Quality + Skill

This restaurant epitomizes everything about the current fine dining scene in NYC yet exhibits nothing at the same time. The execution, compared to the other restaurants in this bracket, is at best in the middle of the pack, though it can be perhaps somewhat excused given how small the kitchen is. The inspirations are predictable, and the flavors are lukewarm nor distinctly Korean; I don’t think I’ll remember a single course I had in a month’s time. If you were to come here, I’d recommend skipping the $135 tasting menu. I liked it enough though. DDOBAR probably would have much more success in any other major city, but here in NYC it’s found itself as a stall in an empty food court, with 20 other restaurants in this city on the same path, many of them much better. We start with an oyster mojito, combining the refreshing flavor of cucumber with the oceanic flavors of a smaller and brinier oyster. I found the bite to dissonant, almost off-putting, but I acknowledge this may have been a personal preference. (7/10) Next up is another dissonant course, madai with a sweet mandarin foam particularly strange in textures between the ephemeral foam and the raw fish. The snap pea adds a mostly vegetal quality that makes you kind of ponder whether this combination was any good – it was not harmonious in both texture nor flavor. (7/10) The scallop dish goes back to basics – a sweet and buttery broth full of umami from dashi, to go with a mi-cuit scallop. The fava bean and asparagus are rather brilliant partners with the scallop. (9.5/10) Three pieces of ‘Yubutart’ follow – the namesake of the restaurant. The first is hiramasa with yuzu crema and a small quenelle of caviar – decadently rich and explosive. The ebi with ikura is creamy and sweet, though otherwise fairly straightforward. The everything bagel salmon doesn’t particularly resemble an everything bagel, and moreso just a piece of salmon sushi. (8.5/10) The toro Sukhwe is supposed to remind you of vitello tonato, but I can’t really pinpoint it. My best guess is that it’s inverted, now a veal sauce to complement the raw tuna, but the flavors aren’t anything alike. This is more obfuscated if you add the Hokkaido uni supplement, which doesn’t create any synergies. (8/10) The crabmeat yubu risotto is another sweet and umami course full of dashi. The rice of and crab meat mix intricately well together. (8.5/10) The butter poached lobster is augmented with a gochujang tuile that’s unfortunately stale it’s sticky to bite, but I could totally see it breaking up the richness of the dish. (7.5/10) Skate fish is presented in a corn sauce with black truffle, surprisingly aromatic given the summer season. The dish is overall a bit dry but the fish is cooked well, presenting the intricately tender and stringy texture. Also have to commend the use of pickled blueberries. (7.5/10) The grilled eel with jerk seasoning is the weirdest course of the night. The spice is kind of overpowering, leaving no room to appreciate the eel. (6/10) The wagyu course uses picanha, the first time I’ve seen this cut for wagyu. The beef is sliced thinly to be scarletty and deliciously fatty. It comes in a sweet buttery truffle sauce and pieces of overcooked maitake mushroom, rather well done to not feel too rich. (8/10) The duck soba turns up the dashi ‘dipping sauce’ to 11. Shreds of tender duck meat intersperse with the soba, making the dish rather effective. (8.5/10) Dessert is just an earl grey soft serve. It’s good, but kind of disappointing from the former executive pastry chef of The Modern. (8/10)

An Italian restaurant with a focus on the wood fire oven. Pizzas are decent, pasta a bit less so. The pasquale chopped is a fun salad with a lot of things in it - olives, sliced salami, cheese, pickled peppers, fennel. The pizza has a good chew and char without much airiness. The clam pizza is pleasantly flavorful from clams with the texture present too. The broccoli rabe is very effective to contrast. The diavola curiously has mint with the salami, a rather strikingly contrasting combination that turned out to be somewhat controversial (I didn’t mind it though). The lemon spaghetti was a bit too acidic than it was zesty. It was also too simple and lacked another dimension in flavor.

An all around pretty good Italian spot, but nothing particularly signature nor notable. The sugar snap pea Caesar salad was a cool concept, but I feel the sauce was a bit too heavy from the cheese and acidity to cover the naturally sweet and vegetal flavor of the sugar peas. The cappelletti pasta are done made rather well - they encapsulate little liquid bursts of taleggio cheese. However I feel the balsamic vinegar was just sweet and didn’t have enough depth to complement the cheese, making it a bit more monotonic. The mushroom lumache was better IMO. Plenty of oyster mushroom with a crème Fraîche based sauce coating each piece of pasta. The texture was spot on too. Tiramisu was more cream than cake, and the cake wasn’t thoroughly soaked to be a bit dry. Overall it was still very tasty though.

A new and well acclaimed modern Indian restaurant in manhattan, from the former head chef of Junoon and a masterchef India judge. Enjoyed everything we got but it wasn’t particularly phenomenal, just overall commendably well done. I think everyone was Indian except us, which is really impressive to see in manhattan. The banarasi puri is a very balanced bite, both in flavors and textures. Every ingredient plays a meaningful role to deliver a complex and composed product. It’s probably my favorite puri in nyc. The shrimp cone comes in a airy puff pastry shell that’s slightly waxy. The shrimp filling is diced into small chunks to no longer retain its texture, while the sauce is saucy yet more savory with a subtle spice. The yogurt kabob is a very interesting creation - plenty of fried shreds cover a cheesy yogurt kataifi filling. The sauce it comes with complements and enlivens the dish, made of purple cabbage, ginger, and mango. The sweet potato chaat is like 90% sweet potato, making the overall texture a bit mundane. Flavor wise it’s flavored by a tangy and spicy green mango sauce that does quite a bit of lifting but still not enough. The chicken chitrani is solid, sweet and ripe in tomato flavor yet with a decent balance. The chicken is adequately tender. The rose kulfi has a very interesting sensation. The kulfi itself is icy in texture but the initial mouthfeel is rather creamy like eating kulfi. The rose water syrup flavor is rather strong. Flavor: 8.25 Quality: 8 Value: 6 SS: +1.5 Presentation: +1.5 LC: +2.5 Misc: +2 Total: 71

An ok French restaurant, pretty poor value for what you’re getting. The bar upstairs is really good though. The maitake mushroom is oven roasted and butter basted like a steak, providing a buttery umami flavor that’s on rather tender inside. It comes with two yet complementing suaves - a parsley oil and a more potent garlic puree. The flavors are simple but rich, a little uninspired, but there’s no denying it’s tasty and done well. The steelhead trout is a bit disappointing. The skin is rather sticky, and the whole piece breaks apart before being cut through. The meat is overcooked to be dry and not at all soft. The sauce is rather novel, a sorrel crème that’s green and just a tad tangy. There’s also a dollop of crème Fraîche with trout roe that’s a bit too hard it feels like eating boba. The house banana cake is freshly baked, moist inside and rather crunchy and caramelized outside. The inside is full of banana flavor, which is complemented, if not taken over, by the immensely rich salted caramel ice cream that melts over the cake.

My favorite restaurant from David Chang, but you should know that I haven’t been a fan of his cooking. As always there’s no shying away from MSG, but here the creativity is commendable and the execution is decent. The crispy potatoes are a really good way to advertise the chili crunch, and there’s perhaps just as much crunch as there are potatoes. The potatoes are fried expertly to have a crunchy and airy shell, cracking apart to reveal an almost liquid and piping hot starchy filling. The zesty lemon mayo to dip is the perfect balance to the chili. The asparagus interestingly is paired with an onsen egg and a miso brown butter, which sets the flavor to be rich and rather satisfying. The grilled asparagus is well done - fibrous and watery yet with a char. Every bite of the mushroom crispy rice is like eating from the bottom of the bowl - it’s very impressive how this crispy rice “patty” was created. Each bite is crunchy, oily, and grainy; there is a strong umami flavor from MSG and garlic, while the mushrooms play a more textural role. It’s a rather delicious dish - if you add in some chili crunch from the potatoes, you’ll probably get kidney stones from the amount of msg you’re ingesting, but it’ll be glorious. The ibérico pork shoulder is no particularly effective, a let down from the previous three. I feel the top grade pork isn’t properly utilized, overcooked to be a bit dry and gritty in texture at parts. It’s paired with a pungent fish sauce that steals the spotlight in flavor from the pork. The pandan pie comes with a palm sugar brûlée and a brown sugar dried coconut crust that’s deeply delicious. I was a fan.

An all around very good middle eastern restaurant, with plenty of inspired adaptations. While it was hard to try everything we wanted as a party of two, everything we got was tasty and recommendable. I’d say the bread was perhaps the worst part of the meal, it was just not particularly remarkable. The duck nduja hummus is delicious. The hummus itself is creamy and very fine, before a spicy and oily minced duck nduja is mixed in with some cilantro. The result is predictably good - rich and dimensional, and unlike any hummus I’ve had. The grilled oyster mushrooms have everything you want. A persistent smoky flavor and char imparted from the fire, a fleshy yet chewy texture matched with a umami and savoriness, and a green lovage + avocado puree with a squeeze of lemon to contrast the mushrooms. The slow roasted lamb neck is fatty and stringy, masterfully roasted. You make little shawarma bites out of it with the laffa flatbread it sits on as well as the sides of tahini and pickled vegetables. The pickled vegetables are much needed - they provide a crucial acidity to balance as well as some juiciness to mitigate the dryness.

Kato holds a very special place to me as someone who grew up eating Chinese food. Every course was cleverly and nostalgically familiar yet not directly so. While every dish is based on a classic food in Taiwanese or Chinese cooking, the menu often won’t list any of the main ingredients you’d find in the original, instead it’d veiled by luxurious ingredients and fine-dining technique. But beyond all the dazzle, the food is just plain delicious and the cooking is objectively excellent. The tasting menu was a diverse and well-crafted sequence, leaving nothing more to be desired. The 凉面 has no cold noodle, instead it is replaced by pieces of amberjack fish interpositioned with radish that form a pretty flower, possessing the same initial mouthfeel as 凉皮. The sauce is a turbocharged sesame sauce just as you’d find in the dish with sichuan peppercorn and mustard, accompanied with a layer of aromatics consisting of ginger, scallion, cucumber, and cilantro. It’s delicious and clever, a banging start. (10/10) The fish maw soup tastes like a classic Chinese fish soup, here extra savory and extra 鲜, and augmented with a chawanmushi at the bottom. The fish maw comes in tiny bits yet each providing a chewy texture, and there’s also a pile of caviar and pieces of Dungeness crab for texture. The side of black vinegar with kelp and fish bone is much needed to break up the intensity. (8/10) The hotpot dish is another creative reimagination, here a seafood course with a broth poured over tableside. It comes with scallop, geoduck, oyster, fava bean, and asparagus, all served in a smoked fish bone broth with Chinese mustard. The savory soup is reminiscent of a Taiwanese stinky hotpot with the 咸菜and the smoked fish flavor, while a touch of Birds Eye chili really makes the dish. The ingredients are unique yet purposeful - the seafood all mi cuit that the oyster reminded me of the tofu you’d find in hotpot, while the vegetables play an equal role. (10/10) The stir fried basil with clams dish doesn’t appear to contain either ingredient. Clam is replaced by a clam stock with the flavor of red braise, while the basil comes in the form of flowers and a basil oil. Instead, the star is a piece of buttery and sweet sablefish, apt to be the star for the course. There are pieces of abalone that perhaps evoke clams, as well as peas for contrast. (9/10) The stir fried lobster dish is a delicious take with shrimp toast. Half of a mi cuit lobster tail - soft and bouncy - sits on top a fried piece of toast. Combining the sweet pepper sauce and the Black pepper ginger sauce beneath creates an uncanny evocation of a stir fried lobster dish. (10/10) The cumin lamb dish is in the form of a lamb rib steak. The cut is fatty and full of lamb flavor, drizzled on with a rich electrifying jus that presents the cumin and spice to cut through the fat, though not overbearingly so. Notably, the pepper used here is a rare Taiwanese maqaw pepper, which is described to have a lemongrass scent. There is also a lamb sausage and a small piece lamb belly too. (9/10) The palate cleanser is a strawberry and rhubarb shave ice, but also with beijing yoghurt beneath and a rhubarb gelee. It eats like a Chinese strawberry flavored yoghurt, which I found to be quite a fun touch. (9/10) The pineapple cake takes on perhaps a few too many changes that it no longer cleanly reminds me of the dish it is named after. For one it’s a mille feuille, a very good one at that, with layers of a gentle Meyer lemon cream in between; secondly, the pineapple is roasted; thirdly, it comes in a rich okinawanan black sugar and ginger syrup. It’s its own thing - a rich yet balanced dessert that’s very well composed. Perhaps it’s a play on the 酥, still crispy but now in its own way. (8.5/10) The meal ends with a singular fun piece of mignardise, a cream puff lava bun with egg yolk cream.

A new and well acclaimed New Mexican restaurant in SD, though the influence is subtle. The food feels somewhat Mediterranean yet without a clear theme, though everything felt inspired to be on the menu. Execution is all around pretty well done. The corn soup is without exaggeration the best corn soup I’ve had. It’s sweet and discernibly made from top-notch corn, though its flavor isnt particularly overt. It’s augmented by a rich pine nut and red hatch chili powder. The soup is thick and slightly mealy. The house made focaccia is excellent - it’s very bouncy and spongy, made fresh every day. The bread is thick but quite airy and soft, easily soaking up the olive oil and balsamic vinegar. The chilled octopus is solid, but admittedly a bit surprising to be the restaurant’s most famous dish. The octopus is served cold and is prepared in a Galician style. The highlight is the harissa sauce that surrounds the octopus. The hen of the woods mushrooms feels like a vaguely Italian dish. It’s served with creamy polenta, shaved pecorino cheese, and a sundried tomato pesto that there wasn’t enough of. The mushroom is a bit overcooked and prepared in threads that it doesn’t have much juiciness to it. It isn’t the star of the dish, which felt a bit disappointing.

An all around decent upscale new Vietnamese place that fell short of expectations. The food just wasn’t particularly striking nor amazing. It felt catered to western palates but in a detrimental way at times, though it wasn’t bad by any means. The beef tartare is diverse in flavor but I feel they could even turn it up another notch. There’s fried shallots, Birds Eye chili, pickled ramp, and cured egg yolk with some fairly fatty beef, all served on rice crackers and herbs. It’s quite tasty ultimately, but the addition of more fish sauce and sugar could make a larger statement. The chicken wings are simple and decently executed, a slightly Vietnamese take on an ultimately comfort food dish. They’re coated in a sweet tamarind glaze, saucy enough by itself to not need other condiments. It comes with a curious coconut ranch and Thai chili sauces. The grilled eggplant is soft and mushy, covered in a spicy Thai chili vinaigrette, pickled ramps, some puffed rice for texture, and a lot of garlic. It has a predominantly spicy and garlicky profile that’s good but not too remarkable. The congee is like a gruel in consistency, thick and sticky without much distinct texture from rice. Its flavor is a little similar too, fairly bland but made a little rich and creamy from an egg yolk mixed in. There’s pieces of wild mushroom, garlic, and crispy shallots for aromatics, as well as cilantro and chive. It’s ok, definitely not the best thing of the evening. It comes with a house made sambal sauce that tastes like glorified sriracha; it works though to enliven the dish.

Chinese American

Perhaps my first hint to avoid this restaurant was that it’s from a group of white people looking for “nostalgic American Chinese food”. Perhaps my second hint was coincidentally bumping into the former head chef at Wormwood earlier that day, and being passionately told to avoid going. Perhaps my third hint was that there was not a single Asian person in the entire establishment, on the staff nor as a patron. Nonetheless, curiosity got the best of me - it looked cool and was from Consortium Holdings, it’s at least worth a shot? I came in with low expectations and they were met, like getting a C in a class. Everything was overly salty, the kind that’ll make you wake up the next morning feeling terrible. I have no idea why there is a 1.5 hour wait here, and I also don’t really know why I decided to wait 1.5 hours for the privilege to have this mediocre cuisine. There is no discernible egg in the egg roll. The shell is a starchy deep fried crust that tastes like raw flour and is way too hard. The filling is an oversalted sweet soy and pork filling with carrots, mushrooms, and cabbage. There was nothing redeeming about this dish. The honey walnut shrimp has very little trace of walnut, replaced by a walnut crumble that tastes more like sugar than anything else. It lacks on the honey too, ending up to be too salty than it is sweet. The shrimp though is bouncy. The string beans are the best dish of the evening, but it’s a low bar. They come stir fried in a soy sauce with bean curd and pepper. The dish is surprisingly saucy, but it could use some spice or another dimension of flavor. The string bean is not overcooked, which is nice.

A French-ish brasserie in NOLA serving creative and hearty food. The garlic almond soup to start is very unique - it’s a nutty and frothy soup, savory and with a potent garlicky flavor that’s quite intense by itself. It’s balanced by a saffron oil, complemented by a fatty and deep Serrano ham, and enhanced with a poached egg yolk. It’s so rich it could be a dip to the bread we got. The braised celery heart is rather novel as well. The celery heart is braised to be soft, watery, yet fibrous, sitting in a curious tomato water with the influence of American whisky and a lot of butter. This sauce is initially acidic and savory, but it’s quite well rounded and umami yet with depth from the whisky. The smoked beef tongue is well done but i wish there was more of it. The celeriac remoulade is also a very intriguing construction - long julienned strands of celeriac noodles are served on top a warm piece of pain Perdue. The celeriac with blue crab feels like a glorified version of coleslaw especially with a mayonnaise like sauce. It being cold doesn’t help it, but does provide some kind of temperature contrast. The risotto is very heavy, and the one dish of the night I regret getting. It feels like each bite is as much sauce as there is rice, and it’s cooked in a decadent crab fat too. It’s fortunately broke up by some chowchow, a local sweet pickled relish that is showcased well. The quail on top is smoked and tastes like sausage.

A New Orleans institution; came for the iconic brunch and it felt like a must do activity if you’re visiting. Food, especially the banana foster dessert that you kinda have to get, was quite heavy. The turtle soup is hearty with delightful bits of tender turtle. It’s a little like a gumbo in flavor, hearty and savory, but also enhanced with zest and aged sherry too. The egg yolk carpaccio feels like a misnomer; it’s really a grilled shrimp dish with egg yolk sauce, fried sweet potato shreds, and tiny bits of andouille sausage. The sauce is rich and umami but not particularly striking. The eggs sardou are like eggs Benedict, but the muffin is replaced with a fried artichoke and there’s no meat; instead there is a bed of creamed spinach beneath. The fried artichoke is sweet and mild, replacing meat with a hearty touch. It was quite interesting and worked well with the rich and delectable choron sauce. The eggs hussarde is a Brennan’s original; it’s like an eggs Benedict but with an additional red wine reduction for balance. The Canadian bacon is curiously cured with coffee. The hollandaise is very very rich. If you had to get one thing, this would be the one. The world famous bananas foster is so unhealthy yet so good. It’s made tableside with a heap of brown sugar and butter, before banana liqueur and bananas are added. Lastly it’s flambéed and served over vanilla ice cream. The ice cream melts into a soup with the caramel into a soupy sauce, exceptionally rich and sweet to be had with the banana.

This is the kind of place that I’d imagine locals come to celebrate a special occasion. No modern influences, just upscale local fare done very well. The gumbo is top notch; it’s effectively seasoned and comes with rice, chicken, andouille sausage, and celery. It’s a hearty start. The butternut shrimp bisque is amazing, probably one of the best shrimp bisques I’ve had. The flavor of shrimp blends really with the rich cream and butternut flavors, before being broken up by some spice and mustard that come in at the end. There are bits of shrimp and mushy butternut pulp for texture. The fried soft shell crab is a daily special. I don’t think I’ve had a soft shell crab this large before. It comes covered in a sauce that has like all the flavors - umami from butter and pecans, acidity from verjus, sweet, spice, and plenty of aromatic herbs too. The sweetbreads are decent, coming in a garlic butter and with slices of mushrooms to pair. The seafood platter comes with 5 things. The grilled redfish is meaty and imparted with flavors of the grill. It comes with contrasting pieces of tender crawfish tail, all in a pistachio and lime zest creamy sauce that’s quite remarkable. The seared scallop is masterfully cooked, paired with with cheesy grits and an intriguing New Mexican style red pepper sauce. The oyster leruth is tender and still kind of raw, yet it’s baked with crab and shrimp meat in the custard. The baked scallop with spinach and melted gruyere on top is my favorite. Lastly, the crawfish cornbread is also quite special, surprisingly rich perhaps from both the heads and the jalapeño corn butter.

