Just across Takemura (one of my favorite sweet cafes in Tokyo) I noticed an izakaya. Looking at the menu affixed outside I noticed that they specialized in smoked foods. Very interesting concept! I had to try it.
The visit
It was early on a Saturday evening and I was the first customer. I sat on a bar chair in the ground floor room (a bit uncomfortable). They also have tables upstairs.
I ordered their mixed platter with five items. It has BBQ pork, duck, bacon, rice cake, and olives (two). It was ok, but that one of the five promised items was a pair of olives seemed cheating.
They had smoked mentaiko that was good as usual.
Finally I had their smoked salmon salad that was quite good.
The check
The check for these three snack-size dishes was 4,080 yen (38 USD). For what it was, it was too much.
The concept of a smoked food izakaya was great, but it was poorly implemented. The food was clearly an afterthought, just a side for drinks. It is not an izakaya where you can have a serious meal. What a shame.
Where in Tokyo: 1 Chome-11-5 Kanda Sudacho, Chiyoda City. In Japanese: 〒101-0041 東京都千代田区神田須田町１丁目１１−5.
There are quite a few players in the bar-to-chocolate business in Tokyo (see my review of Green Bean to Bar Chocolate). Minimal is one of these with a well-established presence and multiple locations across town. In 2019 they opened a bakery cum chocolate cafe called Minimal The Baking that attracted my attention since they were offering pairings between chocolate and tea (and also sake, which is offered also at Green Bean to Bar Chocolate, however the option of tea was particularly attractive since I do not drink alcohol).
The visit
Their store is located just 50 meters from the South Exit 2 of Yoyogi-Uehara Station.
It is a small place.
With very minimal decor and furniture. Just space for a couple of parties. Luckily when I arrived all the seats were available.
They have a very focused range of chocolate cakes.
For my pairing I had tea and two baked chocolate bars with different types of cacao (normally would be one, I doubled down). One bar was from Ghana beans and some others (they call it “High Cacao”) and another was from Colombia bean and was more fruity.
Overall I was a bit disappointed. The chocolate products were too dry in my opinion (I like more creamy creations) and I am not sure the pairing thing added anything to the experience.
The check
Tje pairing cost 1210 yen, plus other 660 yen for the additional piece of chocolate (around 17 USD in total).
The Ironwood is a cafe and restaurant with a beautiful garden located in Mae Rim, north of Chiang Mai proper.
The visit
At the entrance they proudly display their “table” title gained in the 2020 Thailand Michelin Guide.
It is a fairly large property. The main house was closed. My driver mentioned that this used to be Royal land so the owner must have had big connections to secure this spot.
I was seated in the garden.
All I had was a cake (I had already had lunch). But they also have a food menu with Thai dishes.
The carrot cake was… awful. It had probably been laying around for days. The whipped cream on top was hardened and I discarded it.
My driver had a cold brew that was ok.
The check
I spent 210 THB for the two items (6.5 USD). Too much for what I had.
As a cafe, all it had going on was the nice garden. The food was a disgrace. While, admittedly, I did not have a full meal, the impression was so bad that I won’t visit again.
Tip: next door there is another instagrammable cafe called Thongma Studio full of statues. A surreal and beautiful place. You might want to go there instead.
Where in Mae Rim: 592/2 Soi Nam Tok Mae Sa 8 Mae Raem.
Warning: “popular” used in the title does not necessarily mean good. It just means that this is a place that is usually crowded. There are even people queuing on weekends, but I personally do not get it. I ended up at Dim Sum Square a couple of times mostly because I did not have much time before going to the airport.
The visit
Contrary to what you may find on some websites, the entrance is not on Hiller Street (perhaps the official address), but on Jervois street.
Even on a weekend during the protests of 2019, the place was pretty crowded. But no line. I could see a lot of tourists in the crowd.
Ordering was pretty easy thanks to a bilingual menu.
I had their siu mai with crab roe. It was just ok. It did not taste particularly fresh even if it was supposed to be steamed on order (and do not get me wrong, I am sure it was, just the result was not remarkable).
The rice rolls with mixed vegetables were ok.
