Temple Restaurant Beijing

Like finding a gold among black sand particles, it is always satisfying to be able to discover a great restaurant. It feels even better when the gold is actually a western restaurant in Beijing. To be honest, I have been struggling in these last few months searching for it. And thank God, I finally found it! My parents visited me last week and I did a little "research" for good-reviewed western restaurant here. Yes, it is Temple Restaurant. Rated as restaurant of the year 2014 by Beijinger.com, most of its customers are pleased not only because of the mouth-watering food, but also because of the amazing services. On the contrary, they also complained about its location, which is very hard to find. Taking a cab is highly recommended.

This Ignace Lecleir's Restaurant is located in the compound of a 600-year-old Buddhist Temple. The conversion is an impressive and delicate balance of the ancient old and new. It basically serves contemporary European cuisine. When we arrived at the entrance gate, there was a waiting staff who "killed" us with her kindness. Once seated, we had our minds blown away and it lasted throughout the evening! I ordered its spring tasting menu (458RMB) with lobster as its main course. I am truly aware that it is costly, but trust me, it is exceptionally reasonable. 

Firstly, we were offered by a complimentary of sparkling wine and petit four, and the followed by homemade bread. 

Petit Four.

Homemade Bread.

Okay, for the appetiser, I chose Gravlax (a dry-cured salmon marinated in herbs), Egg, Capers, Shallots, Horseradish Cream. The staff literally prepared it in front of us and explained all of the its elements clearly. I have never taught that the combination of salmon and horseradish cream worked that well! Thereafter, I chose a heavier dish for the second appetiser, which is Roasted Bone Marrow, Short Rib Marmalade, Herb Salad. Honestly, the short rib really spotted on! It was so juicy and sweet as well. 

I was quite full after two appetisers, yet I had such a high expectation for this asian-style main course. I chose Rice Flake Crusted Lobster, Bok Choy, Coconut Curry, Chilli Garlic Oil since the other option was Duck Confit, and to be honest, I am not a big fan of it. I finished it until there was nothing left on my plate, and even the lobster shell was so crunchy to the extent that I didn't realise it was a shell. It was truly a mind-blowing dish! Last but not least, the dessert: Butterscotch Budino, Bourbon Caramel, Bacon, Celery. Compared to other menus, I was not so pleased with it. It was too creamy for me. 

Gravlax, Egg, Capers, Shallots, Horseradish Cream.

Roasted Bone Marrow, Short Rib Marmalade, Herb Salad.

Rice Flake Crusted Lobster, Bok Choy, Coconut Curry, Chilli Garlic Oil.

Butterscotch Budino, Bourbon Caramel, Bacon, Celery.

Beside the food itself, the stand out for myself though, was the staff and their royal service. They anticipated our every wish and made it such a memorable dining experience. Furthermore, the staff helped to take picture of us, printed it out instantly, and gave it as a souvenir. Bravo for TRB!

Jia 21 Hao Southwest Minority Dishes (甲21号招待所)

Hi, everyone! :D I have been away from blogging for almost 2 months since I moved to Beijing, China now. The internet connection is super slow and there are plenty of browsing restrictions here:( For these past 2 months in Beijing, I have tried many different kinds of food, especially Chinese food. As most of you have known, Chinese food here is so oily, greasy, extremely different from Chinese food in other countries. However, there is one dish which literally made me fall in love from the first bite! God of Pig or Babi Dewa from Jia 21 Hao Southwest Minority Dishes (甲21号招待所) - a chic, contemporary style restaurant which serves flavorful dishes from Southwest China.  

Well, most of Indonesian students here are so crazy talking about it. I had no time to try it until last week my friends invited me to have dinner there for celebrating their birthdays. Yes, i admit it that it looks unappealing, yet trust me, it is so damn damn good!! 

It is basically roasted pork with a little bit of pork belly, accompanied by nuts, a lot of chilies, and fermented mustard cabbage. You have to eat every components of the dish together with white rice and nothing could be possible better than this! My friends ordered two portions of it for our table and we finished all of them instantly. We just could not resist its temptation and as always, diet will start tomorrow! :p 

So, for everyone who is visiting Beijing, please do spare your time to have a lunch or dinner here. You will not regret it for sure! Cheers from Beijing! 

