Blah

Another year, another poll – San Pellegrino’s Top 100 restaurants, same food, usual suspects. No, I have not been to Noma and I still have not made it to El Bulli or the Fat Duck for that matter. A word of warning – I have been disappointed by 8 restaurants in the top 100. That said, my best meals for the last 3 years are featured at numbers 31, 55 and 32 in this year’s poll. What does that tell you? Like all else that is sound and fury – it signifies nothing.

Le Quartier Francais

Best meal we had in South Africa – hands down. Le Petite Ferme had a better view, Terrior was more charming and Le Colombe was snazzier but the cooking was better here. Inventive use of ingredients, pushing the envelope at times – most dishes had about as many flavours as they could take without overcrowding the plate or overwhelming the palate, just about. I had to taste everything more than once – first time around on its own and then in varying combinations. Everything was excellent, a few things outstanding – the cooking was bold and ambitious without being stupid or overly fussy. More importantly, it all worked.

We had the five course menu and different things for each course so we could sample ten dishes rather than having the same eight course tasting menu. In terms of courses, two which stood out for me were the Pig’s Trotters and Sweetbreads Salad and the Braised Lamb Neck but if I had to pick single thing I enjoyed the most, it had to be the aubergine souffle which came with the Roasted Wildebeest.

Cooking aside, the dining room was a touch too noisy (sound bounces off a hard floor) and lighting could be better – as in brighter, I always like to be able to see my food. The service was a little hesitant and while the wine list was absolutely enlightened by Franschoek standards, I suspect the sommelier would have struggled to find two wines to go with every course. That said, this was possibly the best meal we had this year.

Cape Excess

We’re back from South Africa – a week of wine, sunshine and food. Oh, the food. So many restaurants, so little time. On the other hand, there is only so much fine dining you can do in the space of seven days – we had chicken mee sua for dinner last night and that was comforting. Pictures are up on my Facebook page – restaurant reports and wine tasting notes to follow.

Honey Trap

Miele has just published its list of top Asian restaurants for 2009/2010. Porco disagrees with some of the rankings but more of that later – hot off the press, Bloomberg’s food critic made an interesting comment on the paucity of Asian restuarants in that list.

For the most part, I agree with what Richard Vines has to say but you’d also have to admit Asian restaurants are great for food and flavour but not so hot on presentation and ambience. The best Chinese meal I’ve had in the last few months was at Made in China in Beijing but by the end of the meal, the table looked like a war zone complete with body parts strewn on the lazy susan. The other problem with Asian restaurants is the quality of the serving staff – too often you get moonlighting students or illegal immigrants who have no idea what you are eating or even if you are getting the correct order. Which is why, for Porco, the most impressive thing about Iggy’s is the service – unobtrusive, understated and unbelieveably professional.

Turning to the list, a couple of things don’t make sense. The two Robuchon L’Ateliers which top and tail the best 20 are, for me, very much the same if not identical. The differences could only be down to one of them having a bad day when the judges visited. For my money, I would put Robuchon a Galera in Macau in first place – classic plates, full-sized and incredible value. Plus a wine list that would put most telephone directories to shame. I would also argue if you walked into Yung Kee, you would be hard pressed to justify its lofty status on the list. You’d get a better meal at T’ang Court at the Langham.

I am a huge fan of Zanotti in Bangkok and think it deserves a place at least six rungs higher. Then there are the omissions. I think Nicolas Joanny and his eponymous establishment deserves a mention as does the black pepper crab at Eng Seng. Time to make more than tweaks at Miele where the worthies have fallen in that age old trap of thinking tradition, astronomical prices as well as white table cloths equals quality, innovation and good eating. In case you’re wondering … miele means honey in Italian.

Food for thought

Porco is a creature of habit – 25 years after he left secondary school, he still eats the same stuff for lunch almost every day. Fried chicken, sambal sotong and bean sprouts from a Malay rice stall. Same stuff, different stall. As Mr Ping (Kungfu Panda’s father – and yes, he is a bird so go figure) says “we are noodle folk, broth runs through our veins”. We are what we eat.

That said, I am not sure if I want my daily lunch to be my last supper. Porco has been reading a book about 50 chefs and what they want for their last meal. Foie gras figures a lot but then so does context. Where you eat, who you eat with and even the background music. Perhaps in this case, it’s a question of what you want being a function of who you are – so chefs have to eat what they have to cook so they end up liking what they have to cook. So much for work-life balance. I once met a chef who was appalled that I’d never had caviar and Krug – he felt I hadn’t lived and he had to remedy that immediately – never mind that I was 20 years old at the time. Context? You want context? You can’t handle context!

At some level, food is about being fed and probably the best meals you’ve ever had are the ones when you’ve needed or wanted food most. So for his last meal, Porco wants what he had after every swimming lesson when he was young (and cold, tired and very hungry) – pork porridge with a raw egg, some spring onions and coriander, a bit of pepper and soy sauce.

Capella

Porco has been a fan of Chef Gary for some time – this afternoon he outdid himself. Egg cocotte, salmon tartare, leek and potato soup with grilled scallop, beef tenderloin with breaded veal sweetbreads and chocolate mousse with mascarpone canelloni in dark cherry sauce. Dreamy. 

Pigs don’t fly

If only – Porco has been on his travails again before the holidays. Hong Kong, Korea and Mumbai. Worst part of it is the food on planes. Singapore Airlines food is terrible as is their wine.

In Hong Kong, managed a very quick lunch at Amber. Soothing decor if a little cramped. The food was tired and a trite too deconstructed. Poached prime rib was separated into various things to be served. I had a sip of the consomme but left it by the time I finished with the meat, it had gone cold. Highlight of Porco’s two weeks away was Konkan Cafe in Mumbai – superb food, airy interiors and sensible wine pairings. Crab, mutton and chicken – all delicately spiced and finely cooked. Chef Ananda Solomon is a genius.

Back home, Porco was sad to learn that Chef Dorin Schuster has returned to Bali – in fact, little did we realise at the time that the evening last year when he cooked Porco’s birthday dinner was his second last night in Singapore. Good thing he joined us for a glass of Pinot then – we will have to seek him out in Bali.

Fusion Delusion

You know thing have come to a head when someone has made an ice cream out of Chinese claypot rice, lap cheong and all. Pace Heston Blumental and the rest of the liquid nitrogen gang, I’m going to spend the rest of the evening with a copy of Alice Water’s Chez Panisse Cooking but therein lies another kitchen dilemna. Fresh, seasonal produce? Not in Singapore. At least we will have some good wan ton noodles to look forward to in Hong Kong tomorrow.

Bliss

Is a lazy Saturday lunch last weekend. Not too much food – just enough. Slightly surreal music from 1980’s Cantonese TV serials. And eight tubs of ice cream. And a birthday cake. For the record, we had squid in roasted pumpkin and sesame sauce, duck pie tee with mango and coriander emulsion, pasta (thanks Rachel!) with 2 sauces (confit of duck with orange sauce and onion jam, confit of pork with red wine reduction) and a deconstructed brisket of beef slow poached in broth with roasted peppers and basil oil. Photos to follow.

When Saturday comes

Tomato jelly with mint and basil coulis

Chilled sweetcorn and crab chowder

Crab salad, champagne jelly

Tofu with roast pumpkin puree

Spanish omelette

Roasted eggplant, vichysoisse

Duck pie tee, mango emulsion

Braised pork, red wine jelly

Crepes with shredded pork, salsa verde

Cheese, chocolate orange, espresso jelly