An interesting Chinese Latino restaurant, except it isn’t really latin chinese food, just kind of its own creative thing. It’s worth a try, and execution is decent. The congee croquettes are quite smart and work really well with a crunchy fried shell the reveals a thick congee filling. The congee has a strong ginger taste and there’s a strong garlic taste in the shell. The char siu ribs are coated in a caramelized char siu sauce, with some influence of ginger and scallion to break up the fatty and porky ribs. The dish is well done. The coconut garlic noodles are an unlikely combination - it’s coconutty and garlicky, but also quite tangy and sour. It tastes sort of off putting initially but you grow to like it more. i feel it was designed to be had some hot chili oil - it hides the offputting acidity and becomes balanced and delicious. The fried chicken is quite like popcorn chicken in flavor. The pieces have a lot of surface area so it’s quite crunchy but the chicken is a little dry. The ice cream sandwich comes frozen like a brick. It’s perhaps a play on a Cuban guava and cheese pastry, and works quite well.

I kind of understand why it’s so hard to get a res here now - the dining room is very small, and the food is quite good. Maybe not Pete wells 3 stars good, but definitely rather inspired and well executed. The eggs mayo come with a green twist of parsley oil and celery salt. The house mayonnaise is thick and creamy, a little like a denser crème fraiche. It goes well with the egg, and the green flavors are a pleasant but not overt dimension. The squid is notably braised, served with a spinach stew over a bed of yoghurt - a curious combination. The stewed spinach is like a dip in consistency, infused with garlic and oil with plenty of salt. It acts as a sauce to the squid with the yogurt, which works brilliantly as the yoghurt adds some acidity and creaminess to the spinach. The squid has a texture as if it were slightly dried, more chewy but not bouncy. I am normally not a rice and beans person, but the stuffed radicchio was delicious. The radicchio is a mushy wrapper to some very soft rice and beans inside. It’s flavored by a tomato puree and a port sauce that’s quite herbal, as if some amaro had been added in as well. They blend together harmoniously to offer depth, sweetness, and umami flavors. The herb roast chicken is a good 8/10. Done well, no surprises, almost too vanilla. The chicken is adequately tender and succulent, a good blend of juicy and oily. It comes with a side of crispy roasted potatoes, a bit too dried and hardened though still soft inside. The roasted garlic is nice. The profiteroles are excellent. They come on a crunchy and buttery choux, with a very flavorful vanilla ice cream in between. It’s drizzled with a perfected caramel, really making it phenomenal.

The restaurant from one of my favorite bars. As with bar pompette, they experiment a little for effective yet often subtle combinations. It’s commendable and often quite fun. The onion tart is something else. It beautifully combines a creamy and rich caramelized yogurt with the flavor of sweet onions, glazed in port for depth. With some ramp puree, it’s particularly fragrant and the end product is rather satisfyingly immense. The tartlet is very crispy at the bottom and quite buttery, like a delicious pastry. I regret ordering the lobster pretzels, but they’re still objectively still quite good - just a bit weird together. They’re like lobster rolls but the butter roll is replaced by a pretzel. There isn’t as much lobster relatively, but the lobster with the lobster bisque mayonnaise is particularly flavorful that it kind of makes up for it. There’s much more pretzel than lobster, so it’s a bit dry. The bone marrow comes with escargot on top, cooked in a garlic butter. The bone marrow ends up being a rich sauce to the snail, eating quite like escargot. There’s also a red wine onion confit that’s sweet and tart to balance. The overnight braised beef chuck brings out the best of beef chuck, kind of like a rich burger in flavor. It’s stringy but tender, occasionally fatty. It comes with a bourignon sauce laced with mustard seeds, complex yet balanced, and a sweeter carrot puree that makes a harmonious bite.

A modern new French bistro with a constantly changing menu. Food is quite inspired and fun. The pommes dauphine is a house signature - little fried beignets that are super moist it’s mushy inside. You stuff them with the crème fraiche, trout roe, dill, and shallots - quite Scandinavian. The combination is solid and so is the execution, though I didn’t find it to be particularly mind blowing. The green asparagus comes with a chopped egg vinaigrette, as well as a chopped gala of hard boiled egg, celery, and almond. The asparagus is unexpectedly served chilled; it’s watery, fibrous, and discernibly fresh in season. The chopped egg vinaigrette is unique but makes a lot of sense - rich yet balanced, adding a key savory element to complete the asparagus. The chicken liver is paired with “very nice turnips”, and they’re indeed quite nice. They’re mini turnips - juicy and crunchy, with a sweet radish flavor. The chicken livers are the effective opposite; they’re irony, rich, and grittier. They come with some sweet pepper puree and a rich sweet gravy.

No worse than alobar from the same group, which I really liked. As part of the ace hotel Toronto, the restaurant has a design that is some flavor of modern brutalism. The clams are well done, mi cuit in texture and complemented by brown butter and bits of nduja sausage for both texture and additional meaty flavor. Some lemon balances well. The beef carpaccio is a must - it’s excellently composed and executed. The scarlet and fatty thin layer of beef is topped with fried chives, pickled mustard seeds, and aioli - classic side pieces that work extraordinarily well. The 20oz strip loin isn’t as big as I’d expected; there are only 5 pieces cut up. However the steak is done excellently, very beefy and soft yet chewy. It’s basically seasoned and cooked over the live fire. The broccoli also goes through the live fire and it tastes thoroughly smoky. This smokiness is complemented with an anchovy sauce brilliantly, making it one of my favorite dishes of the evening. The tempura shishito peppers are airy and oily, but overall well done. The ricotta ravioli was decent. The pasta is soft and with a thin skin, complemented by saffron as well as a sweet carrot and ginger puree. However the ricotta was very mild and had the texture of tofu curd. The coconut cream cake for dessert is quite a lot. It’s well done though; really liked the macaroon crust.

A picturesque classical French restaurant with modern touches in the food. Desserts were the highlight. The scallops in the appetizers is really well composed. It pairs scallops with green asparagus puree, lemongrass foam, and English peas. The scallops are thoroughly seared, their sweet creamy flavor going delightfully well against the mild green notes from the asparagus and the green peas. The lemongrass flavor to complete is lovely. The peas are just a bit too distractingly salty. The trout was alright. It comes in a huge slab, commendably soft, though the skin could use some work and is a bit too sticky. It comes with a sweet creamy baby carrot puree, creating a mild but moderately effective combo. This is cut through starkly by some pickled carrot in verjus, leaving an unhamronjpus aftertaste. The risotto is very on brand - it comes out looking like a garden. It uses Carolina gold rice - great choice. The cheesiness is paired with a subtly enjoyable green flavor from nettle, which I really enjoyed. It comes with pieces of crunchy fish bone to texture as well as some artichoke that add some dimension; there’s also some chive and green bean too. Unfortunately some bits of the artichoke are too hard to chew, and some pieces of fish are stale. The first dessert is an elevated take on a carrot cake, wrapping the cake in a thick yet light shell of cream cheese icing. On top is a layer of green pandan panna cotta, and beneath is a more tropical pineapple sauce that works unexpectedly well. To complete the carrot cake, a pecan ice cream is served on the side with some delicious brown sugar crumble. The butterfly dessert is excellent. You first taste the bold raspberry compote before the zesty yuzu mousse kicks in, creating a diverse and fruity bite. On the side is a pistachio crumble, and a frozen white chocolate bonbon.

A restaurant faithfully dedicated to oaxacan cuisine. I have no doubt that it would be much more popular if it were in manhattan. The tetela is served in a black mole. While the masa is good, it feels a bit dry and hardened. The melted oaxacan cheese inside helps fix this a bit though. The black mole is more nutty but not too deep, with an unexpected twist of acidity towards the end to accompany spice. The esquites are delicious, in a mild and satisfying way. It uses sweet corn kernels in a subtle and rich chicatana ant sauce, balanced by a bit lime and the sweetness of the corn. The cotija cheese does not add gameyness, just more depth in umami from being aged. The memelas are paired with Wagyu and black beans; notably there is more Wagyu than there is masa. The masa is excellent, but the Wagyu on top is not as convincing. It’s not adequately spiced, and I feel that using Wagyu was unnecessary to provide the chewy qualities it was going for. Some further dimension of flavor would’ve gone a long way. The pulpo de puerto brings in the chicatana ant sauce again for a subtly nutty and satisfying flavor, with the help of chilis and tomato yet in a supportive and nonintrusive manner. The octopus is exceptionally tender and soft that I was surprised on my first bite. It mixes well with some mushy potatoes. The coconut shave ice is quite thoughtful.

A unique new American restaurant with something quintessentially Brooklyn about it. The food is delicious. The polenta bread is standout - it’s exceptionally fluffy with a soft and tenacious chew. It comes fresh out of the live fire oven with the smoke imparted into the bread and some char too. A generous dose of oil with sesame seeds and oregano are drizzled on top, but at parts it’s a bit too salty. The grilled mushrooms shares the grilled flavor, here sliced thinly to be quite chewy and a bit dry. It is served in a rich pine nut miso, balanced with acidity to taste a little like escabeche. The house mortadella is very good - it has a creamy yet slightly gritty texture. The two sheet lasagna is the house signature. It’s quite effective and discernibly lasagna, but just a little bit different with just two green sheets cooked in a live fire grill. The sheets are thin and slippery, with a somewhat crispy exterior from the char. This leaves room for more sauce per bite; there’s equal parts bolognese and bechamel cream, then sprinkled with aged Parmesan cheese. The pea shoots are the first time I’ve seen this vegetable outside of a Chinese restaurant. The flavor is the same, but here they’re more leafy and doused in a good amount of oil.

Didn’t expect to like foxface natural as much as I did. It’s a wine bar with sophisticated food focusing on fresh and local seafood. Each dish had a good balance with plenty of interesting and impressive direction. The blue fin tuna crudoto start is quite discernibly fresh, its texture soft and fatty. It’s flavored by some very aromatic side pieces - scallion olive oil, fermented tomato, and juicy sundried tomatoes. They work quite well with the tuna. White asparagus is paired with a shrimp head sauce, sliced whelk, and some shaved cured duck yolk, cresting a a delicious bite where the sweet and juicy asparagus complements the rich and savory shrimp head. On the side is a foam of asparagus with tarragon oil, even sweeter and softer than the asparagus. The whelk is chewy but soft, very fresh. The kangaroo tartare comes out warm and it’s very soft, much more tender than beef. Its flavors are notably quite mild, served with a carrot coriander puree with curry - subtle yet well complementing especially from the carrot. It using pieces of fermented celery to contrast texturally, as well as a crisp flatbread on the side. The tajarin pasta comes with an oily and zesty sauce to showcase the bottarga, here a soft and sticky karasumi that’s cured in salt and sake. It tastes mostly like bottarga but with a subtle flavor of sake on the nose. The pasta is well done but it sits in a pool of oil that’s way too much.

An interesting restaurant with a fun and vaguely Chinese influence. There was definitely a preference for satisfyingly heavy flavors. It probably wouldn’t get a star today, but I can see how popular it would’ve been 10 years ago when it opened. Execution often fell a bit short. The bread to start are scallion oil puffs with a ricotta spread and everything seasoning - definitely one of the more interesting bread courses out there that it felt more like an amuse bouche. The puffs are a bit too oily and stale, but the combination is fun. The octopus is tender but a bit dry with a hard batter. It comes with a pork XO that are like pork crumbs, oily and sweet with a flavor of pork floss. It also comes with a cheesy potato espuma to indulge I suppose. Some pine nuts are a nice touch. The snow crab noodles are very rich, coated in a very umami dashi brown butter with the crab roe flavor apparent. The noodles are fresh and chewy; these noodles were perhaps the best executed thing we had. The pig out is such an interesting combination that it feels like there is an interesting story behind how it came to be. The star is HK style roast pork - a very thick and crunchy skin, but unfortunately the meat here is too dry yet also mushy. It has two sauces, a ginger scallion, and a sweet sambal that adds a lot more flavor to balance the pork. The peanut noodles on the side is exceptionally sweet and saucy, definitely on the heavy side. The side salad has longan and candied walnuts, making it even more on sweet. For dessert, there are “Chinese beignets” that are just fried mantou. It’s paired with a marmalade with a touch of sichuan pepper, vanilla ice cream, and goat’s milk caramel. It’s an elevated take on the classic Chinese fried mantou in that the mantou are very fluffy inside, but the sauces aren’t particularly brilliant together.

Very well done katsu, but also some excellent other dishes too. We start with the corn ribs. They taste just like Asian corn flavored snacks, with an intense and fond artificial corn flavor. They’re also quite buttery, so naturally they taste really good. Texture wise they’re less remarkable, about halfway in between crunchy and soft. The katsu is very well done; no surprises. The batter is crispy yet very soft that it kind of dissolves without any crunch. There are lot of flakes. The tenderloin is porky and lean, not quite chewy but more soft and tender. The loin is a larger cut that also comes with a fat cap. It’s comparatively a little bit less dry and more chewy. The menchi katsu is a combination of minced pork and chicken. It’s much more fatty and oily, tender with the chicken yet dissonantly quite gritty. The shell here is much crunchier. The texture of the mazemen is a highlight - chewy and thick with an udon like slipperiness. The sauce of miso minced pork, almond butter, and chili oil honestly reminds me a little of a classic Shanghainese dish that I really like. The corn ice cream is akin to the packaged kind you can find Asia, though the flavor is not particularly intense. The serving temperature is a bit too cold but the bits of corn are nice.

A Chinese and Low country crossover seafood restaurant (!) that I quite liked. Each dish is quite fun and thoughtful, and the food keeps its Carolinian and Chinese identities. Execution is also on point, though value isn’t amazing as one would expect in the west village (there’s an 80 dollar half chicken). Bread was really hyped up by our servers but honestly we found everything else on the menu to better. The hush puppy HK waffle is a big hush puppy in the shape of an HK egg waffle. However its surface area to volume is much higher, making it way more crispy and not really cornmeal-y. It’s also a bit too salty, though the hot honey butter saves it a bit. The corn and jalapeño bolo bao is the better of the two breads. It’s like a denser bolo bao with some corn and jalapeño embedded inside. It’s quite tasty and well done. I was a fan of the breakfast clams - western style cooked clams but with a thick savory soy milk sauce augmented with cooking wine and of course butter. It’s kind of subliminal tasting, reminiscent but in an inexplicable way. There’s some delightful chive flower in the mix, as well as a small sourdough youtiao that wasn’t as airy or doughy as your typical. The hot fried skate is like a Chinese and seafood variant on the classic hot chicken. It’s done very well - flavor wise it’s dominated by Chinese chili oil, yet also very similar to southern fried chicken in the batter and the potent spice. Through this all, the fine and stringy skate texture notably comes through. The pickles on the side have a thoughtful touch of huamei flavor. The mapo grits is a synergistic combination in flavors.

The sweet soy milk to start is too sweet, but the soy flavors are on point. The fried you tiao is done very well, which means it's quite oily with a airy leavening and a crunchy skin. The Lu rou fan is exactly the kind of dish I'd make at home - meant to be all mixed up with 2 sous vide eggs and pickled vegetables. Each bite is creamy, porky,sweet, and broken through by the pickles. The lurou is mostly pork without other ingredients, becoming quite porky and fatty. it's hearty and appeals to the monkey brain. The sesame noodles are not as sesame forward as I would like. It's not too saucy and the flavor is immediately cut though by both vinegar and spice. The sautéed oyster mushrooms are a bit too salty.

Very high quality Mexican fare, on par with the seafood places you can find in Mexico. The fish tacos are pretty standout. It has a light batter with a thin tortilla to match. The batter was impressively airy but tasted a little too much like baking powder to me. The fish meat was delicate. The shrimp in the shrimp taco is slightly overcooked, but it’s thoroughly flavored from the spice marinade. It has the same chipotle aioli as the fish tacos. The whole grilled branzino al pastor is deboned, grilled to be quite tender with still a soft skin. It is properly seasoned with the al pastor, and topped with a sweet and fruity pineapple relish to complement the pastor. There is also a fluffy pineapple butter as the main condiment that acts as the salsa, but honestly another flavor profile would’ve been nice.

Royal Thai cuisine in the form of a tasting menu. The starting bites are impressively varied and each quite complex, but the mains fell a bit short relatively and the dessert didn’t save the show. Regardless it was quite a recommendable experience, and honestly very high value. The amuse bouche are shreds of fried vermicelli noodle with Nova Scotia shrimp, in a sweet and sour glaze. The flavor of the fried noodles reminds me of these chinese fried crackers, very umami and snack like to start. An exceptionally zesty som sa lime peel is applied tableside. Next is a fried pork toast very well balanced with some pickled radish and cucumber, then enhanced by some Thai chili. It was quite a tasty bite. Then comes a bite sized steamed sticky rice bun, stuffed with smoked duck, coconut shreds, and bird eye chili. It’s surprisingly sweet and not too umami, though the sticky rice dough is quite thick. An oyster is served next, augmented with seafood flavors you’d find in Thai cuisine. There’s a tom yum oil, tamarind, as well as a fried shallot tuile. I quite liked the thought put in and the combo worked well. Soup is the next course, featuring familiar yet mild flavors of lime, galangal, and lemongrass. It comes with soft chewy lobster, agar lime juice balls, and a rehydrated sweet tomato. The following bite of kanom Jin focuses on crab flavor. It lacks a bit in spices, but the crab is plentiful. The fried betel leaf that wraps the bite and the thin rice noodle are both good texture. The mains now begin, but they stay as small bites. The crying tiger uses some well marbled a5 Wagyu. It is marinated to have sweeter notes than the typical crying tiger. I wish there was more flavor to cut through the fattiness. 2 large juicy snails are served in a very mild green curry. The flavor of the snail is pleasingly evident. The real mains finally arrive. They’re just alright at best, similar to what you’d find at a normal restaurant. I think these were the courses that I felt let down by. There is a massaman salmon curry with makrut lime, making it a bit more sour. There is also a khao kha moo pork belly with the sweet and herbal flavors, but the lean parts are a bit too dry. The rice is embedded with crab, topped with a chicken skin crispy. On the side is a steamed pork paste with spices. Dessert is a trio of tiny bites, quite pretty but ending a bit weak. The first steamed pandan coconut cake is a bit stale. There is also a bite of coconut pandan cream and salted egg yolk, in the form of a flower. The mango sticky rice chocolate sounds cooler than it tastes - it doesn’t taste like mango nor chocolate, but mostly coconut.

I've never been warned 6 times by the server to not order a certain dish at a restaurant. Perhaps it was all a ploy to get me to order a 32 dollar kra pow and I fell right into it... I ended up finishing this "brutally spicy" dish, perhaps to my own detriment. It was a humbling experience to eat the kra pow. It was undoubtedly the spiciest dish I've had in nyc that I had to take breaks in between. The dish felt like it was designed with the sole intention to make people regret ordering it. A lot of preserved spice paste is added in addition to fresh Birds Eye chili, making spice the key flavor, and no longer the beef nor the holy basil. Objectively as a kra pow it was not great - the flavors were just chili paste, and the beef was a bit too dry. The panang curry is very sweet but also quite fragrant, very authentically flavored. This is worth returning for more than the kra pow.

