A Glutton's Guide to Hong Kong during Covid19

Clockwise from top left: Nikushou, Duddell's, Roganic, The Chairman

Although I'm not in Hong Kong at the moment, I've been making a list of how and where I'd want to eat if I were. On a global scale, some might say that Hong Kong is fortunate that it hasn't had a complete coronavirus lockdown (though things can change in the blink of an eye, so please keep washing your hands, wearing masks, avoiding crowds, not going out if you're feeling ill or have pre-existing conditions etc.). For gluttons like me, it's good to know that many restaurants and bars are still open, albeit hanging by a thread.

I thought I'd write a quick list (not comprehensive) of some of spots I like and that I could easily verify info on, and what they're doing during these strange times, so you can still try and support them somehow (and eat & drink very well in the process).

Best Things I Ate in 2019

Grilled sea cucumber, Yue Hai Hui, Shenzhen

Hello, welcome. Why are you here? We've long since established that I no longer blog. I just pass through once a year now to record a year of eating. For slightly more frequent updates (no promises), head to @e_ting on Insta.

Anyway, 2019 is coming to an end, so let's get on with it.

Best Things I Ate in 2018

Thanks for checking this post out. As you'll have probably realised, I don't blog anymore. I do waffle on a lot on Instagram though - you'll usually find me there.

Anyway, I thought I'd attempt my annual round up... I've travelled as much as I've been in Hong Kong this year so I'm going to have separate HK and international lists. Also, because I've missed having a good honest rant, I'm going to have a Worst Meals list. Social media is so sugary and positive these days, I thought I'd be that person and add a dash of bitter truth (I like Negronis and Old Fashioneds, what can I say).

15 best things I ate in Hong Kong in 2018

(in no particular order)

20 best dishes of 2017 - Hong Kong

One of the best things I ate in Hong Kong in 2017

It's that time of year again when I scroll through my Google photos and am reminded of the ridiculous amounts of food I eat, and how fortunate I am to call it my job. I did a lot of travel this year, including pretty epic trips to Chicago and San Sebastián, and there are still a few new restaurants I've been wanting to go to but haven't. This isn't a list of new places, although I have tried to stop myself from falling back on the classics (Seventh Son's suckling pig and The Chairman's steamed crab still haven't been beat though). Here's my list of 2017's best bites in Hong Kong in alphabetical order:

Perfecting minimalist travel - How I Pack Light

Stop agonising over packing and you'll be this happy. That's a fact.

In both daily life and travel, I pretty much try and keep a capsule wardrobe - I create uniforms for myself so I don't have to agonise over what to wear every day, and it's usually super simple stuff. For travel, everything just fits on a carry-on - then there's no waiting around for luggage, it doesn't get lost on tight connections, and if you're getting out of the airport on a train or metro etc., it's just less of a hassle lugging it around (I have painful childhood memories of lugging bags up/down/around the subway/train in Tokyo).

I didn't think it was anything special - after all, if you like to (or have to) travel, you want to be on your way quickly and efficiently as possible, right? - but I realised I might have nerded out a bit more than usual when even frequent travellers started saying I was an efficient packer.

So, to spread the ultralight gospel further, I thought I'd share some of the travel essentials that help me pack light. (I could go on forever, I love nerding out on this stuff).

Piazza Duomo in Alba is special, especially during White Truffle Season

Montblanc topped with white truffle at Piazza Duomo, Alba

You may have read the previous post about the White Truffle Festival in Alba - if not, follow that link and read it first to see how the visit to the restaurant fit into that day. This meal at Piazza Duomo was a crucial part, and probably one of the best food-related trips I've ever done.

Alba White Truffle Festival - An Essential Road Trip

A stall at the Fiera del Tartufo, the white truffle festival in Alba

If you live to eat like I do, the white truffle festival in Alba is a trip you must add to your bucket list.

The Great American Eclipse - how we found the perfect spot to see the total solar eclipse 2017

Most of the travel I do is in search of food. However - and I may have mentioned this before - my husband is the very opposite of a foodie, so when we travel together, I throw all my expectations of food out the window. It helps that usually we're going somewhere super interesting, and this time it was to see the total eclipse.

