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Heritage by Madison: The legacy of a legendary Shanghai restaurateur

I was writing this review when I came across the news of the sudden death of Austin Hu, the Chinese-American chef behind this restaurant and many other culinary enterprises in town. I did not know him. I think I never met him. Still it is a shocking news as I have enjoyed the cuisine of Heritage by Madison for several months. Let this review be an homage to his work

The visit

I began visiting the restaurant back in June 2020 in the post Covid-19 Shanghai.

It is located at the Bund Finance Center, along with the Fosun Foundation building, a designer’s mall (in the basement of the plaza) and more. Recently a Baker and Spice location opened nearby. They usually have weekend markets and the exhibitions at the Fosun Foundation, when not overly commercial, may be interesting.

The interior is slick and modern. On a nice day there is a lot of competition to secure the outdoor seats.

What I immediately liked was a streamlined menu and straightforward dishes mixing Western and Chinese elements. Austin Hu’s hallmark. I have tried almost half of the items on the menu, here’s some of my favorites.

Among the appetizers, the assorted pickles including kimchi are a nice nibble.

Even better, the fried cauliflowers are crispy and tasty.

But my absolute favorite is the crispy pork belly. The crispiness of the skin and the juiciness of the meat are hardly encountered together at this level.

Once I tried, off-the-menu, their famous pastrami sandwich. If you like sour and spicy flavors this is a great sandwich.

Their duck ragout pasta was also very good (I did not entirely liked the shredded vegetables on top).

The check

The dishes described came from two visits, costing 271 and 256 RMB respectively (38-40 USD). That’s what you may expect to pay for a couple of dishes and a drink.

During weekdays they have an economical lunch set for just 10 USD.

At weekends they do not serve the standard menu, rather they have a brunch deal. You can choose three dishes from the brunch menu for 188 RMB.

Where in Shanghai:
1/F, 600 Zhongshan Dong Er Lu, near Longtan Lu.
In Chinese: 中山东二路600号1楼, 近龙潭路.
Easy bookings via Chope.

Falling for a grilled cheese sandwich in Shanghai

Co.Cheese Melt Bar is literally a hole in the wall place in Jingan. Their grilled cheese sandwiches remain unsurpassed in Shanghai.

The visit

Inside they only have bar chairs.

Really difficult to choose a sandwich on their list (around 30 options, including creative concoction such as Mac & Cheese and Kimchi) and they even offer the possibility to make your own sandwich.

In the picture above their Canadian Bacon sandwich (n. 28 from the menu) with bacon, secret sauce, and cheddar. Pictured a regular sized sandwich. They also have an option for large.

They have a large selection of drinks, both alcoholic and non-alcoholic. In the picture a grapefruit juice.

They also have some other food items on the menu. Once I had their cheese board. Their Philly steak seems very attractive.

The check

Regular sandwiches are 50 RMB (7.5 USD). This check was 75 RMB (11 USD) including the drink (I believe that during the week for lunch they have a deal with a drink included with the sandwich).

Where in Shanghai:
32 Yuyuan Dong Lu
Address in Chinese: 愚园东路32号

The location visited for the review was closed at the end of September 2020. They operate another location at 509 Nanchang Lu, near Shaanxi Nan Lu (behind IAPM mall) – in Chinese: 南昌路509号, 近陕西南路.

All the Vietnamese food under one roof: Nha Hang Ngon

I am adding this review more to showcase an interesting business than to praise the food. The food in this restaurant is pretty mediocre. Yet, it is an extremely popular restaurant in Ho Chi Minh City (and now also in Hanoi and even Berlin and Phnom Penh).

The idea is very simple: a restaurant serving traditional Vietnamese street food in a sanitized environment, with the possibility to see how the food is prepared. Tourists love it. This is the basic concept behind Nha Hang Ngon.

The visit

The restaurant is located in a colonial style villa with high ceilings on a very busy street (Pasteur). This review is based on a visit during Tet 2019 (at the beginning of February).