Jia 21 Hao Southwest Minority Dishes (甲21号招待所)

21A Tucheng East Road, North of Huixin East Street, Chaoyang District, Beijing
朝阳区惠新东街北土城东路甲21号
Tel: +86 010-64895066   
Opening Hours: 11am-2pm; 4:30pm-10pm

Lung Yuan Chinese Restaurant

Lung Yuan has become my family's favorite restaurant since I was in elementary school. We used to celebrate our family members' birthday there. Yet, since it changed its chef few years ago, we were quite disappointed and kind of forgetting this memorable restaurant. All of sudden, I remembered this restaurant again last month when I was at Tunjungan Plaza, which is located beside Sheraton Hotel.

It provides classic Chinese food options with a modern interpretation. We ordered our all-time-favorite menus, which are shark fin soup, Szechuan-style tiger prawn, Vietanemese sautéed beef with garlic and onion, and baby snaps with salted fish. Shark Fin soup was light and fresh, and thus I still had a "big room" for other main courses. 

Shark Fin Soup.

Szechuan-style Tiger Prawn.

Vietanemese Sautéed Beef.

To me, baby snaps with salted fish was the best! The snaps were crunchy and a little bit spicy as well. You have to eat it together with the salted fish so that all of the flavors will just perfectly combine together in your mouth.

Baby Snaps with Salted Fish.

We were surprised with the fact that they actually tasted delicious. From a short conversation with the restaurant's manager, he explained that the restaurant had struggled previously because of the change of its chef. Fortunately, it had managed to find the new chef that could match the customers' tastes and preferences. So, Lung Yuan will be included in my family's favorite restaurants list again for sure! Cheers! 🎀

Lung Yuan Chinese Restaurant
Jalan Embong Malang 25-31
Sheraton Surabaya Hotel & Towers
Tel: +62 31 5468000 ext 6590
Mon to Sat: 11.30am - 2.30pm
Sun: 8am - 2.30pm
Daily: 6pm - 10.30pm 

Ippudo Ramen Restaurant Singapore

Ippudo Ramen is being known as one of the best ramen restaurants in Singapore. There are always long queues during lunch and dinner even until now. 

To be honest, I am not a huge fan of ramen and thus, I previously was reluctant to join those long queues just to eat a bowl of ramen. However, my opinion had completely changed after the first time I tried it. The ramen had seriously blown my mind away!

My parents and I visited Singapore last week for holiday. On the last day in Singapore, we chose to have an express lunch there before going to the airport. As always, there was quite a long queue during lunch time. My parents actually were not willing to queue for it. Nevertheless, I persuaded them that it would be worth it. Finally, we had our sharing table after waiting for about half an hour. 

We decided to order two appetizers, Goma Q - japanese cucumber with sesame; and Fried Young Corn - garlic flavored deep fried young corn with seaweed seasoning. For me, Goma Q was the winner! Yummy! 

Goma Q.

Fried Young Corn.

For the ramen itself, I suggested seasonal Spicy Black Ramen (my favorite :p) to them. I knew for sure that they would love it since they like spicy food. Thus, three of us ordered the same ramen. Spicy Black Ramen 2013 has that spicy taste that is addictive and the pork loin is delicious! You just want to keep on eating and eating. Unexpectedly my parents also loved it and my daddy re-ordered it! Wow!

Spicy Black Ramen 2013.

Well, there is no doubt that it is one of the best ramen restaurants in Singapore. Please do try Ippudo if you are visiting Singapore. You will definitely love it, expect for the long queues! Cheers! 🎀

Ippudo Ramen

333A Orchard Road

#04-02/03/04 Mandarin Gallery

Tel: +65 6235 2797

Mon to Sat: 11am - 11pm

Sun: 11am - 10pm

Restaurant Andre Singapore

Restaurant Andre enters World's 50 Best Restaurant list this year. This restaurant is run by Chef Andre Chiang, a French-trained Taiwanese chef. His invention of OCTAPHILOSOPHY cuisine has become a phenomenon. It is created based on eight primary characteristics : Pure, Salt, Artisan, South, Texture, Unique, Memory, Terroir. 

Before serving the main courses, we were surprised with four amazing amuse bouche.

Hamachi Sashimi wrapped in Crispy Bread.

Sashimi was so fresh and it was combined ideally with bread which is crunchy. Once I ate it, I could not really get enough of it. 

