My worst meal of 2025

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Yes, I'm well aware that only 3 months of the year has passed... but I very much doubt that any meal I will have during the rest of 2025 will be as bad as my dinner tonight.

Sporty Cousin has been working in Foshan (佛山) for a few years now, and used to visit 102 House (壹零貳小館) during the initial pandemic years when they still operated solely out of Foshan. As he was a frequent guest of the restaurant, I was planning to go and visit him 2 years ago, just after the borders reopened between Hong Kong and the rest of Mainland China. But before I had the chance to do so, it was announced that the original restaurant would cease operations - apparently due to the village house being scheduled for demolition.

I first heard about the restaurant in January 2018, when they did their first collaboration with The Chairman (大班樓). I remember being so impressed with the passion shown by Chef Xu Jingye (徐泾业)  as we were told stories about their research into classic Cantonese recipes. Everything at that meal was new and tasty, so I had a really good impression of the team.

While a number of friends subsequently took the trip to Foshan during the following 2 years - before China's borders closed in January 2020 - I never made the effort. I also missed some opportunities to check out their Shanghai location, which by now has 2 Michelin stars and had just taken the No.29 spot on Asia's 50 Best Restaurants. So when Sporty Cousin messaged me a few days ago and asked whether I'd be up for dinner in Foshan tonight, during the week-long "private kitchen" stint when Xu Jingye and manager Yao Min are back in town, I didn't hesitate. I immediately booked my train tickets, and even arranged to buy a few bottles from a wine shop in Guangdong to be shipped to Foshan for this dinner - given that Foursheets and I could only carry 2 bottles of wine across the border without paying duty.

But... I did had some reservations in the back of my mind. V has been a regular over the last few years in Shanghai, and told me that the cooking has gotten significantly worse in recent days. Apparently it has been so poor that he was bitching out Chef Xu during his visits, and then stopped going altogether. Another fellow foodie has also warned me that the kitchen in Shanghai is on a downward trajectory, has also bitched out Chef Xu during their visits, but didn't think that I would have a bad meal in Foshan.

Unfortunately for the six of us, we all left the restaurant fuming. I had heard from my friends that Chef Xu no longer cooks in the kitchen - which isn't a problem if the kitchen team can deliver. Saffron Bae a.k.a. Hairy LS is often galloping around the world taking after his idol Monsieur LS, but the kitchen team at Caprice still delivers impeccable dishes without him. Well... I saw Chef Xu out and about in the courtyard, so it's doubtful he spent much time in the kitchen tonight.

Pan-fried Chinese white shrimp (干煎大明蝦) - we were all a little surprised that there were no "starters" and the meal began with these giant shrimp. The use of tomato ketchup in the preparation is a familiar one, if not quite traditional Cantonese.

Sushi in Macau

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It's been just over a year since I was last in Macau, which is a far cry from the days before the pandemic, when I made 10 trips in one particular year. Tonight I boarded the ferry for a sushi dinner in Macau - only the second time for me to have sushi in the other SAR. The invitation came from B Bestie on behalf of Sushi Kissho by Miyakawa (鮨 吉祥 宮川), which had just received their first Michelin star a few weeks ago. Chef Miyakawa Masaaki (宮川政明) is spending a few days in Macau to celebrate this occasion, so I happily accepted the invitation.

I'd never stepped foot in the Raffles at Galaxy Macau before, and in fact have only had one experience dining within Galaxy Macau before tonight. So... country bumpkin gets to see some serious bling!

Our first stop was at The Long Bar (but, of course...) for a quick drink before dinner. I was suitably impressed with the lineup of vinyl album sleeves on the wall just inside the entrance, with classic all-time favorites. And the playlist was a lot of classic rock, which was kinda surprising for the clientele in this city.

I should have waited until after the ladies had received recommendations from the staff, or at least until I had a look at the menu. That way I would have ended up ordering one of those girlie drinks I love so much. Instead, I acted like Pavlov's dog and raised my hand when the word "negroni" was mentioned. To be fair, this was a very good and smooth one, but still... I wish I had taken a signature girlie drink!

Beefy and porky

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It's the last day of my trip to spend some time with the Parental Units in Taipei, and I've pretty much eaten every meal at home so far. I would never complain about eating too much of mom's cooking, but I still want to have an occasional nibble outside. So I decided I should visit somewhere I haven't been for way, waaaay too long.

Fu Ba Wang (富霸王) is one of my favorite places in town for braised pork trotters, but it's been more than 12 years since my last bite. I knew that in the old days, they used to sell out of the choice part of the trotter pretty early, so I told myself I needed to get there soon after they open at 11 a.m. Well... I left home late, took the MRT, and arrived at noon. There was already a line of people waiting outside, so I dutifully waited my turn.

Thankfully everything was still available. Since it's been much too long since I was last here, I got a little greedy and ordered more than I should have.

Top section of trotter (霸王腿扣) - I'm really happy to have been able to get this. There is actually plenty of meat here, and they've cut it away from the bone and into slices, but still surrounded by a thick layer of fat and skin. You get the whole experience, which is how I like to eat trotters... thanks to growing up with mom's braised trotters at home. They don't braise it as much as mom does, so the skin and the fat still have a little more springiness.

A disappointing Table

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V's back in town for a few days, and we decided to catch up over a few bottles. I didn't have any ideas of where we should go, and I didn't think there were any places that I had wanted to check out, so we were all set to get ourselves a table at a familiar Italian spot... until I suddenly remembered Table by Sandy Keung. They have recently moved to their posh new digs, so I figured it gives me a good excuse to visit.

I've only tasted Sandy's cuisine once, more than 8 years ago. While not everything was to my liking back then, I remember being impressed by their Hanwoo - at the time, they were one of the few places in town to offer that breed - and that crab roe and garlic rice. Somehow I've never been back, although I've thought about it a few times. Well, I got my chance tonight.

What was to be a romantic date between V and I turned into a threesome when Monsieur Jamin decided that he'd like to come join the fun. While I had made the booking online, I had to call the restaurant to change it to a table of 3. No big deal. As there were initially just the two of us, I figured we'd do everything à la carte and not take a tasting menu. I also didn't think we needed to pre-order anything, even if I remembered the garlic rice with fondness.

Our welcome drink was a warm cup of chamomile and fig leaf tea.

We had some foccacia and grissini, both of which were oily to the touch...

Dim sum Sunday

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Mikacina is swinging through town for a couple of days, and I finally found the chance to catch up with her very briefly. Since dim sum was on the wishlist, I decided to book us a table at Forum Restaurant (富臨飯店). It's really become our go-to place for dim sum, or even just when we are looking for some solid Cantonese fare. For our visitor, it's a chance to check a 3-star restaurant off her list.

Steamed vegetarian dumpling with mixed mushroom (雲南野菌餃) - I'm not sure why I don't order this more often, because they really do a fantastic job with their vegetarian dumplings. These were filled with mushrooms from Yunnan Province that were just packed with punchy flavors.