The menu is now amazingly extensive. They also have Korean, Thai, Japanese food (and I am probably forgetting a few cuisines).

Around the perimeter of the restaurant you can observer various “stations” where the dishes are prepared. However the order is taken at the table and many people do not even notice this feature of the restaurant.

I had a canh bun, a type of noodle soup with pork and shrimp paste, fried tofu puffs, and congealed blood (huyet). It comes with rice vermicelli. It was ok.

A friend of mine had a bowl of pho with beef.

Another friend had rice with chicken and a version of the canh chua, a soup with vegetables and fish originally from the Mekong region.

The check

The final check was around 500,000 VND (or 22 USD). For three people including iced teas and a juice, that’s a good price. Still three or four times the cost of these dishes from a bona fide street vendor.

I guess the price point is what keeps everyone happy: the owners have a large margin and the customers still feel that they have made a bargain. The food is mediocre, but not bad by any means. They know what they are doing. Up to you if this is the place for you.

Where in Ho Chi Minh City:
160 Pasteur Street, District 1

The Cajun Cua experience in Ho Chi Minh City

The Cajun Cua (“cua” means crab in Vietnamese) was probably the first restaurant in Ho Chi Minh City to offer cajun seafood. Cajun is both the name of a rustic cuisine in Louisiana and a spicy seasoning widely used in that cuisine. The Cajun Cua, like many similar restaurants, specializes in a specific aspect of this cuisine: serving boiled seafood (and other ingredients) in bags where it is mixed with certain seasonings.

The Cajun Cua has been around for at least a decade and in 2015-16 became very popular. As it happens in Vietnam, popularity was followed by imitation and other similar themed restaurants mushroomed in Ho Chi Minh City. In my visit in the summer 2019 the fad seemed to have faded away.

The visit

The restaurant is relatively small with a storefront squeezed among the shops of Ly Tu Trong street.

Ordering the main dish – the seafood by the bag – involved two steps: first I made my choices of seafood, then I chose the seasoning; I chose cajun, but other flavors were possible: garlic butter, lemon garlic, basil, juicy. I tried a few of these seasonings in the past and they are all good, full of flavor, but not to the point to kill the seafood taste entirely.

I was also provided a slice of lime to squeeze on a tablespoon of salt and pepper. This is a typical Vietnamese condiment, not related to Cajun cooking.

The preparation can take quite a while. I think I waited half an hour (that is a lot for a restaurant in Asia). But if you are smart, you can do like a group that arrived shortly after me and was served immediately: they had booked their food on the phone beforehand. The chalkboard above illustrates the waiting times.

Above you can see how my bag looked like: it included 250 grams of swimmer crab, 250 grams of green mussels, and 250 grams of prawns.

All the seafood was very good. The bag also came with a piece of corn and a mini slice of sausage (it would have been nice to have more, you can order extra though). I also had a baguette to dip in the leftover sauce after finishing the seafood.

Finally, I had a portion of chicken wings with cajun seasoning. Quite nice if you like spicy food.

The check

Final check was a little over 1,000,000 VND (or 44 USD). Probably there was enough food for two people with a normal appetite. While it is pricey as compared to standard Vietnamese food, you can enjoy some good seafood without breaking the bank.

I have never been in Louisiana and I cannot speak about the authenticity, but overall the experience and the quality of the food is good and it is a nice option for seafood-lovers.

Where in Ho Chi Minh City:
267 Lý Tự Trọng – District 1
(They also have a location in District 7, in Sunrice City, where I have never been.)

Dining with a cause: KOTO in Ho Chi Minh City

KOTO stands for “know one, teach one” and is the slogan of an Australian charity, founded by an Australian-Vietnamese, aimed at developing the skills of underprivileged and marginalized young individuals in Vietnam. They provide care and training programs for these individuals to make them employable in the hospitality sector. The centerpiece of this strategy is represented by two training restaurants, one in Hanoi and another in Ho Chi Minh City. Dining in these restaurants effectively supports this mission.