The Great American Eclipse, as it was called, was indeed pretty great for the US, because it basically crossed the entire country, west to east, and it's rare for totality to be seen on land (as 70% of the earth is water, a lot of times total eclipses happen over the sea and it's hard to catch them), let alone a country that is so relatively accessible by roads.

Solo dining in Macau - Lai Heen

Chaolian Roast Goose at Lai Heen, Macau

I could probably survive on rice and pickles, especially if it was the sweet mui choi and rice at Lai Heen, the Chinese restaurant at the Ritz-Carlton in Macau.

Actually, I probably couldn't, because I would also want the Chaolian-style roast goose too.

But I'm getting ahead of myself...

What happened when I quit coffee

Strong latte (ie. what we call double shot lattes in Melbourne) at White Mojo in Balwyn, suburban Melbourne

I'm a caffeine addict. I had known this for some time. When I say this, people think I drank a lot of coffee. I didn't. I consistently had one a day, two max. The problem was the duration - I'd done this for about 15 years.

I first detected a problem when I would wake up in the middle of the night, usually in the early hours of Monday morning, after a weekend of not drinking coffee.

Tallinn - An Overview, and Restaurants Not To Miss

Tallinn Old Town in winter

But first, allow me to explain why we were in Tallinn.

I'd hardly heard of Estonia until they introduced the relatively avant-garde concept of an e-Residency. (read more here). It kind of sounds like setting up a company on the Cayman Islands, except the residency is for you, personally, for instance, you can open a bank account like a local and even start a medical record and get prescriptions. Almost any generally law-abiding person from almost anywhere in the world can get one, giving you the right to operate out of Estonia without even having set foot in the country. I decided that at some point, I wanted to visit a country that thinks so out-of-the-box.

Beyond Old Town - An afternoon in Telliskivi, Tallinn

On the way to Telliskivi Creative City, we passed Depoo, a temporary Soviet Market in an old train depot

Most people head to Tallinn on a day trip from Helsinki - for Finns, it's for the cheap alcohol, bachelorettes and whatnot, and for tourists in the area, it's to see Old Town, Tallinn's UNESCO-listed Medieval town (more about that here). Old Town is very pretty - not that there isn't good stuff there - a lot of the town's best restaurants, important historical features and views are there, but it felt too well-preserved, and too tourist-ready (in that way, it reminded me of Venice). It was a good sign that we should go explore other areas.

Where to find proper coffee around Brisbane's Bayside (southside) suburbs

I'm always looking for a good coffee in the Bayside suburbs or Redlands - you'd want a good coffee with this view, right?

When I'm in Brisbane, which has been about a month a year in the past few years, I tend to hang out in the bayside suburbs, as we have family in the area, and I love the chilled out, waterside village feel here. Admittedly, it isn't an area regular tourists would necessarily visit, but because I don't see too much written about the area, I thought I'd add my two cents. As a bit of background, my general stomping grounds range from around Wakerley to Cleveland. Do note that all of them tend to close by lunchtime - early bird gets the coffee! (Queenslanders all seem to be morning people). If you know any more good ones, comment away - I would love to check them out, and I'm sure that with time, there'll be more good cafes - the atmosphere in this area is kind of perfect for chilled weekend brunching and places to refuel after those early morning runs.

10 best food things in 2016 - International edition

One of the many gorgeous Georgian supra (banquets) we had

I did an uncharacteristic amount of travel this year, and as a result, had some amazing food-related experiences I couldn't fit on my normal year-end list (which was already packed). I don't know that I'll ever blog about these places individually, so here are my top picks, which you probably already know about if you follow me on Instagram, but hey, a round-up never hurt anybody.

25 best food things in 2016 - Hong Kong edition

Oyster tartare at Belon

I started with 31 and tried really hard to cut back to 20 as I normally do, but this year, I've included some things that I think are worth noting that aren't specifically dishes, but definitely worth talking about, so cut me some slack! Promise I won't go over 25 next year! 