A classic neighborhood red sauce joint with a ton of memorabilia from Naples. The meatballs are really good - they're fine in texture with the occasion bit of tendon, yet with a subtle kind of gamey flavor perhaps from offal. The house pomodoro spaghetti is alright. It has a stronger flavor of salt than tomato, and there's just a bit of basil. The noodles are standard, a little bit past al dente. The tiramisu is very good - not extraordinary, just very good. There’s a good balance of mascarpone, lady fingers, coffee and cocoa. The lady fingers are properly soaked.

Very chewy and pretty crispy dough, but not as airy. The clam pizza is alright, nothing extraordinary, with a decent amount of clam. The chili oil helps a lot. The chopped salad is a hodgepodge of stuff - celery, onion, almonds, dates, sheep cheese - all brought together in an oregano vinaigrette.

Pretty standout Thai food in Manhattan. I liked this place more than soothr (same owner), especially with how properly spicy everything is. The skewers are all done quite well, each coated in the sweet bbq sauce. Favorite was the cuttlefish, grilled mi cuit to be a little creamy abd also quite bouncy in the chew. The chicken wing is decently tender, and so is the beef tongue. The intestine is a bit stinky though and isn't adequately cleaned. The chicken skin is soft as soaks up a lot of the sauce. The nahm prik it comes with is lovely and spicy. The lek kua pla ra is a crossover between a stir fried noodle dish and a morning glory dish. It has a light fish sauce flavor, plenty of oil, but an inadequate amount of wok char. The pork rinds just come in the side. It's tasty but not too special. The tom zaab nuer hotpot is very generous with the beef. Each piece is chunky and quite chewy, always with some tendon or fat. The soup is zingy and tangy, following the flavor profile faithfully. The sappe ribs are hyped by our server but honestly they're just good and not great. It's a whole rack (!) of baby back ribs coated in a sweet and garlicky umami glaze. The pork is quite tender, coming apart easily. It comes with some sappe powder (MSG), but I find the nahm prik from the skewers to be a much more enjoyable condiment.

Really liked smoking goat and kiln is just as good. The clay pot noodles are the signature for a reason, and they're cheaper than some of the ones I've had in Thailand lol. The northern esan sausage is excellent and very authentic. The sausage has plenty of texture and spices inside, complemented by some Vietnamese mint and Thai chili. The cumin lamb skewers are some of the best I've had. They're fairly thick cubes so that it's still rare and chewy inside, with a good balance of fatty and lean. The grey mullet laab mee shreds the fish and serves it like a laab with plenty of aromatics. It goes well mixed in the clay pot noodles. The clay pot noodles are excellent. The sweet and soy flavor is augmented by an electrifying green nahm prik. There's brown crab meat and roe at the bottom, which integrates well both in texture with the noodle and flavor with the soy. The best part may be that it only costs 8 pounds. My only gripe is that they're a bit soft. The stir fried chicken livers is a rich dish, so it comes with pickled garlics to balance. This one is a bit less exciting than the other few, but it's still very recommendable if you like liver.

A casual and busy bistro in the market serving super fresh ingredients. The escargot are textbook and perfect. They're large, juicy, and tender, with a complementing yet not overwhelming herb butter sauce. You can still taste the sea in the baby scallops; the flavor is so distinct it transports you to the seaside. They taste somewhere between scallops and oysters, and come in a classic butter herb and white wine sauce. They're just a little undercooked to have a slight bounce. The sweetbreads are cooked excellent - velvety and tender inside with a welcome slight gamey flavor.

The scallops come with some brown button mushrooms and peas, in a familiar sweet buttery sauce. They're quite tasty, and the mushrooms and peas are quite a nice mild contrast to the scallop. The famous veal brain comes in a dashi nor the with some acidity. The brain is both complemented and contrasted by this broth, though admittedly it's far less funky than i had expected. It's very soft with the texture of soft tofu. The pigeon pie is standout.

An amazing afternoon dessert experience at a Michelin starred restaurant led by a world pastry champion. Everything was perfect, from the flavors to the presentation, and from the service to the decor. The pavlova plays on the interaction between red fruit and cheesecake in an elevated and masterful manner. The cheesecake comes in the form of a lemon cheesecake ice cream, while the red fruit comes through the pavlova. A lot of additional ingredients make the dish much more complex - a flavorful forest fruit compote, a mulled wine espuma, strawberry crumble, white chocolate, lychee kombucha, and a vanilla namelaka, which all melt together to create this delicious and harmonious sweet mixture. There are plenty of texture too to keep the bite interesting. It's plated beautifully as well. The crepe is perfected - it is balanced between egg and butter in flavor, with a slightly stretchy crepe texture. It has just a bit of burnt flavor. There are 4 condiments on the side - chocolate sauce, yuzu marmalade, butter, sugar. There are mignardaises with tea and starting savory snacks presented like petit fours, and they're all excellent.

A semi Japanese yakitori shop crossed over with a wine bar, serving omakase tailored to the diner’s preferences. It was a bit of a disappointing experience, but I think I got unlucky with the selection compared to what others were getting. The first dish is a fried butternut squash, with a thick yet airy batter on the oilier side. The squash flavor is not strong so the sprinkle of acidity and spice is more noticeable. (7/10) Some fatty salmon belly is next. It’s glazed in some mild oil, spring onion, salt, and pepper - fairly unremarkable. (7.5/10) The sea bass is grilled skillfully over a binchotan grill, imparting a lovely flavor and a crispy skin. The meat is kind of bouncy surprisingly. The green spicy green yogurt sauce is interesting but quite mild. Overall it lacks another dimension of flavor. (8/10) The skewers come next. The first is chicken breast with mustard. It’s a bit dry and the mustard is quite potent. (7/10) This is interspersed with some ravioli with a delicate ricotta and saffron filling. The bouillabaise sauce is thoughtfully rich to pair. (8/10) The gizzard skewer is thoroughly grilled and there’s a char too, which overcooks the gizzard for traditional yakitori standards. It’s coated in a subtle ponzu sauce. The heart on the other hand is better executed, tender and chewy. (7.5/10) The padrón peppers are still watery inside despite being charred outside. The flavor of the pepper is enjoyably strong. (8/10) The bone marrow pasta is rich but is immediately cut through with acidity, killing the satisfying rounded mess bone marrow provides. The homemade tagliatelle is otherwise good. The bottarga pasta is similar cut through with acidity but here it works better. There’s a nice creamy mouthfeel on the sauce. (8/10) The tsukune has a gritty and meaty texture without much cartilage or other components. There’s a curious spice that goes well with the spinach puree and sour cream sauce. The homemade paratha bread as a side is weird but not bad to pair. (7.5/10) For dessert, the tres leches cakes adds a fourth milk, coconut milk, to the dessert. It’s surprisingly not too sweet, supplemented in sweetness by a strong sticky meringue. Even though it’s objectively good, I feel something is missing. (7.5/10) The oolong ice cream with chocolate ganache and pistachio is refreshingly excellent, both in execution and composition. This was my favorite course and the saving grace to the meal. (9/10)

A lauded French bistro serving classical cuisine. Honestly the food was just ok, nothing particularly highlightable. The escargot come in little containers. It’s very buttery but surprisingly not garlicky, instead with a very green flavor not from herbs but wild greens. The snail is tender. The pate en croute is textbook. There’s a good balance of different components, fatty and lean. The flavor is quite porky, balanced by some house pickled legumes like carrots and cabbage. The house cassoulet consists mostly of white beans, covering pieces of sausage, pork belly, duck, and beef cheek. The beans are soft and sticky on the palate, while the pork belly is unbelievably soft. The fish is very savory but without much other flavor. It’s undoubtedly cooked very well but the flavors are very simple and monotonic.

This is now my favorite progressive Chinese restaurant, and I have a penchant to visit them. The food is exceptionally clever, often combining not just one but two Chinese dishes with a French one (though it’s a guessing game, as you can’t tell at all from the menu). It retains a Chinese soul in the flavors and resonates deeply with someone who grew up eating Chinese food. Execution is on point from a young team with fine dining training, and ultimately the cooking is delicious. 9 out of 10 times, I find myself disappointed in these fusion-y Chinese restaurants, but it’s worth it for that 1 time - Le Cheval d’Or is the best example of this. Since the menu changes frequently, I’ll be back every time I’m in Paris. The amuse bouche is a classic steamed egg custard but with a light dashi and soy syrup - quite a mild and agreeable start. The potato tuile is for texture? We got all 5 of the hot appetizers. The first is a salsify and white asparagus (!) deep fried like 锅包肉. It comes with a sweet and sour drizzle with hints of ginger. The batter coating is spot on for Chinese food - leavened and thick, yet airy and super oily. The cabbage stuffed beef is a crossover with steamed dumplings. The beef is ground and has a distinct chive flavor, wrapped in Chinese cabbage. The chinese cabbage as the skin is really smart - normally it’s found inside the filling and now there’s much more of it, yielding more sweetness and texture. The barbajuan are like fried wontons, but they also remind me of fried 韭菜盒子, with the egg, vermicelli, and chive inside. The Swiss chard comes on the outside as a wrap to resemble barbajuan. The mapo tofu tortellini is incredibly smart. It puts tofu in the filling but the mapo sauce outside as a sauce. The tofu is like a ricotta cheese replacement for the tortellini. The sauce is more acidic and less savory forward, quite balanced. The croque madame is a play on shrimp toast. Two very crispy pieces of toast cover a thick layer of mashed shrimp paste. The flavors are enhanced with mayonnaise, cilantro, and a non intrusive chili oil. The scallops are actually gigantic scallop chunks served like siu mai, complete with trout roe and meat paste. They come in large scallop shells with a butter and Chinese cooking wine (!) sauce that’s really remarkable - it has garlic and ginger notes too, reminding me of Chinese steamed fish. The spinach at the bottom soaks up the sauce. For dessert, pavlova is like a Chinese tong sui. It has three major components - a lychee granita that tastes like Chinese lychee juice, a frozen yoghurt that’s like the sweet yoghurt you can get in China, and pavlova. The flavor combination between the the lychee and yoghurt is harmonious, while the pavlova adds a more intense sweetness. There are bits of stewed pear as well. Lastly, the Paris-Belleville is a play on Paris-Brest. The ingenuity is all in the cream - made of red bean and sesame. Both are light and balanced, walking a fine line between red bean and black sesame.

My expectations were perhaps too high for David Toutain. Maybe it was all the beautifully plated photos I had seen online, or the Chef’s distinguished reputation that is virtually a household name in the fine dining world. The food didn’t live up to the hype, and honestly the whole identity about nature didn’t feel overly evident either. It didn’t disappoint though. There were many highs and lows in our tasting menu, though admittedly there were more lows than one would expect at a restaurant of this caliber. What was constantly impressive though was the frequent use of obscure ingredients and the creative synthesis of flavors. ## Food We start with a series of unique small bites that appear seemingly simple but delightfully bring together some unlikely combinations. The first is a salsify stick with a dip made from parsnip and white chocolate. It’s a sweet and mild start, aptly in season. (9/10) Next is a strange and off-putting bulb of cloudy egg white. It’s flavored by yeast, licorice, and macadamia to have a slight fermented taste, with an uncomfortably refreshing and sweet aftertaste like eating aspartame. (5/10) The cabbage tart is masterful. Texturally it is very layered yet light, in which the shredded cabbage is paired with a thin mille feuille tartlet. The vinegar gel provides a burst of sweet acidity, while the cabbage transitions from a sweetness to a mild bitterness. (10/10) The kiwi and oyster is a mainstay, and it works in a dissonant kind of way. The kiwi provides an initial impression of sweetness, before the diced up oyster takes over for a more rounded creaminess to accompany the tartness of the kiwi. (8.5/10) Lastly, there is an excellent beignet with mushed whiting fish inside and a piece of smoked fish on top for depth. It tastes a little like the best possible Filet-o-Fish; sweet and mildly fishy, yet super airy and light. It is also a bit oily to complete the look. (8/10) The first course comes in 3 parts, perhaps using all root vegetables as the theme. It’s centered around a “mille feuille” made from leeks, flavored with a savory citrus vinaigrette that’s strong on olive oil. Perhaps the mille feuille is inspired by the layers of a leek in nature; its texture is silky and becomes quite fibrous throughout the bite. It’s a simple dish in terms of flavors despite being a challenging one to create, leading to me wanting more to go into the plate. On the side is an impressively delicate fried shell encasing some rich and runny sunchoke cream. In addition, there are some small pieces of sweetbread in a tasty and rich soubise. The subtle gamey flavor of the sweetbread plays agreeably into the rich and creamy onion flavor. (8/10) The second course also comes in 3 parts. Here the theme is the pairing of vegetables with seafood, though the emphasis isn’t on the seafood. The first is burnt onion with razor clam, using special and sweeter, onions from central France that’s also nontrivially bitter from being burnt. With the fried onion chips, the flavor hides the razor clam that’s been diced up. The razor clam does provide a fun squiggly texture though. The main part of the course is tiny Brussel sprouts that accompany just one slice of scallop, which feels like a stingy imbalance. It comes with slices of pickled pear and a green puree. The dish felt like something you’d find in a trendy natural wine-bar, and wasn’t anything particularly exceptional in technique nor in flavor. Lastly, there is a lettuce leaf wrap with tiny shrimp and crispy heads, perhaps based on tacos. The guacamole puree was a bit sour and tasted oddly like banana. (7/10) White asparagus is the star of the next course. The asparagus is watery and somewhat fibrous, prepared skillfully like fish. But perhaps the real differentiation lies in the sauce – here, it is a combination of hazelnut cream, chestnut cream, and touches of rhubarb. The sauces are mild and umami, not forward though ending strong on nuttiness. The asparagus curiously has little holes drilled in for the rhubarb gel. (8/10) The fish dish is reminiscent of the signature dish at Alma in Lisbon – cod roulade interspersed with bits of savory black olive powder. But it just isn’t as tasty nor does it make as strong an impression than Alma’s. The fish is cured to be thoroughly salted and with a notable taste of lye, having a stringy texture yet with a slight bounce. A beurre blanc of Chinese artichoke accompanies the fish; the sauce is sour and needed to balance the salt. (7.5/10) The next fish dish blows it out the water. It serves strips of smoked herring with a black sesame sauce, creating a poetic yet lengthy combination with the depth of black sesame and the persistent flavor of smoked herring. To balance things out, some spherified gastrique provide bursts of sweetness and acidity, and there are also refreshing pieces of apple in the sauce. (9/10) The meat course is perhaps guinea fowl, though to be honest I didn’t quite catch what the animal was. A large cut of the breast is drizzled on with its jus infused with bitter orange, flooding drops of raspberry puree to add fruity notes to the sauce. Notably, there is an intriguing and balancing ginger and scallion puree that’s quite like what you’d find with Chinese steamed chicken, which makes the dish now a bit too messy. The meat is juicy and aromatic – it smells like a delicious roast chicken – very lightly seasoned to showcase the meat and to rely on the sauces for flavor. (8/10) The palate cleanser is a fruity apple sorbet, sitting in a ‘soup’ of sweet and spiced calvados. They melt together to form something in between, refreshing and definitely apple-y. (9/10) The main dessert also comes in 3 parts, with a focus on rice. However, the rice doesn’t get to play as major a role as you’d expect, which felt like a tactical mistake. The first is an olive oil and rice ice cream that felt quite weird, perhaps going over my taste buds. The next is an elevated rice pudding that is fundamentally just like regular rice pudding, though there is a clear layer of crisp atop and some honeycomb like crunch embedded within. The main dessert hides the ingredients under a white film made of rice. It’s a delicious combination of caramel, rice cream, and crunch. The rice flavor is there, but makes way for the caramel and the crunch. (7.5/10) There are 2 mignardaises. The first is a cream of pear cake with saffron and sweet clovers; it’s a standout cake with a hardened shell and an explosive bit of pear cream inside. The other is a thoughtful churro with the flavor of sunchoke.

An excellent Thai small-plates restaurant with unapologetically Thai flavors. They use plenty of aromatics and fish sauce, and aren’t shy at all with their spice. In fact when the table next to us asked what wasn’t spicy, the server told them that Thai food is spicy so that consequently everything on the menu was spicy (prompting them to leave). Outside of the food the restaurant felt very authentic too despite being in the setting of a British pub - no desserts, plastic plates, and no accommodations to dietary restrictions. The fried chicken wing to start is a widely held favorite for a reason. It has a thick and airy batter and an aromatic caramelized fish saucel. The chicken is tender. The salmon belly ceviche comes with more aromatics than fish - shallots, cilantro, fennel, mint, spring onion, and plenty of spice. Honestly it’s very enjoyable this way as a salad. Once again the flavor is dictated by an intense fish sauce and tanginess. The grilled beef heart is served on a bed of salad doused in a more gentle and acidic fish sauce this time. The hearty is sliced thinly tender with a lovely chew. The cabbage is sweet and crunchy, once again with fish sauce and plenty of garlic. The impression of the wok is delightfully strong. The chicken offal with cashew is delicious. It’s generously coated in oil, paired with a sweet and savory sauce and plenty of dried chili.

A down to earth British restaurant serving food as if you were at a British home dinner. I’m honestly not sure what the hype around this place is about - the food felt fairly commonplace and rough. The quality of ingredients was definitely standout though. The bone marrow is a DIY toast where you extract the bone marrow and apply it to the toast, before adding greens and coarse salt. The bread is thoroughly charred with a strong flavor and a thick crunch. The bones marrow is rich yet subtly noticeable, paired with a strong tossed parsley. The salted cod roe is another toast with just a generous layer of cod roe applied over. It’s quite salty but with a very enjoyable depth and umami from curing, broken up by lemon. The mains are large portions of meat and some side, without any sauce. I honestly didn’t find them memorable or remarkable. We ordered some greens and potatoes as further sides; they were seasoned simply but the ingredient quality was stood out. The roast mangalitza pork is rather porky and even a bit funky too. The cut is mostly lean though it does have a bit of fatty chew around the edges. It’s paired with some sweet turnips simmered in white wine, as well as some wild garlic leaves that taste like chive. The guinea fowl is served like chicken, with the leg and wing pieces on the bone. There is a side of green sauce but the condiment here is mostly just oil. Some large fried sunchoke add some sweet flavor. For dessert, the bread pudding uses the house made bread and it shines through. Plenty of dates are embedded into the bread, which go quite well with the caramel sauce and vanilla ice cream.

The desserts here are brilliantly novel and thoroughly delicious. It's one of the few remaining outposts of Albert Adria, once awarded best pastry chef in the world. The spirit of Tickets lives on here with the signature cheesecake. Here they use a British baron bigod Brie cheese, super fluffy and yet quite light in flavor. It is coated in a white chocolate hazelnut shell that blends gracefully with the cheese, leaving a sweet and nutty taste on the palate. The passion golden egg flan is equally perfected - the flan is complemented beautifully by a light caramel and a layer of passionfruit.

An outstanding Indian restaurant in London, also the oldest Indian restaurant in England. I honestly thought the food would be uninspiring or bland because of this, but i was definitely wrong. The mulligatawny soup is a classic recipe since 1926. It’s a warming and agreeable starter that’s also delicious, using lentils as the base. On top of that there’s a mild balance of sweetness, spice, and salt without being too buttery. The texture of the soup features some powderiness from the lentil, occasional bits of rice, and the rare finely diced onion. The chicken tikka uses deboned thigh, which is adequately tender and fairly succulent. It’s coated thoroughly in spices and a bit too salty, but balanced by the refreshing green chutney. The rogan Josh is mastered and balanced between all its spices, yet it’s not heavy. You get hints of clove, dried chili, Cilantro, but it’s really an aromatic blur. The chicken makhani masala is very rich and thoroughly flavorful. The tomato flavor is persistent, complemented by a deep sweetness and agreeable creaminess. There’s also a powerful spice that welcomingly unveils itself towards the end. Dessert is a kala jamun, a sweet bread like ball soaked in syrup. Some rose water and cardamom is present, but the main flavor is from the accompanying fruit jam and salted caramel gelato. It’s honestly a bit too sweet and overly soaked from the syrup.

