Notorious Foodie

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

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 @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

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 @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

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

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

Lunch at Mak Man Kee, Hong Kong 🇭🇰🍜
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There are lots of noodle shops scattered across Hong Kong, but Mak Man Kee is one of the classics that is definitely worth a visit. The signature here is their tiger prawn wonton noodles - a bowl filled with a rich broth, duck egg noodles and tightly wrapped tiger prawn wontons. It’s a seemingly small but mighty bowl of noodles. The broth is clear and light, made from some blend of pork bones, dried shrimp roe, Chinese Jinhua cured ham, dried flounder and aromatics like ginger and scallion. The result is rich, fragrant and wholesome. It’s not fatty or oily like ramen but has so much depth and doesn’t overpower everything else. Slightly more on the seafood side here. The noodles are made exclusively from duck eggs - higher in fat and so you’re left with a satisfyingly chewy, bouncy noodle. Super thin and pleasant to eat - they just sit on top very neatly. They taste fresh - not soggy or wet even though they’re sat in the broth. As for the wontons, these were great - I preferred them here than at Mak’s. The prawns are bigger, juicier and more liberally seasoned. A good kick of white pepper and properly juicy with a delicate wrapper. V good. Chilli oil on the side here is essential for me. Theirs is clean, no bits, with a warming spice. This bowl came in at like $5-6 #notoriousfoodie 🙅🏽‍♂️
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#hongkong #noodles #wonton #wontons #chinesefood #chinese #dimsum #china #dumpling #dumplings #streetfood #michelinguide Less

First roast goose in Hong Kong 🪿🇭🇰
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A quick stop in to Kam’s for their famous roast goose. Great goose here. A lot of people have strong opinions on roast goose in Hong Kong and there are so many favourites, but for me, each has its place and it’s such a subjective topic. Whether it’s Kam’s, Yat Lok, Yue Kee or one of the countless others, it all comes down to preference. At Kams, I found the goose to be quite refined and well balanced. The goose is charcoal-roasted in vertical ovens until the skin is deeply golden and slightly crispy. The result is a juicy but not overly greasy bird. I’m told the geese at Kam’s typically have less fat under the skin. The marination is a secret but it’s some mix of aromatics with soy and five spice. It’s served with a goose jus made from the drippings, soy, five spice, sugar etc and it’s silky smooth and savoury. The goose itself was tender and mildly gamey. A great balance of flavour and not overly intense. Good for first timers. Nicely presented too! On the side, I had to hit those goose dripping noodles - sounded too good and is a signature here. They were a little soft, but tasty nonetheless. This place got busy around lunch and the wait was like an hour, so go early to avoid the faff #notoriousfoodie 🙅🏽‍♂️
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#hongkong #hongkongfood #china #chinese #chinesefood #duck #goose #michelinguide Less