Asking a seasoned traveler for the name of a good Chinese restaurant is like searching online for a custom made shirt. With no chance to feel the hand of the fabric or compare that particular shade of blue you like with your skin tone, the search for right tastes and a healthy blend of ingredients is elusive at best and can often lead to a major disappointment if not a sour stomach. So, it was a rare and welcome discovery to sit down to the five-course near perfection offered up by Chef Chan Yan Tak at Lung King Heen in Hong Kong. Situated in the spectacular Four Seasons Hotel (the largest Four on the planet), this three star Michelin master holds court daily for diners whose adoration for dim sum bring them to the ongoing power lunch scene around the peaceful, spacious and beautifully arranged tables of this stellar restaurant. We passed up the initial invite for lunch so as to be able instead to savor a delicious dinner we will lovingly remember.

Well prepared to feast on a variety of Chef Chan's Cantonese signature dishes, we passed over the objectionable but requisite opening page of twelve shark's fin this and that to make our selection from the not-so-obvious fish and seafood, tofu, vegetable, rice and noodle offerings many diners consider side dishes. Carnivorous reviewers of Lung King Heen have already waxed eloquent about the numerous beef and pork entrees which are a standard in Hong Kong; however, our intention was to ascertain whether or not a globe-trotting vegetarian, vegan or macrobiotic diner could leave feeling healthy and sated without exceeding the credit card limit. Following the complimentary opener – a nibble of bean curd floating atop three straight, bright string beans cleverly arranged to reflect the I Ching hexagram for Heaven, a platter of eight small servings of “Crispy Scallops with Fresh Pear” (pictured below) started the meal with sweet slices of fruit bonded to the tender seafood by a thin layer of rich shrimp pâté. Numbers play a big role in all of Hong Kong, the land of feng shui and good fortune, where three and eight carry promising significance. The scallop-pair combination was like a fine French pastry and made us giddy with anticipation.

“Fried Rice with Lobster and Seafood” was equally divine; the rich taste of the rice combined well with sweet peas, tiny slivers of carrot delicately mixed with small bites of succulent lobster, prawn and crab. The result was tasty without being too filling, as much a light vegetable dish as one with seafood. From the page entitled “Organic, Vegetarian” we selected the “Five Grain Noodles and Assorted Vegetables”, abandoning our gluten-free preference for this special occasion. Both full of flavor and rich, this was as fine a noodle dish as any we'd ever had, the accent on the organic solidly noticeable with each bite. Since most noodle dishes in lesser establishments are often buoyed by water chestnuts, bamboo shoots and Chinese cabbage, the absence of these staple fillers has to be acknowledged.

More familiar with tofu than most other patrons (my family has made our own for four decades), we were eager to try the “Crispy Tofu Sheet Rolls with Vegetables.” We'd happily devour this dish, with a bowl of brown rice (not served here) and steamed greens, on a daily basis – that is if we could prepare it as well as Chef Chan did. It was exceptionally appetizing and totally enjoyable.

Despite our sense that we'd ordered the right amount to share, we soon realized our dinner would pack well for a four-hour plane ride the next day. Our wish would be graciously granted as the remaining food was taken to the kitchen and boxed for travel. This gave us a chance to sample one of the eight dessert bean or fruit puddings and one of the eight innovative pastries offered on the menu. Accompanied by Fuding Silver Needle Tea, a surprising twist awaited us as we sampled the “Chilled Coconut Pudding with Hasma and Longan.” While the “Red Bean Cream with Lotus Seed” was pleasant enough, the Coconut Pudding was truly unusual. It was a wholly unrecognizable taste: a sweet, light custardy soufflé layered between cool agar, somewhere between sparkling aspic and Japanese kanten.

Vegans, vegetarians and macros take note: don't settle for ordinary rice and bean curd just to save money in the great city of Hong Kong. Assuming they sample the beef, pork and shark's fin items on the menu, most people pay $150 – $200 each at Lung King Heen. Calculating that our meal served three people generously, the tab was $50 US per person, and we dined at the only three star Michelin Chinese restaurant in Asia. If that's not great value for money, then my tai chi is full of hungry ghosts.