Kol is a very inspired restaurant that preserves the soul of Mexican cuisine while using seasonal British ingredients. Each dish from our tasting menu is based off a traditional Mexican item, but it becomes metamorphosed using local ingredients or reinvented with a whole new take. What’s most impressive is that I thoroughly enjoyed each dish, and found myself constantly delighted. For a British restaurant, it’s surprisingly not shy on spice, but only uses it sparingly. ## Food We start with a hearty birria broth made from beef bone, oxtail, cured ox heart, and mezcal. The flavor of bone is warming, while the heart comes through enjoyably towards the end. It’s surprisingly quite strong and forward on the spice, which cuts through the flavors well. (8.5/10) Next is a bite-sized steamed taco with mackerel, magnolia, beetroot, and camelina. The fish, cured to have a strong flavor yet still somewhat raw in texture, is paired with the sweet and sour pickled beetroot to create a commendable juxtaposition. The camelina tastes sort of like a miso, while the tortilla is notably steamed to lack any flavor of the comal. (8/10) The first course is the tamal colado, an unordinary tamal that is strained to create a custardy texture, while its distinct flavor remains. It is covered in a pork trotter broth and both pickled daikon and kohlrabi, before a heap of caviar is added table side. The mild tamal acts as the foundation to showcase the caviar very effectively. The slightly sweet pork trotter broth reminds me of Chinese pickled mustard greens, especially with the radishes. (8.5/10) The nicoatole combines two dishes - bean soup and nicuatole - and takes on a British spin with the addition of peas. While a nicoatole would normally be sweet, here caramelized onions are used, paired with three types of large heritage peas and a broth of hawthorn blossoms. The flavors are agreeably mild except for a kick of heat, letting the peas share the stage. Unfortunately it is very unevenly spiced - one part is quite spicy while another is mild. (7.5/10) The langoustine taco is an immensely rich and satisfying taco, so creamy that it felt cheesy. The langoustine is served in a smoked chili aioli, and you squeeze on its head juices like a lime for further umami. Despite being so rich, the taco is not overbearing and very well constructed - the smoked chili and sauerkraut diversify the sweet langoustine. (9/10) The mole changes character distinctly on the palate, something I haven’t encountered before. It starts sweet and fruity before quickly becoming quite savory and nutty, ending on some bitter and spice notes. At the same time, it has a short finish and doesn’t linger on the palate. It curiously includes some fermented blackcurrant pieces, adding fruity and strongly acidic notes, while a large slice of sweet and earthy purple carrot perpetuates the mole’s flavors. The tortilla is equally curious - made from 4 types of masa that each take up a quarter. (8/10) The ceviche is a very creative take that departs from any of the usual ingredients you’d find in one. It is made with confit scallop and topped with a layer of pear, which also covers beetroot sorbet, Pequín pepper, and a very umami seaweed. A lot of things are going on in a wonderfully confusing manner - there’s sweet and earthy beetroot, fruity pear, and of course fleshy and creamy scallops - but ultimately you still get the usual flavors of acidity, umami, and spice. (8.5/10) The flan dish is one of my favorites of the evening, even though I normally dislike flan. It takes a savory spin on the classic - using a custard infused with guajillo chile, and served with a hearty caramel broth made of chicken and mussels. Overall the dish is reminiscent of flan with just an edge of sweetness, but it’s mostly savory with some complex additions for composition. The custard is creamy and super satisfying, just like flan in consistency. It’s coated in a layer of short diced enoki mushroom that is soft and interestingly grainy in texture. There is also cooked bramley apple that adds a touch of fruity acidity, as well as grilled mussels too. On top is a brilliant a sweet chili crisp. (9.5/10) For mains, of course we have tacos. The halibut adobado coats the tender and juicy fish in a yellow pepper puree. It is served with a mildly spicy cabbage puree salsa and a salsa macha with puffed pumpkin seeds. The taco is not as hearty nor fatty as you’d expect but still quite balanced. (7.5/10) The carnitas uses confit pork cheek in little cubes of fat and lean to provide a chewier texture, while its flavor is faithful to carnitas. It comes with some sautéed trumpet mushrooms in a cream sherry sauce, as well as a sweet yet spicy rhubarb salsa. With the creamy mushrooms, pickled shallots, crispy pork skin, and sweet salsa, you can create unique and complex tacos. (8.5/10) The palate cleanser is a sorbet of fennel, sorrel, jalapeño, with dill oil and mezcal - very green. Surprisingly the jalapeño flavor comes through the most, and it tastes sort of like a green salsa with a ton of jalapeño. It definitely cleanses the palate. (8/10) The final dessert showcases tamal again, but this time in a cakey form with plenty of brown butter to make it quite satisfying. It is paired with daisy ice cream and rhubarb, a delicate combination of flavors. Just the little bit of rhubarb is sufficient to balance to more mild corn and daisy. It’s a lovely way to end the meal. (8/10)

A very pretty small plates restaurant with inspiring plating and very aesthetic vibes, honestly one of the prettiest restaurants I’ve been to. It’s located on the fourth floor of an old court house in the old judge’s dining room. The food is good enough to make a return. The oyster comes with a tomato granita, olive oil, and horseradish. This combination is alright by itself, but the oyster is standout - it’s large and mildly sweet, not briny, and a little creamy. (8/10) The duck rillette is well done - the result is a great balance between meat and fat, a little iron-y but robust with the flavor of duck. It is paired beautifully with a sweet grape mustard. (8.5/10) The sweetbread comes as little nuggets with what feels like a light layer of breading. It’s coated in a vaguely sweet and sour sauce that oddly reminds me sweet and sour chicken. Each piece has a bit of a gritty chew but feels stale, though the mildly iron flavor is on point, especially with the sauce and the parsley root puree. The confit tardivo is a great garnish, offering some bitterness towards the end. (8/10) The beef tartare comes on a piece of thick and crunchy toast, but the amount of tartare is to match. The beef is tender, beefy, but cut through by a strong wasabi. The sliced tomatoes on top provide some sweetness and acidity. (8/10)

A pretty recommendable seafood restaurant serving beyond just a good lobster roll. Everything went pretty hard on the butter. The oyster selection features 5 different kinds mostly from the northeast, leaning more briny. The moules frites are perhaps my favorite; the mussels are cooked just right and they're more buttery than the normal, with some more spices too. The lobster bolognese is very hearty and also quite buttery, using a powerful tomato sauce though the lobster is a bit too chewy. The calamari is done well - it has a heavy breading and is particularly crispy. The snails are a bit overcooked and under salted. The lobster roll is excellent and also very buttery, with large meaty chunks of lobster having an enjoyable chewiness. The clam chowder is a bit over salted but otherwise faithfully done.

A pretty fun new-Italian place with lots of global influence. You pick 3 courses per person from a menu of 15 items. The mafaldine with tripe and chili oil was quite interesting - the tripe was soft and chewy while the pasta was al dente. The grilled maitake mushrooms were a bit dry, but the cauliflower risotto was a good pairing. The porcelet was a bit too much - the cinnamon was a bit off putting with the red cabbage and the weirdly funky yet meaty pork. The lumache with bolognese and gochujang is a house classic and works pretty well, though I feel a touch of sugar would've helped a lot.

A stellar Ningbo cuisine restaurant in Shanghai with a focus on the freshest seafood. The food is impressive; it’s perhaps the most technique driven Chinese cuisine I’ve had outside of Cantonese, and there’s plenty of interesting innovation that stay within the realms of traditional flavors. Service and presentation, which typically aren’t emphasized as much in upscale Chinese restaurants, are also top notch. All things considered, I feel it’s worthy of two stars. However it’s not the kind of place you’d frequent since it’s quite heavy and very seafood (especially crab) focused. We got the dianping set menu for two, and it felt like a tasting menu of the classics. ## Food To start, the fermented winter melon is quite a novel bite - it’s so soft and watery that it reduces to a slush on the palate. The flavor is well balanced between the acidity from fermentation and sesame oil. (8/10) The marinated raw crab is phenomenal, and undoubtedly the house signature dish. The meat is intricate yet mushy, a little sticky and creamy. The marinade is thorough and exceptional - it’s a sweet and savory combination with a touch of acidity, cooking wine, and spice. The pieces are very thoughtfully cut up to allow easy extraction. (10/10) The soup is a thicker 羹 that’s quite simple. It features finely diced shepherd’s purse with mostly leaves but the occasional stem for texture. There are small pieces of yellow croaker that are soft with a mild bounce. (8/10) The mi-iuy croaker fish is a novel fish for me but it’s quite similar to yellow croaker. The texture of the meat is soft yet firm, a little flaky and with an enjoyably fatty skin. It comes on a notably mushy bed of minced ginger and scallion, muted in potency but equally aromatic, with a generous allocation of scallion oil. (8.5/10) The stinky tofu is quite impressive; its the most intricate piece of stinky tofu I’ve had. It’s doubly fermented and embedded with crab meat. The tofu is soft to contrast the texture of the crab meat, while the outer fried crust is crumbly. The flavor is rather mild and agreeable. (9/10) The sea anemone noodle is very mild, served like a soup noodle. It has a milky mouthfeel and a subtly creamy flavor too, but much more mild than the version at 新荣记. The sweet potato noodles are jelly-like and soft. (8/10) The vegetable dish is a delicacy of its own right - tiny pieces of the heart of bok choy. Each piece is lovely, sweet, flavorful, and finely layered. It’s cooked in a mild but umami fish broth. (9/10) Rice is served with a side of minced pork. The meat is fatty and gritty with some bounce. The porky and fatty flavor is cut through by cooking wine, and texturally complemented by the rice. (8/10) For dessert, we have one large tangyuan in an osmanthus broth. The tangyuan skin is thin but impressively glutinous and stretchy. The black sesame filling yields a lovely depth and a bit of crunch. (8.5/10)

After lining up for 40 minutes outside on a cold rainy day, I was rewarded with the tastiest and most hearty chicken soup I've ever had. The soup is rich, creamy, nourishing, and complete. It honestly made me reflect a little in silence, sipping some ice cold water, after I had finished it to the last drop. The ramen and garnish is good too, but it's really all about the soup. There's thoughtfully some very tender chicken breast, mushy pumpkin, a lightly pickled lotus root, bamboo shoot, and a wonton with very fine chicken cartilage embedded in the meat.

Pretty good Vietnamese in greenpoint. The rare beef salad is delicious - the beef is scarletty and beefy, contrasted by plenty of watercress and herbs. The sauce is just right with sugar, fish sauce, and plenty of aromatics like fried garlic or cilantro. (9/10) Ended up quite liking the banh mi. The beef brisket is thinly sliced like hotpot meat, with quite a nice chew. It leans sweet with a sate aioli. The beef broth is kind of like an oily pho broth. (8/10) The pho is alright. The soup is kind of lackluster, but the flat rice noodles are slippery and with good texture. Beef is chewy. (6.5/10)

20 Victoria is a restaurant that simultaneously feels like fine dining but also not fine dining at the same time. It serves refreshingly simple dishes, each with only a handful of ingredients and without a single fancy ingredient you’d expect in fine dining. But at the same time every single course was strikingly novel, creating unlikely yet pleasing combinations that mastered balance and nailed execution. Often, less common but local ingredients are used too. In fact, the tasting menu felt like a journey over Canada - albacore from British Columbia, scallops fresh from Nova Scotia, whitefish from Lake Erie, or even a local Ontario Swiss-style cheese. We start with a fun little snack - a chickpea flour crepe with feta, golden beet, and pollen. This is a textbook exercise on balance – the gamey and creamy feta is balanced by some mildly sweet and earthy slices of golden beet. The crepe is airily crunchy with a subtle flavor from the chickpeas. (8/10) The first course is one I grow to like more and more over each bite. It serves albacore tuna with orange slices in an orange and vermouth sauce, finished with espelette pepper. The fresh albacore is just seared on the skin side to be mostly raw, yet with the flavor of the charred skin. The orange and vermouth sauce is vibrant, sweet, yet pleasantly a little herbal, showcasing the fish through contrast. The combination with the espelette pepper initially feels kind of dissonant, but I grow to like it a lot. (9/10) The scallops are perfect. They’re seared perfectly to be creamy inside and served classically with lemon and butter, but the twist is the addition of wild fennel. The fennel from adds a grassiness and textural quality that balances the buttery scallop so well. The dungeness crab croquette on the side is good but pales in comparison to the scallops. (9.5/10) Next comes a mild and creamy fish dish that is exceptionally agreeable yet no less powerful. First we have a gently steamed whitefish from Lake Erie served with ginger, which oddly reminds me a little of Chinese steamed fish. But everything else is different - the fish sits above some creamy diced celeriac like the parsley root risotto I had at the restaurant previously, all in a delicious sorrel sauce with a vague grassiness and tang. (9/10) A refreshing salad course of daikon and kohlrabi follows, and it’s one of the most fun salads I’ve had. The sliced daikon and kohlrabi are brilliantly dressed in a bit of aged sherry for firmness and a touch of salinity, yet maintaining its crunchiness and wateriness. The touch of salt boosts the natural flavor to go against the subtle sumac crème fraîche. (9/10) The rabbit leg is a hearty main with a large portion. The leg is confit in duck fat, presenting a rich and fatty flavor with a texture akin to a more delicate chicken breast. The white beans act like a fun starch, while the cherry tomatoes poached in white wine and the sweet shallot add pops of flavor. The rabbit sausage on the side is very fine and infused with dill. (8/10) Next we have a Wildwood cheese, a Swiss cheese made in Ontario. The cheese is rich and creamy, quite satisfying without much funk. I ended up with both desserts. The first dessert is an apple cake, served with a light whipped cream and drizzled with a curious sea buckthorn caramel. The cake is light and soft, with chunks of baked apple inside. This contrasts the fresh and tart apple above the whipped cream, while the sea buckthorn caramel is curiously a bit fruity and not as rich as caramel in the aftertaste. It’s a well balanced dessert. (8.5/10) The second dessert is a fennel brownie cake; quite funky and with a little anise flavor to shake things up. It’s topped with a subtle toasted buckwheat boudino that reminds me a little of icing, and lastly finished with buckwheat crisps. (8.5/10)

Kind of overpriced for what you're getting. The food is not bad, just not particularly impressive. The patatas bravas is very sauce and made like a pave, losing the crispiness. The bellota ham is a tiny portion for 37CAD. The croquettes are filled with cream and truffle, but executed pretty well with a crispy shell and plenty of shaved cheese on top. The ham wrapped dates is surprisingly too heavy on the dates for balance. Hanger streak was quite enjoyable.

A very good Italian place focusing on simple yet familiar dishes but with some unique touches. I think it’s no worse than its Michelin starred sister restaurant Osteria Giulia. The burrata with grapes is very impressively effective. It’s simply flavored by the burnt sourdough beneath, some juicy roasted grapes, and an aged balsamic. The burrata is very fresh. (8.5/10) The insalata contadina uses a well balanced sweet and acidic lemon vinaigrette that’s the highlight. With some umami from the shaved parmigiano it is a simple and somewhat healthy pleasure. (8.5/10) The octopus is served whole, with a vibrant green salsa that leans more vegetal and acidic. The meat is very impressively mild in texture, grilled with a little crunch outside. (8/10) The Cacio e Pepe is a bit of a letdown. The pasta is al dente but starchy, with a sticky chew. The sauce feels a bit too watery and lacks both the cheesiness and the potency of the pepper. (6/10) The campanelle with ragú saves the pasta, and is amazing. The sauce is rich yet not overt, with a strong initial flavor of tomato before revealing the meaty flavor of the short rib and wine. The meat is very soft but the pasta is also a little soft. You can feel the olive oil and the wine too on the palate with the tomato. The breadcrumbs are a nice touch. (9.5/10) The torta della nonna is much better than I expected. It comes warm and buttery, filled with nuts, and with a layer of mascarpone cream to spread over the tart. It’s a hearty and delectable dessert. (8.5/10)

I really wanted to like Xiao Ye; it’s started by a couple of alumni from Rose’s Luxury, one of my favorites, serving “first generation American food”. Combined with an interesting menu of mishmashed dishes and a thoughtfully eclectic design, it was at the top of the list the next time I was in Portland. The food unfortunately disappointed routinely, lacking dimension and often falling short in execution. I appreciate what they’re doing though. The mini madeleines to start are most akin to cornbread, with crispy edges and a moist inside. In hindsight this was the best course of the evening, and the dishes became routinely worse. They come with whipped butter to be like a bread course, but also there is a touch of jalapeño powder. (8/10) The confit albacore tostada is quite novel. The fish is cooked but quite soft, its texture harmonizing with avocado. The watercress puree adds a nice vegetal note, and some depth with leek ash. (8/10) The butter basted chicken heart is an adequately prepared French-ish dish. The butter sauce with sage, thyme, and rosemary is nice. It tastes like there is some tallow as well. (7.5/10) The Dungeness crab arroz is a creamy risotto like dish with crème Fraîche and stracchino. There’s also chunks of heart of palm, which feels like quite a rose’s influence. Overall the dish is cheesy with the stringy crab integrated in, but a bit one dimensional. (7.5/10) The Jolyn’s favorite noodles uses sesame sauce balanced by black vinegar and laoganma. It’s good but not amazing, and has no business being 23 dollars. The house made fresh pasta is good and adds a starchy al dente texture to a dish that normally doesn’t have it. (7/10) The whole grilled snapper is a bit richer than a typical whole grilled fish from the black chili butter, which also gives it quite a bit of spice with chipotle. It’s grilled to be quite subpar, not really moist or tender enough. The curtido on the side is very acidic while the baked flavorless potatoes with Oaxaca cheese is not remarkable. (6/10) The fried half chicken is too dry. It’s served with a Japanese curry and rice, but with the curry being weaker though richer from a chicken jus. The celeriac slaw is equally quite thoughtful and enjoyable. (6/10)

One of the three starred restaurants in the first edition of the Michelin guide for Denver. The fundamentals are very solid here, but the creativity was fairly pedestrian. The courses felt like if you had asked chatGPT to create a fine dining menu. Regardless, it was an impressive experience in which each dish was executed very well. We start with a play on beer and pretzels. The beer is curiously a non alcoholic take with spruce tips and hops that tastes more like a sour hoppy soda, a bit off-putting if compared to a beer. The pretzel though is excellent, flavored with porcini mushroom and paired with a truffle mornay dip. It’s doughy with some chew yet not dense. (7/10) The first course goes straight to cooked fish - a well grilled horse mackerel cooked over a yakitori grill, sitting on top of diced kohlrabi and granny smith apple. They sit in the broth of the fish’s bones with plenty of trout roe. The apple’s tartness is sublime and hides amongst the kohlrabi, with the flavors from the broth being otherwise quite mild yet umami; perhaps that’s why it’s the first course. (7.5/10) Next we have a tartlet of dry aged NY strip, served in a bed of celery root cream and topped with fried potato shreds and caviar. This feels like an amuse bouche but the tartlet is too large to be one. The use of strip streak notably presents more chewiness than the typical tartare while staying quite beefy, which the celery root accompanies quite well. The caviar adds a dimension of richness while the potato adds crisp; a proven combination. (8.5/10) Then comes a curious risotto course, but using a heritage short grained brown rice. The rice is the highlight, affording plenty of chew and texture in each grain that makes it shine much more than an effective risotto. It’s served with hedgehog mushroom in a truffle sauce that’s a little acidic but adequately flavorful. (8/10) Fish makes a return next through black cod, served with a sherry mushroom cream, sunchoke, and hazelnut. This is very similar to a course I had at El Celler de Can Roca with tongue mushroom, sherry cream, and hazelnut; it’s interesting to pair this combination with fish and I quite enjoyed it. The fish is very good too, presenting the best qualities of black cod like its soft buttery meat and its crispy skin, though it’s too salty. (8/10) The squab course is my favorite of the evening. It’s served with a jus of orange and thyme, onions, and a foie gras puree mixed with dates. The squab is executed perfectly - it’s plump and juicy, with just a touch of iron flavor to go against the aromatic jus. The foie gras puree is sweet and fruity yet also very rich to complement the bird. (9/10) The final meat course is lamb with a leek sabayon sauce, maitake mushroom, and leek. The texture of the lamb is incredible and not quite like anything else I’ve had - it’s tender, yet incredibly chewy in a very mild manner. The flavor is gamey but in a kind of funky way, though rather subtle. The leek is a good balance. (8.5/10) For the palate cleanser, we have a Bulgarian yoghurt, ginger, juniper snow, and juniper meringue. The yoghurt doesn’t taste too much like yoghurt and has the qualities of a palate cleanser. The snow is dry and ephemeral to contrast the frozen yoghurt that melts. The ginger comes in at the end with a bit of spice. (8/10) The dessert beautifully blends pomegranate and chocolate together. (8.5/10)

An excellent basque restaurant with some modern touches. The food is seemingly simple but exceptionally effective and high quality. The octopus is so soft it is no longer discernibly octopus in texture. It feels almost starchy in texture, and also a little like chicken thigh in the thicker parts. It’s fried to to have a crispy skin, while being thoroughly seasoned. The squid ink emulsion is a fitting mild yet rich complement. The potato is like a fancy baked potato, with the sour cream replaced by a rich smoked egg emulsion and the crispy bacon changed to chicken skin and crispy jamon. The secreto pork (pork shoulder) is very flavorful and porky, fatty yet not at all queasy. It has a lovely chewiness from both the lean and fat parts. The meat is coated with a delicious yet light jamon honey as well as some black walnut; the rounded nuttiness and sweetness complement the strong pork notes very well without being overbearing. The pork has a slight char but is not burnt.

