Feasting Pigs

in kanazawa, japan (aug’24)

made it to kanazawa’s most famous yakitori-ya, headed by torishiki’s ikegawa san’s most respected disciple, whom also previously had a short stint in shanghai.

overall thought it was a solid meal, didn’t really have too many standout pieces and chicken quality also wasn’t the best. i really enjoyed the grill corn and tomato. but overall the char in the pieces weren’t distinct, and the level of doneness in the pieces fluctuated a lot. amount of food here was also not too much, ended with a choice of two gohans where almost everyone in the meal ordered oomori (large size). their rice course was probably the most enjoyble, their take on soboro don was unique and delicious with burdock and their smoky grilled yasai in oyako don - a bit on the soupy side but flavour was decent. ended with a nice and refreshing kiwi panna cotta with grand marnier jelly.

a nice try and decent yakitori outpost in kanazawa, for me not too memorable but glad i tried it out. still stand by the thought that ikegawa san’s disciples and him still stray some distance in terms of grill skills.
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おまかせコース: (¥13,500)
✨高坂鳥もろにく takasaka chicken
かしわ kashiwa
✨とうもろこし corn
ちょうちん chouchin
厚揚げ fried tofu
ささみ sasami
せせり seseri
✨白レバー white liver
✨トマト tomato
新生姜入りつくね ginger tsukune
ハツ heart
手羽先 chicken wing
✨そぼろ丼 soboro don
✨夏野菜の親子丼 vegetable oyako don
ブランマンジェ grand marnier pudding
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would revisit: try once
reservations online
price range pp: ¥10,000-¥30,000
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📍 蛤坂まえかわ
location: 1-1-9 nomachi, kanazawa
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in kanazawa, japan (aug’24)

there are a considerable number of soba spots in kanazawa, stopped by one of them and was super impressed. a really beautiful house hidden in the residential district behind the train station with discreet signs. started with a lovely soba miso with local zucchini, and a mixed tempura which were really enjoyable. opted for their duck soba, really loved the texture and pronounced wheat flavour in the soba. their texture was actually quite special, seems somewhat ‘al-dente’ and a little bit springy, and works really really well with the rich duck tare. the pieces of roast duck within were also really tasty, could imagine how satisfying this would be in winter times.

a lovely lunch spot that i’d love to come back when i’m next in kanazawa. really love the spacious house this soba-ya resides in and tatami seatings as well, a really great find.
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天ぷら盛り合わせ assorted tempura (¥1600)
✨そば味噌 soba miso (¥800)
✨鴨ざるそば hot duck broth with cold soba (¥2300)
そばの香プリン soba pudding (¥450)
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would revisit: yes, when in kanazawa
reservations by call
price range pp: ¥1000-¥3000
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📍手打蕎麦 こより
location: 2-20-13 nagata, kanazawa
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near paris, france (july’24)

what a beautiful estate and beautiful dinner and stay at le doyenné, around an hour train away from paris. very honest and cozy food with mainly produce from their gardens which highlight whats in season, and bonus being a romantic dinner location thats definitely worth coming down for a small break from the urban chaos.

started with some really tasty ham charcuterie made from their own pigs, a pork bun which reminded me a lot of our chasiu buns from home. personally adored their little veggie tasting plate, as its summer, the menu was quite vegetal focused. featuring baby courgette flowers, baby carrots, cucumbers, radishes with complementing sauces and some friend broccoli. followed by a zingy summer salad with gooseberries, and a perfectly cooked seabass. really enjoyed their pigeon with baby carrots with a courgette gratin, glazed with a simple jus which i really loved as a break from typical french heaviness. ended with a super refreshing blueberry tart and fig leaf sorbet before fresh herb tea and biscuits to end the lovely meal.

