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25
Aug 10

宗祠 | KIN Food Promotion

_KIN_Food_Promotion.jpg.scaled.1000

“Truth. Kin has one of the best ramen’s in town. The broth is boiled for 8 hrs with different bones. The egg is imported from Japan and perfectly poached with a yolk like soft cake, and the egg white is silk like dofu.

They’re also the only place where you can read store-supplied Wax Poetics while slurping down your ramen and doing work on the free Wifi. Basically, Kin is my ish and they’re offering 20% off until September 30th. Please take advantage of it!”

via SIGNALS

宗祠 | KIN is the brainchild of Gary Wang (Shelter) and co. Check out this restaurant / boutique for amazingly soft and chewy snickerdoodles and fresh kicks, all tucked away behind a storefront on Maoming Lu.

Also check out their events on Facebook, looks like they are doing some film screenings and dj labs.

宗祠 | KIN
65-5 Maoming Bei Lu at Shenping Lu
茂名北路65号-5近升平路
+21 6217 3355

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24
Jun 10

Phat in Shanghai: House of Flour

I had heard great things about House of Flour (HoF) from Shau Ru and was dying to check it out. Although I do prefer Asian desserts to western ones, it had been a minute since I had a great slice of chocolate cake. After a great meal at the newly-opened Mistral, I found that I still had room for dessert and jumped in a cab to HoF.

house of flour HoF shanghai china chocolate orange mud cake
The chocolate-orange mud cake sounded absolutely irresistible, so we ordered a slice a la mode. It definitely lived up to its reputation – the cake was incredibly moist, dense, and spiked with orange fragrance.

house of flour HoF shanghai china creamy hot chocolate
Being the overly-indulgent eaters that we are, we also tried out the creamy hot chocolate. It had a silky smooth texture and was full-bodied and rich in flavor. Definitely the perfect dessert for chocolate-lovers.

HoF is open until midnight or later, so it’s a great place to catch a late night treat.

Enjoy!

House of Flour
30 Sinan Lu at Huaihai Zhong Lu
思南路30号近淮海中路
+86 21 6093 2058
www.houseofflour.com

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21
Jun 10

Phat in Shanghai: Brasa Chicken

shanghai china brasa chicken
What to do when your sink is full of dirty dishes and your ayi doesn’t come until tomorrow? Order delivery! I had been meaning to try Brasa Chicken for awhile. It’s another Vargas concept and I had been hearing good things. Rotisserie chicken in a city of no ovens – pretty smart idea. So I picked up the phone and ordered a while chicken with a side of roasted potatoes. The prices aren’t bad at all – the whole meal only cost us $90RMB and there was plenty of chicken leftover. Thirty minutes later a knock at the door signaled that our dinner had arrived.

Brasa’s chicken is not bad. But not that great either.. on a whole its just.. mediocre. When I picture roasted chicken, I imagine a bird that has been turning on a spit, cooking in its own juices until the meat is so tender that it just falls off the bone. Brasa’s chicken is a little undercooked, so there is no falling-off-the-bone action at all. Worse yet, their roasted potatoes were completely RAW on the inside.

The two sauces that come on the side are a nice touch, but could not save the bird. You can pick from either a green sauce (a chimichurri?) and a smokey red sauce, I passed on both and pulled out a bottle of BBQ sauce Adrian had brought me from Texas. Much better.

Would I order again? Probably not.

Enjoy!

Brasa Chicken
888 Shanxi Nan Lu at Jianguo Lu
陕西路888号近江国西路
+86 400 820 0401
www.brasachicken.com.cn

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9
Jun 10

Phat in Hong Kong: BBQ

above second gallery hong kong
Last Saturday I spent the day at Above Second gallery in Sai Ying Pun. My friend Minh teaches an awesome kid’s art class there and we prepped for it by making papier mache pinatas. If you’re ever in Sai Ying Pun, stop by Above Second – they currently have an exhibition called Small Victories up, it was produced in collaboration with one of my favorite design websites – booooooom.com.

