Peter Verey

Yakitori is always a fun time and enjoyed the slick and friendly vibe at Yakitori Ichimatsu in Osaka . The menu doesn’t dig too deep into the “stranger things “ and plays a pretty straight bar with the main cuts . Loved both versions of Tsukune , and the chicken wing tasted as spectacular as it looked .

Ricotta cheese with chicken soup
Chicken breast with wasabi
Chicken shoulder
Quail egg
Chicken prosciutto
Chicken wing
Shine muscat
Chicken pate sando
Smoked pumpkin soup
Tsukune with charcoal and 5 spice powder
Chicken neck
Chicken thigh and breast in ponzu
Chicken gizzard
Japanese omelette
Duck breast with sancho pepper sauce
Chicken heart
Tsukune
Chicken rice Less

Final meal in Tokyo was @aca_kyoto_tokyo , an addition to the itinerary due to a late invite from @jtfoodcation 🙏.
I was thrilled to obtain the opportunity to visit a legendary restaurant where bookings are close to impossible.

It was the best meal of the trip .

Spanish cuisine thru a Japanese lens and Japanese ingredients , only 2 ingredients are from Spain ( Serrano ham and saffron ) . Cooking largely over fire is precise , service is warm and Chef was happy to have a long chat at the conclusion of the meal .

Teleport me back !

Spanish mackerel with sherry vinegar and nasturtium - Sawara is perfectly opaque , glazed with sherry vinegar , the sharpness balances the fatty fish .

Kohada, tomato bread , oba leaf - signature dish , the Kohada is cured less than in Sushiyas , the tomato bread and oba bring the freshness .

Squid ink paella with aka uni - as mentioned am loving Aka uni season , this was a great contrast of creamy and sweet with earthy and saline .

Kinome leaf , leek , ayu , crepe - ayu “wraps” seem to be a thing , and I subscribe to that trend .

Fig , with almond and garlic sauce - this one blew me away , fig with a crema from white gazpacho ingredients, amazing marriage .

Garlic Prawn and shark fin - the traditional gambas fish has the addition of sharks fin which really took on the flavours of the sauce .

Serrano ham consommé with Yunnan matautake . Salty and balanced .

Beef fillet from shirame with togarashi peppers - choice of two beef options and we all chose both . I rarely order fillet but this was brilliant with the charcoal flavour .

Matsusaka Sirloin with sancho pepper - again perfect simplicity .

Kegani crab paella with sancho aioli - the sancho aioli was a crowd pleaser , signature dish for a reason .

Goat milk ice cream and olive oil - loved this , local olive oil that the ACA team picks and makes themselves with deeply creamy ice cream . Less

Have had a lot of fine dining meals in Japan now and still haven’t had Tempura !! . This was the closest available option on a public holiday Monday , a Kaiseki/ tempura hybrid. Armed with a Michelin ⭐️ Ginza Kitagawa is from the lineage of Ginza Shinohara but has a greater focus on Tempura .
I ended up enjoying the non-tempura courses more but did enjoy the creativity across the meal .

Hassun - consisted of preparations of shin ika , hamo , tubogai and akigai .
Kuruma ebi tempura
Kyoto eggplant tempura
Matsutake and Suppon soup
Kashiage with green onion
Katsuo with mayonnaise and alium sauce
Black pepper hida beef
Amadai tempura with dashi
Tenbara rice
Matsutake rice
Egg tempura rice
Tempura sweet potato with lemon sherbet ice Less

Kurosaki was my favourite meal of my February visit . I was too slow to grab a spot with @jtfoodcation this time around , but did swoop on a late cancellation for the 2nd counter/ private room . The ingredients used between the two appear largely the same ( did miss out on one premium uni due to limited supply ) , the main difference is simply missing out on the aura of chef Kazumi Kurosaki at the main counter .
Have absolutely zero regrets and only minimal FOMO and definitely recommend the 2nd counter with much enthusiasm.

