao, they serve a Thai inspired set menu of 11 courses.

The Serb and I arrived for a midweek date and the first bite, took the Serb’s breath away. Quite literally.

I’d forgotten her ‘delicate’ Balkan palate, so the sour relish on the charred cabbage miang took her by surprise.

She recovered - in time for the dessert.

We opted for the drinks pairing as well – best decision of the night. House drinks like jackfruit Kvass and roasted barley and coffee tepache elevated the menu.

But my favourite was the banana kombucha. Even though staff had warned it was an off-menu experiment, the Serb kept looking at the menu trying to find it.

As politely as possible, I reminded her it wasn’t there. For the third time. She fixed me with a Slavic stare and gently said, “I don’t like your attitude.”

My Kombucha froze almost instantly.

The rest of the dishes went by in a delicious blur of flavours, textures and stories.

Shout out to the coconut short rib for the amazing textures, the sour curry for its…sourness and the thai banoffee bite for everything else.

It is an exceptionally good menu. Quantity, pacing, flavours - they were all on point.

Special shout out to the poor server who patiently listened to my story of why Thai cuisine punches above its weight on the world stage; his encourgaing nods were perfectly timed.

Congrats to the entire team for their well deserved Michelin star - that I had nothing to do with. Less