After a couple hours of covering balloons in wet newspaper, we started to get hungry and Minh suggested we grab some food at a nearby restaurant simply called, “BBQ”. With our friends Jasper & Larry in tow, we headed on over. BBQ is a really interesting place. It’s totally bare-bones, a little greasy, and all the waitresses have fucking amazing asymmetrical haircuts! BBQ’s menu is an amazing mish-mash of Japanese yakitori skewers, Cantonese seafood classics, and elegant interpretations of Western dishes. A really fantastic combination. The dishes range from $12 – $50HKD, and the portions are huge – so beware of over-ordering!

grilled giant clams
The menu at BBQ is pretty vague, listing dishes simply by what they are. No fancy descriptions. You order from a little checklist, and I think the checklists are color coded or something. We let Jasper take the reigns and he ordered up 17 dishes for us to sample. I love these people – they really take it from “dinner” to “competitive eating.” We started with giant clams on the half shell – cooked over the grill with green onions. The seafood in HK is so fresh… these babies were sweet and tender and cooked in their own clammy juices.

grilled razor clams at BBQ hong kong sai ying pun
Of course we had to have razor clams as well..

lamb chops BBQ hong kong sai ying pun
The lamb chops were the star of the entire meal. After munching on things like grilled clams and squid balls on a skewer, I definitely did not expect a dish of perfectly seared-on-the-outside, pink-on-the-inside lamb chops to arrive on our table. They were seasoned gently with some assortment of spices (fennel? cumin? magic?!) and served up with a dallop each of yellow mustard and mint pesto. Genius. Just pure genius. They come four to an order – we had two!

grilled oysters with cheese tobiko BBQ hong kong sai ying pun
The grilled oysters here are amazing. They are cooked in the half shell with shredded cheese, minced onion, green onions and then topped with a bit of tobiko. BBQ really has their cooking system on point. While the clams or oysters are on the grill, the chef will gently lift each morsel of bivalve goodness and turn it over in the shell, maximizing flavor seepage! Not only that, but the chef also takes the juice from one clam and uses it to baste the next. It’s been awhile since I’ve seen such effort go into preparing food – it’s the real difference between Cantonese food in HK and in Shanghai.

bbq sai ying pun hong kong
BBQ also serves up your typical items on a stick – quail eggs, various seafood balls, chicken hearts, a gigantic portion of super tender beef tongue, eggplant with bonito. Also a few “HK-style” yakitori items, one of my new favorites being BBQ’s grilled gai lan (chinese broccoli). The gai lan soaks up all the smokey flavors from the grill and transforms from a humble green to something really spectacular.

17 dishes later, we had crammed every speck of food on our plates down our throats, yet we were still in search of dessert. A nearby 7-11 offered the perfect solution – ovaltine ice cream cones!

ovaltine ice cream cone hong kong

Enjoy!

BBQ / BBQ2 – 美食店
129 Third Street at Pok Fu Lam Road
Sai Ying Pun, Hong Kong
西環西營盤第三街129-號地下B號舖
+852 2548-9880

Above Second Gallery
31 Eastern Street,
Sai Ying Pun, Hong Kong
+852 3483-7950

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31
May 10

Phat in Shanghai: Cafe Dan

moffles cafe dan shanghai china

I’ve always been curious to try a moffle – aka a slab of mochi pressed in a waffle iron. We were having a delicious lunch at Cafe Dan at Taikang Lu and luckily, they offered them on their extensive menu. Verdict: unimpressed. They taste like stale rice cakes.. which, if you think about it, is technically what the are. I like the soft and chewy version of mochi much better.

