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Hungry Hungarian in Taipei: lunch undercover
I'm back in Taipei for a couple of days, spending some quality time with the Hungry Hungarian. After hitting Ningxia Night Market (寧夏夜市) with him and inspecting my flood-damaged apartment last night,...
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Hungry Hungarian in Taipei: all about that pork
We had about 2 hours to kill between our long lunch and an incredibly early dinner, and I seriously needed help in digesting lunch, so the Hungry Hungarian and I parked ourselves at Fika Fika Cafe so...
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Revisiting an old favorite
I have been back in Taipei for a day and a half, and have yet to see the Parental Units... and this was after all the work they put in to clean up the flooding in my apartment earlier this week....
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Eating with chefs: Neighborhood Goh
Having returned from my short trip back home, it was time to hit a couple of my favorite places with chefs visiting from Japan. The Great One wanted to take Goh-san (from La Maison de la Nature Goh)...
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Eating with chefs: Goh with the Flo
Half a day after stuffing ourselves, a few of us reconvened at Seventh Son (家全七福) for a pig-out session. We were joined by Chef Kawate Hiroyasu (川手寛康) from Florilège, who had just landed in town for a...
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An evening of truffle, game, and cheese
Birdiegolf's birthday is coming up, so the Specialist decided to round up a few of us for a "birthday do", while using it as an excuse to pop open a few bottles. Not sure why I always get the job of...
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Stuck on the Ashes of Time
This dinner has been waiting to happen for a long, long time. More than 2½ years after my first visit, I finally found occasion (and company) to re-visit VEA. Vicky Cheng's cuisine has been getting a...
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Simple, seasonal, from the heart
Mr and Mrs Cane finally found time to catch up with us, and I had to make good on my promise to take them to Petrus. I have been preaching about Ricardo Chaneton's cuisine over the last 18 months to...
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Goldfinger
This meal has been in the works for 3 months, and I'm grateful that Agustin Balbi at HAKU is such a good sport, and willing to indulge me in this ludicrous request. Before getting into what I had for...
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Wine, wagyu, and white truffle
We are heading towards year end, and that means a few more MNSC dinners are coming up. Tonight it was Juliano's turn, and he invited us back to Kaiseki Den by Saotome (懐石 さおとめ). This place has been...
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Birthday humping
It was 2 years ago that a bunch of us gathered in an industrial warehouse in the boonies for a double birthday celebration. The meal was so memorable that quite a few of us kept reminiscing about some...
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When a chef makes you cry
A friend was kind enough to pick up a bottle of gin for Hello Kitty while on a trip to London, and we agreed to meet up for lunch so that I could take delivery. Sushi Shin (鮨辰) is a place he...
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Japan 2018 day 1: beggars can't be choosers
We're off to spend a week in Japan, and I'm returning to Hokkaido for the first time in almost two decades. We had time to kill at New Chitose Airport, so we hit the Calbee+ to snack on some potato...
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Japan 2018 day 2: And the reason is you
So after my early morning droning session and a pissy breakfast, it was time for the main event. The whole reason we planned an 8-day trip to Japan is so that we can dine at Michel Bras Toya Japon....
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Japan 2018 day 2: 3 songs on repeat
After kinda managing to catch the sunset, we stayed in at the Windsor Hotel Toya and had dinner at Windsor Out of Africa, the teppanyaki (鉄板焼) restaurant that received a macaron. Like most of the...
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Japan 2018 day 3: a crabulous feast
We were up and at 'em early again this morning, trying to catch the sunrise that we missed yesterday. I don't usually get my ass up this early, but Hello Kitty seemed determined to catch the sun...
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Japan 2018 day 3: 3-star crab
We're only in Sapporo for one night, so knowing me... it's not surprising that I chose to dine at one of three restaurants awarded with 3 Michelin stars in the 2017 Michelin Guide Hokkaido - a special...
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Japan 2018 day 4: a very cheesy day
Another day, another early morning transit. We're off to Tokyo today, so after checking out of JR Tower Hotel Nikko Sapporo, we rolled our luggage around the corner to JR Sapporo Station and got on a...
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Droning Boy: snowy Hokkaido
I dragged my ass out of bed a little after 6 a.m. in spite of my lack of sleep yesterday. One of the things I wanted to accomplish on this trip was to take some shots of Lake Toya (洞爺湖) from the air,...
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Japan 2018 day 4: demoted but no less delicious
We're having kaiseki (会席料理) dinners two night in a row, and tonight in Tokyo I chose Ginza Kojyu (銀座 小十) - which held the coveted 3-star status from Michelin from 2008 to 2014. We were lucky to get...
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