Pineapple & Pearls is the fine dining restaurant for people who hate fine dining. It used to be a white-tablecloth restaurant pre-pandemic, but its identity changed emerging from COVID. They thought, *why not make it fun*? This is honestly a great question, and one especially for asking for a fine dining establishment. The restaurant’s take on a fancy dining experience is a refreshing one, and ultimately one that is really *fun*. While the food may not have been perfect, I’ll always remember that I had a good time. The food was undoubtedly interesting in the truest sense of the word, often based on an allusion to a cultural icon or a cool idea. It is unlike the avant-garde nor the classical cooking that many fine dining places are known for. However, it left more to be desired. Perhaps I had wanted this restaurant from the same group behind Rose’s Luxury, one of my favorite restaurants, to succeed so badly that I had set my expectations too high. That’s not to say anything was bad, just nothing was particularly phenomenal and some choices felt questionable. Everything else though, they aced. The vibe feels like a party, but isn’t actually one. For attire, we were guided along the lines of an epic NYE party, with glitter and sequins encouraged. Though the music choice may have sounded like it, it was not loud nor rowdy. I found it to be a good balance – the experience was still structured in a pre-fixe sequence, and we only interacted with our servers for the night. But there are fun attempts at humor and flare, like the pepper shaker that’s way too big or the selection of rainbow knives. It was also an intimate and memorable experience; our polaroids were embedded into the menu as a keepsake. The hospitality at Pineapple & Pearls is what made our experience a blast. Compared to Rose’s Luxury, which I’ve described as a blissful experience, Pineapple & Pearls takes it further. It’s down to earth and also especially easy going in a fine dining setting. Descriptions to dishes were detailed, interesting, and funny; everyone from the kitchen to the service staff felt like they were having a good time. They were also unbelievably generous. The staff sent all the desserts out just because, and also doubled the pairings when we had originally opted to just share one. ## Food We are greeted at the entrance with *Whiskey Business*, a warm brown butter apple cider – very warming and fulfilling for a cold winter day. It’s balanced with a touch of acid and a little funky perhaps from cultured butter, quite a lovely start to the meal. The ‘amuse bouche’ is one of the few mainstays on the menu – two pieces of *Beggar’s Purses*. It’s a tribute and recreation of the same course made popular at Quilted Giraffe, a legendary 80’s NYC restaurant that was the playground for the rich and famous. The bite wraps creme fraiche with red onion in a thin crepe, before being topped with beluga caviar and some gold foil. According to our server, Barry Wine (owner of Quilted Giraffe) would’ve insisted guests eat this snack without their hands like a beggar, but it’s only “recommended” here. The bite felt groundbreaking for its time, but today is a less novel – albeit proven – combination without a twist. The savory richness and creaminess play off each other, while the crepe is quite soft. It would be more pleasing if there was some crunch or some added flavor dimension. It would’ve also been nice if both bites weren’t the exact same, except in the color of the crepe. (7.5/10) There are 2 appetizers to pick from, and we got both. The first is *Raw Tuna & Watermelon*, a fun and well composed dish. Both are cubed in equal sizes, interspersed like a checkerboard except they’re both the same color so it’s hard to tell apart. The chunk of tuna is lean and meaty, while the watermelon is compressed to be extra juicy and flavorful to be quite the contrast. They sit in an aged ponzu dashi that complements the tuna but also contrasts the watermelon. The sauce contains many little okra pearls, which is the first time I’ve seen this ingredient by itself, and is surprisingly effective as a subtle flavor as well as little bits of texture. (8.5/10) The other appetizer is called *Even If You Don’t Like Lamb*, which felt like a mini main course and thus quite strange to have as a first appetizer. The dish is intent on pairing lamb with the flavors of chocolate and cherry, a pairing I found to be only moderately effective in complementing the lamb. Two small cuts of lamb loin are used, quite soft and tender and with a mild lamb-y gaminess. A very fatty and rich lamb jus is drizzled on, which adds a nice layer of satisfaction. Notably, a tiny black forest buckwheat cake is ostentatiously plated tableside from a huge plate of greens representing the forest; the cake is quite dry and heavy on cake without much cream. A little construction of fresh cherry and pickled cherries also stands on the plate, as well as some cocoa crumble and cherry sauces. (7.5/10) The next course is the pasta course, and both options are crowd pleasers. If you love cheese, the *Three Cheese Ravioli* is perfect for you – there is no semblance of balance here, only indulgence. The dish uses multiple triple-cream cheeses to produce these intensely creamy, cheesy, and rich bites of satisfaction. The filling is made from Delice de Bourgogne, a gooey and slightly funky cheese, while the sauce is made from Brillat Savarin. On the side is a thin cheddar crisp, which acts as texture but pales in flavor to the other cheeses. (8.5/10) *Marco’s Gnocchi* is another mainstay on the menu, but my tendency to avoid gnocchi probably did not allow me to fully appreciate the greatness going on. The gnocchi are soft and sort of fluffy, but in a doughy way that’s also a little gritty inside. Maybe I’m just a gnocchi hater, but I refuse to believe that this is what peak pasta looks like, without any semblance of chew or al dente quality. There’s a large amount of black truffle shaved on top that felt way too generous, completely flavoring the dish with the buttery sauce. (8/10) The mains were perhaps the most interesting courses of the evening. The *Parts Unknown* is inspired by Anthony Bourdain, whose picture hangs on the wall by the kitchen. It fuses together a bouillabaisse stew with a Brazilian moqueca fish stew. The result is absolutely delicious, and probably my favorite fish soup yet. You can taste many of the components all at the same time – saffron, fish, shellfish, fish bones, and tomatoes – and it lingers enjoyably on the palate. Four squares sit in the soup: the seabass is cooked to present its best qualities to be vague and soft, but is unfortunately a bit too salty. Two delicate pieces of potato pave complement the fish quite well, and lastly a soft and flavorful tomato terrine augments the flavor of the soup. (9/10) The *World Class Wagyu* is even more worldly. It’s a play on BBQ meat with cornbread, but with global infleunces. The wagyu brisket is very fatty and glazed with a sweet and fruity guava BBQ by way of Brazil, which makes it feel a little queasy by the end. The cornbread is replaced by oily cornmeal takoyaki balls that don’t help the queasiness, cleverly replacing the octopus typically embedded inside with sweet corn kernels. On the side is a piece of heart of palm, complemented surprisingly effectively with a fresh oyster emulsion from Canada, and topped with bits of guanciale (because why not I guess). Lastly, there are small fried strips collard greens on top of the beef, which felt like eating chip crumbs at the end of the bag. Overall, there’s a whirlwind of ideas on the plate, but they don’t all come together as one harmoniously. (8.5/10) Pineapple and Pearls goes hard on the sweets. Finishing up the savory courses I remember feeling not yet content nor full, but the desserts really went over the top. Before dessert begins, we are given two pieces of jelly, both executed quite well to be flavorful and quite bouncy. One of them involves gin and sake, sweet but also a tad fruity and herbal. The other is made of passionfruit, much more acidic and also quite sweet. The cheese course is actually ice cream, made from a Comte cheese that’s layered in flavor and with just enough funkiness, working unexpectedly well as a sweet and creamy ice cream. The same cheese is also drizzled on as a savory sauce to complement yet also embolden the flavors, which I found to be quite brilliant. It comes with coffee buckwheat crumble to balance. (9.5/10) Then came all three desserts. The *Berry Rainbow Sorbet* is exactly that – 6 flavorful sorbets of rhubarb, strawberry, raspberry, blackberry, mulberry, and blueberry. They create a pretty gradient on the plate, and on the palate too. (8/10) The *Thrilla in Manila* takes inspiration from a halo halo, but is served in a coconut complete with a cocktail umbrella. As with halo halo and Muhammad Ali, it is a seriously heavyweight dessert. You’ll find chocolate, ube, finger lime, coconut, and even some cake under the pina colada foam inside the coconut. (8/10) Lastly, the dulce de leche brûlée with pear sorbet was my favorite. The flan is of course standout, rich and eggy yet incorporating some cardamom flavor as an augmentation. The brûlée and the flan are cleverly separated by a layer of pear sorbet, which works mindblowingly well together for some reason. On the side is the lightest and fluffiest donut filled with dulce de leche cream, meant to be eaten in one bite. The donut reminds me a little of a waffle. (9.5/10) There’s one more dessert - the night cap. It’s a soft-serve ice cream that you go get yourself from the ice cream machine at the front of the restaurant, where the restaurant sells coffee and ice cream by day. I was a big fan of the caramel popcorn flavor, and would come back just for the ice cream. We enjoy our final dessert with with some earl grey tea with orgeat, which I might start trying at home as it complements the bergamot and tea notes so well. (8.5/10)

Albi is a standout middle eastern restaurant with an impressive execution on open fire cooking. To start, the sfeeha is a fun garlic bread-like snack. It uses a stellar bread that’s crispy and chewy, topped with soft minced meat flavored by spices and cinnamon, but at the same time isn’t particularly savory. A fresh garlic toum and a wedge of lemon act as condiments. (8/10) The mushroom hummus is delicious. The charred mushrooms on top of the hummus are blessed by the open fire to be smoky, umami, chewy, and rich especially when enhanced with a cured yolk. The hummus itself is a creamy base, complementing these mushrooms perfectly. The pita bread is chewy but not too fluffy. (10/10) The batata harra is undoubtedly masterful. The potato is starkly crispy outside and mushy, almost creamy, inside. It’s coated in an electrically tangy spice and comes with a spicy garlic dip. (9/10) The duck and foie gras kofta is quite an effective combination - it has a minced yet heterogenous texture with some chew, a charred outer layer, and a subtly satisfying flavor. (8.5/10) For dessert, the knafeh is soaked in a brown butter syrup making it super satisfying. It’s surprisingly lighter than a typical knafeh, also broken up with a more tangy yoghurt ice cream. The cheese is warm and kind of gritty on the palate. (8.5/10) The labneh soft serve is just like a delicious froyo, with olive oil and pomegranate molasses for a deep sense of sweetness.

A classic Italian American restaurant that goes back to basics, with quite the commendable execution. The spicy ragú is perfected. It features a rich tomato sauce that’s meaty and intense, with a deep flavor from the tomato paste and a delicious enhancement from a big plop of fresh ricotta on top of the pasta. The fresh and chewy thick spaghetti is a blissful mouthful to eat through. Each bite is supplemented with bits of meat and creamy ricotta. The chicken parm is so thin such that there is about the same amount of batter as there is chicken. The meat is stringy and intentionally not too tender, prepared with impressive technique. It comes with a tomato spaghetti that’s far past al dente and feels like something out of a kids meal. The Italian crème brûlée is really good. Blood orange is infused into the dessert to provide a lovely citrus flavor. The crème brûlée is done just right with a good taste of eggs, not going over on the cream. The house Amaro is surprisingly light colored with a flavor of ginseng. Unfortunately it lacks some depth otherwise.

Pretty good old school dim sum on pushcarts, and very popular on a weekend. The beef offal dish is very good - the texture is just the right balance between soft and chewy. The tripe is cut in large chunks to make it quite a whole experience. The rest of the dim sum is alright. The siu mai is more porky and doesn't have as much bounce. The black pepper short rib is a bit too chewy and averagely flavored. The cheongfun has very fresh rice rolls, but a more stale and not crunchy cruller. The Chinese broccoli is a bit too oily. The mango pomelo sago is fruity and flavorful, but too sweet.

An upscale and classical French restaurant, definitely appropriate for a special occasion. The cooking is masterful. To start, the chickpeas fries are unexpected; they’re freshly fried and remind me a little of those iconic McDonald’s fries but with a denser and more layered texture. The sour olive dipping sauce is vibrant but not my cup of tea. The veal sweetbread’s sauce is phenomenal. The tarragon sauce is rich and familiarly buttery, but not overpowering. It’s augmented by maitake mushroom, with tones of sweet earthiness that complement the iron flavor of the sweetbreads so well. (10/10) The duckling for two comes in two parts. First the duck breast is served with duck jus; the meat is very tenaciously chewy and watery, with a sizable duck flavor. The skin is equally chewy yet also quite fatty, a lengthy bite that yields satisfaction. The jus is pure and pleasant, not at all heavy. The second part is a duck leg confit - tender and much softer than the breast. It is surrounded by a crown of chicory hearts, glossy and a little sweet yet with a pleasant bitterness towards the end. (8/10) For dessert, the Mount Fuji is lovely - vanilla cream, yuzu ice cream and honestly not enough candied chestnut. It’s a great combo. (9/10) The soufflé glace is a fun “soufflé” with a more curious flavor. It is flavored wholly by citrus - the fruit, the peel, the pith and all - but tastes kind of salty. The flavor profile oddly reminds me of pocari sweat, but is otherwise enjoyable and quite strong on citrus notes. (8/10)

A very good Italian place with pretty flawless execution. Came as a large group and got the family sharing set menu. To start, the olives are fresh, while the focaccia flatbread is delightfully sort of like a quesadilla stuffed with stracchino. The endives paired with a burnt honey vinaigrette and pears are brilliant with some ricotta, while the vitello tomato is one of the best renditions I've had. The pastas really showcase a good chew. The lorighitta is a novel pasta for me, shaped like calamari and also paired with calamari too; they build off each other's textures well. The paccheri with a beef stew sauce is also quite good. For secondi, the fruitti di mare is an assortment of grilled seafood. The shrimp is a bit overcooked, but the octopus is very tender. The lamb chops are simply flavored yet effective. The house tiramisu is standout - the coffee flavor is strong and so is the alcohol soaked the lady fingers. Some ice cream is incorporated to replace the cream. The Mille feuille's cream on the other hand is replaced with coconut and passionfruit.

Pleasantly surprised by the Chinese food here. The food is a little bit westernized and the vibe definitely feels like it, but the flavors are ultimately pretty close to actual Chinese food. The husband and wife beef is good quality, with the beefiness coming through as well as a lovely lingering spice. Unfortunately it's a bit too chewy. The spinach and chrysanthemum tastes creamy from sesame but doesn't overdo this flavor, balancing with a touch of acidity. The typhoon shelter squid is decent and could be yolkier, but the squid is very tender. The silver needle noodle is perhaps the only dish with a nice flavor of from the wok, the sweet soy sauce and oil are delectable with the mushroom while the noodles are a little chewy like rice cakes. Avoid the hanger steak - it's really just a western steak coated with Chinese bbq spices. The lamb stir fry is also alright, being tender yet not particularly gamey with a mediocre pepper sauce. Desserts are really good. The soy milk soft serve tastes just like soy milk. It goes very well with the blackbird hk French toast, which is quite crispy outside and with a rich sesame paste inside.

By far the best value restaurant week meal I’ve had at 3 courses for 45 dollars, and also one of the tastiest too. Perhaps that’s to be expected, as atomix is one of my favorites in nyc. One thing I didn’t like as much though was that the food was always a bit oily. The potato jeon is delicately heterogenous inside with an oily and crispy crust, nailing the fun textures of potato. It is subtly paired with a sweet and savory pandan sauce that is quite brilliant. The kimchi and squash namul on the side add some intense flavor to an otherwise fairly simply flavored pancake. (8.5/10) The squid sundae is sort of like a stuffed sausage, where the casing is squid. Inside there is glass noodle flavored plainly by sesame oil. It is augmented by some dajimjang on top, a peppery and savory anchovy sauce that yields a nice crunch too. Overall the textures are quite fun. (7.5/10) The chicken twigim are like fried chicken nuggets paired with fried rice cakes. The chicken is decently tender, with a light yet craggy batter and dusted with gochugaru. The rice cake is more sturdy and not too chewy. The chili oil aioli makes the dish. (8/10) The king salmon bibimbap focuses more on textures - broken rice, puffed quinoa, chopped lettuce, seaweed, and the star- fatty king salmon belly. It’s flavored mostly by oil and a light gochujang, which I wish was stronger. (8.5/10) The oxtail guksu is sweet but a bit too oily, which combined with the fatty oxtail becomes a bit queasy. The pickled burdock is good but doesn’t do enough as it’s more sweet than acidic. The first few bites are delicious though. The oxtail is soft and rich, complemented by caramelized onions to go very well with the thin noodles. (8.5/10) The orange creamsicle is stellar, driving home the creamy orange flavors excellently. It is coated in a layer of white chocolate with a generous layer of toasted orange meringue applied atop. (9.5/10)

The modern is one of my favorite restaurants in the city, but the bar room sort of loses everything that made it standout, except maybe the atmosphere. The plating is much more mundane, while the flavors are very standard without much creativity. Even the delicious butter was missing in the bread course. But it wasn’t bad at all, and in fact the restaurant week menu was quite good value that I’d recommend it to others. The first course is a lovely beef tartare. The beef is cubed to have a good chew, complemented by a fragrant scallion mousse. It is paired with some fried potatoes, very crispy outside yet wonderfully airy and light inside. (9/10) The lobster taglioni is good, but not particularly unique. The noodles are a bit past al dente but it goes very well with the slightly cheesy and lemon zesty sauce. The lobster is chewy and delectable. (8.5/10) The fried chicken is all about the breading. It’s thick, crunchy, and quite stale that it’s hardened, while the meat is deboned and not too tender. Overall it’s a bit dry. The chicken is glazed with a honey miso drip and comes with a green ranch sauce. The flavors are good, but the execution is mediocre. (7/10) The sticky toffee pudding is quite good, paired with a rum raisin ice cream. (8/10)