The surprise ending? Hasma, known for its health-giving properties, are moist, chewy morsels with almost no taste. Hasma is said to be very good for the kidneys, lungs and women's skin as it contains many hormones and has a high lipid content. This is because it is a combination of fat and part of the reproductive area of a white-bellied frog from the north of China. Thus, as the meal ended, we conceded that when searching for healthy food, it just might not be essential to avoid all four-legged creatures that evolution moved out of the water. Astonished that we'd ingested our first amphibious body part, we both left of the same mind, feeling blessed that dinner at Lung King Heen was the best Chinese meal we'd ever had.

I lived in Bangkok from age zero to thirteen and only realized I took true Thai food for granted after I spent some time in the US. Yes, it’s true that there’s plenty of Thai folk working their culinary magic right here in America (especially in New York), but I’d given up hope for perfectly authentic Thai food until I experienced SriPraPhai, a little spot in Queens that made me miss home more than ever. The place is not exactly fancy, but that just adds to the effect, reminiscent of the Thailand I remember where the best food is at street level and won’t cost you much. While I’ve always favored beef noodle soup, that’s about the most basic thing on the extensive menu, which includes obscure items from every region. Go there once and take a Thai person with you. They’ll agree, the proof is in the spicy som tam.

The term “fast food” usually applies to the speed in which a frozen hunk of processed mystery ingredients mutates into a wondrously cheap and edible delight; not the rate at which a seemingly innocuous old shipping box transforms into a chic new restaurant. Alas, MuvBox might change the meaning of fast food forever, not only with it’s unique sort of sanctuary, but also with the gourmet fare being dished out on site. The space-saving solar-powered Montreal eatery created by Daniel Noiseux serves up high quality cuisine using the finest of local ingredients. Customers delight in savory seafood pizza, lobster rolls and the like. And when the day is done and it’s time to shut up shop, it all goes back in the box in a matter of minutes. If you want to witness this magnifique mealtime miracle head to Montreal’s Old Port and satisfy your inner fast foodie.

Via Springwise

Vancouver is a fantastic city to explore and discover new restaurants – especially if you like seafood as much as I do. The access to quality ingredients would make any food connoisseur drool. It certainly had me blissed the whole week I was there.

I didn't need to go far from my hotel for my first big dinner, and the experience at Yew Restaurant was certainly worth celebrating. After undergoing a massive renovation in the lobby of The Four Seasons ($4 million Canadian dollars for the restaurant alone, I'm told), a dramatic space was born, seating more than 128 guests. You're dazzled in this gorgeous space by its massive 40 foot ceilings, a floor to ceiling fireplace, and a communal table formed from a single piece of western maple.

The Executive Chef, Oliver Beckert launched a dinner menu he calls No Passport Required, a way to lead his guests on an enticing culinary journey to far away destinations — all without the need to leave their comfortable downtown Vancouver seats. April was “Japan” month (my favorite, of course) so I gave up the reins and went for it.

My Japanese adventure started with King Crab Soup, a Sake based broth with Daikon and Shiso. Very simple, light, and tasty. Large chunks of King Crab which tasted like they’d been lifted out of the sea a few hours earlier. Soup was followed by a Miso-Marinated Black Cod served with Asparagus, Edamame and a Kombu Broth — a classic. Dessert was a Pink Grapefruit Parfait with Ginger and Vanilla Consomme and Almond Milk Caviar.

My guest loved his dish from the daily menu– the fresh wild Salmon, miso-broiled with Chinese Broccoli, Baby Shiitake Mushrooms, Squash and a Plum Puree. If you're not up for food from the sea, they offer Wild Boar, Venison, or a pasta dish for the vegetarians.

There's also an impressive wine selection with more than 150 bottles available by the glass– (yes, one hundred and fifty) and they'll open nearly any selection you might want to sample.

Our Parfait was an ideal ending for us, but if you’re feeling especially brave, finish off with a selection of their Homemade Ice Cream and Sorbet's – Nutella, Carmel Honeycomb, S'more Ice Cream — and then call the cardiologist! Delicious.

You know what’s annoying about restaurants: waiters. They bring you the wrong orders, you can’t find them when you need them, and conversely they constantly check up when you don’t (no offense to any of our reader/waiters, we’re sure you’re terrific). New London restaurant Inamo is taking a technological approach turning everyone’s table into a computer. At Inamo, order food, change the color or design of the table, play battleship (which is amazing), check out what’s happening in the kitchen via webcam, request the waiter, pay the bill — everything can be done from your table that doubles as a computer screen. This isn’t Microsoft Surface, it’s a projection from above that doubles as lighting and visual effect.