The visit

During Tet 2019 (the Vietnamese lunar new year and the following days) I had a dinner in their latest Ho Chi Minh City location, a nice old-style residential building at the margins of District 1.

The dinner started with a complimentary canape: a Chinese style fried wonton. The menu is based on Vietnamese food, but they also have some other Asian and Western classics.

I had their appetizer tasting platter that included deep fried Spring rolls, smoked eggplant salad on a rice and sesame cracker, steamed pork and snails, beef wrapped in betel leaves. It was a very tasty selection, easy to be shared between two people.

My main was a departure from Vietnamese food: a pan-fried barramundi on a bed of white beans and chorizo, plus fennel and orange salad. A very well executed dish that could have been in the menu of a five star restaurant.

Finally, I had space for a dessert: a pandan coconut brûlée, garnished with shortbread and grated coconut. It was a very good dessert.

The check

I spent 634,000 VND (or 27.5 USD) that I consider a very reasonable price. Especially the fish was very honestly priced.

The food was good, the environment was nice and the service friendly and attentive (as usual in Vietnam staff speaks at least a little bit of English). It is definitely a place that I would recommend for the food, even without mentioning their charitable mission.

Where in Ho Chi Minh City:
19 Nguyễn Đình Chiểu
Website: https://www.koto.com.au/koto-training-restaurants

An affordable sushi restaurant in Saigon Center: Ikeikemaru (closed)

You cannot splurge every day. In Saigon Center, Ho Chi Minh City, there is a sushi restaurant to keep in mind for a cheap but yet quality sushi meal.

The visit

The restaurant is located in the second basement of Saigon Centre, in the heart of Saigon and its full name is Ryoshi Sushi Ikeikemaru. It is a conveyor belt sushi restaurant (I reviewed a similar restaurant in Tokyo). From what I understand it is originally from Singapore.

They have two types of seating arrangements: counter and booths for groups.

Rules of the house.

What is notable is that they serve a lot of different types if sushi, like this gizzard shard known for its strong flavor.

Another very unusual sushi in Saigon, with a fluffy egg custard.

A shrimp croquette.

Another sushi with a strong flavor: mackerel, seared with vinegar.

I also ordered from the menu (they have reduced the number of dishes on the conveyor belt, but the number is still significant). The menu, by the way, comprises also many other Japanese food classics, such as ramen.

The first trio of sushi included tuna, tuna belly and negitoro (minced tuna). The second one included snapper, hamachi, and tuna again.

Finally I had some tuna sashimi. Not the best tuna in town, but very good value.

They serve over 100 types of sushi.

The check

Total check was 376,300 VND (or 16.20 USD). A single sushi dish from the conveyor belt was 27,500 VND (1.18 USD).

Ikeikemaru is good value for money and at the same time it provides a nice assortment of sushi that is difficult to come by even in higher end restaurants in Saigon.

Where in Ho Chi Minh City:
~~65 Le Loi, B2 Floor, Saigon Center.~~

Update 2020: After the March lockdown the restaurant did not re-open. Keep an eye on their FB page to see if they re-open.

Gourmet tapas at Octo Tapas Restobar in Ho Chi Minh City

Gourmet Spanish food definitely has come to Ho Chi Minh City. One of the best exemplars of this new wave of Spanish restaurants in town is Octo Tapas Restobar that I visited twice during the initial days of the lunar new year 2019.

The visit(s)

The “restobar” is located on the second floor of a building also hosting other restaurants. It is a very modern environment, but only with high chairs. It is a stone’s throw away from the iconic Bitexco Tower.

You need to climb two flight of stairs to get to the venue, but the effort will be rewarded.

Complimentary chips.

They have quite an extensive menu of tapas. The first time I settled for some classics. My first dish was ham croquettes.

The second dish came from the list of their signature tapas and was a bowl of mussels with chorizo in a creamy sauce. Maybe too creamy for my taste, but a memorable dish.

I also tried their huevos rotos that were effectively a creamy egg custard with ham.

I also tried one of their specials off the menu (tip: look at the board above the bar): sourdough bread with tomatoes and smoked anchovies. Sometimes you can find bliss in simplicity or maybe it is just my particular taste, but this dish was just so good.

