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travels for friends, food and wine - in exactly this order
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San Sebastian, Spain
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July 21
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Invitation to the Softbank Private Kitchen. Classic dishes, turtle, snake soup and one dish which cannot be posted.
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- Gerhard Huber added a new meal Lunch at Caprice at Caprice
3rd meal this year to get through the long list of classics.
Abalone carbonara with the first black truffles, what a dish, pure genius. However a new dish stole the show, the langoustine with uni mango. This is precision cooking with a wonderful combination of flavours. It is as good as it gets.
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- Gerhard Huber added a new meal Dinner at Sushi Shikon at Sushi Shikon
I loved Sushi Yoshitake in Tokyo. This place is the Hong Kong branch of it with its former sous chef at its helm. It serves the Edo style sushi where the rice is seasoned with red vinegar.
Mr. Kakinuma is a pride to his master. The fact that he likes to use his fluent English makes the whole experience even more pleasant.
He starts with some cooked... More
I loved Sushi Yoshitake in Tokyo. This place is the Hong Kong branch of it with its former sous chef at its helm. It serves the Edo style sushi where the rice is seasoned with red vinegar.
Mr. Kakinuma is a pride to his master. The fact that he likes to use his fluent English makes the whole experience even more pleasant.
He starts with some cooked dishes before leading into an orgy of sublime subtlety of taste, smell and texture which leaves the dinner deeply satisfied and grateful.
The tako (octopus, upper right) and the double uni (sea urchin, lower right) were the pinnacle of this tour de force.
There seems to be a plan in place to open up another branch in NYC and Mr. Kakinuma will be in charge there. What a loss for Hong Kong and gain for NYC!
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Ko moved from the old place to a new location. The new place is a super modern dining room with bar- as well as table-seating.
The new menu is not as wavy as the old one but still contains elements of it. I mean by this that they introduce strong flavours early in the sequence of dishes, then pull back and come in again. Very interesting and not... More
Ko moved from the old place to a new location. The new place is a super modern dining room with bar- as well as table-seating.
The new menu is not as wavy as the old one but still contains elements of it. I mean by this that they introduce strong flavours early in the sequence of dishes, then pull back and come in again. Very interesting and not something which is very common.
The dishes themselves are all very interesting and perfectly executed. There is enough texture and acidity in each dish to make it very special. The razor claims (upper right) probably represented the pinnacle of this. The meat cannot be done better.
Go there! I’ll be back soon. Less
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- Gerhard Huber added a new meal Dinner at The Chairman at The Chairman
Back at the chairman for a wonderful meal with friends. This time not a collaboration dinner but the real deal.
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- Gerhard Huber added a new meal Lunch at Tosca at Tosca di Angelo
Stunning dining room on the 102nd floor of the Hotel Ritz in Kowloon.
Refined Italian cuisine with a wonderful pumpkin risotto dish.
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- Gerhard Huber added a new meal Lunch at Amber at Amber
First visit in the refurbished Amber. Light tones dominate, "feminine" as they describe it, with tables bordered by sweeping and curving walls of medium height.
The food is classic, not necessarily daring, heavily influenced by Japanese cuisine, ingredients and technique, and executed flawless.
The classic dish, on the menu for over 10 years,... More
First visit in the refurbished Amber. Light tones dominate, "feminine" as they describe it, with tables bordered by sweeping and curving walls of medium height.
The food is classic, not necessarily daring, heavily influenced by Japanese cuisine, ingredients and technique, and executed flawless.
The classic dish, on the menu for over 10 years, the Aka Uni is still tasting great even though it looks overloaded with luxurious ingredients.
The two main course were the standouts of this meal. The tile fish glassy and flakey with the scales on top to add texture. The spring lamb (in December?), loin and belly, cooked pink with great flavour.
Well done, I hope the relaunch is successful despite the trying times right now.
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This year‘s list of new Guide Michelin three star restaurants. There were 15 promotions in comparison to 17 in 2018, however there were 11(!) deletions versus 3 in 2018.