Mischa is a very curious restaurant. It’s a clearly well funded venture - posh and unbelievably spacious, with full washlets in the restroom and custom branded wax paper served with the food. The food though is not to match, mostly plain and familiar American classics despite efforts to elevate it. That’s not to say it’s not tasty, just rather simple and unmemorable. It felt weird eating such “blue collar” food in such a cosmopolitan environment. We came for restaurant week, which was a pretty good deal considering their iconic hot dog costs 29 dollars. We start with the black hummus with pita. The black hummus is colored and flavored by black sesame, a lovely addition. However it’s too sour for my liking, distracting from the sesame. The pita though is doughy and chewy, quite fluffy too. (7/10) We got pasta for starters, which in hindsight was way too many carbs. The fettuccine with vodka sauce is solid. That’s it really; nothing special, but just pretty good. If I made such a pasta at home I’d be impressed but not thinking of opening a restaurant. (7/10) The hot dog is objectively perfect, but I don’t know if it alone is worth coming back for. The dog is snappy with a strong flavor from being dry aged, akin to a smoky sausage. It’s quite large, The bread looks like brioche but is a bit dry tastes just like a hot dog bun. The five condiments on the side are pimento cheese, relish, kimchi (though more like sauerkraut), mustard, and my favorite - a sweet and spicy habanero chili oil with bacon bits. There’s also a solid chili too, if you want to eat it like a chili dog. (8/10) The skirt steak on the other hand is full of chew and quite fatty, quite enjoyable. Served on a sizzling plate, it is paired with some caramelized onions rendered in chicken fat, though it has a peculiar sour and tangy flavor from lemon that I don’t really get used to. (8/10) Desserts turn up the creativity a notch, elevating some classics in very fun ways. For dessert, the chocolate pudding consists of 2 layers - a thick and sticky grape molasses pudding beneath and a chocolate milk like foam above. It has nice overtones of candied orange zest, as well as pieces of candied apricot. (7.5/10) The blondie sundae is a favorite. The foamy white chocolate “sundae”sauce covers a stale and dense blondie, creating a beautiful combination and contrast in textures. The white chocolate is infused with cardamom, saffron, and pistachio bits, perhaps a clever middle eastern influence. (9.5/10)

I felt terrible leaving au cheval, which means I probably got the full experience. There’s a grease that lingers no amount of water can wash away, and a sense of regretful discomfort that is equally hard to forget. But the meal itself was glorious. The burger is of course the highlight. It’s an indulgent and well rounded burger, executed brilliantly and greasily without any surprises. The soft buns soak up all the oil; the smash patties are juicy and enjoyably beefy; the thick cut bacon adds a hint of sweetness and a dryness from the curing. The cheese is very liquidy almost like a whiz, while the rest of the condiments from onions and pickles are standard. Compared to the burger at 4 Charles, the burger is not as beefy or fatty perhaps from not using wagyu. (9.5/10) The black pepper Mac and cheese is a simple augmentation that works very effectively. It’s very saucy and cheesy that cheese strings pull apart. The pasta is often longer and twistier than normal macaroni for more texture. There’s plenty of ham and a good char on top. (8.5/10) The bologna is an unexpectedly excellent dish. The sliced meat is layered on to be so tall it feels wasteful. But the sandwich fits in one bite; the meat is soft and almost creamy in mouthfeel, yet with the layering evident. Despite the monotony of the filling the sandwich remains interesting. The sandwich is rather greasy but doesn’t feel like it. (9/10) The Mille feuille is the tallest Mille feuille I’ve had. The vanilla cream is also very thick, while the puff pastry is quite airy and light. We couldn’t finish it. (8/10)

A standout neighborhood japanese lunch spot in Nashville. The flavors are largely Japanese but with some subtle yet welcome twists to incorporate Nashville too. Portions are huge and prices are good, especially if you’re coming from nyc. The okonomiyaki is served on a savory waffle, but it’s surprisingly soft and moist and sticky, more so than an okonomiyaki base even. It’s topped with plenty of texture including puffed rice, cabbage, and seaweed, creating a party of textures yet with the familiar flavors of okonomiyaki. The flavors are not heavy. (9/10) The inari is jazzed up with diced marinated shrimp and fish roe. The combination with the sweet tofu skin is decent but not more than the sum of its parts. The tofu skin is very soft and fresh. (8/10) The beef tartare is served on a fried rice “cake” with the grain still discernible inside. The flavors are mild to let beefiness play a main role, enhanced by avocado and with hints of sesame and ginger. It’s a bit too oily though. (8.5/10) The katsu Sando is solid but not my favorite. Each part is decent - porky and crispy katsu, crunchy and flavorful milk bread, and a clean slaw. But combined it’s a bit dry. (6.5/10) The udon is very fresh and al dente, with a nice taste of the raw starch. The hot spicy soup is pure and flavorful but oily. The duck is a nice contrast - smoky yet tender. (7.5/10) The yuzu meringue parfait is perfect and amazing. It tops a fluffy whipped ricotta cheesecake with toasted meringue, flavored beautifully by calpico and yuzu. Get this. (9.5/10)

The bread alone is enough of a reason to return to shukette (but there are many more). The frena bread is masterful, initially fluffy and evolving to become chewy, yet with a light and crispy crust. It’s quite oily on the fingers but it doesn’t taste like it. The hummus is more savory and garlicky than usual, and I think they pour a garlic sauce into the hummus that gets mixed as you dip it. It’s also less thick and gritty, more fine in consistency. (9/10) The charred cabbage is skippable - it’s decent but a bit too hard. The lemon crème Fraîche to go with is solid. (7/10) We couldn’t pick between the chicken and the fish so we ordered both, but I’m glad we did. The fish in a cage is standout. The whole porgy stuffed with herbs and lemon, coated generously with a spiced tomato sauce that makes each bite quite saucy. The fish is grilled to impart a robust flavor from the charcoal, yet particularly moist inside. The flavor is sufficient to not need any dips, but the green chemoula and house hot sauce of course goes well with it. (9/10) The joojeh chicken is commendably tender and the skin is juicy, but the best part is the fluffy toum garlic spread - it’s heavenly. (9/10) For dessert, the mic drop is pretty good, though the name may have overhyped it a bit. It’s a tahini soft serve, thick in mouthfeel and full of sesame flavor. It’s accompanied by some hazelnuts, pomegranate, and topped with a halva sugar floss. (8/10)

I expected nothing less from the fried chicken place from Cote. It follows a lot of what Cote does very well - an energetic vibe in an elegant decor great for groups, tastefully executed and westernized Korean cuisine, and thoroughly delicious food. The chicken consommé to start comes with scallion and ginseng. The scallion adds an initial fragrance, which transitions into a savory flavor from the chicken yet without depth. It ends with a little touch of bitter ginseng. The fried chicken is ordered as “the bucket list”, sort of a prefixe arrangement within the menu that comes with sides and dessert. It comes in two parts. The first part is the original chicken, with wings, a drumstick, and nuggets. The chicken by itself is very good, probably a 8.5 out of 10. The batter is particularly excellent, a Korean style that’s crunchy and airy but not craggy. The chicken is adequately tender inside, though not juicy. It comes with four diverse sauces with one that you’re probably going to love - a green aioli, honey mustard, pepper parm, and a house gochujang. The banchan, especially the pickled daikon, is exceptional. I don’t think I’ve had a pickled radish this juicy, yet well balanced between sweet and acidity. The sweet soy marinated celery is also a favorite. The second part is the glazed fried chicken; we chose gochujang. The glaze is powerful and saucy, executed textbook-like for Korean fried chicken. It comes with the two sides we added on - mac and cheese and tteokbokki. The Mac and cheese is like an elevated take on the Kraft version, using the an a very reminiscent sauce that’s very saucily cheesy and with a touch of chili oil. It surprisingly goes very well with the gochujang sauce from the tteokbokki, which adds much more depth. The cold perilla seed noodle is excellent. The sauce is peppery and remarkably satisfying, with overtones of anchovy. The thin perilla seed noodles are standout as well. For dessert, like cote, we have frozen yoghurt. Here the dressing are seasonal berries, a bit less memorable than the one at cote yet equally well executed.

A global restaurant serving creative dishes that don't really belong to any particular type of cuisine. The food tastes pretty good though, so ultimately that's all that matters. The ingredients in each dish are very respectably diverse. The house bread is implied to us by the server as a must-get. Both the parker house roll and the naan are quite perfected - the roll is soft and tears apart artfully, with plenty of butter. The naan is airy yet chewy, at the same time with a decent crisp too. The three dips it comes with are equally diverse - a house made yoghurt, a cauliflower chickpea sort of like hummus, and a roasted squash that has strong notes of curry powder. (8/10) The prawns are widely acclaimed and I can see why. I've never quite had anything like the sauce before - it's an ají amarillo with passionfruit, urfa biber, and mezcal. It's impressively balanced between smokiness, fruitiness, spice, and acidity. The prawns are large with crispy edible shells and rich heads. (8.5/10) The savoy cabbage may be the most familiar dish of the evening, and is still quite novel. A quarter of roasted cabbage has each of its layered brushes with ghee, before being served on a shallot soubise sauce. (8/10) The ribs are a sleeper hit. The heritage pork has a distinct porky flavor that's discernible despite the heavy sauce. It's coated in a sweet and sour tamarind + honey combo, with a generous application of peanuts and fried garlic. (9/10)

A restaurant with a tiny and local menu that changes daily. The bread to start is unique - it’s more like a thin crunchy cracker in texture than bread. It’s dosed generously in olive oil but tastes a bit too burnt for my liking. The finochietta is really good - the meat has quite some give and an intense flavor from curing. (8/10) The poached ox tongue is done to a tee; it has the perfect balance of tenderness to chew. The horseradish cream is also the perfect intensity to balance, while the boiled mungbean is a clever contrast in textures. The soft and fatty cotechino sausage slice is unexpected. (9/10) The clams may be some of the largest and juiciest clams I’ve had. The freshness is impressively preserved to be still burstingly juicy inside, yet quite playfully chewy outside. The butter and herbs sauce is surprisingly mild and lacks wine, a bit overtly salted. (8/10) The cappellacci is the only pasta of the evening. It wraps some delicious pumpkin, creamy and sweet yet with some thickness. The sage butter sauce is mild to let the pumpkin shine. The skin is thin yet starchy. (8.5/10) The monkfish is alright and basic. The fish is a bit too salty though its bouncy texture is nice. The polenta is clumpy and largely flavorless. (6/10) The chargrilled sirloin is really good. It’s thick cut, with a crunchy layer of char. The meat is chewy and beefy, quite a mouthful each bite. The celery root gratin is a fun side. (8/10)

High end Indian restaurant with pretty tasty cuisine but pretty mid value. Lots of corporate dinners going on here on a weekday night. We got 4 starters between the 2 of us because we couldn’t decide. The tuna puchka features soft and fatty diced tuna mixed with some onion and cilantro. The bit of caviar disappears in flavor from the cilantro pani, but adds some salinity. (8/10) The chicken tikka is supple and tender, with a good taste of the tandoor oven. The ghost pepper is surprisingly manageable, yet still enjoyable for someone who likes spice. This was unexpectedly my favorite of the 4 starters. (9/10) The eggplant chaat mostly consists of slices of crunchy fried eggplant. The tamarind sauce is quite sweet, all going well with yoghurt. (8/10) The ribs are decent but a bit dry. The vindaloo sauce is nice and flavorful. (7.5/10) The Konkani lobster is really good. The lobster is very bouncy and playful, coming in a mild and fruity butter sauce with mangoes. (8.5/10) The naan is standout - the garlic one is crunchy and airy yet adequate chew, while the house spiced naan is cheesy and stretchy. (9/10) The burra kebab lamb chops are tender, going light on flavors to let the meat shine through. (8/10) For dessert, the kulfi is very smoothly creamy and rich. (8.5/10)

Naks probably slightly altered my (ignorant) perception of Filipino cuisine. In true semma/dhamaka fashion the food turns up the flavor and samples proudly from sweetbreads and exotic parts of the animal. The kanto fried chicken is similar to a karaage in its shape and breading, but the dipping sauce is a tangy and savory fish sauce, is novel. The dinakadakan is delicious if you like offal - it contains ear, snout, ear, and brain to create an irony and funky flavor with sticky bits of soft cartilage. The pork bbq is relatively more mundane; it's fatty and chewy, with ample sweet and savory sauce made from soy sauce and banana ketchup coated on. The satti beef rib skewer is alright; it slices the beef rib thinly to become rather chewy and tenacious, and comes with a savory yet mild curry dip. For mains, the porcelet pork belly is a classic. The sweet and savory sauce has a welcome subtle taste of dried of shrimp and also some spice too. The pork belly is disfigured to have the lean parts and fat often separated, with the skin rather fun to eat. The crab dish comes with minced crab meat and also a crab butter sauce, which both go really well mixed with rice. The leche flan is a bit too intense for me from condensed milk, egg yolk, and caramel. Also must mention the taho drink - it's like a silky tofu boba.

Cannot recommend this place enough. The seafood is incredibly fresh, and you can tell from the texture that it's never been frozen before. The prices are also exceptionally value too. The scallops are grilled to be soft and fleshy inside. The grilled shrimp are large and the sauce is lovely. The calamari is amazing - the bread is light yet crunchy, while the squid is chewy but not at all rubbery. The whole branzino is also a solid choice, soft and without form as you eat it. The baba ganoush is really delicious.

A progressive Japanese place by way of Brooklyn in a clean Scandinavian setting. Some of the augmentations to Japanese cuisine are very thoughtful. The almond miso soup is excellent. Adding almond butter with miso makes it much more fulfilling to drink. (10/10) The grilled lamb tongue is a first for me. It has the texture akin to thick cut beef tongue, but a slight gaminess that I quite like. A bit of spicy mustard helps remove this gaminess as well. (9/10) The mazemen is very tasty, but a bit too clumpy. The sauce is more sticky mostly from a yuzu ricotta, so adding the onsen egg is necessary. The noodles are perfect - chewy and starchy. The addition of a creamy and mushy summer squash is ingenious, while the torched fatty and porky pork jowl is fun. (8/10) The hot honey gem salad is tossed in a yuzu vinaigrette salad. It has occasional pops of hot honey and buckwheat. (8/10) The nikujaga uses thinly sliced wagyu, braised in sweet tare like sauce. There are plenty of potatoes and carrots underneath. It’s least remarkable of the dishes. (7/10)

Solid Spanish tapas spot. Really liked the Iberian pork steak, thoroughly flavorful and playfully chewy though a bit overly salted. Also would recommend the pan con tomate, which was juicy and contrasted by anchovies. The foie gras has a bread that is a bit too dusty in texture, though the foie is generous. The tortilla comes cold but has a good balance of egg and potato. The paella is kind of mid - it's not really crunchy enough. Shishito peppers are too oily and salty. Octopus is very mushily soft, while the brava bomb patatas bravas is a very saucy augmentation. Bone marrow is decent but shouldn't be the most recommended item. Desserts were all alright.

Interesting twists on Turkish cuisine, but I liked Oleana much more. Quite liked the fattoush with green papaya, and the corn bread and avocado muhumarra were tasty. The sesame fried chicken was a bit dry while the halloumi poutine could've had more sauce and cheese.

Could not recommend this place for dim sum. Everything feels like it came in frozen. The spare ribs are too soft and don't have any meaty qualities to them. The meatballs don't taste fresh and a little fake. The greens taste chalky. The char siu bao have a nice crust but have a weird alcoholic taste to the sauce. The sesame balls are not chewy and the filling is stale. Congee may have been the best thing.

Jipin court is an upscale 2* Cantonese restaurant that finds a tasteful way to incorporate exotic ingredients or novel presentations to classical dishes. While no dish we got was phenomenal, everything was undeniably excellent; there was a clear mastery in the cooking using a very selective set of ingredients. For starters, we got a classic Shanghainese style shepherd’s purse dish that has been reinvented into pretty bite sized sacks, wrapping the shepherd’s purse in a chewy bean curd. The dish is flavored to let the vegetable shine. There is also a rich ramen egg dish with a pleasant yet subtle smokiness, enhanced by caviar and a refreshing slice of cucumber. We also got the pickled cauliflower stem. Notably the dish only uses the small section of stem that just starts to branch out. This yields a more playful texture with more complexity. The char siu is quite the signature dish. It’s succulent and tender yet light on sauce, letting the very strong porky flavor shine. The goose is solid; its meat is firm and with a thick skin quite crispy yet satisfyingly fatty. The sea bass is another signature that has a limited quantity per day. The fish is confited, and served with a soft egg white. It’s a lovely combination of textural contrast, though the fish is not exactly soft inside. The sauce is mild and sweet, buttery from the confit. The chicken in clay pot is chewy and resistant but not at all dry; it’s very fun to eat with some cartilage. The ginger overtones complements the strong chicken flavor very well. The leek flower uses only the top part of the vegetable; each thin strand is the same size and length. It is stir fried with some sweet pickled vegetables, pork, and squid all of the same dimensions for textural contrast. The fried rice is all about texture - each grain is discernible, with shreds of egg white in between. There’s also plenty scallion and peas. It’s done expertly. The mapo tofu with wagyu and sea cucumber goes very well over the fried rice. It is not over the top, maintaining the iconic mapo flavor. The tofu is silky and soft, quite exquisite especially when blended with rice. The wagyu is subtle and comes in small pieces, but its flavor is perhaps a much larger voice.

A stellar Michelin-starred Shanghainese restaurant located in a vintage western style villa. The cooking is refined yet old-school, and service is standout as well despite each table being in its own room. I feel fu1088 is perfect for a more upscale understanding of Shanghainese cuisine, and also for banquets or large family gatherings. The smoked mackerel fish is exceptional. The outer batter is commendably crispy yet it’s thoroughly juicy and flavorful too. The fish inside is tender yet adequately textured, while the sauce is balanced between sweet and savory. The lotus root stuffed with sticky rice has a lovely osmanthus flavor. The sticky rice contrasts the starchier lotus root. The shepherd’s purse is wrapped in rice rolls and served with sesame sauce. The vegetable is finely diced but is a tad too salty for me, while the sesame sauce is quite complex with notes of dried shrimp. The rice roll is very fresh. The crab toast is a lovely creation - milk bread is topped table side with a stir fried mixture of crab roe and meat that’s been extracted day-of. It’s a textural gala, while the flavor of the roe is removed and surprisingly not rich, yet still present. You can thus have a heap of it on your toast without it being overwhelming. The red braised pork is the best I’ve ever had. The layer of fat feels like it’s been reduced, but its flavor is there without the queasiness to match. The lean part is stringy but not dry, while the skin is jelly like. It’s thoroughly braised with flavor, and of course just enough sweet. The scallion oil noodles uses a vermicelli like noodle thin and bouncy noodle. It’s coated in plenty of oil but it isn’t as overtly forward in scallion flavor, though the overtones are definitely there. It’s not too soy forward either. The turnip puff pastry has a crust that’s intricate yet crumbles immediately, revealing some silky julienned turnips inside. The steamed shad fish is a signature. The sauce is amazing, consisting mostly of a delicate cooking wine with added sweetness, which imparts flavors into the fish. The meat is exquisite, finely textured yet soft. The rice balls in the sweet rice wine is super fresh, stretchy and glutinous. The rice wine though is a bit too sweet and not alcoholic or yeasty enough. The eight treasure rice is textbook, accompanied by a walnut soup in a cup that drinks like hot chocolate.

A Michelin starred restaurant serving more upscale and classical Thai food. The amuse bouche is delicious and sweet - juicy pineapple with a ball of caramelized peanuts and radish. The sweet and sour stir fried noodles doesn’t appear to have any noodles; it eats like the fried craggly remnants of batter but they’re really made of diced up rice noodles. It’s reminiscent of oily scorched rice chip snacks in flavor, especially as it’s stir fried in a sweet and sour sauce. The river prawn is tender and its head fats are mixed into the noodles with fried egg shavings. The green bean with crackling has exceptional cracklings that are fatty and porky, yet airy and crunchy. The green bean and paste are decent. The massaman is light yet sweet, balanced and controlled in flavors. The beef is soft and falls apart easily, thoroughly flavored. The saneh jaan is a mung bean paste with egg yolk and cacao. It’s very thick, waxy, and rather yolk-like in flavor, with a hint of rose water.

