thebearandhiscigar

Y.S. shall stay as a secret location. This is purely a photo essay for an amazing breakfast I had today.

   
    
    
    
    
    
    
    
    
    
    
    
    
    
    
 

Life is Bear Pond Espresso
Believe the hype

I found myself spending too much for an Uber to get coffee and lunch.

The first stop is Bear Pond Espresso.This little mythical coffee place as been around for a number of years and have gained notoriety for Katsu Tanaka’s quirkiness and temper.

The day I visited, I found a half opened shop past it’s advertised 10:30 am opening time.

  
Feeling a little frustrated, I walked around the Neighbourhood to find a charming little corner away from Tokyo central.

   
   
After a brief 15 minute walk, I see the man himself opening his shop. I followed the first customer in to find a grumpy barista tuning his machine.

Respectfully I ordered a cap and a bag of beans. His no photo policy probably helped me appreciate his process of extracting coffee.  Tanaka pulled two shots from his naked portafilter through the La Mazocco and chucked it, not satisfied with the espresso. The third shot found itself into my takeaway cup.

  
I was glad he opened just in time. The cap is probably one of the most layered and complex cap I’ve ever had. It had distinct nuttiness and a hint of vanilla. Truly a masterpiece from a coffee standpoint.

   
 
It’s easily forgivable for his temper and quirkiness but perhaps it’s not for everyone.

“Born in the 90s, bistronomy is all about enjoying quality ingredients and superb cooking in a warm, friendly environment. A major influence in today’s gastronomic evolution, is this trend which is transforming the restaurant scene as we know it. Let’s take a look at how bistronomy has popularised the luxury of fine-dining.” (https://labelleassiette.co.uk/blog/bistronomy-culinary-revolution/)
Bistronomy is largely credited to Yves Camdeborde where he combined discipline of gastro-nomy with the accessible food of bistros.

Raw is Andre Chiang’s vision of Asia’s attempt at bistronomy through the capable hands of Alain Huang .

   
   
Raw is a beautiful restaurant but not in a pretentious way. It has an organic fluidity to it and the space reveals itself as you walk through the place.

I love the mural of Raw’a mission statement. It speaks to me as an amateur cook and amateur photo buff.

  
I’ve been an admirer of Andre since I first dined at his eponymous place five years ago. Dining at Andre splits peoples’ opinions from admiration to hate. Francophile gourmands denounce his cooking as prissy and over though through while admirers see him as a visionary.

Raw is easy to like though my dining companions were possibly less impressed.

  
Dinner was an eight course affair, peppered with amuse bouche and starters.

   
   

  
We started with grapes infused with champagne- a technique used often but I did fail to stress the point of Raw is to highlight Taiwan’s amazing produce and these grapes were a good example of it.

The next two were savoury notes. The first being chicken skin and cauliflower purée infused with masala spice. This provided an earthy counterpoint to the grapes and mint amuse. The second starter was “livers”, they were airy and luscious.  Perfectly punctuated by spice and fresh herbs. Clearly one per person was not enough!

   
 
Service at Raw is exceptional with friendly and attentive staff with the right amount of food knowledge, there’s also a discernible sense of pride in presenting the food.

Our server did warn us not to eat too much bread, which we didn’t heed. It was delicious with an amazing crust and hints of sourdough in it. The bread was accompanied by whipped butter dusted with sea salt and cocoa nibs ( amazing combination!)

   
    
 
The marinated kampachi with daikon was surprisingly savoury and earthy. While the peas/asparagus/Uni/peanut butter highlighted Taiwanese produce at its best. Peanut butter and pea ice cream with Uni? All worked exceptionally well but the Uni was lost in the translation.

   
   
The Sakura Ebi pasta was familiar (Iggy’s circa 2005) while mushroom, mushroom, mushroom was elegant and elevated the humble fungus, highlighting different textures and flavours.

 

 
And who doesn’t like table side soup service? A little presentation goes a long way.