The fact that our table was a computer was inspired, but by the time the food comes who cares right? Well the food was amazing, too. Get the black cod. As fun as it was to have a computer table, that was the highlight of the night. Hit the jump for a few pictures (via Johannes Kleske) of my visit there.

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With a few locations around Tokyo, Uoshins is my new favorite Japanese sushi spot. It’s affordable, incredibly fresh (fish is laid out on ice when you walk in) and casual. The location I went to in Nogizaka is an old converted gas stand with outdoor/indoor seating and a great, fun, buzzing atmosphere. Make sure to try the uni, maguro-kama, and just about anything else on the menu (which is in Japanese, so good luck reading it, just smile and ask for Omakase, the chefs choice…)

Directions and map (thanks Alex) in English after the jump.

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I’ve been collecting the frequent flyer miles, and right now I’m in Rome for the next week (for the first time). I’m here because on Thursday I’m speaking at the TTI/Vanguard conference about the future of the social web, this new group of humans called Born Digitals, etc. The speaker lineup is pretty great, and I’m humbled to be here. But, like any good globe trotter, I’ve got some time to burn this trip (by design), and I have planned, wait for it, yep– nothing. Why would I come to Rome with nothing planned? Well, I figured a few of my faithful readers have been here and can lend a hand in recommendations. Where should I eat? What should I visit (other than the obvious city attractions?) Where should I shop? Who wants to get gelato with me? Drop me a note or leave a comment below. Ciao!

We recently had the pleasure of dining and drinking at Vanilla, a new London restaurant blending high-end design with upscale food. For those of you in the know of London restaurants, Vanilla was created from the ashes of Firevault— also known for its decor as much as its food.

Vanilla works on a color scheme of whiter than white. It takes you back the second you walk in the door. The bar feels like an eloquent bath– an eloquent bath of champagne. Which is fitting because the first thing you will see on the menu are vanilla champagne cocktails. The neat thing about a design scheme relying on white is the lighting possibilities. Vanilla runs the entire lighting system on LEDs, so the mood can be changed at the rotation of a dial letting different reds, blues, and greens bounce from the white.

Manager Matthieu Destandau has put his heart and soul into creating the restaurant from every detail of the placement of the LEDs, to the gorgeous food on the menu. If you get a chance to check it out, tell them we sent you– they’ll take good care of you. Can't make it to London anytime soon? Have a look at a few more photos after the jump.

 

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Paper just got a little more obsolete. A week after Orange and UK ad agency The Alternative debuted a much buzzed about no touch interactive phone menu in the window of its Carnaby Street store, NYC's legendary St. Regis Hotel has taken the new-age menu up a notch.

The St. Regis is home to celebrated chef Alain Ducasse's Adour Restaurant and, despite the opulent old-skool feel of the sheepskin covered gold wine bar, ordering a drink is decidedly high tech. Created by Potion Design, an electronic touch sensitive menu is displayed onto the bar from a built-in projection system in the ceiling. Foodies can check out Adour's extensive wine list just by tapping their hands on the interactive menu before them. Once you've narrowed it down to a specific wine, a flower icon appears displaying info about the bottle on each of its petals; country, vineyard, grape varietals, and all that fancy sommelier stuff is displayed, literally, right at your fingertips.

One of my new favorite places to go out in London is certainly The Groucho Club, a members-only club with three bars, a brasserie and a formal dining room. The best part, really, are the people — everyone invited or involved in the club has a deep history in publishing, arts, media or creative fields. Unlike most clubs in London, everyone was actually very nice; they knew if you were in there, you were probably doing something interesting. The space also has a constantly evolving and fantastic art selection (when I was there, Banksy and Damien Hirst were on the dining room walls). In addition to all the open space for some good partying, the club has 19 bedrooms for members coming in from out of town that need a place to call home. The name was naturally inspired by one of Groucho Marx’s famous quips; “I don’t want to join a club that will accept me as a member,” which I absolutely love. Find someone respected in creative arts or media who knows the London scene and they’re likely a member — this place is worth a visit on a Saturday night.