If you’ve never been to Cafe Dan, you must make time to go. A set of nearly vertical stairs lead up to Dan’s lofted Japanese coffeeshop/restaurant. Snag a cozy seat and enjoy the house-roasted, ground, and brewed coffee beans. A coffee will cost you upwards of $60RMB here, but its not your average cuppa joe. The proprietor takes special pride in selecting and preparing his beans, resulting in a damn fine brew. Cafe Dan also makes an amazing hot chocolate – complete with a gigantic homemade marshmallow.
hot chocolate homemade marshamallow cafe dan shanghai

In addition to coffee and gateau, Cafe Dan offers food – lots of it. Their menu is mouthwatering and so long that it’s nearly a novel. One thing that you have to try is the “steamed chicken,” which is a deboned chicken thigh cooked in a pressure-cooker. It’s served piping hot with a superbly crispy skin. Be careful cutting into it – its that juicy.

Enjoy!

Cafe Dan 咖啡丹
No. 41, Lane 248 Taikang Lu at Sinan Lu
泰康路248弄41号 近思南路
+86 21 6466-1042

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27
May 10

Phat in Shanghai: Tonkatsu Hamachan

tonkatsu hamachan shanghai china
Tonkatsu Hamachan is a little hole in the wall spot on Jiaozhou Lu with just a couple tables. I read about it on SmartShanghai and made my first visit last summer. For some reason, I haven’t been back since, but I do remember the lighting being very dim, the service very gruff, and the katsu phenomenal! Last night I went back for another round and found the lighting to be brighter and the katsu still amazing. Note to self: visit more often.

tonkatsu hamachan shanghai china potato salad
The menu at Hamachan is relatively short – listing a few varieties of tonkatsu set meals (around $65RMB), small dishes ($10-30RMB), and some sake & beer offerings. We started our meal off right with their potato salad – the flavor reminded me a lot of the mac salad you get in Hawaii. Perhaps its the mayo they use, I don’t think its your typical Kewpie mayo which you find in most Japanese-style potato salads.

cold tofu tonkatsu hamachan shanghai china
Hamachan’s cold tofu is bare bones and simple, which I rather like. It’s just two hunks of silken tofu sitting in a dish with some grated ginger and a heap of green onion. You add your own soy sauce and dig in!

tonkatsu hamachan shanghai china
Here is a glamour shot for ya’ll. You see that on the left? Yes, that is a layer of fat lacing the entire cut of pork. Mmmm hmmm. I got the set meal which comes with a small assortment of tasty pickles, a bowl of perfect white rice, and miso soup (with bits of pork belly in it!? yes, please!). You can choose either pork loin or .. I forget the name of the other cut, but it sounded less juicy so it was of no relevance to me. I am puzzled at how Hamachan can fry up such thick cuts of pork to juicy pink perfection without burning the panko crust. The panko coating is ridiculously crispy and light, and well-adhered to the pork. That, my friends, is pure pork magic. I love that Hamachan serves up their katsu with a ceramic teapot of accompanying Bulldog sauce – I’m a bit crazy about the slightly sweet, slightly tangy sauce, so it’s great to have a giant pot of it sitting next to me.

Afterwards, we went across the street to the Hotel URBN for a drink (which cost more than dinner). They have some outdoor seating and the interiors are worth taking a peek at. I checked out their food menu, mostly American classics with a twist – a bit rich for my blood, but I wonder if the food is any good?

Enjoy!

Tonkatsu Hamachan
176 Jiaozhou Lu at Beijing Lu
胶州路176号近北京西路
＋86 21 6256－8674

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24
May 10

Phat in Shanghai: Hengshan Cafe

Last week my friend in Hong Kong sent me some photos of the amazing roast goose he was having – and it sparked an insatiable craving that needed to be quelled. No chicken, duck, or big fat burger would do for my dinner .. it HAD to be goose. So that very night I ended up at Hengshan Cafe with this monstrosity sitting in front of me:

hengshan cafe shanghai roast goose
Yes, that is half a roast goose ($138). For two diners! We went a little crazy, but my goose craving was definitely satiated. If you’ve never had goose before, you have to try it. It’s a lot like duck, but if a duck married a delicious chicken and was fattier, juicer, more tender, and a little less gamey. It’s really fantastic dipped in sweet and tangy plum sauce and eaten with a bowl of fresh hot white rice.