I tried something different, a osmanthus flower coconut milk cake. It was basically a jelly cake. It was interesting.
The “lava buns” with creamy custard were difficult to eat, with the filling that was too hot.
The check
I spent 100 HKD (12.75 USD). Tea, as usual, was included, but there was a small cover charge (4 HKD). For what I got, it was actually not cheap.
The dishes were not bad, but just regular. I think a random cafeteria could do the same. I really do not understand all the rave reviews, unless they are coming from clueless tourists. I do not know, maybe I was put off by the touristy environment. but I found this place just average.
The Robuchon empire (surviving his founder passed away last year) operates four brands in Shanghai (and many other cities): L’Atelier (the high-end venue with the full menu), Le Salon de The’ (there is one at Bund 18 that closes before dinner and specializes in afternoon teas, but also has a food menu), Le Salon (food menu until late), and, finally, La Boutique (usually attached to a Salon, sells cakes and bread mainly).
This review is about Le Salon in Reel Mall in Shanghai. There are other Salons coming at IFC and IAPM mall in that should fallow the same format.
The visit
The interior is classy and comfortable. To some extent, even better than L’Atelier where most of the seats are at the “teppanyaki” counter.
The first time I went for a breakfast, but before 11.30 the menu is limited to sandwiches and cakes. I had their “French Club” sandwich. Just an Italian tramezzino with egg, cheese, and tomato.
The chocolate and hazelnut cake was quite good. I wish they had more.
In my second visit I had a set menu arranged for China Restaurant Week, a recurring event managed by Dining City where restaurants offer special menus to diners. Le Salon did not do anything special, just lumped together some of their standard dishes. I chose a hamachi carpaccio with spices as an appetizer. Unimpressive.
But the real reason I went was to try the burger. Could it be a great gourmet burger? It was not. It was a modest and overpriced 110 gram burger. Very ordinary.
Still a bit hungry, I added an extra dish, some potato croquettes. Man, it was a sad dish.
The dessert was a lychee pudding and was quite good.
The check
My first approach for a breakfast was quite inexpensive, at 90 RMB (12.65 USD). It was a nice way to kill one hour.
The full dinner cost me 441 RMB (62 USD) and I found it overpriced for what it was. I should note that the three course menu was 288 RMB plus service charge. While other restaurants usually make an effort to offer their special menu during China Restaurant Week at a significant discount (at least 20%), there was almost no saving as compared with ordering the same items a la carte. Very lazy. The burger was 140 RMB, 20 USD, a la carte. Too much for such a small burger without a personality.
Sorry, but this is basically an overpriced casual French restaurant. I did enjoy L’Atelier, but won’t visit again Le Salon (except maybe for an afternoon tea and cakes, those are good).
Where in Shanghai: 109, Reel Mall, 1601 Nanjing Xi Lu. In Chinese: 南京西路1601号109.
Vietnamese love Japanese food and there are new sushi restaurants springing up on a regular basis in Ho Chi Minh City. Omakase is another story. As you might already know, omakase means “I leave it to you” and indicates the next level of Japanese cuisine. The term is usually employed in relation to sushi and is a code word for a high-level dining experience.
The first restaurant to offer a serious omakase in Saigon, according to my knowledge, was Sushi Rei back in 2016 or so. It is still open at the time of this post. I never tried it as the cost is 3,000,000 VND (around 140 USD, probably excluding tax) and I am willing to spend that kind of money for an omakase only when I travel in Japan. Let’s say that this is the “ugly” one because of the price (but if price is no object, by all means try it and let me know!).
There are two very good omakase in Saigon that I enjoyed. One is Kiyota Sushi Sake Restaurant. Very nice atmosphere, you are served at the counter like in a real Japanese omakase restaurant and the seafood is top quality. I personally tried their 1,200,000 VND menu (52 USD) that included an appetizer, five kinds of sashimi, grilled fish, vinegar fish, steamed eggs, 8 kinds of nigiri sushi, miso soup, and dessert. They also had a more expensive and a cheaper menu. I must also say that the service was top-notch both during the meal and before in my communications on Facebook. Unfortunately my phone was unavailable during my dinner and I was not able to take pictures, so I cannot post a review. Another excellent omakase (but it is not sushi, it is tempura) is Hanabi Japanese Cuisine that I already reviewed and I continue to recommend. In both cases, a Japanese chef is behind the counter.