Finally I had churros with an excellent chocolate mousse.

But I wanted to try more. So I went back the day after for a second visit.

I had the non-alcoholic version of a Moscow mule.

Then I tried their version of a katsu sando (the Japanese cutlet sandwich). The white bread cuddled a chunk of pinkish iberico pork. A great dish that met my expectations completely.

And, grand finale, I had their ox cheek with scallops. This was a superb dish. The ox cheek was very tender and it was nice to have the scallops to counterbalance the flavor.

The check(s)

Regarding the checks, I must specify that there was an additional 10% surcharge that was added because of the time of the year. Many restaurants in Vietnam have some extra charge in the days following Tet, the Vietnamese lunar new year, as it is usually difficult to have staff available on those days.

The first check was 1,056,275 VND or 44 USD for five dishes and a coke.

The second check was 784,300 VND or 33.75 USD for two substantial tapas and the mocktail.

Most tapas dishes were priced between 6 and 10 USD and could have been reasonably shared between two people.

While I understand that the environment caters to people indulging in drinks as well, I totally recommend Octo Tapas for its food. I am sure that everyone could find, as I did, some memorable tapas in their extensive menu. Personally I hope to go back in my next trip to Saigon to try even more options.

Where in Ho Chi Minh City:
75 Ho Tung Mau (2nd level), District 1
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/Octotapas/

Izakaya feast in Guangzhou (with a special fusion dish)

A good friend of mine in Guangzhou, during my January 2019 food expedition, brought me, with another acquaintance, in his favorite Japanese-style izakaya.

We went in a residential area and the izakaya, in the best of the Japanese tradition, was in the ground floor of a non-descript apartment building.

The staff was very happy to see my friend.

The visit

The dishes started to quickly flood the table.

First dish was a shirako sashimi (it was the season). This is a Japanese delicacy very difficult to find outside Japan.

Then we got the first part of an Hokkaido’s king crab. The claws were rich of pulp to pike.

Then a typical izakaya dish was served: grilled squid with cheese. We ordered two.

A very tasty boiled abalone.

Then the rest of the crab came grilled with cheese.

Then we went from sea to land with a piece of wagyu steak.

One of the highlights of the dinner was a grilled Japanese kinki fish chosen from the available fresh fish of the day. The kinki is regarded more and more as a luxury as only limited quantities are available every year. The perfect white pulp was consistently delicious and it lived up to its reputation.

By now you would say that we were done… but some of the best dishes were yet to come. The next dish was cooked at the table and was an original sea urchin dumpling in a kimchi soup.

I can only say that I would be glad to eat this kind of dumplings every day! I found it an excellent fusion dish, including the kimchi soup that I gladly drank to the last drop.

We also sampled some yakitori. The chicken skin was perfect.

Now toward the end of the dinner, we were served Chinese pastries filled with cream cheese both sweet and savory.

Also a salad was served.

The dessert included a trio of sorbets (I had the apricot one),

And at the very end we got a panna cotta.

The check

The dinner was offered by my friend and he insisted that I took a picture of the check as he knows that I run this blog where I always publish the final check. The check was substantial and had two big ticket items (the crab and the kinki fish), with many of the other dishes very reasonably priced.

If you are craving for izakaya food in Guangzhou, this restaurant does a fantastic job. I would be back just for the sea urchin dumplings. They only have a Chinese menu.

Where in Guangzhou:
61 Jiaochang East Road (a couple of blocks south of Martyr’s Park station of metro line 1, exit A)

Sunday dim sum at the White Swan hotel in Guangzhou

The White Swan hotel is a 28-story luxury hotel overlooking the Pearl River. Opened in 1983, it is Guangzhou’s first truly five star hotel and in 2015 a massive renovation was completed. It is also a culinary destination in Guangzhou as it features a number of high-end restaurants including a Michelin-starred venue.

They even have a waterfall in the lobby.