In addition to roast goose, Hengshan does does great Cantonese food – the restaurant is super clean and even has a yellow smiley face sanitation sign. (<- Though I've heard these are all guanxi-based, is that true?) Definitely mosey on over to Hengshan if you’re ever in the mood for some really good Cantonese, or goose. Lots of goose. Hengshan’s also a great place to go for late-night dining. Their kitchen is open until 4am, and most of their dishes hover around $50RMB.

For more goosey deliciousness, read my post on Siu Mei in Hong Kong.

Enjoy!

Hengshan Cafe 衡山小馆
308 Hengshan Lu at Wuxing Lu
衡山路308号近吴兴路
+86 21 6471-7127

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4
May 10

Phat in Hong Kong: Lamma Island

yachting in hong kong
During my weekend in HK, my good friend Anton organized a boat trip around the harbor. The weather was absolutely perfect, and after some swimming, beer-drinking, and all-out relaxation, we asked our skipper to take us to Lamma Island – 南丫島 for dinner. On my previous trips to Hong Kong, I had been lucky enough to make trips out to seafood meccas like Lau Fau Shan and Sai Kung. I am positively starved for fresh seafood here in Shanghai, so I was really excited to feast on Lamma.

lamma island lamma hilton
Lamma is a nice little island with temples, walking trails, and beaches. We didn’t get to explore too much, mostly staying on the main strip with the waterfront restaurants. There are also little shops that sell souvenirs and vendors hawking little snacks. On our boat-momma’s suggestion, we decided to forgo the busier, more popular Rainbow Restaurant and tried out the restaurant on the very end, called the Lamma Hilton.

lamma hilton fish display hong kong
It’s fish display was pretty impressive, with a wide array of shellfish, crustaceans, and live fish. I loved that we were with some Honkies (they knew exactly what to order) and the fact that we were rolling 10 deep. More people = more food!!

poached shrimp lamma island hong kong
We started with poached shrimp. This dish is so simple and delicious. The live shrimp are gently poached for just long enough for the flesh to firm up and turn opaque. The result is perfectly cooked, tender, and sweet shellfish that retains all of its flavor. Goes great with a little dip in just soy sauce and nothing else.

fried calamari lamma island hong kong
The fried calamari had a great crispy batter and came with a lovely sweet and sour dipping sauce.

scallop with black bean vermicelli hong kong lamma island
Cooked scallops served on the half shell with a dressing of vermicelli, black beans fermented with chun pei (spiced, dried orange peel), and green onion.

giant clam with garlic vermicelli hong kong lamma island
These giant clams were really delicious – a sweet, chewy morsel of delicious meat.

lobster yee mien hong kong lamma island
A classic Cantonese seafood noodle – lobster yee mien. The noodles are cooked in a creamy, buttery sauce with lots of onion.

hong kong lamma island grouper steamed
We shared this gigantic grouper fish, or sek ban fresh from the tank. Steamed and garnished with soy sauce and aromatics.. you just can’t go wrong with this dish.

For such a luxurious seafood dinner plus drinks, we only paid around $250HKD or $32USD per person. I can’t even begin to imagine what this meal would have cost in Shanghai!

Enjoy!

Lamma Hilton Shum Kee Seafood Restaurant – 森記酒家
26 Sok Kwu Wan
南丫島索罟灣南段26號
Lamma Island, Hong Kong
+852 2982-8241

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19
Apr 10

Phat in Beijing: Burger-rama!

Continuing my week of unhealthy, artery-hardening eating, I decided that a weekend burger binge was in order. We were in Beijing and scorned hand-pulled noodles and hearty northern food in order to stuff ourselves silly with meat patties.

Let's Burger Beijing China
First place we went to was Let’s Burger in Sanlitun. Seemed really promising, the interiors were fun and well done in the manner of an American Grill. They have two restaurants, one featuring burgers, the second concept devoted to fresh seafood imported from places like Canada and Sri Lanka. Their burger menu is extensive and exotic, with options like the tuna steak burger, or patties topped with king prawn or brie and cranberry ($48-168RMB)

Being a classicist, (<- yes, I believe this term can be applied to foodies, right?) I stuck with the cheeseburger. Being a fatty, I also added bacon and a fried egg.