Highlights of the meal was an incredibly crispy Unagi that gave me Suckling Pig feels .
Terrific and wildly different Murasaki and aka uni .
Kawahagi was both chewy and smooth
Kohada simply because it’s my fav every time
Kegani crab chawanmushi is a great mid course change of pace .
And the incredibly dense yet somehow tender Shin Ika

Murasaki uni
Braised hamo
Abalone with kimo sauce

Kawahagi
Tairagai
Unagi
Kohada
Kuruma ebi
Kegani crab chawanmushi
Ikura
Awaja Shima aka uni
Shin-ika
Otoro
Akami
Chutoro
Shin- Ika geso
Kuruma ebi head
Anago
Kanpyo roll
Tamago Less

Despite 2 Michelin stars and a high Tabelog rating I was somehow unprepared for how good Myoujyako would be .
An effortlessly minimalist space which does well to hone in on the concept of purity that transcends the menu. Water is a big feature with 2 courses relying purely on sea water as the flavour agent . Zero dashi is used .
We start off with the essence of Myoujyaku , sweet potato boiled in water and salt. The potato is firm yet very tender and the water has taken on a lot of its sweetness.
Gently cooked pike eel is paired with chrysanthemum petals , beautiful and satisfying .
Sashimi course is outstanding , octopus whose skin has been meticulously removed rendering it into a stunning albino colour . The protein has been very lightly cooked but still feels raw, it’s cut in a way to relax the tissues and give a satisfying melting bite , it tastes like raw lobster, an absolutely masterful dish.
Accompanied by two textures of sea bream , also excellent but it’s hard not to be fixated on the Octopus.
Today’s soup is sea water with whelk , clam and winter melon . The additional ingredients reign in the salinity .
Beautifully grilled Amberjack is served with perilla and green onion , love the piquancy of the relish .
Haven’t been a big fan of Turtle in the past but this may start to convert me , texture and flavour reminded me of fish maw and was set with a ginkgo nut cream which also elevated another ingredient that I am not that fond of .
The signature dish is the ayu hand roll , first the head and bones are placed on a super thin egg white crepe , the ayu is then grilled and placed onto the crepe hissing as it releases its steam, you then wrap up the crepe like an envelope . Awesome !
A palate cleanser of sorts follows , multiple marinated chilled fruit ( grapes, fig, peach,persimmon,Asian pear, walnut ) .
Fried dish is again a creative success , edamame paste encasing Bottarga , vegetal and salty .

Continued in comments .. Less

Whilst rooted in Latin America and influenced by Japan , the food @monorestaurant is actually a veritable United Nations of ingredients , ideas and techniques .
@rchaneton showcases his passion for Venezuela and Latin America thru his cooking and Manager Abbi Grace amplifies his vision with service which is both soulful and informative .

Hong Kong is lucky to have this unique restaurant .

A Buri ( yellowtail) tiradito is the ideal beginning . The fish providing a blank canvas to a variety of sauces and textures including pickled oca and a Peruvian chilli sauce .

The bread whose sourdough starter recently celebrated its 5th birthday is a great companion for the next few courses, also served with outstanding olive oil .

Danish Langoustine is a supporting cast member to a study of cacao . The flesh, nibs and powder are all used for sauce, garnish and tea and its versatility is to be commended . The dish does veer a little sweet to me but that does seem to be the current style with langoustine dishes .

A beautiful coriander tortilla wraps around a barely roasted Japanese fruit tomato . Both sweet and savoury , it is a great bite but the accompanying Tomato and basil seed consommé with Yunnan sweet chilli steals the show . It’s phenomenally good .

Meagre fish from Galicia is next , with its primary partner in crime a “shisochurri” . Sauce/condiment work again shines .

Dish of the day for me was Australian Wagyu flap with beef jus , served alongside a rosti made of Costa Rican cassava and a Venezuelan wasakaka sauce which features avocado, parsley , coriander and white vinegar . Did I mention I love the sauces here ?

Pre dessert is a very smashable combination of apricot , Mexican marigold and kampot black pepper whose floral notes really sing .

To finish , cacao returns , this time in sweet form (brownie and ganache ), along with a coulis of Colombian parcha (passion fruit) and an avocado leaf ice cream . This dessert really surprised with the Cacao being by far the most subtle ingredient. Less

First time having a set menu at Jade Dragon rather than Dim Sum or ALC , and it was my favourite meal here so far .

Nuanced flavours that felt a little European at times and were somehow subtle but robust .

A trio of apps start the meal , suckling pig with caviar is probably a little over done these days but it’s a winning combo , but the deep fried Cristal blue prawn absolutely popped and the toasted sea cucumber and jelly fish with balsamic was a nice palate reset .