Chicken Masala Skin.

Chicken Masala Skin was in essence deep fried, paper-thin, spiced chicken skin. The skin was delightfully thin and crisp, to the extent that you could not actually believe you were eating a chicken skin.    

      

Vanilla Popcorn.

Fresh, tasty, and a perfect crunch from the popcorn. The vanilla flavor perfectly blend with the popcorn itself. 

Porcini Mushroom Crackers, Patatas Bravas, Chocolate & Garlic Soil.

The potatoes were served in a recreation of a potted plant. Everything, including the chocolate soil, was edible. It was delightful. 

Pure.

After those amazing snacks, we were finally served with the first part of Octaphilosophy, which is Pure - Seafood. The main point of this dish is, of course, to emphasize the purity of seafood themselves. It was prepared without any seasonings at all. It allowed for the natural flavor of each element of the dish to shine through. 

Salt.

Gillardeau Oyster Tartare, Apple Foam. The apple foam is a semi-solid disc sheltering the tartare, and is stuffed with Granny Smith apple matchsticks, olive oil and oscietra caviar. Moreover, seaweed and an emulsion of oyster juices are surrounding the dish. Just like Pure, no seasoning is used for this dish. It allows the salty flavor of its components to create the sensation of salt. 

Artisan.

A piece of "Heritage Artisan Kyoto" aubergine is coated with smoked eggplant crème anglaise and topped with free farmed caviar.  For your information, the plates that are used for Artisan were hand-sculpted by Chef Andre himself. Thus, no two plates are exactly alike. 

South.

South is a Chef Chiang's personal tribute to the South of France. This dish comes in two parts. On the left side, tomato and persimmon salad topped with raw flounder slices and Hijiki seaweed. One the right side, a chilled, delicate sea urchin risotto with sea bass and mackerel. I do love the harmony of flavors that were presented on this whole dish.

Texture.

Lobster, Airy Potato Gnocchi and Oscietra Caviar with emulsion. The lobster was handled perfectly and the  truffle flavor will leave an unforgettable memory in your mouth. 

Unique.

Baby Kisu Fish stuffed with chopped kisu, Artichoke Barigoule. To be honest, this is the dish that i preferred least. The fish itself was cooked perfectly with the brilliant flavor and the barigoule had a nice richness, yet I expected something more from it. 

                   

Memory.

Memory is the only menu of Octaphilosophy that remains constant. It was considered as Chef   Andre's signature dish, a foie gras gelee in a warm black truffle emulsion. Chef Andre's wife, who served us for that night, suggested to have a full spoon of both foie gras gelee and black truffle emulsion. I followed her recommendation and once I took a spoon of it, my mind was blown away. It was one of the best dishes ever! Everything just melted inside my mouth and the taste was simply divine. 

Terroir.

Terroir is the last of the total 8-courses of Octaphilosophy. Chef Andre used a young rabbit for this dish. At the first glance, I was hesitated because of the tiny piece of loin and rack. Nevertheless, it was all forgotten when I took the first bite. The loin was tender and perfectly combined with a butternut squash puree, dehydrated black cauliflower, braised Dijon mustard seeds and potato gnocchi. The plating of this dish was stand-out. 

We were quite full after those snacks and main courses. However, it was not over yet. We still had some desserts before ending our dinner. 

Nitro Frozen Berries.

Nitro Frozen is one of famous culinary techniques. This dessert was so refreshing after those heavy meals. Colors and visual effects were striking, it must be said. 

Snickers.

Snickers comes out with an annual version. For this year, Chef Andre prepared a scoop of snickers ice cream with a combination of peanut and chocolate crumble, nougat crème.

Petits Four.

Our dinner was ended with a good finish. Pâtes de Fruits, Popcorn, Lemon Madeleine, Strawberry  and Vanilla Marshmallow, and Frozen Strawberry on Stick. 

It was one of the best dining experiences for me. I should have expected the unexpected. Chef Andre surprisingly stopped by from one table to another only to greet his customers. He was such a humble and friendly person and now I do regret for not taking a picture with him. I would love to have another visit for lunch. Cheers! 🎀 

Restaurant Andre

41 Bukit Pasoh Road

Singapore (near Outram Park MRT)

Tel: +65 6534 8880

Email : reserve@restaurantandre.com