i really loved this meal, and highly recommend coming here for a nice dinner and stay. breakfast was also delicious with homemade pastries and delicious cooked plates as well in the morning. a place full of love and full of life, amazing staff also which don’t carry the parisian attitude (if you get what i mean), would definitely be back next time i’m around.
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tasting menu: (€120)
✨le doyenne charcuterie
summer barbajuan
surprise brioche
✨crudities from the garden

zucchini summer salad with gooseberries
sea bass, seaweed butter and herbs
✨roast pigeon with baby carrots, courgette gratin

blueberry tart, fig leaf sorbet
petite fours
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would revisit: yes
reservations online
price range pp: €100-€300
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📍LE DOYENNÉ
location: 5 rue saint-antoine, saint vrain, france
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in paris, france

leveraging our dinner reservation at plenitude, made a sneaky reservation to cheval blanc’s famous breakfast to finally try the croissants i’ve been wanting to try for ages. tip would just be to call them to ask if you are travelling in a low season, you would most likely be given very early slots (7-8:30am) before the rush of hotel guests arrive.

their breakfast is basically somewhat buffet style, a set price of €60 which comes with complementary pac, croissant, baguette bread-sticks and yogurt, as well as a menu of items which you could order unlimited. was told by many they have the best croissant in paris and/or the world but sadly i would beg to differ. aesthetically, they were spot on, perfect honey comb interior and uniform shaping. but for me it felt super commercial, very light but not in a good way, lacking a homey touch and the rich buttery flavour i like in my croissants. they used a really good quality valroha chocolate in their pac which is worth mentioning, and the vanilla bean filled yogurt and fruits which was one of the best things of the breakfast along with their vanilla cream that comes with the waffles.

we opted for some more pastries like pain suisse which didn’t even feel freshly made on the day. their other sweet treats like crepes, waffles were extremely poor, relatively more decent french toast but a bit sweet for my liking. savouries could completely be skipped but i’m glad i got to somewhat finally tick their breakfast off my list.
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breakfast at cheval blanc (€60)
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would revisit: no
reservations by call
price range pp: €60-€100
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📍LE TOUT-PARIS AT THE CHEVAL BLANC
location: 8 quai de louvre, paris
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in copenhagen, denmark (april’24)

some (recovered) images from this years ocean season.

some hits & missed in terms of flavour as anticipated, but overall prefer this season over game and forest season. still one of the coolest experimental kitchens with out of the box thinking despite them getting lazier and more commercial. bookings aren’t impossible too, as long as you enter the site on time with a timeslot or two in mind + a registered tock account logged in and ready to go.
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ocean season menu (3995dkk)
+ juice pairing +1600dkk
✨whole cooked langoustine
mussel broth with bergamot
✨seaweed á la crème
✨blue mussel and golden beets
✨fresh sea urchin and hazelnuts
raw squid on grilled koji
cod roe waffle
hand dived scallop
cod head: tongue on the bone, eye pie
throat and young garlic
jaw with smoked pumpkin
barbequed burbot
hazelnut with kelp
✨sweet oyster
✨snobrod
clam gel
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📍NOMA 2.0
location: rejshalevej 96, copenhagen
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in bangkok, thailand (june’24)

ever-since my meal at saeng tha-tian, i’ve been wanting to visit more of these home style kitchens in bangkok, as i do prefer these to fine dining now a days. one which has been very popular recently is keawloon, with recipes passed on for generations in the family including influences from nakhon si thammarat (southern) and sukhothai tani (north bangkok).

their most famous dishes here are the black rice, which is
steamed with squid ink and topped with mud crab, and their turmeric rice with a piece of fried fish. i did very much enjoy the black rice, mixed with a zingy spicy seafood sauce. the slightly sticky texture of the rice mixed with a clam based sauce was quite flavourful and enjoyable.