This long prologue to say that this review is about the bad omakase that I tried: Kasen.
The visit
I visited during my summer 2019 trip and I made a booking through their website for a lunch. It was not really necessary as I was the only customer. The restaurant is located not far from the central thoroughfares of District 1. On the paper, it was supposed to be a very good place. The owner is a Japanese-born chef, Shinji Murata, that established a successful sushi restaurant in Los Angeles. Actually this was the first red flag. The owner-chef did not live in Saigon.
The first disappointment was that no counter seating was available. I was informed that they were building one on the top floor, but at the time of my visit for a solo diner only the ground floor was available. The dishes came from the kitchen on the second floor (where also private rooms were available). This was the second red flag. But I was already there…
I chose their summer omakase that was a mix of sushi and other dishes. They also had a more affordable sushi-only omakase and a la carte ordering was possible.
Dishes were served and explained by a very professional waitress that could speak good English and actually knew the dishes inside out.
The first dish was beef taco with what I believe was white salsa and shrimp ceviche, all on the spicy side. American influence was all too evident.
Next was salmon sashimi with light chili dressing and wasabi, ginger, nori on the side.
I did not take pictures of the next three dishes. There was ikura with asparagus and egg yolk sauce. Then tuna tataki (actually one slice of sashimi tuna and negitoro on top, not sure why they called it takaki) with yuzu miso and rocket flower. The yuzu was not really distinct, but the flavor was disturbed by chili sauce on top. It was simply too spicy and killing the flavor. Definitely this chef likes it spicy. The appetizers were concluded by hamachi on a sauce mixing ponzu and minced radish. A jalapeno slice on top of each slice of hamachi completed the dish. Again, the fish flavor was overwhelmed by the sauce and condiments and personally I do not like it.
It was time for some nigiri sushi. On the website they stated that “sushi rice, which we believe is just as important as the fish, is served warm and loosely packed”. This was really great to my hear. Warm sushi rice is indeed one style adopted by some restaurants in Japan. So imagine my disappointment when it turned out that the rice actually was quite ordinary and not really warm.
The first trio of nigiri included lean tuna (akami), medium fatty tuna (chutoro), and fatty tuna (otoro). I can only say that the tuna came in very thin slices. Real thin. Not my favorite.
Next three sushi: seabream, foie gras, halibut, already finished with wasabi, soy sauce, and garnishes as it should be in an omakase. The foie gras was disappointing in terms of flavor (maybe overcooked?).
Then there was an unimpressive handroll with crab meat.
Next was a beef tenderloin dish on a potato mash with soy balsamic sauce (I suppose a house recipe). I wish the meat had been more tender. I do not think it was wagyu as you would expect. The sauce did not add much to the flavor. The potato mash was velvety and exquisite.
A final staple dish was a bowl of cold soba noodle that was ok. But again unremarkable.
Last was a scoop of matcha ice cream. This was very good (I believe it was supplied by Ralf’s Gelato).
The check
Final check was 1,672,000 VND (72 USD). It was my most expensive meal during my trip in HCMC in summer 2019 and it did not deliver (at least the tea came with free refills!). I appreciated the design behind the dishes, but in some cases an ingredient would take over and kill the rest of the flavors. I love seafood and I found the one served quite bland. Those thin slices on the nigiri where kind of sad. The problem was the execution. If the dishes were just a little bit better in terms of preparation and flavor, I would have had no issue with the check. Unfortunately most of the dishes were just disappointing and for this reason I cannot really recommend this restaurant.
Where in Ho Chi Minh City: 101 Le Thi Rieng, District 1. Website: www.kasen.vn.
