Black Canyon Coffee, Bangkok - December 2006

Black Canyon Coffee is a local coffee and restaurant chain in Bangkok with outlets in shopping centers and skytrain stations. If you enjoy a rich & dark roast coffee, and need a short break from your shopping in Bangkok, this is the place to be. They have several kinds of coffee to choose from, and two of them are labeled using the name of chain: Black Canyon and Blue Canyon. I can't remember the exact description of Blue Canyon coffee, but Black Canyon is a very dark Arabic roast coffee. With the coffee, they also serve a glass of lemongrass (?) tea and some biscuits.

Our Favourite Breakfast Place in the World - Secret Garden
(Vancouver, April 2007) by H

Secret Garden is a small tea house located in nice neighorhood of Kerrisdale of Vancouver. Open everyday from 8am, Secret Garden serves an excellent breakfast selection from homemade Gammy's apple pancakes, Simplicity Platter, cheese scones etc. The place is also famous for its selection of tea, from creamy earl grey, Secret Garden's Secret, Queen Mary, fruit and herbal tea, Rooiboos Tea to green tea. I am not a tea drinker myself, but everytime I visit Secret Garden, I would still savour different tea there. Secret Garden is also open for lunch, high tea and dinner. While we have tried lunch which serves quality sandwich dishes, we have yet to try out its high tea which also attracts a crowd of ladies and gents.

Secret Garden is highly recommended and we believe it's one of the top 10 reasons to visit Vancouver.

http://www.secretgardentea.com/

Vanilla at Playground, Bangkok - December 2006
Christmas decoration and thousand layer vanilla cake (highly recommended)




818 Soi Sukhumvit 55 Sukhumvit Rd., Klongton Nue Wattana Bangkok 10110 Tel : (662)714-7888Fax : (622)714-9177

MOCA Cafe, Hanoi - June 2007

This is a western style cafe in Hanoi which serves good Vietnamese coffee and some quick dishes including sandwiches, pho and some other local dishes. It's a place for hangout if you want to spend a leisure afternoon with friends or by yourself.

Afterwards, you can stroll down the shops near Moca Cafe which has some interesting little shops but some of them are priced in expensive US prices.

This cafe is recommended in several travel books and the hotel.

Adress: 14 - 16 Nha Tho Street, Hoan Kiem District, Hanoi
Tel: (84-4) 825 6334

* If you are interested to find out the history of pho bo (beef noodles), check out this site http://www.vietworldkitchen.com/bookshelf/articles/pho_SJM.htm. But after you look at this, you'll appreciate pho bo even more when you eat out. A genuine bowl of pho bo takes a long time to prepare!

Live is simple. Sometimes a simple bowl of udon will make you happy.
Photo taken in Tokyo, April 2007
This small noodle place is located near Shinjuku subway station. You purchase a ticket from a machine and hand it to the staff to pick up your dishes. Each bowl of noodle, whether it's udon or soba, costs around 300-400 Yen.

Photos from New York - May 2007 by H

Along Times Square on a double decker Grayline Tour Bus















Oyster Bar & Restaurant, GrandCentral Station
Here's a delicious platter of fresh cherrystone clams and oysters!!! I miss cherrystone clams!!!
















http://www.oysterbarny.com
Grand Central Station
New York, NY 10017

I spent 4 years in Boston area for my bachelor degree. During that period, one of my favorite restaurants was Legal Seafood (http://www.legalseafoods.com/). Its slogan, after more than 10 years, still sticks in my mind -- "If it's not fresh, it's not legal". It is here where I develop my love and taste in cherrystone clams. We can get cherrystone clams in Hong Kong, regardless of the price, they don't taste the same here. Oyster Bar & Restaurant may not serve the best seafood in New York City, but certainly brings back memories of my days in Boston and the cherryclams are magnificent. Even E who does not like clams too much said the cherrystone clams are very good.