The visit

In late January 2019, along with three friends I had a Sunday dim sum in the Hongtu Hall restaurant, the largest dining venue in the hotel overlooking the river. On weekends, they serve the same dim sum menu also in the Jade River restaurant located upstairs (it is the Michelin-starred one).

Dim sum is super popular in Guangzhou and Sunday morning is the busiest time for dim sum. We were handed our tickets and waited around half an hour to get a table in the busy dining room. Number progression was shown on a screen.

With a touch of class, the tea was professionally poured by a waitress.

Various dim sum dishes soon began to reach the table. One of the first was stewed chicken feet. It is an extremely popular dish, but I had to give a pass. I yet have to become acquainted with chicken feet, even if they seem to enjoy a great deal of popularity everywhere in East and South East Asia.

Then we had an excellent crispy egg tart (on the left) and a crispy crumbling pastry called sachima (on the right). This type of pastry originated in North East China and is now popular nationwide. It is made of fluffy strands of fried batter bound together with a stiff sugar syrup, but the result is not too sweet. It was the first time I had it.

Turnip cake. Always nice.

Classic shrimp dumplings. Very tasty.

Baked pork buns with minced pork. This dish had a delicately sweet backtaste.

Steamed rice flour.

The swan-shaped dim sum was a pastry filled with chestnut paste.

A very special dish that we shared was a portion of sun flower chicken. The chicken was served cold and what is special is that it is a chicken mainly fed with sun flower seeds. It is difficult to describe, but there is indeed something special about this chicken meat. Only drawback was that there was not a lot of meat.

The check

Total check was 1154 RMB (or 172 USD). That was 43 USD per person. This can be regarded as expensive for dim sum, but considering the five star venue the final price seemed quite acceptable.

All the dishes were excellent, I could rank them as one of the best dim sum I ever had. The menu is very extensive, so it is a very good idea to go as a party to enjoy more variety.

Where in Guangzhou:
No.1, Shamian South Street.
In Chinese: 中国广州荔湾区沙面南街1号
Website: http://www.whiteswanhotel.com/en

Beef hot pot experience in Guangzhou

In January 2019 I had a chance to experience a classic beef hot pot in Guangzhou. Beef hot pot is a very popular cuisine in China and I was fortunate enough to have the company of two local friends that introduced me to the inner workings of a beef hot pot dinner.

The visit

My friends selected a very popular establishment called Chao Fa Beef Shop (潮发牛肉店). We had to queue around ten minutes before getting a table.

The menu was very detailed and allowed to choose specific cuts. We ordered a nice assortment of cuts.

The first step of the dinner was to wash the plates in hot tea, a typical tradition in Guangzhou and Hong Kong.

The tea was also good to drink!

The second step of the evening was to get to the dip sauce station and mix your own sauce.

Above is my personal dipping sauce, mildly spicy.

Beef came on platters thinly cut. Everything was really fresh.

The meat would be positioned in a colander and dipped in the boiling hot pot. Each time it would be dipped only half a second, quickly retracted and the cycle would be repeated half a dozen times until the meat was cooked.

I was particularly impressed by the fact that each cut tasted remarkably different. I guess this was also function of the freshness of the beef provided in this restaurant.

A special dish was the beef balls pictured above. The meat of this balls is freshly prepared every day: it is grounded and hammered until it is finely pulverized.

The beef ball had a very fine texture and were impressively dense. Kind of beef squared. I particularly enjoyed them with the sauce.

We also tried some cow innards. This dish was won. Upon check in, we were given the chance to participate in an instant lottery.

I also drank coconut milk from a popular brand (celebrating 30 years in business).

The check

No check because I was a guest in this dinner.

The dinner was highly enjoyable. The beef was all excellent and I really appreciated to try so many different flavors by sampling different parts of the cow. The beef hot pot in China is a very interesting food experience.

Where in Guangzhou:
Name of the restaurant in Chinese: 潮发牛肉店
115-12 Changxing Road, Tianhe District
In Chinese: 广东省广州市天河区长兴路115-12 邮政编码: 510640