Intro As mentioned in my prior two posts, this trip back to Taiwan has been a massive culinary adventure. While AKAME may be my #1 now, another restaurant not in Taipei is high up on my list and may be #2 but definitely top 5. That is JL Studio in Taichung, Taiwan. I had read…
Category: restaurant
Review: Sinasera 24, Changbin, Taitung, Taiwan
Intro As mentioned in my previous post on AKAME in Pingtung, Taiwan, on this trip back home I have traveled outside of Taipei to dine at a few restaurants. Another one is a full destination restaurant: Sinasera 24. What I mean by that is that you go there for the meal but you also stay…
Review: AKAME, Contemporary Indigenous Taiwanese; Best in Taiwan?
Intro Ever since I returned to Taiwan in March of this year to take refuge, I have been eating nearly nonstop. From new and old favorite street stalls and hole in the walls. To attempting to eat at most of the new haute/ tasting/ creative type restaurants that have popped up in the last 4-5…
Review: Lunch at El Celler de Can Roca, Girona, Spain
In March 2020, precariously right before COVID-19 hit Europe and the Americas real hard, I ventured to Barcelona, Spain. Why Barcelona when Spain’s cases were on the rise? Well, at the time the recorded official cases were around 500-600 centered around Madrid and most importantly I figured it was worth the risk because….upon calling, I…
Review: The American Bar and Dinner by Heston Blumenthal, London
In early February I decided to go for a weekend to revisit London. I had visited once before in 2010 and at the time I recall I felt the stereotype that London lacks good food was true. But I noticed in the years since the London food scene seems to have changed, the city itself…
Review: Capella Shanghai JianYeLi
At the tail end of a recent trip to Shanghai, my family met up with me and we opted to book with The Capella Shanghai Jian Ye Li. Located in the XuHui district in and around the French Concession of Shanghai, The Capella Shanghai has taken basically an entire old Shanghai Shikumen town village and…
Review: restaurant Le Louis XV – Alain Ducasse, Monte Carlo
In my previous post I wrote about my short but sweet time in Monaco and how one of the highlights was my meal at Le Louis XV – Alain Ducasse. The meal was truly exceptional and quite memorable, certainly top 5 dining experiences and most definitely worth the journey to Monaco. Le Louis XV is…
Dinner at Gaggan, Bangkok: Pushing the Boundaries of Stereotypes
My 2019 culinary adventures started off with quite a bang (literally so many dishes exploded with flavors and textures at this restaurant) at Bangkok’s Gaggan, 2018 World’s #5 and Asia’s #1 restaurant. Headed by Indian Chef Gaggan Anand, Gaggan has shown the world that Indian food is complex, historic and can be refined and is…
Dinner at Massimo Bottura’s Osteria Francescana
The summer evening of Saturday August 25, 2018 in Modena, Italy was to become one of the most surreal and unforgettable ones of my life. It would be the night, with a massive stroke of luck, that I, after two previous failed attempts at securing a reservation and giving up on the waitlist, clear the…
Weekend in Mexico City, Mexico
[Weekend Trip Series] This past weekend a friend and I ventured to Mexico City, Mexico. It was my first time in the country of Mexico and I was quite excited. 10-15 years ago you would hear about how polluted and unsafe Mexico City was. I can say that that is certainly no longer true. Sure…
Weekend in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil
[Weekend Trip Series] Two weekends ago, I visited Rio de Janeiro, Brazil. It was my first time in Rio and in Brazil. For many countries a visa is required to visit Brazil, a requirement that was waived during the Olympics. For U.S. Citizens the hefty visa fee pays off as the visa lasts ten years,…
Review: Balwoo Gongyang Restaurant, Korean Temple Cuisine
I watched Netflix’s Chef’s Table season 3 Episode right when the season premiered and was immediately inspired by Chef Jeong Kwan, a buddhist nun from the Chunjinam Hermitage at the Baekyangsa Temple, South Korea. She probably came into the American spotlight when Chef Eric Ripert of Le Bernardin in NYC invited her to cook at…