Birthday Dinner at 富豪酒家

A good friend invited us for dinner last night for his birthday at this restaurant. This restaurant, owned and operated by one of the apprentices of Yeung Khun Yee who is famous for his abalone dishes and birds nest desserts.

Being our first time at this restaurant, we waited patiently for the different dishes to come: sharks fin soup in thick consomme soup, abalone with goose feet in abalone sauce, stir fried garoupa with broccoli, steamed chicken, steamed fried rice in lotus leaf and to end the meal a delicious bowl of bird's nest in coconut milk

The abalone & goose feet were tender and rich in flavour. In normal circumstances, we would have ordered a bowl of steamed rice to make sure that every drop of the sauce is not wasted. And the bird's nest was just right in terms of sweetness and density... and the thought of the million benefits that bird's nest has gives us the reason to look forward to our good friend's next year birthday dinner.


地址: 銅鑼灣駱克道454-456號桂苑地下
Tel: (852) 28936565

Dessert at Sofitel Metropole, Hanoi

After a long walk outside under the sun, there is no better place to enjoy your afternoon tea at one of the best hotels in Vietnam. Here is a dessert we ordered. - June 2007

Brunch Club & Supper

Newly opened at Sun Wai Road Causeway Bay -- a 2nd outlet after its debut at SOHO. Yet to try it out. Think it's in soft launch stage at the moment.

The snapshots of Bangkok (July 2007)

Siam Paragon Food Court





















Erawan Tearoom by Grand Hyatt (Afternoon Tea Set) only 199 Baht per person

Le Marron: A Place for Gathering with Friends

We recently tried out this upstairs private kitchen restaurant in Causeway Bay (techncially it's a proper licensed restaurant). As the restaurant divides each table or party by curtain, there are many reviews in other forums that the restaurant is very noisy. We worried about it after making the reservation. When we got there, it wasn't too bad and we could talk with our proper tone. And they have some interesting decor as well.

For food selection, instead of a set menu, Le Marron allows customers to choose different dishes from appetizers, soups, main courses etc and each dish is individually priced. The minimum charge per person is only HK$250 which is very reasonably. And wine corkage is free too.

Do give it a try, it's a place for friends gathering.

12/F, Ying Kong Mansion
2-6 Yee Wo Street
Causeway Bay
Tel: 852-2881-6622
http://http://www.marron.com.hk/

Dinner at Ser Wong Fun, Central

If you like a genuine no-nonsense meal of Cantonese food, I recommend Ser Wong Fun in Central. The restaurant has been established for 63 years and is currently run by a fourth generation lady who has a MBA programme.

We visited the restaurant around 7:45pm on a Tuesday and it was quite full. It's full of customers in mid-twenties to forties. The snake soup is a must-try (HK$60) and E tried the double boiled duck soup with fish maw (HK$65). Also we tried the clay pot chicken rice (HK$80)... a bit oily but it's very good. Drink a few cups of tea afterwards to dilute the grease but it's a meal that you will enjoy.

H Rating: ***1/2 (out of 5)

Thick toast in Singapore for breakfast

Give "Toast Box" a try in Singapore. Toast Box is a chain store serving thick toast and different bakery. Photo here is the otah thick toast I tried... otah is minced fish and grilled with banana leaf. The coffee is a rich, sweet & strong drink which is very similar to a vietnamese coffee.

H rating: * * * * (out of 5*)

Best Laksa in Singapore

This is one of the best laksas I had in years. I went to Singapore in August 06. Without any planning before the trip, I wandered around the city and went to Eastern Bridge Road where there are a number of laksa places. I picked one that has the most number of customers.

The soup base had a rich seafood flavour with small clams and shrimps. The interesting thing was that the noodles are already in short lengths so it is okay to eat with a spoon. The manager there recommended having an iced cold glass of barley juice.

Address: 49 Eastern Bridge Road

Highly recommended

H rating: * * * * (out of 5)