their unique dishes here was the reason i wanted to try this restaurant, as some dishes served here are not regularly seen in other thai kitchens. other plates i loved tonight include the sweetened toddy palm braised pork, as well as their squid dishes, of squid ink and in a simple chilli spring onion stir fry. their squid is noticeably fresh, with good ‘crunch’ in its texture. i couldn’t really eat the the southern pork curry as it was insanely spicy, and the rest of the dishes were okay, a nice try with nothing jumping out for me. regardless was still surrounded by excellent company, service here was also very good.
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june menu: (฿6,928 per table)
sweet shrimp, relish with sour vegetables, chilli paste
mushroom in fish sauce
salted fish, omelette
✨pork ribs in toddy palm
✨mud crab black rice
turmeric rice with fried fish
✨stir fry squid with spring onion
shrimp fried in shrimp paste
curry with pork cartilage
stir fried spinach in pork neck
preserved mayongchid with ice

+ fried pork (฿256)
+ ✨stir fry squid in squid ink (฿456)
+ ✨stir fry liang leaves with eggs (฿189)
+ spicy fish salad (฿456)
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would revisit: try once
reservations by dm
price range pp: ฿1000- ฿3000
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📍แก้วลูน KEAWLOON
location: 21/3 saeng chan, phra khanong, khlong toei, bangkok
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in nagoya, japan (june’24)

nagoya is also very well known for their unagi, with numerous unajyu shops open for a casual lunch or/and dinner. one of the more notable ones are ichibiki, located in the city center, never fails to have queues for a slot for lunch. i arrived just before 8am on a sunday morning, as tickets for lunch releases at 9:30am, and was 8th in line and got one of the last tickets for the first slot of 11:30am. recommend a weekday if possible, and do recommend arriving before 8:30am to guarantee a slot here.

came back for my unajyu, ordered a slightly larger version with 4 pieces of unagi and wow. they use kansai style preparation, in which they directly grill the unagi without steaming. soft and tender meat with a crispy edge, tare was also perfectly rich without being overwhelming. the char-grill flavour was also exceptional, not too strong and balances well with the thick and fatty meat. the set comes with an osuimono which is the innards in dashi, as well as pickles. truly worth the queue for me as one of my personal favourite renditions of unajyu so far.
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✨うな重(上丼）　(¥4500)
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would revisit: yes
reservations daily at 9:30am
price range pp: ¥4,000-¥8,000
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📍イチビキ
location: 1-3-16 meiekiminami, nakamura ward, nagoya
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in nagoya, japan (june’24)

hello nagoya, city of impossible reservations with restaurants not even known to outsiders. one of which is nozawa, run by a super cute husband and wife duo serving their own take on washoku with innovative twists and creations. so glad to have visited after being closed for some time, thank you so much for the invitation!

really enjoyed the length course tonight, rustic cooking and super impressed by the grandpa being the only chef and serving at an incredible pace. also recommend their highball made of freshly cut ice by taisho.

loved the start of the awabi and refreshing corn puree, on warabi tofu, super summery. really loved the small details like the madai and asparagus coated in okagi biscuit crust to mimic a fried fish, or using kensaki ika diced then shaped like an onigiri. also loved the katsuo topped with a shoyu made with cashew nuts and the corn in the managatsuo dish which was also poached in lemon, to bring an acidity to a miso marinated fatty fish. another dish i love was the one day dried ayu, with an incredible liver sauce served alongside it. ended with an ochazuke and a lovely miyazaki tamago mango as dessert.

so lucky to have visited this very hidden gem, with no publicly announced location and strictly regulars only. would love to be back another time for another menu, and under the hospitality of the gracious wife and husband taisho.

六月のコース (¥45,000):
✨蒸し鮑　蕨の豆腐　ともろこし awabi, warabi tofu, corn
湯葉ワイトアスパラ車海老 yuba, white asparagus & prawn
✨真鯛とアスパラおかき madai, aspragus in okagi
毛蟹の握り kegani nigiri
琵琶鱒棒寿司 biwa masu bosushi
✨カツオ カシューナッツ醤油 katsuo cashew nut shoyu
アオリイカ、イサキ、海苔 aori ika, isaki, nori
✨雲丹、焼き剣先イカ「おにぎり」 uni, kensaki ika
✨鮎のー夜干し dried ayu
真魚鰹、とうもろこし managatsuo, baby corn and lemon
毛蟹　旬菜　レンコンお椀 kegani, junsai, lotus root owan
舞茸　焼きなす　肉 maitake, grilled eggplant and beef
お茶漬け ochazuke
宮崎マンゴー miyazaki mango
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would revisit: yes
members only
price range pp: ¥40,000-¥60,000
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📍野嵯和
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in tokyo, japan (june’24)