On one of our evenings in Bali a few weeks ago, we thought it was time to treat ourselves to something truly special (okay, every night felt special), and after reading many reviews about the über famous Ku De Ta restaurant in Seminyak, we went for the crown jewel. Only seconds after opening the menu, the prices were a bit of a shock, coming from a place where you can eat delicious fresh fish for only a few dollars; seeing a $35 entree was hard to stomach, but the service, atmosphere and overall experience made up for it in spades. Tables were set around the outside of an enormous reflecting pool with a DJ set right at the edge. Soft red umbrellas were scattered along the catwalk above the beach — an incredible and idyllic place to share a drink at sunset. The scene was littered with the rich and pretty looking tourists (or rich locals, which there are very few) from Asia and Australia. The eclectic mix of local Indonesian food infused with French and Italian elements were elegantly presented and deliciously cooked by New Zealander, Chef Philip Davenport — who at this point is a local celebrity (and not to mention, probably very rich man). All said, Ku De Ta is definitely worth it for a special occasion — but not a deal you should be hunting for in Bali by any stretch of the imagination. If I could have done it any differently, I would have just gone for the environment, the drinks, and the view.

BURNEVERYTHING, my favorite Liverpool-based creative studio, recently dropped a new site featuring their rapidly growing (and consistently amazing) portfolio. The new site is, from what I remember, even more straightforward than their last, but the uncomplicated design does a great job pushing the focus on to Burn’s latest work which has no trouble standing on its own. It appears as though the studio has been turning out quite a bit of identity work, an area that is quickly becoming one of Burn’s strong points. Not that they’re at all weak in other areas — I think everything they do is above par in terms of creativity and execution — but the work that they’ve been doing for a few local restaurants is so incredible I’d consider making Liverpool my next vacation destination. I love the idea of giving a design studio full creative license in identity work; Burn not only developed these invites to the the bar/kitchen/club, Korova; they also did the interior of the restaurant, the menus, the vinyl on the windows, everything. Check out the shots I’ve included after the jump to see the place in its entirety, then, if you live there, ask me out on a date. No, seriously.

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Best described as darlingly innovative cuisine, we had a chance to dine at Beddingtons Saturday evening in Amsterdam. Usually a near impossible reservation to get, we lucked out with a cancellation literally seconds before we called to inquire. Jean Beddington, the well known globe trotting woman über-chef blends nearly half a dozen influences– British, French, Italian, Indian and Japanese. The atmosphere was simple and wonderful, a classic black and white dining room. We enjoyed a few different options off the fixed menu like an unusual fruits de mer platter and beautifully cooked mullet as well as a fresh eel appetizer (served on a skewer over rice and edamame) that tasted more delicious than most offerings at high-end Japanese restaurants. This was excellent world class dining, sans attitude– a refreshing treat and an unusual stroke of luck.

Yamazato is a traditional Japanese restaurant tucked on the ground floor of Amsterdam’s Hotel Okura. Zagat readers gave their nod to the restaurant as being one of the best Japanese restaurants in the whole of Europe– and being the Asian food snob that I am, I figured I had to find out for myself. It was Yamazato that introduced Kaiseki style cooking to Europe 30 years ago– and not far into our appetizers it was clear they knew exactly what they were doing. We enjoyed extremely fresh salmon sashimi, beautiful tofu dishes, exquisite sushi and some of the best rice I’ve had in months– it reminded me of the quality of food I experienced in my travel across Japan. The atmosphere was simple, the staff attentive and very knowledgeable. It’s no wonder Yamazato received a Michelin Star– and the property still remains the one and only traditional Japanese restaurant to receive this accolade across Europe. This place is not to be missed, delicious!

A late arrival in London last evening left me at myhotel (no pun intended) famished. I stumbled down the road to a gem of a restaurant called Patara. With locations in South Kensington, Knightsbridge, Oxford Circus and Soho, the self-proclaimed Fine Thai Cuisine is no mystery to locals (not to mention award winning locations in Bangkok, Singapore, Switzerland and Taiwan). The atmosphere, while nice despite a loud-and-unhappy couple next to me, was Zen-like and perfect after a long day of travel. The menu offered everything from braised New Zealand lamb in curry to more traditional seafood dishes, like the one I had, a crispy whole sea bass served with lemon-grass tamarind sauce. Patara is best described as a poor mans Hakkasan, and is definitely a nice addition to the section of my rolodex titled perfectly acceptable, easy to get into Thai restaurants worldwide.