1. Belon, especially the bread and oyster tartare
2. Serge et Le Phoque
3. Kin's Kitchen, especially the Yi O collboration
4. Godenya
5. Gaddi's Chef's Table
6. Yardbird's rice cakes, and new cocktails from the Okinawa collab
7. One Harbour Road's steamed toothfish with preserved vegetables
8. Beef Bar
9. Samsen, especially the Son In Law eggs
10. The Bottle Shop Central's pandan pancakes
11. Second Draft's flower crab noodles
12. Cobo House's desserts
13. Caprice bar, especially Nicolas Lambert's desserts
14. CRFT-PIT's pecan pie
15. Kaum
16. Pak Loh Chiu Chow's mooncakes
17. Cookieboy peanut butter cookies
18. Grom
19. Redback Peel Street Espresso Bar
20. Seafood Room rooftop bar, my top pick for visitors these days 
21. Buenos Aires Polo Club's sidecar
22. Camp cooking on wood fires
23. Green Common's amazing expansion
24. Online shopping: Cork Culture, Coffee & Tales, Ztore, HKTV Mall, Sunday's Grocery
25. Pop-up culture: The Landmark Mandarin Oriental's pop-ups, The Mandarin Oriental's Cafe Central collaboration, Birds and Bubbles' fried chicken and biscuits, Filipino feast by Cross Cultures, Roca brothers' visit to Hong Kong, Test Kitchen

Addendum: Hong Kong restaurants and bars I have been to more than once in 2016.

Kin's Kitchen - Is this the future of Hong Kong's Cantonese food?

Deep-fried pigeon with Chinese leeks at Kin's Kitchen

There's a bit of a backstory to this post, which I won't get into, but suffice it to say that I was thinking about restaurants I go to more than once a year. Yes, once a year. I eat out a lot, and go to different restaurants because it's a big part of my job to eat at as many restaurants as possible, in order to find good stories, to be on the ball, to... just do my job.

Kin's Kitchen, I have been to about 6 times this year - that's almost once a month (that's more often than I write on this blog, #burn). I take out-of-towners there, I go there for my own dinners with friends and family, I go with the hyper-discerning Little Adventures crew, I go for fun. And dining out for fun does not happen for me as much as it might seem (have pity on me, LOL!).

The best rice I've ever had - Warakuen, Ureshino Onsen, Saga

Warakuen 和楽園 in Ureshino, Japan, decked out for the New Year

Months after our road trip in Kyushu (the western-ish side: Fukuoka - Nagasaki - Ureshino - Saga - Fukuoka), there is only one thing that keeps coming up in conversation - the rice we had at our ryokan in Ureshino.

The 38 Essential Hong Kong Restaurants for Eater

Essential Hong Kong Restaurants! Go get it on eater.com

It's been three months since my last blog post - OMG.

(What are you doing here anyway? It's 2016 folks, at least get on Instagram maybe? I thought blogs were like stone tablets now. And no, kids, a tablet does not always mean an iPad.)

Just dropping in to say that Eater has launched a guide to eating around the whole wide world (well, sort of, but not really. You know what I mean) and once again, I got to put my 5 8 10 (actually, let's not go there) years of professional eating in HK to good use. ENJOY! And please don't get angry. When it comes to food lists, there is never anything to argue about, only more food to eat. #wisdom

Issaya Siamese Club, Hong Kong - Smoke and Mirrors

Choo-Chee Salmon Rom Kwan at Issaya Siamese Club, Hong Kong

Let me start by saying this: Issaya Siamese Club is a gorgeous looking restaurant.

20 best dishes of 2015

#AMBERxBENU bamboo shoot with black truffle bao

Greedy food folk like me are lucky to eat a lot of good things all the time*, and I'm so very grateful to everyone who makes good food available to us (me!). In no particular order, I'd just like to celebrate 20 very memorable dishes I had (something I started 4 years ago and was supposed to continue annually but didn't - here's 2011 and 2012).