As part of my Michelin Shanghai Scramble I visited a one Michelin star restaurant serving Shanghai classics called Lao Zheng Xing. The restaurant is supposedly the oldest Shanghainese restaurant in the city (founded in 1862) and moved to its current multi-story location in 1997. It is near Raffles mall and People’s Square, not far from the Bund. There is no English name on the storefront, see the picture below.
The visit
I headed to the restaurant on a Saturday evening without a reservation. At 6pm the restaurant was already full (even if it is a huge venue), but I had to wait only 10 minutes before a table got free for me.
I got a table on the second floor in a classic noisy large Chinese dining room.
My first dish was cucumber in brown sauce. It was ok, the cucumbers were “crispy”, the sauce was nothing special.
Then I got a fairly large portion of Shanghai smoked soy fish. It was just ok, I did have better ones. These were full of small bones.
Then I had four pieces of baked abalone. The abalone was a bit hard to chew, but overall I liked this dish.
My biggest dish was the famous Shanghai’s egg and crab soup ( Xiefen) that came with sesame buns. It was actually the first time I tried it, so I cannot make comparisons. It was not crab season, so it was probably not the best time to try the dish. As you might expect it was very sweet. It was a dish for two people.
Then I had the classic soup dumplings (not invented in Shanghai, but a local favorite). This time I was really let down. The dumplings were hardly edible! Maybe I was given a set of dumplings left from another table? I have tried soup dumplings elsewhere and this was in no way close to an acceptable standard, with almost no soup inside and the poor dumplings that looked like asking to be put out of their misery.
A final dim sum dish, buns with cream, was also terrible.
The check
I spent 448 RMB (66.6 USD) for a very disappointing meal. I knew that this was not supposed to be a fancy restaurant, but the problem was the quality of some of the dishes that was just unacceptable. Maybe I was unlucky, but I guess the Michelin guide included the restaurant mostly as an homage to the local cuisine; however it should not be listed, in my opinion.
Admittedly, I ordered enough food for two people (I did not finish it) and this makes it at least an affordable restaurant, sharing with Madam Goose the record of cheapest Michelin restaurant in Shanghai. However the menu is quite extensive and also includes expensive dishes, so it is quite easy to overspend.
Where in Shanghai: 556 Fuzhou Lu In Chinese: 黄埔区福州路556号
YongFoo Elite is a private club and restaurant hosted in a beautiful colonial villa in the Former French Concession in Shanghai. The villa once hosted the British Consulate before being taken over by Shanghai clothing designer Wang Xing Zheng and turned into a private club in 2004. The restaurant is now open also to non-members.
I booked a dinner at Yongfoo Elite because it was awarded 2 stars in the 2019 edition of the Shanghai Michelin Guide (and the previous two edition as well) and it was part of my Michelin scramble.
Spoiler alert: it was pretty lame. The Michelin Guide owns me a lot of explanations.
The visit
I went on a Sunday evening in March 2019. In the garden there was a concert going on (with some sophisticated sounds… stuff for members I guess). Because it was dark I was unable to take a decent picture of the colonial three-story building.
I made my reservation through Dining City website where they seem to make available 8 seats for online reservation. So nice of them! Very easy. Weirdly, however, their website seems defunct, so I could not study the menu before my visit.
A peek into the members area from my table.
I was escorted to my table on the second floor. The vintage furniture is very conformable, basically I had a sofa all for myself. There were many pieces of art scattered around the villa.
I ordered one of their set menus (there were two available, mine was the cheaper; a third menu could be pre-ordered, but I was not aware of it).
The appetizer was supposed to be a combination of three types of marinated meat, smoked egg with vegetarian ham, and a potato salad Russian style, plus a seasonal green salad. The meat was pork and duck (not sure if there was a third one), the potato salad did not have anything “Russian” in my opinion. The vegetarian ham may have been interesting but it was just tasteless. And the green salad was just that… a few random leaves of salad with an undistinguished dressing. This appetizer platter was just underwhelming and set the tone for the rest of the dinner.
The appetizer was supplemented by a couple of forgettable snacks, beans and tofu strips.
The second dish was the third in the set menu (second and third dish were swapped) and was a small portion of river shrimps. At least they were pre-cleaned (this was a suggestion of the kind waiter as the dish on the set menu included the shrimps with their shell on…). Quite useless dish, understandable just as an homage to the local tradition.