2*, #56 World's 50 best

Sorn is a celebration of Southern Thai cuisine and the traditional cooking from Chef Supaksorn’s grandmother. Unlike other Thai fine dining restaurants in Bangkok, what sets Sorn apart is not the novel flavor compositions or tasteful fusion; its courses, flavors, and techniques are much more traditional, like how I’d imagine a Thai King would’ve eaten 100 years ago. There’s a huge emphasis on product quality that you will definitely notice in the food. The pastes are all freshly ground, thus adjustable in spice level to each diner. The seafood is exceptionally fresh, sourced religiously from Southern Thailand. And before each course, the ingredients are proudly presented at the table and explained in detail. We start with three fruity bites. On the left is pink guava with pink guava jelly, crunchy shallots, and a sweet fish sauce – fruity yet umami. The middle one is an unripe mangosteen, crunchy and not as nectary as a ripe mangosteen, here with the dried shrimp flavor taking center stage. The one on the right is a cucumber with cashew and chili paste, topped with a piece of cashew; it’s the cleanest and most refreshing of the three bites. (8/10) Then comes a piece of tempura consisting of sand mole crabs on top of Ming aralia leaves. The tempura is finely crunchy, while the crab itself has an interestingly slightly sticky texture. It leaves some oiliness on the palate. (8/10) This is followed by 3 bites of bites of raw seafood. The first is a succulent piece of rainbow lobster tail, rather exquisite in texture to be a little jelly like yet chewy. It’s flavored by a small potent bit of watermelon and salted mango chili. The next are tiny strips of cuttlefish with fermented palm sugar, cured to dehydrate its texture and impart some funkily savory and sweet flavor. The third is my favorite, a slice of giant travelly fish wrapped in a spiral that yields quite a mouthful of fleshy chewiness. It contains some lovely and nontrivial Bird’s Eye chili on the inside. (8.5/10) Then is the Jorang, where pieces of river prawn are cooked in coconut milk, head butter, kaffir lime leaf, and lemongrass. The bite is rich both flavor and texture wise; texturally, it’s thoroughly meaty and creamy, and served on a crispy rice cracker. The flavors are very rich from the head butter and coconut milk, with strong notes of zest from lemongrass and kafir leaf. (8.5/10) To cleanse the palate, we have a refreshing torch ginger flower sorbet with a good balance of acidity from lime. (8.5/10) This is followed by perhaps my favorite thing of the evening - gems on crab stick. The pure flavors of crab are on full display here through an outsized bite of blue crab meat covered with semi-cooked mud crab roe. It brilliantly comes with a fresh yellow sweet chili paste that both breaks up the richness of the roe and complements the flavor of the meat. (10/10) An agreeable coconut milk soup follows to cool down the spice, cooked with sun dried squid, shrimp paste, shrimp, and scallop oil purely for flavor. It’s surprisingly not as savory or fishy, instead more sweet and milky from the presence of both coconut milk and coconut water (in place of water). It reminded me a little like Tom kha but with the savoriness toned down and the sweetness dialed higher. (8.5/10) Next we begin the main courses. The first is a refined take on khao yum, often known as Thai rainbow salad but here named The Sea Holds the Forest. Here, the usual blue rice has been switched with a crispy turmeric rice. The fermented anchovy budu sauce drizzled on is tangy, sweet, and complex. The dish is a gala of textures from ingredients including bean sprouts, winged beans, mango, ginger flower, crispy rice, herbs, green beans, shallots, and pomelo pellets. (9/10) The only course featuring red meat is the roti with southern beef curry. The curry is similar to a Massaman curry – sweet and tomato-y yet a little deeply herbal – and with more paste than cream. The spare rib, taken from old dairy cows, is soft and fatty with plenty of beefy flavor. The roti is frankly not as impressive; it’s more crispy and dry, not as doughy. A sweet and sour jellyfish salad on the side has a subtle sea flavor – rather contrastingly refreshing. (8/10) Then come the main courses. At Sorn, each of the mains are served with rice, and they come in succession so that each dish does not get cold. There are 2 curries and 2 stir fry dishes, all of which are from familiar southern Thai recipes. Perhaps the most important part of the main courses is the rice. It’s something the staff is quite proud of - they show us a clay pot full of steamed organic jasmine rice, and tell us about the exotic mineral water sourced from Ranong and the charcoal used to cook the rice. The rice curiously “stands up” at the top; apparently you wouldn’t get this if you had used a rice cooker. The rice is very clean in flavor, on the softer side, and not at all acidic in aroma. The first course is string bean with pork cracklings. There is a lot of subtlety in the string bean - its texture is perfect, watery and crunchy, yet it is charcoal grilled first to impart flavor. The catfish paste and cracklings are both super flavorful and delicious. (9/10) Next up is an excellent Thai green curry, no doubt the best I’ve had. Once again the curry is not as creamy but more fresh, with a good kick of spice that’s more subtle. The deboned chicken wing cooked separately is very succulent. (9/10) Then comes a ‘reconstructed’ stir fry of shrimp, cashew, and sator bean. The shrimp is quite bouncy, while the garlic sauce beneath is like minced garlic on steroids. The sinfully rich and bountiful head butter feels like it came from three prawns’ heads. (8/10) The final course is a crab curry, which comes with its own crab rice that is infused with crab roe. The big ball of crab meat sits in the middle of the curry, and it’s rather meaty with a texture little like egg white. The curry is potent and spicy. (8.5/10) To cleanse the palate, the seafood soup made with the shells of all the animals we’ve consumed thus far, is surprisingly clean and a little sweet, yet at the same time quite storied. It comes with a tender piece of bamboo shoot. (8/10) The first dessert is the main dessert. It reminds me of longan ice, a classic Cantonese dessert and one of my favorites, but with more depth and complexity. About half is a longan sorbet, while the other half is an assortment of sticky palm sago, grilled coconut, longan jam, and salted coconut snow. It’s a lovely harmony of flavors with varied textures. (8.5/10) The canned fruit is literally quite like canned fruit. Sure, it’s a bit fresher than true canned fruit, but it delivers its purpose to evoke a core memory of the Chef’s when he was in the US and couldn’t get fruits. (7/10) Finally, the petit fours are a wide array of traditional Thai street food snacks, brought down to mini bite sizes. My favorite was the Khanom Khrok, a freshly steamed rice cake with palm sugar, though the jellies were particularly flavorful. They’re served with Thai iced tea or coffee.

Perhaps the tastiest Thai restaurant I've been to. Come here if you're in Bangkok. Everything was exceptionally flavorful and beyond tasty. The fried mackerel heads are lovely bar snacks, they have the taste of bonito but are soft yet crispy. The shrimp salad comes with wasabi as well as the usual spices, making it extra spicy with additional dimension. The morning glory has such a crunchy and watery texture, it's particularly garlicky but not overly so. The Tom yum soup is balanced in spices, acidity, and aromatics. The shrimp within is particularly large and juicy. The basil and pork crackling is fatty and crunchy. An amazing rendition if you like cracklings. The frog kra pow was interesting, perhaps the least impressive of the dishes flavor wise.

I went to a $100 burger tasting menu in Bangkok, and it was awesome. Homeburg is a project of passion from Chef Taiki, a diehard burger perfectionist and lover. His take on stereotypical American cuisine was exceptionally technical and progressive that it alone makes this place worth trying (and you probably can’t find it anywhere else). The cuisine is beyond indulgent, where fattiness and umami flavor profiles are repeatedly capitalized upon that I felt queasy by the end. But it’s also undoubtedly delicious. The first course immediately turns up the intensity to 10. It’s layered with chawanmushi, beef and chicken stock, and an egg mousse and white pepper. It’s a savory and creamy bomb, but without much additional dimension. There are lovely bits of bacon inside though. (8/10) The next is a bite-sized “macaron burger” with soy sauce meringue, smoked confit beef cheek, and pickled jalapeño cheese. Texturally it was standout - the meringue instantly disintegrates into powder while the beef cheek melts too. Flavor wise it leaned sweet from the BBQ sauce, but the pickled jalapeño cheese also balanced it quite well. (9/10) The watermelon and feta cheese salad is amazing and special. It freezes the watermelon to -40C, yielding an unreal texture that feels mostly frozen but it still dispenses water when bitten into. Its flavors are a great refreshing balance between mint, balsamic, and tomato juice. (10/10) The crunchy beef taco is rather peculiar. The taco shell is replaced with a crystal shell made from arrow root and potato starch, boiled then crispified to be thin and crispy like paper. The flavors are TexMex, with the minced meat being quite dry though flavorful. The tahini and sour cream is quite good to bring the taco together, with the pomegranate a nice touch. (8/10) The fried chicken wing is rubbed in jerk seasoning, fried, then smoked. Its fragrance quite potent that you smell it before you see it. Even though the chicken is thoroughly smoky, it’s exceptionally tender. It’s served in a semi frozen house made ginger ale without fizz. (8/10) The steak course is ribeye cap; it’s thoroughly marbled and fatty, with good notes of beefiness. The sides are thoughtful and fun - a baked potato custard quite intense in potato flavor, and fried brussel sprouts with caramelized fish sauce yet very soft inside. The sauces, a pumpkin puree and a reduced wine just add some sweet and rich dimension to the beef. (8.5/10) The burgers are the highlight of the meal. They’re prepared meticulously - the buns are toasted then grilled briefly to impart flavor, while the patties are first cooked separately before the cheese is melted through steam to maintain moisture. The first burger is the house burger. It’s quite perfected. The patty is exceptionally soft and fine, rather fatty in content. The fat doesn’t end there though, it’s layered with crispy bacon, brushed with oil, and a generous amount of the house aioli is applied on both buns. It’s made more complex with zesty notes from lemon syrup, umami in the dashi cheese, and a lightly spicy and sour jalapeño relish. The burger oozes with oil when cut in half. (10/10) The fries on the side go through an ultrasonic process through a special machine used to clean jewelry. The result is a soft inside like mashed potato, yet it’s subtly airy and not at all thick like mashed potato. The fries are then doubly fried for crunch, creating a sharp contrast in textures between the inner and outer layer. (10/10) The second burger is modeled off the burger at Emmy Pizzeria. While it uses the same Japanese milk bun and patty, there’s now less acidity in the second one and only a tiny bit of spice from gochujang. It’s also sweeter from caramelized onions. Thai combination, in addition to having already had quite a greasy burger, makes it harder to finish. (8/10) The first dessert feels rather random and the parts don’t feel like they mesh. There is an apple and a chrysanthemum sorbet, quite gritty in mouthfeel made from liquid nitrogen. The apple is light and refreshing but not tart, while the chrysanthemum is sweeter and floral like the tea. A piece of Japanese tofu topped with crème brûlée caramel and dusted with matcha powder resides over the sorbet. (7/10) The basque cheesecake is quite a light cheesecake. It’s curiously initially a little savory but ends with a sweet and rounded finish. The raspberry and white chocolate bonbon is fermented slightly to be a little acidic. (9/10)

A meal at Baan Tepa is a culinary journey across Thailand. While a lot of the technique and allusions went over my head, there was no doubt that Chef Pam exudes a masterful control of Thai flavors from a progressively western trained background. Add in the devotion to sustainable sourcing and the dedication for local Thai tradition, you have a sure fire way to success. The amuse bouche presents celtuce and brings in some pungent umami notes from fish sauce to complement. One is a refreshing piece of celtuce stem, flavored by fragrant and spicy fish powder and some finger lime. The other is a lightly fermented celtuce leaf drink, flavored with fish sauce. The starting snacks are enlivening bites that showcase 3 types of Nam Prik, a Thai chili sauce, in bite-sized presentations. The flavors originate from different regions, and possess different textures too. The first is from the south - mackerel and taro stem is dotted with budu, a stronger anchovy based fish sauce, and a spicier yet lighter torched ginger flower sauce. The root is watery and fibrous, while the mackerel is quite the opposite. The second from the north is noom, a green chili dip, in a taco with fermented mushroom paste and topped with bits of pork crackling. The bite is crunchy, deeply savory, and spicy. The one from Isan is a deliciously tender chicken meatball, akin to tsukune yet with more chunkiness, augmented by a sharp yet pleasant sour fermented fish relish. (9.5/10) The first main course From the Sea brings together seafood in a mild and agreeable coconut milk. Fresh coconut milk is poured into caviar, creating a sweet and savory sauce for the seafood. The dry aged trevally fish doesn’t have flavor but a nice fleshy texture, especially as it’s folded. The conch shells have a contrastingly rubbery texture, and there are thin slices of lime that work surprisingly well for acidity and texture too. (8.5/10) Next comes a 2-part crab dish. The first is a chawanmushi on the rich and heavier side, featuring a more solid custard base covered by a spicy crab roe sauce and crab meat. The synthesis of custard, crab roe, and some cowa leaf is good, but not well refined as one would expect in a chawanmushi. The second is a crunchy and airy fried soft shell crab, with an oily batter and plenty of crab flavor in the roe, drizzled with a sweet nam poo syrup. The fermented bamboo aioli to pair is funky and reminds me of palo santo, quite a dissonant sauce. (8.5/10) I got the chicken liver mousse as an add on, which was in hindsight too much food but it was definitely one of my favorite courses. The chicken liver mousse is paired with jaew sauce, mildly spicy, sweet, and savory, with distinct notes of lemongrass. It was one of the best and most unique complements to liver mousse I’ve had, balancing out the liver in many directions. The flavors transition quite thoughtfully; the mousse takes a backseat initially to the jaew, but kicks in soon after with a lovely richness. The bread it comes with is not to be overlooked - a black sticky rice sourdough with a glutinous texture and a subtle flavor of black sticky rice. (10/10) I loved everything about the squid ink dong dang noodles. The northeastern Thai short rice noodles are rather joyfully chewy and glutinous, its texture accompanied by some dry aged mi cuit squid and octopus. It comes in a delicious black ink sauce with finely ground peppers and bits of lemongrass - familiarly sweet and savory with nice zesty notes - and leaves a light lingering spice. (10/10) We then head south for a deconstructed River Prawn from Surat Thani. The giant prawn’s meat is served with its head fat poured over, its head shell now dotted with a green nam jin puree with notes tarragon and seafood. Pieces of tuile make up its ‘tail’ with a black garlic and burnt leek sauce beneath. The head butter is surprisingly weak compared to the other sauces, and just adds fattiness I suppose. The black garlic and burnt leek are proven flavors but honestly not necessary. (8/10) The grey pomfret with Gang Kee Lek curry is perhaps the most traditional course on the menu, and one I unexpectedly found to be most memorable. The Northeastern curry is made from Senna Siamea and lotus stems, creating a tasteful yet refreshingly bitter flavor profile not often found in fine-dining nor in curry. The pomfret fish has a very unique texture that sort of disintegrates into little ‘sacs’ like finger lime, while the skin is quite crispy. (10/10) The Tomatoes of Thailand showcases multiple varieties of the fruit, but at the same time it’s like eating a single fresh tomato with subtly more going on. The one slice of tomato is succulent and juicy, filled with a tomato jelly that possesses a herbal tea-like flavor, and covering another variety of tomato beneath. It’s a refreshing palate cleanser before the main that doesn’t drop the level of flavor or umami. (8.5/10) The meat course features beef that comes in 3 forms - a wagyu ribeye, some slow cooked short rib, and also beef tongue with a tomato terrine. On the side there’s also some spicy tom zap soup and rice, though I’m too full to have any rice. Each of the 3 pieces are delicious; the ribeye is so marbled and soft, its beefiness needing to be cut through by the green chili paste beneath. The short rib is sweeter, the beef flavor different than the ribeye despite being also quite fatty. The tongue with tomato terrine is an inexplicably lovely combination; the tomato feels kind of freeze dried, lacking any juiciness while its texture becomes quite tender to pair with the layered tongue. The tomzap soup ends the course; it’s like tom yum but feels more mellowed and has a herbal quality to it. (9/10) The palate cleanser is a stroke of genius. It reinvents mango salad with a sour mango ice cream infused with Vietnamese basil, served with caramelized fish sauce as a drizzle. It’s simultaneously palate cleansing but also appetite opening, much needed since I was becoming very full. (10/10) The main dessert made less of a statement - it showcases a burnt banana leaf ice cream, pink guava slices and jam, on top of some taro chips. The ice cream reminded me vaguely in flavor of roasted barley tea, enhanced colorfully by the guava and the chips. On the side there is a taro waffle sandwich made with burnt coconut, rather glutinous and quite fun interspersed between bites of ice cream. (8/10) The petit fours are very thoughtful. They take on 4 different desserts from Thailand - sticky rice and palm sugar, chili sauce with lychee jelly, chocolate with cashews, and a coconut pandan cake.

A pad Thai institution with lines at night for hours. The pad Thai is honestly just good, on the sweeter side without a strong fish sauce flavor. The noodles and omelette are very fresh. The lime juice they give you for acidity is sort of funky and herbal. Orange juice is a banger.

I was hesitant to go to a German restaurant in Bangkok - it felt like a strange combination, but all its accolades convinced me to give it a shot. I reasoned that I’d want a break from all the Thai food, and there was perhaps nothing more different from Thai than German cuisine. The verdict if you’re in the same boat as I was? Do it. My meal at Sühring was an absolutely stellar experience, a worthy destination by itself no matter where it could’ve been. The presentation is delightfully top-notch, and the food is very refined. While Sühring serves haute German cuisine, the recipes originate from a cookbook passed down from the brothers’ grandmother, whom they learned to cook from during their childhood. This cookbook makes an appearance at the end of the meal. The snacks to start are beautiful and astonishing, perhaps some of the best bites I’ve had to begin a meal. It was surprising to learn that they weren’t constants on the menu since they were so well perfected. The first impressively brings together 5 different types of mushrooms into one bite through different preparations; a wonderfully rich and creamy mouthful with many textures yet a largely unified flavor. (10/10) Then comes a wonderful bite of herring that captures its essence in German cuisine while staying light and agreeable - a gelatin of pan seared herring encircles another jelly of pickled herring with mustard and pickles. (10/10) Third up is a tiny piece of shrimp toast, pairing the North Sea shrimp with potato salad, a touch of sauerkraut, and a sweet lemon oil. The texture of the minced shrimp contrasts the potato well, while the light sauerkraut complements the sweetness of the shrimp. (9/10) Next is a magical and explosive liquid salad whose textures evolves through the bite. The liquid sphere is made from butterhead lettuce, with overtones of fennel and a muted greenness. Once it subsides there is an inexplicable cheesiness with a slightly bitter frisée. (10/10) The final snack is adapted from a childhood favorite - a hazelnut chocolate wafer but here made savory with duck liver mousse replacing the chocolate. It’s like a thin ice cream sandwich with a very crunchy wafer, here infused with hazelnut flavor. The thinness of the liver makes the bite not immense. There is also an exquisite 10-year aged pinot blanc vinegar paired with the snack to break up its richness. The vinegar possesses a delicate flavor; it’s sweet and initially very tangy, but ends up being quite mild and rounded. The first course is some superb smoked trout that is then grilled on one side, accompanied by some horseradish in a savory Jerusalem artichoke broth. On the side is a tartlet of chervil (parsley) and trout roe, yielding mild yet satisfying flavors from chervil mayonnaise, chervil powder, and fennel. The initial smokiness of the trout quickly subsides to give way to the salmon and artichoke enhanced by almond oil. The tart intersperses between bites of the fatty and soft fish contrastingly. (9/10) The bread course consists of sourdough, whole grain, and soft pretzels. The 3 butters playfully come in the colors of the German flag - yellow is plain, red is tomato, and black is black garlic and black truffle. The butters are each excellent. The cold rinderroulade is a brilliant and delicious twist on the classic, wrapping raw simmental beef tartare with a thin grilled beef slice. The grilled beef is rather crispy, contrasting the finely mushed tartare that has the texture of sausage and embedded with bits of onion. The tartare is quite savory and complemented well by the sweet red cabbage sauce. (10/10) Next is langoustine with zucchini, an interesting combination that I feel lukewarm about. The langoustine is exceptionally soft and juicy with a subtly sweet flavor. The zucchini is also subtly sweet, but with a contrasting bitterness as well. It comes thinly sliced over its mousse, as well as below a piece of kombu dotted with airy potato bits. The langoustine head sauce and dill oil are poured on tableside, adding a lot of depth but surprisingly not that much richness. (8/10) The fish course downplays the role of the turbot, placing it as one of the four distinct components on the same plate. The turbot is covered in a Riesling beurre blanc and seaweed oil, and the three other bites are a fennel & basil mousse, a lump of caviar, and maultaschen dumplings with radish skin and mussel fillings. The fish is more textured, the sauces light and subtle, going rather well with the basil and fennel. The caviar comes in from a completely different angle, salty and rich, disrupting the fish. Lastly, the strong mussel flavor from the dumplings are another interesting side quest to the fish. (8/10) The duck is aged for 10 days and smoked, before being grilled and seared. It’s good but not amazing; the texture of the duck is less impressive - not as bouncy - and its flavor is adequate but not particularly potent. The skin is commendable though, thick and rather crispy. It’s paired with variations of beetroot and a cherry, a rather complementary combination of fruitiness and sweetness, and the piece containing confit duck leg was quite remarkable to have the duck inherit the beetroot’s flavor. The duck jus adds some enjoyable dimension, augmented with a bit of coffee. Side note, and not that this matters, but I’m not sure how this dish was German in any way. (8.5/10) The main dessert is a completely augmented rote grutze, a German red fruit dessert typically simmered in syrup. Our dessert surrounds the rote grutze with a ring of frozen vanilla mousse, and tops it with white chocolate, tiny meringue bits, and liquid nitrogen frozen raspberry bits. This combination builds tastefully on top of the rote grutze, reinforcing its flavors while also complementing it. (8.5/10) The final dessert, a traditional egg nog from a recipe by the chefs’ grandmother, is served with chocolate mignardaises. The eggnog is quite perfect. The chocolate bonbons are to match. There’s a Black Forest one with German brandy, and another toffee one with whisky. The rest are non alcoholic, a yuzu white chocolate, a caramel hazelnut, and a vanilla peanut. (10/10)