working in the kaiseki industry before training under yoshitake san, murayama is one of the more interesting sushiyas which incorperate kaiseki as its tsumami before the nigiri segment.

with a range of fried, raw and even showcasing an owan, each element was done extremely well. particularly loved the katsuo of the day, the konowata and karasumi chawanmushi, as well as the fried ayu were also very nice. highlight for sure was his awabi, perfect texture but most importantly its kimo sauce was incredible.

the nigiri here follows yoshitake style very much, extremely similar in knife-work and preparations, similar to shikon in hong kong as well. like the tamagoyaki, and the double uni of murasaki on top and bafun below. the shari is definitely stronger in acidity which i prefer personally, balances well with the neta. everything was solid, and comfortable to eat but there wasn’t a piece that stood out. overall a really nice sushiya, taisho and team were also super friendly and speaks good english. very good price but crazy difficult to book with next rounds being one year later, which i can’t seem to justify.

六月のコース (¥36,000)
いちじく、あん肝、味噌 ankimo, fig, miso sauce
マゴチ、ポン酢 magochi, ponzu
女性／男性シャコー girl/boy shako
✨カツオ katsuo
このわた、カラスミの茶碗蒸し sea cucumber innard & karasumi chawanmushi
あゆと万願寺唐辛子の揚げ fried ayu and pepper
✨鮑と肝ソース abalone and liver sauce
はもとなすのお椀 hamo and eggplant owan

イカ ika
のどぐろ nodoguro
✨春子鯛 kasugodai
小肌 kohada
赤身 akami
中トロ chutoro
大トロ otoro
✨あじ aji
馬糞、紫ウニ bafun/purple uni
✨車海老 kuruma ebi
穴子 anago
✨卵焼き egg
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would revisit: try once
reservations on omakase
price range pp: ¥30,000-¥60,000
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📍鮨むらやま
location: 7/f 7-6-2 ginza, tokyo
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in tokyo, japan (may’24)

most probably tokyo’s most famous unagi shop, one not for the faint of heart with the full nose-to-tail preparation and dining through the lengthy experience here.

as i came with someone who has visited not so long ago, we were allowed the option to sample a side by side of natural and farmed unagi through the meal. the late lunch began with a series of skewers, from liver to fin and tails. quite a unique experience to get such fresh innards and the whole top to bottom experience of unagi. with some from farmed and some natural, as well as some prepped in kanto style (only grilled) vs kansai style (steam then grilled). these skewers indeed had a rich smokey flavour from the grill but was overall enjoyable.

through the servings of skewers, taisho butchers the fresh and very much alive unagis in front of you, in which he takes the live, beating hearts of each to be served and eaten (or shall i say swallowed) within 10mins of their butchering, to demonstrate the freshness of the unagi when served.

we then got a selection of farmed and fresh unagi shiroyaki (no sauce), then followed by a side by side of the 2 types in kabayaki (with tare) and rice. in which, i found the flavours in the farmed stronger, but enjoyed the soft texture of the natural one more. he also serves the tare pre-grilled to sample the difference the natural ‘oiliness’ brings to the tare.

a truly memorable experience that was worthwhile for all unagi lovers, also a good learning experience on the whole process as well as understanding the difference of farmed/natural, kanto vs kansai.
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うなぎコース (¥18,000)
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would revisit: try once
reservations on omakase
price range pp: ¥10,000-¥30,000
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📍うなぎかぶと
location: 2-53-2 ikebukero, tokyo
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