Then I got the braised sea cucumber with scallion. The cucumber had a good consistency and the sauce was not too invasive. This dish was ok, even if I do not understand the Chinese fascination for sea cucumbers that seem to be quite bland to me.
Then it was the time for what was supposed to be the highlight of the dinner, smoked codfish with Qi Men black tea. Sorry, nothing special about this dish. Give me the smoked cod from Mott 32 anytime.
Next was a soup: bean curb strings in a clam-based stock. Unexpectedly, this soup was quite good. Very nice taste.
Also the next dish was unexpectedly quite tasty, or at least the organic water bamboo was. In the menu it was indicated that there was shrimp roe in the dish… I could not detect it.
Finally, I received the dessert: a sweet soup and two Chinese pastries with green bean and dates.
The check
The 660 RMB price of the set menu was not net and after a hefty service charge I paid 782 RMB (116 USD).
Was it worth it? Absolutely no. This was the first disappointment that I got following the Shanghai Michelin Guide. This was a very regular Chinese meal, there is no way that a 2 star rating can be justified. I had comparable Chinese dinners in very regular restaurants. Some of the dishes, like the appetizer, were a joke. It was also unacceptable for a Michelin grade restaurant to deviate from the set menu order (and I think they changed the ingredients a couple of times too) with no warning. Ok, they had more expensive set menus, but any set menu should be up to standard.
The only thing that I save is the service and the venue. Yes, the venue is nice, it has a vintage vibe going on. And the waitresses were very friendly and approachable.
Also famed diner Andy Thaler visited the restaurant and was very displeased. He also had some weird misunderstanding with the staff that prevented him from taking pictures. At least they did not interfere with my photos (discretely taken with my phone and without any flash).
If you wish to hang out in a colonial era villa, visit Villa Le Bec.
Suggestion for the Michelin Guide: I know that dealing with cognitive dissonance is difficult, but reduce this restaurant to a table or get rid of it, no more stars if you have any respect for your readers.
Where in Shanghai: 200 Yongfu Lu 永福路200号 Nearest metro station: Shanghai Library (line 10).
Starbucks’ Reserve Roasteries are a new concept store of the Seattle’s coffee brand. At the time of this post (March 2019), there are Reserve Roasteries in New York, Seattle, Milan, Tokyo, Beijing, and Shanghai (one in Chicago is underway).
These cafes are unlike any other Starbucks’ outlet: they are gargantuan spaces filled with experiences and goodies that you do not normally find in your regular Starbucks.
Why the focus on China? China is actually the second largest market for Starbucks in the world and is poised to take over the US as the most important profit center for the company. In China they really cracked the consumer code positioning themselves as a premium brand (it is 20% more expensive than in the US) and finding a place in a tea-centered culture.
The visit
The visit described in this post refers to the Starbucks’ Reserve Roastery opened in Shanghai in December 2017.
It is located in a two-story round building connected to the upscale Taikoo Hui Mall (sorry for the photo… it was a rainy day and the girl really was taking forever to get her picture taken).
The experience began with a little bit of queue. It was a gloomy Saturday afternoon. I only waited 5 minutes (close to my boiling point for this kind of adventure).
Inside it was pretty packed.
One of the most characteristics structures inside was the 40-ton bronze cask where the beans deposit after roasting. However it was not immediately clear how the process worked. The roastery, in my opinion, was more to impress than to educate.
Of course, the focus on the ground floor was the coffee that was available in exotic varieties not normally seen in other Starbucks cafes.
Coffee beans were also for sale.
A lot of branded merchandising was for sale as well.
They also had pizza by the slice and cakes made in collaboration with Princi’s bakery in Milan. A part of the ground floor was dedicated to the baked products. A slice of pizza was 68 RMB (or 10 USD). I tasted one of the desserts and I can say that the idea that this brings Italian food to the mix is laughable. More Olive Garden Italian food.
One the upper floor there was a space dedicated to Teavana, Starbucks’ tea brand that is quite popular in its Chinese shops.