  
  

 

Main courses were a well executed cod with “burnt” cabbage and onion purée while the meat course was beef short rib (I suspect sous vide but with restraint, the absence of overtly soft and sometimes mealy texture was a hint for me) with “breakfast cereals”.

Desert was tasty but nothing to shout about. 

   
 
Zor, Andre and Alain has delivered a memorable experience while keeping the spirit of bistronomy. The meal here cost a quarter or even less at Andre’s flagship restaurant. 

Landing a table at Raw is not easy but if you do, you will be well rewarded.

  

This is an exercise in indulgence. The Guangdong classics. The best of Guangdong classics.

It was a challenging evening as an obscenely early wake up call finally took its toll. Migraine and near exhaustion had set in.

I did leave Sun Tung Lok with a bit more spring in my step and new  ideas in my culinary-curious head. 

I’ve just forgotten how good food can bring you back and how the classics should remain in vogue.

En route to STL, the neighbourhood is fast fading under the proverbial wrecking ball -giving way to much needed bland and generic clone-malls.

  
Upon placing my culinary journey and wellbeing  onto my overly capable dining bff, we chat about the history of Sun Tung Lok. We dismissed the notion that this place was related to Singapore’s Tung Lok group.  Rather, STL was founded in ’69, by the Yuen family. It received its Michelin stars in 2011 and managed to keep 2 of it to this day.  Guangdong food in Hong Kong on its “average” day is untouchable, much more when it’s on her best day!

The chopsticks caught our attention.  In any normal circumstance, I’d return it for a new pair. After all, it look stained.

  
To my untrained knowledge, this “stain ” is a sign of pride- pride in serving temperature hot dishes where the optimal flavours can be tasted by the diners. Perhaps it’s akin to a well seasoned wok?

The food.

The food.

Amazingly luxurious and downright delicious. Real depth of flavours, often lasting on my palette longer than I could imagine possible.

Take the soup course, the waiter serves me a tablespoon full of the broth- seeking my approval for the balance of taste, prior to submitting the golden cream to a final blast of heat served in a claypot. A soup sommelier(?!) This is a pork based soup that’s balanced with terra and mare (earth and the sea).

   
   
Not stopping here, the waiter serves us a liquid condiment akin to fish sauce but made with yunan ham (!). This was an amazing concept and it certainly redefined umami to my taste buds.

One drop into the soup… Beyond words..

  
How does one top this? Why, serve Japanese abalone braised in an equaling beguiling broth of course!

   
 
There were two versions, one with a braised pomelo skin and the other – the classic pairing of goose web and abalone. Truly sensational.

We balanced off the meal with braised mustard greens in conpoy stock.

…then followed with a modern-y steamed grouper fillets combined with a fish mousse and topped with caviar.

But what came after was another flavour bomb..though for the work involved- I’d stick to uni next time.  The “yolk” was unctuous and sticky. The dipping sauce of garlic, sugar and black vinegar added an extra level of taste and balance.

   

   
   
  
 
 
Dessert was a bit too much for me though even though it was very tasty- baked sago custard.

  
Can we eat like this weekly? Heavens no..! Your body would simply revolt at the overt richness and gout inducing dishes.  However, as a special occasion and the occasional indulgence- Sun Tung Lok is on top of my lust-list.

   
    
    
    
    
    
    
    
    
    
  

 

My single favourite dining guest would be “A” from Hong Kong.  His presence both terrifies me as a cook and inspires me at the same time.

I had scant notice on his arrival and I composed a menu which would hopefully speak to him.

In the past few years, I pushed the envelope on richness and luxury ( Uni, truffles, red wine -veal demi glace reductions).

I wanted to step back and reflect on the basics , taking us back to basics.

The menu was Burrata with confit of baby Roma and 30 month old prociutto followed by tripa ala Romana and pasta with capers, olives and anchovies, the main would be a duo of pork and beef- unadorned.

   
    
    
    
    
    
    
    
 
In classic style , we end with a healthy shot of espresso and whisky.