I have included Troigros to this list as it has changed location and thus counts as a quasi new restaurant.
If you have the opportunity to eat at all the promotions across... More
This year‘s list of new Guide Michelin three star restaurants. There were 15 promotions in comparison to 17 in 2018, however there were 11(!) deletions versus 3 in 2018.
I have included Troigros to this list as it has changed location and thus counts as a quasi new restaurant.
If you have the opportunity to eat at all the promotions across three continents you clearly wonder what the criteria can be for such a promotion. Or even if you look at one continent, the US. Single Thread is outstanding and was gunning for the third star from the get go. But the The Inn at Little Washington? It is good but a three star place? Less
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Tempura Niitome is as of the time of writing this the number 1 restaurant in Japan on Tabelog with an impressive rating of 4.80 (this a very dynamic list so it might not last long). I doubt that a tempura restaurant ever reached that position since the inception of Tabelog.
And there is a good reason for this. For starters Chef Niitome’s otsumani... More
Tempura Niitome is as of the time of writing this the number 1 restaurant in Japan on Tabelog with an impressive rating of 4.80 (this a very dynamic list so it might not last long). I doubt that a tempura restaurant ever reached that position since the inception of Tabelog.
And there is a good reason for this. For starters Chef Niitome’s otsumani is fantastic. His kue sashimi can stand up to any high end Kaiseki restaurant. The ankimo (monk fish liver) melts in your mouth and leaves a faint trace of honey on the palate. Cold soba noodles are served with an uni sauce from Hokkaido, but the Ikaro chawanmushi tops it all. The Ikura has the right level of saltiness and the egg custard contains enough residual liquidity so you can easily mix it all up, close your eyes, slurp and enjoy it. Haven on earth.
Once he gets going with the tempura the astonishment just increases with each of the 20 servings. There is very little Chef Niitome cannot convert into a tempura. And whatever he takes out his frying pot is perfectly cooked. The batter is thin and airy but tastes slightly oily, something which you want when going to a tempura restaurant. The core is soft (fish) or crunchy (vegetables) to bring out the best in each piece. He switches on and off the heat to create the prefect temperature for the respective food. And he does this all while entertaining his guest with stories and information about the food they are eating. I could now go on and one with lengthy descriptions about each servings but I just wanted to point out one as an example. As we are in the snow crab season I have had now almost every night during the last six weeks one form of snow crab. But never in my wildest dreams did I think I would get a kobako-kani (female snow crab) tempura. Chef Niitome prepares the flavour box (English translation of kobako) in the same way everybody does, but then puts the whole thing into his batter, made out of egg, water and frozen flower, before throwing it into the boiling oil. How he knows when to take it out, so the whole content is perfectly cooked is beyond me, but it highlights his skills.
This is my third meal there in the last 11 months and it was the best one. A stunning observation as conditioned by the previous meals I came with sky high expeditions.
PS: Chef Niitome revealed to us that he never releases all seats when opening up a booking period. He then opens them up almost randomly for people who call. So don’t give up hope, just call and hope to be lucky. Less
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- Gerhard Huber added a new meal Dinner at Les Amis at Les Amis with Peter Chang and Nicholas Malcomson
I have been to Les Amis in April of the year. However, since they got the third star and following my rules I had to go back. With great excitement as my lunch there in April had been very good. Unfortunately, not this time. Overall it was a very disappointing meal.
The dishes ranged from just boring to badly executed. Sensing that the meal is falling... More
I have been to Les Amis in April of the year. However, since they got the third star and following my rules I had to go back. With great excitement as my lunch there in April had been very good. Unfortunately, not this time. Overall it was a very disappointing meal.
The dishes ranged from just boring to badly executed. Sensing that the meal is falling apart they sent out an extra course, Cèpes, did not help much. For example the slightly overcooked sea-bass was served in a grape jus sauce. Apart from the execution error, the combination of flavours did absolutely not work, a completely useless course.
So sorry to be at Les Amis on a complete off day. Luckily I have dear memories from 2 other great meals there. Less
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