Let's Burger Beijing China
But sadly, upon the first bite, this happened. What the hell. Worst burger ever. The patty was mealy and dry, topped over a bed of slippery lettuce. Each bite forced more of the burger out of the bun. In the end, I resorted to knife and fork, but the bun was so chewy that I gave up. On my way out, I scoped out other diners and found that they were all struggling with the same burger dilemma.

Let's Fish n Chips, beijing china
The redeeming dish of the meal was the fish & chips. The fish was a whole fillet of cod coated in an extra crispy batter. Served with a tangy tartar and vinegar. We also had a grilled squid & avocado salad. It was unremarkable.

fatburger double cheeseburger with fried egg, beijing china
The next day, we had to cancel out our bad burger memories with new, fresh, delicious, smashed-patty ones. We headed to the Fatburger, yes.. the same one of LA/LV fame! Here is what a double cheeseburger looked like. Amazing right? At Fatburger, they smash their patties so more of the burger makes contact with the griddle, resulting in a super crispy outside, juicy inside.

fatburger beijing china
Burger in mouth, please! The burgers start at $40RMB, $60RMB for a set meal with fries and a drink. A bit expensive, but totally worth it. The skinny fries are ultra light and crispy, and the onion rings – gah! To die for! I guess I’ll be making monthly trips to Beijing now..

Read more about smashed burgers + other styles of burger cooking on Serious Eats. Empty stomachs be warned!

Let’s Burger
North Sanlitun Street
D101a, Nali Patio 81
Sanlitun, Beijing
三里屯北街81号那里花园D101A
5208-6036

Fatburger
Grand Summit Plaza
19 Dongfang Dong Lu
Sanyuanqiao, Beijing
东方东路19号, 外交公寓
8532-1878

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31
Mar 10

Phat in Shanghai: Eyewear & Pho No. 1

Last weekend the weather was quite pleasant so we rode around on our bikes and ended up at Taikang Lu. I had read an article in City Weekend about a vintage eyewear shop and was dying to check it out. If you know me, you know that I’m a bit obsessive when it comes to dope frames.

vintage sunglasses shanghai
(I purchased the orange frames at Shanghai Code)

The shop was small but stocked with amazing vintage finds – the original inspirations behind Super & Karen Walker’s contemporary designs, possibly? The frames ranged from $150 – $1100RMB for authentic frames collected from old Shanghainese factories. Amazing. Check it out if you get a chance.

All the shopping left us hungry so we mosey’d on over to Pho No. 1 for dinner. Pho No. 1 serves a hearty bowl of pho, called The Adventurer’s Pho. It features all the meat goodies – tendon, tripe, brisket, beef balls, but the broth is seriously lacking in deep, rich, beefy flavor. And isn’t that the cornerstone of a good bowl of pho? Nonetheless, no one else in Shanghai can seem to get it right, so I’ll happily settle for Pho No. 1. Any recommendations for better pho joints are gladly appreciated!

pho no 1 shanghai grilled chicken
We also ordered this plate of Vietnamese grilled chicken, which was nothing like Vietnamese grilled chicken. I was expecting crispy-skinned, grilled, juicy, chicken thigh meat marinated in fish sauce, sugar, chilies, and lots of garlic. Instead, I got this. The meat was a bit dry, cut into tiny little strips, and marinated in red beancurd. Bummer.

pho no 1 shanghai sugarcane shrimp
The sugarcane shrimp, on the other hand, was quite good, but nothing special.

Enjoy!

Pho No. 1
No. 13, Lane 248
Taikang Lu at Sinan Lu
泰康路248弄13号 近思南路
5466-1707

Shanghai Code Eyewear
Back door, No. 2, Lane 274
Taikang Lu at Sinan Lu
泰康路274弄2号后门 近思南路
6473-6581

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