Restaurants Archives - - Page 5 of 20

The White Rabbit in Singapore, new (old) chef, a new menu and simply fabulous food

The past year in Singapore’s F&B scene has certainly been busy. At times, it feels like there’s a new restaurant to suss out almost every week. And it’s really easy to get caught up in the frenzy of only wanting to eat in one of the newest, trendiest places in town. But we also shouldn’t forget old favourites. Like The White Rabbit, on Harding Road, in the Dempsey area. While the Rabbit went through a rough patch a while back (the food was very so-so), I’m thrilled to inform y’all that Benjamin Tan, who was the restaurant’s opening sous-chef, has returned to take over the duties of Head Chef. And the food is now better than it’s ever been in the Rabbit’s half-decade of operations. Continue Reading →

Paul Pairet – the culinary genius behind Ultraviolet, Shanghai’s hottest dining destination

Never before has food been so revered, so playful, so engaging and so inspiring as it is at Ultraviolet. A longtime fan of Paul Pairet and his game-changing helmsmanship at Jade on 36 and most recently Mr. & Mrs. Bund, I couldn’t wait to try Ultraviolet and talk to Chef Paul about his mad new experimental journey with food. In fact, I interviewed Chef Paul about two years ago and he spoke of his intentions for Ultraviolet. Frankly, I had a hard time grasping the idea of food presented together with a complete multi-sensory experience. Could music and imagery catapult the dining experience to extraordinary new levels? After my Ultraviolet dining experience I can resoundingly say, “yes.” Continue Reading →

Rosemary’s in NYC’s West Village – rooftop to table

A friend who was visiting brought me to this place, it comes highly recommended by another friend who lives in NYC. Located in West Village and recently opened in June this year, Rosemary is a casual Italian restaurant which only takes walk-ins. The space is wide open with a lot of natural light, with glass windows that open up to the street. Wooden tables are spread across the area with tables lined along the circumference of the restaurant and communal tables in the middle. Bar seats also available. Rosemary is also known for having a simple outdoor garden on the second floor. The garden is worth a tour, if only to see the vegetables that will be served to you at your table, extending the farm-to-table concept further to a rooftop-to-table one. Continue Reading →

My seafood sausage, an homage to Chanterelle

This past weekend was my brother’s and his wife’s birthdays; they share the same birthday. They also happened to have gotten married on their birthday last year. So, for their first anniversary and combined birthdays, I planned a small feast for them. Continue Reading →

Top kiddie friendly restaurants and more in Bali

Holidaying in Bali with hungry kiddies in tow? Have no fear! Bali offers a wide range of restaurants serving local delights and well as international favorites. Little Steps Bali has eaten, sipped, and relaxed at restaurants throughout the ‘Island of Gods’ to give the scoop on where to dine with kids. Enjoy! Continue Reading →

A homage to Xiao Long Bao – Chinese soup dumplings

Like many people, I first discovered xiao long bao in a famous Taiwanese restaurant called Din Tai Fung. I don’t usually eat in chain restaurants, but I do make an exception for this New York Times rated, Michelin starred eatery which is famous for its xiao long bao. And so after first experiencing the steamy, soupy, pork-filled wonders of xiao long bao for the first time, I became obsessed. Now, it is one of those things I must have weekly or somehow I feel deprived.Xiao long bao means “small steaming purse or basket” in Mandarin, which is a very factual description of a magical dish. These dumplings are traditionally filled with small pork meatballs (although you can find chicken, vegetable and seafood nowadays), and are encased in a thin, translucent dumpling shell with a savory broth within. Continue Reading →

Enji, a cool bar with great food in Ginza

I’ve mentioned before that I’m a pretty obsessive pre-holiday researcher. In order to best decide where my wife S and I should eat at when planning an overseas trip, I’ll spend weeks combing through books, magazines and websites. I’ll also email friends whose palates I trust. Earlier this year, I had purchased a short dining guide to Tokyo called Transit Tokyo, written by Yoshikage Kajiwara. The book contains 70 recommendations for affordable places to dine in Japan’s capitol — no expensive Michelin-starred restaurants in this guide, just simple places that serve awesome grub fit for every day dining. Continue Reading →

Pakomen (排骨拉麺): The Comfort Food of Japanese Prime Ministers

This dish of spare rib ramen—that the Japanese call pakomen (and if you read the kanji, it would be called pai gu la mian in Mandarin)—leapt out at me when I first studied the menu at the Capitol Hotel Tokyu’s all-day dining restaurant, Origami, on our most recent trip to Tokyo. It is part of the hotel’s old time favourites menu that consists of beloved dishes that that had been served at the old Capitol Tokyu Hotel for decades. As it turned out, pakomen was one of eight varieties of ramen that had been served at the Capitol Tokyu. It was the most popular, and the one dish that purportedly every Japanese prime minister has enjoyed. Continue Reading →

The Red Rooster in Harlem

In the heart of Harlem, a new restaurant called Red Rooster is quietly making waves. During a recent visit to the Big Apple, I decided to make the journey uptown to Lenox Avenue to check out the comfort-food restaurant launched by Marcus Samuelsson of Aquavit fame. I was hugely impressed, both with the quality of the food and the total experience.

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Seasonal simplicity: Lunch at JAAN and a conversation with chef Julien Royer

My girlfriend K has been a wonderful companion on my journey through the restaurant scene here in Singapore as well as in New York, where we lived for close to three years. Pescatarian by choice, she also lived in Paris for a year, and, as a result, never fails to remind me that when it comes to food, the French, quite simply, do it better. It isn’t just about the razor-sharp techniques of the chefs there, she explains, but also about their commitment to fresh and quality produce, which makes something as simple as a summer salad – or even a baguette from a nondescript boulangerie – taste brilliant.

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Keiji Nakazawa, the best sushi chef in the world (to us)

When I took my beautiful wife S to Tokyo to celebrate her birthday in March, because we only had three days in town, we had to very carefully curate our dining choices. While we did visit an old favourite, most of the restaurants we visited were new to us, including two sushi joints that we’d been meaning to try for years. One was a much-ballyhooed three Michelin-starred place in Ginza that is regularly discussed on forums like Chowhound and which many punters like to claim is the best sushi restaurant in Tokyo. The other is a much more modest (and much livelier) place in Yotsuya that has no Michelin stars and is rarely mentioned in Western or English-language media. Amazingly–although some Japanese friends tell me I shouldn’t have been surprised–we left the three Michelin-starred restaurant feeling very ripped off and extremely underwhelmed. But, the meal we had at Sushi Sho (also sometimes spelled Sushishou), the cultish little joint just east of Shinjuku, delivered what I can honestly say was the single greatest sushi meal of both my life and my wife’s. S has since been describing the experience to friends as “life-changing sushi.” Continue Reading →