Nahm’s essence menu felt like an executive set lunch but with more pomp and starters. For 100 dollars in Bangkok, it wasn’t great value. The food was good though. Overall, the restaurant’s flavors are relatively mild for Thai food, yet it still has great character and is abundantly flavorful. The food isn’t as spicy or intense even compared to Nari in the US. Now that I’ve been to all 3 of Chef Pim’s restaurants, I still like Nari the most, but Nahm is definitely better than kin khao. The amuse bouche is a bite-sized crispy taco shaped wafer containing shredded coconut marinated in fragrant fish sauce. It definitely opens the appetite. 8/10 The first canapee is a sweet and garlicky mouthful of crab on a rice cracker. The garlic is notably pickled to add more dimension. 8/10 The second is a betel leaf miang with river prawn, shredded chicken, and green mango. It’s juicier than the first and with equal amounts of texture, including bits of snake fruit. 8.5/10 The fermented rice noodle contains a diverse array of ingredients - a tangy sour grass, julienned green mango, prawn powder, pineapple, star fruit, rose apple, ginger, shallot, and Thai chili all in a sweet and creamy coconut milk. It’s sort of like a creamy fruit salad meets Thai rice noodles, with the raw ginger and chili adding some lingering spice. (8/10) Then comes the main event - rice with curry, stir fried vegetable, and soup. 9.5/10 The fiddlehead ferns are very interesting - they’re crunchy yet leave an inexplicably sticky sensation on the palate like a coating of wax that cannot be washed away. The curry is stellar; after all chef Pim’s bumbai curry at nari is the best curry I’ve ever had. Here, it’s a panaeng curry with wagyu beef tongue and peanuts. The curry is quite sweet, nutty, robust in aromatics, and with lovely notes of makrut lime zest. It has great character but is not at all overpowering. The beef tongue retains its flavor despite the curry and possesses its iconic tender yet chewy texture. My only gripe is it’s a bit too oily. The holy basil soup on the side is simple yet effective, meant to cleanse the palate of the rich curry or the ferns. Some gritty and fatty meatballs are lovely in the soup. The palate cleanser is a lovely sorbet of watermelon and ginger. The ginger takes front stage, but the watermelon accompanies it well with its sweetness now less distinct. Only issue is that it was served a bit too frozen. 9/10 The textures and taste of pandan is a 4 part dessert sampling from different Thai desserts involving pandan. The khanom Chan, a steamed pandan and mungbean layered cake, is very well done with a strong taste of coconut milk. The pandan tapioca balls stick together and are quite chewy, yet with a more grassy flavor. The pandan noodles are served with a deeply tasty coconut ice cream with palm sugar that makes up for the lack of flavor in the noodles. The kuih talam, a steamed pandan cake with salted coconut milk, is lovely.

Very good udon. The noodles are playful and not too chewy, yet quite soft and fresh. The spicy Niku is quite recommendable - the soup is sweet, its flavors complex yet mellow. The beef is fun to chew while the tendon and tripe are soft. The fried chicken is decent, but not sure why it's on like every table. I liked the agedashi tofu more though there's better.

Came for the Sunday roast. It's great value relatively at $45, and comes with a balanced plate of slow roasted beef rump, potatoes, carrots, lettuce, and Yorkshire pudding. The drippings gravy to accompany add a lot of flavor that each otherwise lacks. The potatoes are oddly quite tough and hardened. The caramelized onions on bone marrow is ok, but adds a good amount of richness to the roast. The bloody Mary is more like tomato juice, spiced. I quite like it.

A pricey izakaya in Chelsea with alright food. Probably wouldn't come back, but it wasn't bad. The tempura cauliflower with mentaiko mayo is fun. The sushi rolls are fairly basic, while the uni is decent value. The octopus karaage is marinated in mirin first, and has a soft yet meaty texture. The udon with mushrooms is full of garlic and butter flavor. The chicken thigh yakitori is a highlight - it's juicy and quite tender, with a charred flavor combining with the tare.

Decent hunanese food in midtown, with adequate spice. The preserved eggs with eggplant and peppers is very tasty. The pea shoots are solid and not oily, thankfully. The yellow beef is not good and lack sufficient flavor other than salt and spice. The vermicelli noodles also lack dimensional flavor. Laoganma wings are flavorful but a bit dry.

A “new Spanish” restaurant focusing on local seafood. Definitely worth a try for something more progressive and creative. The Giant Galician clam is served in its shell with a creamy rocket leaf emulsion, contrasting the sea and sweet flavors of the clam against the green and slightly bitter cream sauce. Some tomatoes add pops of color. (9/10) The large and playfully chewy cockle is paired with a codium seaweed emulsion that reminds me slightly of Chinese pickled vegetables, but with more oceanic flavor and less acidity. It’s a pleasant combination but not as impressive as the first. (8/10) A bonito tuna ravioli is topped with chunks of its own tartar, in which the ravioli is notably open-topped. The dumpling has a chunky sweet bonito tuna filling, which is contrasted by both the raw tartar and the pepper and olive oil sauce. (9/10) Sea bream is placed in a very green sauce made from mustard leaf, covered with shreds of celery and cucumber. The flavors are rather refreshing and green, and the salty slightly-cured flavor of the sea bream comes through fully. The texture of the fish is also apparent - clean and quite fun. The green bloody Mary sorbet is like a Bloody Mary, but cleaner on the palate yet equally spicy and sour to give it a fun kick. I grow to like it less, becoming less interesting with each bite. (7.5/10) The rice comes in a saucy savory stew made of “surf and turf” - fish, shrimp, beef and more - also with a little bit of creaminess. Bits of baby cuttlefish are served on the rice, as well as an emulsion made of its roe. I grow to like it more, its deep flavor growing on me. (8/10)

A tapas restaurant serving solid food at blazingly fast speeds. The olives stuffed with anchovies provides a burst of salinity, great with vermouth. The house vermouth is recommendable, with a raisin like taste to it. The croquettes are soft and creamy, going well with Iberian jam, though I wish there was more meat. The patatas bravas are very crispy with a fun spicy sauce. The grilled artichoke removes all the hard parts you don't eat, and pairs the artichoke with romesco. There could've been more salt.

My biggest regret about my meal at Azurmendi is not coming for lunch. At lunch, you get to tour the facility – walk the grounds, explore the innovation center, and appreciate the environmentally conscious architecture – the reasons that make the restaurant distinctly special and a pioneer of sustainability. Then you’d get to enjoy a sunlit meal in the dining room overlooking the rolling hills of the Basque countryside. This setting dictates the cuisine at Azurmendi. The food is based on sustainable produce and local cuisine, expressed through masterful and controlled technique. Each course is exceptionally pleasing and the experience is dynamic – a meal at Azurmendi consists of 4 stages in 4 different rooms. The dining experience begins in the indoor forest with a picnic basket presenting four delightful bites. We start with a tiny brioche sandwiching smoked eel and anchovy cream; it’s good but doesn’t knock it out of the park on first impressions. The fried bread is crunchy yet stale inside, while the thin but potent layer of eel and anchovy cream dictates the flavors. (8/10) The second bite makes a larger statement - meringue is unconventionally paired with bits of Iberian ham that have the texture of crispy bacon. The meringue is excellent, and unveils a surprise cream encapsulated within. (9/10) The third is “lemon gras”, a cheeky pun on lemongrass and foie gras. A hollowed lemon acts as the container for a foie gras cream covered by a layer of lemongrass gelee, decorated with carrot flowers on the rim. The rich foie gras flavor is contrasted by the sweet and sour lemongrass gelee, which in turn is broken up by the bitterness of carrot flowers. (9/10) Last up is a small cup of red bean soup. It’s thick and a little sticky, very monotonously intense in red bean flavor. The portion is just right - two sips in and it becomes too immense from the savoriness and strong aftertaste. (8/10) We then move into the kitchen, where 3 different bites of truffle are assembled right in front of you. The first is a tiny macaron with quite thick shells; the meringue has a dry yet sticky texture and a superb umami flavor from the black truffle. I honestly didn’t realize truffle could have so much story to it. (10/10) Next is an aged apple juice with black truffle foam, perhaps one of the most memorable “bites” of the evening. The apple juice is aged for around a week with botanicals, yielding a herbal and refreshing pine-y taste a little like amaro but nowhere as bitter (and much more like apple juice). With the black truffle foam, the drink presents two balanced yet very separate entities, allowing you to appreciate each component more. (10/10) Lastly, an egg yolk is injected with black truffle sauce. It’s a simple yet pleasurable sac of richness. (9/10) The third stop is the plastic garden. All the ‘plants’ here are tastefully made from recycled plastics that the restaurant has consumed. The bites are presented amongst these plants. I am welcomed with an “almond flower”, really an almond curd shaped like a flower. It’s tastes just like almond milk, in fact made mostly from it but also with a touch of amaretto that I could not locate. The flower is slightly gritty on palate. (6.5/10) Next is a branch of flowers, but with the branch made of black olives and the flowers from basil. The olive cream used to affix the tiny basil flowers to the branch provide a stronger olive flavor than the branch, which is rather hard and crunchy. I think the presentation saves the otherwise basic flavors a bit. (8/10) Third up is a thin and almost translucent dried beetroot leaf, flavored by sugar and salt only. It reminded me of eating seaweed especially with the seasoning, but it also had a slight grassiness to it. (8/10) The final bite, presented on top a rose, is a sphere of exploding passionfruit. Its flavor is like eating the actual fruit but with some sugar added to reduce the tanginess. The shell is impressively thin. (9/10) We are then brought to the dining room, where we finally get to sit down. The first course are tomatoes, produced from the local village, as an ice cream and a tea. The ice cream is packed with the vibrant flavor of tomato, especially noticeable in the aftertaste, perhaps made sweeter to balance out the acidity. Its consistency is very fine with no irregularities. The tea is clear yet it possesses more flavor than any conventional tomato juice I’ve had, sharing the same pure tomato flavors as the ice cream. (9/10) The second course is a 4-part series on the harvest. The most visually stunning bite is a crepe of a ‘fossilized flower’. It’s thin and brittle, a little like eating the unleavened Sacramental bread. It’s similarly devoid of flavor, aside from a bit of peppercorn. (7/10) The asparagus roll is amazing. Cream from green and white asparagus is wrapped in its own skin that has first been caramelized. The cream is so wonderfully rich in flavor, while the crispy skin provides plenty of extended flavor after the cream subsides. (10/10) Then there’s a mushroom soup topped with cream, served in a nest of eggs. It drinks like a cappuccino, except the soup is a little too thick to drink easily. The cream is airy and frothy though. (8.5/10) Lastly is a dew water made from seaweed and greens. It’s a very intriguing drink that evolves on the palate. You taste the sweet kiwi fruit and greenness initially, before the aftertaste transitions to a totally different flavor of seawater and fresh seaweed. (10/10) This drink transitions us into the 3rd course - the sea - served in 3 parts. The first part is a crispy nori roll wrapping caviar on one end and salmon roe on the other, leveraging sweet smoked butter sauce in the center to balance the savoriness of the eggs on both sides. The construction of crispy nori with caviar is a surefire success, especially when it explodes on the palate to release the sauce. (9.5/10) In the middle is a baby lobster taco with egg yolk, a heavenly bite. The sticky creaminess of the minced baby lobster is phenomenal, and it’s enhanced by some rich cured egg yolk. The sweetness of lobster is complemented by a non-intrusively savory marinade. (10/10) The uni dish presents uni in 3 forms – uni foam covers the dish, while beneath is a uniquely textured uni mousse and fresh uni. Pairing the mousse with urchin is a bold choice since they’re the same flavor, but the texture of the fresh uni stands out more ingeniously. We finally graduate from bite sized courses. The first is oyster, blanched and served with a very savory seaweed granita that tastes quite like dashi, with small bulbs of of oyster cream emulsion. It’s a very lovely combination but the dashi may be too strong that it distracts from the natural flavors of the oyster. The oysters are sweet and creamy, amplified by the oyster cream. (9/10) Next are quisquilla prawns in a spring onion oil, with the emulsion of its heads and skins dotted around the shrimps. The dish is all about the raw prawns, going much lighter on the flavor of the sauce. There’s just tiny dots of the head emulsion, which have a dried shrimp flavor from the skins, while the fragrant spring onion oil accompanies the sweet and silky shrimp throughout the bite. It notably comes with blue shrimp eggs, which don’t contribute to the flavors, but it was cool. (9.5/10) Then comes a croquette of codfish, served with a chickpea sauce and a piece of skin on top. The croquette is unexpectedly sticky inside, and that becomes the theme of the dish. Flavor wise it was fairly bland, only coming from the thick jus-like chickpea sauce. I suspect the dish went over my head - is it a twist on a local dish or a childhood memory? (7/10) This is followed by the signature course - grilled lobster tail in smoked red pepper sauce, with pickled shallot, pickled apple, and emulsion of the lobsters head. The lobster with the sweet yet subtly smoky red pepper sauce is an instantly winning combination. Each part plays its role brilliantly and the dish is executed excellently - the emulsion packs a ton of flavor to enliven the bite, while some small shallots and pickled apple balance while adding pops of color. (10/10) The final savory course is deer in red wine sauce, served with gnocchi, idiazabal cheese, and white truffle. The deer is quite like eating steak, with just a bit more resistance to be chewier. The wine sauce’s astringent aftertaste comes tastefully into the palate to accompany the deer. The gnocchi is mushy while the cheese has notes similar to sharp cheddar, both quite different to the deer. It’s surprisingly light on the palate. (8.5/10) A delightful bonbon of foie gras cream in a spiced dark chocolate shell transitions us into desert. The foie is more flavorful than rich. (9/10) Dessert number one is a cornet with different textures of chestnut, as well as shaved black truffle. The chestnut ice cream is not airy and quite sticky, rather deep in flavor, and comes in an impressively thin shell. An ember continues to burn in the bowl, but the smoke distracts the flavor a bit. (8/10) The pistachio dessert is one of my favorite courses of the evening, and Chef Eneko agrees with me as he walks by my table to greet diners. It has pistachio ice cream, pistachio nut, pistachio fudge, pistachio crunch, and lastly a citrus granita. Each part is delightful as they blur into one symphony of pistachio flavor. The bergamot-y citrus granita synthezises well with the pistachioc yet adding bitterness and acidity to balance out all the nutty richness. (10/10) The final course is a chocolate and peanut dessert with many layers of tartlet shells in between. On the bottom are crushed peanuts and the layer above is a chocolate cream, all held together by some toffee. In one bite, it is quite diverse - the crunchy peanut merge with the liquid chocolate, while the 4 tartlets provide a good crisp. (8.5/10) The petit fours are some of the best I’ve had, considering both quantity and quality. The macaron matches the top patissiers in Paris, while the Basil yogurt bonbon is phenomenal. The white chocolate toffee, yuzu, and passionfruit chocolate bonbons are all excellent. The curry + mango jelly and raspberry jelly are exceptional. (10/10)

Mont bar is an exceptional restaurant serving perhaps the highest form of tapas. The food is worthy to be in any white tablecloth tasting menu; exquisite, creative, and absolutely delicious. Next time, I’m coming back for the tasting menu. The small bites are all exquisite and excellent, each with their own delightful twists. The welcome snack is a shrimp cracker. A prawn skin flavor is particularly evident, lingering on the palate. It is enhanced with some brown butter and a touch of lemon juice. The uni “vol-au-vent“ serves uni on meringue, which is carved out for stracciatella like in a vol-au-vent. The flavor of the local uni is so deep and pleasingly emphasized by stracciatella cheese. The dry meringue creates an initial surprise as it disintegrates on the palate. There’s just enough wasabi to balance. (10/10) The sea bass “ceviche” is rolled up into a flower shape to produce a layered meaty texture during each bite. The dried corn kernel chip beneath is particularly highlightable, just like the flavor of large corn kernels yet with an airy and crunchy texture. The yellow ají, avocado, and leche de tigre butter come together so pleasantly to showcase Peruvian flavors that make it a “ceviche”. (10/10) The Cockle “soufflé” puts raw cockles on a pillow of dashi foam. It instantly pops to release all the umami of the dashi that go with the cockles. Some dill and a sour emulsion on top round out the flavors often found with cockles. (9/10) The Shiso waffle sandwiches cured fish in two layers of crunchy shiso waffle, pairing the two flavors through a novel manner. On top is some vizcaina pepper sauce, sweet and deep, as well as some lemon that augment the flavors well. (8.5/10) The mochi with Iberian soppressata is amazing. It’s a lovely and prolonged bite in which the chew of the mochi is accompanied by the cured and spicy flavor of the meat, as well as sole almonds for crunch. Some Mahon cheese on top is a great add to provide another dimension. (10/10) The sauce for the razor clams is made in front of us, including chili oil, parsley, garlic chops, olive oil, lemon, and soy sauce, yet coming out very frothy. The razor clams are paired with lentils, both spherified and regular, a thoughtful contrast in textures. The sauce is delightfully oily, garlicky, and tangy, complementing the sweet and sea flavored clams well. (8.5/10) The stracciatella is a must. It also has rich concentrated tomatoes, pistachio, and basil oil all under a shroud of sherry vinegar foam. Some basil leaf and flower are dotted on top of the dish to make it visually stunning yet curious. The dish is amazing - imagine a caprese salad but with richness and bitterness of bottarga added in. The vinegar foam shrouds the dish in a mystery; you don’t really know what’s in each bite. (10/10) The smoked tuna belly with pint nut emulsion is another stellar course. The tuna belly is amazing - it’s silky, fatty, and exquisitely soft. The smoky flavor accompanies the pure and fatty flavor of the tuna belly, which is only seasoned with salt. There are some dots of pine nut emulsion, not intrusive of the delicate flavor of the raw tuna but instead enhancing it. (10/10)