My top 20 dishes of 2012

Baked char siu buns at Lung King Heen, Four Seasons Hong Kong

As I'm picking my Top 20, I realise I haven't travelled very much at all this year, and you probably already know why. It's funny, because I used to have to leave Hong Kong every few months, else I'd feel claustrophobic or just generally be itching to go away. This year has been so jam-packed with hugely fun things, I guess claustrophobia just got pushed out of the way.

I'm also cheating when I titled this post "top 20 dishes", because while some were individual dishes, others were full meals.

Anyway, without further ado, and in no particular order:

A Guide to Coffee in Hong Kong - Where to Drink, Buy and Read about Coffee

Cafe Deadend's "Dirty Double"

Hong Kong is no longer the coffee desert I came back to 6 years ago. It has gotten to the stage where I can get a good to excellent beverage whichever district I might be in - well, almost - there are none near my home in Tseung Kwan O, which is why I've also decided to list where you can also buy coffee beans and equipment to brew at home.

(Edit Oct 2013: Just so you know, this was written in Dec 2012. Since then, good coffee places have continued to open. I guess I'll start a 'living' list one of these days, but for the time being, please keep in mind that this is now old).

Grassroots Pantry - Feel-Good Food

Dessert at Grassroots Pantry - fig napoleon with pistachio and cashew cream

Eating well has been something of a challenge recently. It seems particularly ironic because I have access to fresh organic local vegetables every Sunday, however there is no irony in it at all when you realise that the time spent making sure that there are vegetables at Island East Markets every Sunday is exactly why I haven't been eating them.

The first time I went to Grassroots Pantry, it was with Table for Two, for our very fun food crawl. The second time, it was to invite them to come set up a stall at Island East Markets. This time, the third time, I was finally able to go in for a proper meal (after having seen the lovely GP girls almost weekly at the market! Needless to say, they knew I was going in for dinner - end disclaimer).