Braised imperial birds nest soup in brown sauce is a dish I would never order and I may have to rethink that . The texture was great and the soup/ sauce tasted like a rich roasted consommé, incredibly pleasurable to eat .

Steamed garoupa sat atop a Hokkaido milk custard , chicken oil and aged Hua Diao wine sauce , the chicken oil absolutely sung here and the flavours of the dish were profound .

Australian abalone was deliciously tender and served with a glossy liver sauce that shone on the plate , sea cucumber was deep fried and and stuffed with shrimp paste and a duo of mustard . Didn’t really think the mustard worked but the tempura pumpkin was textbook .

Live lobster poached to order and paired with udon noodles and a spicy yellow pepper broth, this one had surprising acid heat , but as the palate adjusted it became extremely enjoyable .

To end things ,the ubiquitous mango, coconut, sago pudding was reimagined into a modern plated dessert and no less delicious . Less

Back to Neighbourhood last night and ordered all the fav dishes .

The Salt baked chicken is a must pre order . Coming out of its salt crust , it is lightly tanned, perfectly juicy , and full of flavour . The rice is studded with morels plus all the chicken bits , gizzards , heart, liver etc.. are found after a bit of a forage . The rice also plays a starring role and you must grab your fair share of the rice crust at the bottom .

Mackerel was the smoked fish of the day , judiciously handled and the highlight just may be the horseradish cream which gives it the perfect balance .

Celtuce , anchovy , Parmesan is a terrific take on Caesar salad , utilising both the stem and Celtuce leaves . It’s delicious and I always ponder why I don’t try to emulate this at home .

Baby squid is served sizzling with a mix of garlic and espelette , mop it up with sourdough bread .

Seasonal veg casserole with bacon and black truffle is an excellent warm fricasee that also gives some salad vibes . Love the softness of the carrot and Sunchoke interacting with bursting sweet peas and then the savory hit of bacon and black truffle .

Thanks to @davidtlai for another great meal Less

Having tried every dish on the current tasting menu , the mission at Robuchon last night was to try the 3 dishes on the A La Carte menu that I had not as yet tried .

Started with a bang , white asparagus with Hokkaido sea urchin , black garlic and turmeric sauces . The fairly straight forward flavour profile of the Asparagus is a terrific canvas for the urchin , really loved this combination .

Next up were French morels , they were stuffed with more morels , and served atop a foie gras mousse and a chicken broth jelly . Thought the mousse/jelly combination was a little bland and the morels didn’t carry a lot flavour themselves , a few chefs have remarked that the Yunnan morels are better than the French and at least for those served in Macau I would agree .

Crisp scale Amadai was served with a melange of peas and bouillabaisse sauce . Crispy scale Amadai is certainly en vogue at the moment but not sure I really love the scales , they have to be shatteringly crisp for the dish to succeed and these weren’t .

The ship was certainly righted with a stellar cheese board which led to all sorts of happiness on my part .

While the food didn’t quite hit the mark this time, I will happily return soon to dig back into the signature dishes , the fact that the 17,000 strong wine list continually has plenty of amazing bottles available at below market price also makes returning here a no brainer . Less

The ingredients don’t pop like they did in Japan last week but always enjoy the creativity and flavour combinations at Zuicho .

The A5 satsuma beef chateaubriand is the restaurant signature and is delicious but I really enjoyed the seasonal accompaniment of tempura zucchini flower stuffed with prawn , the yielding texture was outstanding .

Chrysanthemum Turnip with Minced
Chicken in Broth was a feast for the eyes and very soothing

Seasonal Sashimi featured Amadai with finger lime and Katsuo

Black Abalone with Liver Sauce was textbook but after having had amazing product in Japan this month , this didn’t quite match it .

Sea Urchin and Toro Handroll is a crowd pleasing combination even when the Uni is not best of the best

Grilled Blackthroat Sea Perch with
Sea Urchin Sauce - the heat applied to the uni gave it a grainy texture but flavour was there

Simmered Ise Lobster with Burdock , beautiful sweet lobster , this was unexpectedly good .

Satsuma A5 Wagyu Beef Sirloin with Mushroom Sukiyaki Hotpot, also a well deserved signature

“Takikomi” Rice with Kinki - deep savouriness to the rice , had 3 portions !

Pear Monaka with Mochi and Walnut Ice Cream Less