I had a dessert: a sort of profiterole filled with cream. Absolutely unremarkable.
The overall idea behind the Reserve Roastery is summarized by a Starbucks’ executive in an interview with Forbes:
The Roastery is an opportunity to showcase the finest and rarest coffees from around the world. We show the customer the green beans, and share the experience of what happens when a bean is roasted, and serve the freshest coffee, which can be brewed in various flavors. We’re taking innovation to new levels, from the finest bakeries from Milan to stretch cocktails and aperitivos.
The Italian food concept has been recently extended in another new Starbucks store in Shanghai called Starbucks’ Reserve Bakery Cafe, where they also serve brunch and aperitivos (light refreshments and cocktails before dinner part of the Italian tradition).
The check
The dessert was 58 RMB or 8.65 USD. In case you did not get it, everything was jacked up in this place, beginning with the prices. A dessert would cost from 8 to 10 USD and a slice of pizza is above 10 USD. Not to mention the coffee. I am not a coffee drinker so I did not check, but according to online reports, in these Roasteries the price of a cup of coffee is easily double the normal Starbucks’ price.
The Reserve Roastery is not a cafe: it is a self-celebration of a brand. A place for selfies. It does not make any economic sense, but people flock, so they must be right. For me there won’t be other visits.
Where in Shanghai: HKRI Taikoo Hui, 789 Nanjing Xi Lu, by Fengyang Lu In Chinese: 南京西路789号, HKRI 太古汇, 近凤阳路 Website: https://roastery.starbucks.com.cn/en/
To complete my Shanghai Michelin Guide Scrambled I made a reservation at Le Comptoir de Pierre Gagnaire in Shanghai for a Sunday lunch. The restaurant was given a star in the 2019 editoon of the Shanghai Michelin Guide and is located in the exclusive Capella Hotel in the former French Concession.
Gagnaire is an iconoclastic chef at the forefront of the fusion cuisine movement. Beginning his career in St. Etienne where he won three Michelin Stars, Gagnaire tore at the conventions of classic French cooking by introducing jarring juxtapositions of flavours, tastes, textures, and ingredients.
Spoiler alert: nothing of this was apparent in the restaurant I visited.
The visit
My first attempt to make a reservation was weird. I called and was told that it was possible to join for lunch. But when I replied that I would come at noon, at the opening time, I was told that they could only accommodate me at 12.30. To me that does not make any sense. If you have a table at 12.30, then it must available also at half an hour earlier (since it is the opening time…).
I completed my reservation by email.
When I arrived I discovered that the menu that I had consulted on the website was only available for dinner! There was a less interesting brunch menu available. Later I complained about this with the manager and I see that now they published on the Capella’s page for the restaurant all the various menus. You are welcome.
I settled for their brunch package that included two courses, mineral water, juices, tea or coffee, bread basket, and desserts from a mini buffet. Then, I also added some eggs from la carte.
The bread basket was promptly served with butter and some confectioneries. Nice, but nothing spectacular.
Then I got their signature beef tartare. It is tartare with some additional ingredients, such as cheese, tuna and duck sashimi. Iconoclast? I was expecting a lot, but please give the Le Bec tartare every day of the week over this.
Next I got a sea bream seared fillet with a delicious condiment. This was a very good dish, but nothing new.
The Egg Benedict were perfectly executed.
Finally, I sampled some cakes from the dessert buffet. Again, very good, but nothing that left me with the crave to go back.
The check
Final charge was 644.60 CNY (94 USD). The basic package was 488 CNY plus 10% service charge.
What to say? For a brunch in Shanghai, this is a pretty bad value for money. For that money you can dine in a luxury buffet on the Bund (hint… check the Cathay Room).
Did I find anything exceptional about this French restaurant? Not really, I can have a good sea bream fillet in so many other establishments. If I could sample the full menu, who knows, maybe I would have had a better experience.
Why a place like this gets a star and Villa Le Bec does not will remain a mystery to me. Unfortunately, the Shanghai inspectors seem to be prone to award stars by default to the branches of renowned international powerhouses.
