Aikawa Unagi (愛川鰻) @ Takadanobaba, Tokyo

Cuisine: Unagi / Fresh Water Eel

Map: Aikawa Unagi (愛川鰻) @ Takadanobaba, Tokyo

Charged Price: JPY3,500 per person without alcohol

Visited: 11 November 2015

Food: 9/10

Atmosphere: 6/10

Value for money: 9/10

Services: 9/10
Scale: [1=poor ---- 5=average/standard ---- 10=outstanding/exceptional]

Let's keep this one short. If you are looking for a fabulous unagi in Tokyo, Aikawa Unagi at Takadanobaba is the one to go for surely. This tiny specialised unagi restaurant is tucked in a small street in the area of Takadanobaba and is within a few minutes walk from the station. The place is really small and very local. There are only 4 tables which means max 16 seats at once. So be sure to make reservation before visiting. Aikawa is run by only a few people in which, I believe, are family owners. They are pretty friendly and wonderful. With little English only, they, however, did try their best to make the very best of our lunch.

Aikawa Unagi (愛川鰻) @ Takadanobaba, Tokyo

very local ambient

The menu consists of mainly grilled unagi which would cost you around JPY3,000 a head plus or minus. It is just the matter of size you would like to go for. The variation you may alter is how hard you want your unagi to be. They do surely look alike. The different is steaming. The crispier unagi is the one without steaming. Personally, I did enjoy the softer choice more. However, the one without steam presented more unique aroma of burnt coal. Except the tender, textured, and flavourful unagi, the overall picture of this meal, in my humble opinion, was of high quality: fabulous rice, delicious pickles, and tasty condiments. Well, well, well!!! The next trip I return to Tokyo, I will once again pay a visit to this little place. Thank God, I have found you.

Grilled Unagi Lunch

Softer Version of Grilled Unagi Lunch

Aikawa Unagi (愛川鰻) @ Takadanobaba, Tokyo

1-17-22 Takadanobaba
Shinjuku
Tokyo 〒169-0075
Japan

Open Hours: Tue-Sun lunch from 11:30am - 01:30pm and Sun dinner from 05:00pm - 07:00pm

Tel: +81 (0) 3 3200 3717

The China House @ Mandarin Oriental Bangkok

Cuisine: Chinese

Map: The China House @ Mandarin Oriental Bangkok

Price: THB900 per person without alcohol (what we paid for)

Visited: 21 September 2013

Food: 7/10

Atmosphere: 8/10

Value for money: 7/10

Services: 7/10

Mentioning the prestigious Mandarin Oriental Bangkok, the very first things we always think of are quality and service. Indeed, The China House is one fine Chinese food destination for Bangkokian. The restaurant itself does not locate in the main building like Le Normandie or Ciao but it is located at the same wing as shopping plaza and parking tower: a two storey colonial building with dark and low light atmosphere representing lavishing feel. The dark wooden furnitures are elegant. The place is rather spacious and there are private rooms which are available upon request. As for service wise, it was good but we feel that some other restaurants of Mandarin Oriental Bangkok offer better and more friendly services.

China House @ Mandarin Oriental Bangkok

China House from outside

relax and contemporary interior

During lunch time, The China House serves dim sum everyday and it does also come in buffet choice which costs around THB900 per head. Again, it was dim sum and dim sum dishes are sort of similar everywhere. Please allow us not to go into detail of each one of them. Below is the list of what we had tasted.

Szechwan hot and sour shredded chicken soup - ซุปเสฉวนไก่ (6/10)
sweet corn crab meat and asparagus soup with shredded fish maw - ซุปข้าวโพดเนื้อปู (4/10)
deep-fried shrimps and mango waffle fritters - มะม่วงทอดไส้กุ้ง (5/10)
steamed scallop dumplings with green pea shoots - ฮะเก๋าหอยเชลล์ (6/10)
steamed salmon dumpling with red tobiko fish roe - ขนมจีบปลาแซลมอน (6/10)
spiced lotus root, water chestnut and kale crystal dumplings - ฮะเก๋ารากบัว (6/10)
shrimp and pork "Siew Mai" dumplings flavoured with X.O. sauce - ขนมจีบเอ็กซ์โอซอส (8/10)
"Shanghai" style juicy pork dumpling served with red vinegar - ซาลาเปาเซียงไฮ้ (9/10)
freshly made "Cha Siew" rice rolls with coriander - ก๋วยเตี๋ยวหลอดหมูแดง (6/10)

steamed buns filled with fragant coconut and egg cream custard - ซาลาเปาไส้ครีมมะพร้าว (6/10)
"Yang Zhou" style fried rice with barbeque pork and shrimps - ข้าวผัดหมูแดงและกุ้ง (9/10)
stir-fried egg noodles with seafood and soy sauce - บะหมี่ผัดซีฟู้ด (6/10)
mango and dragon fruit pudding - พุดดิ้งมะม่วง (8/10)

Out of these dishes, ones that really impressed us were "Shanghai" Style Dumpling and "Yang Zhou" Style Fried Rice. The dumpling was filled with delicious pork and juicy: typical dish that can be found in many places but well made here. As for fried rice, the good ones come in whole grain rice, not soaky, and delicious just on its own. This fried rice has it all. It was really enjoyable. I did not expect much with fried rice but it turned to be the one I really like. Else, Siew Mai was the most delightful among steamed choices here and mango pudding was pleasant. I am not normally a big fan of mango pudding but they made it savoury here that I could not resist.

Well, at the price around THB900 - 1,000 for buffet dim sum which is similar to other Chinese restaurants in fine hotels in Bangkok, The China House is sure one of the good choice for our return trip.

Szechwan hot and sour shredded chicken soup

sweet corn crab meat and asparagus soup with shredded fish maw

close up on sweet corn soup

deep-fried shrimps and mango waffle fritters (THB160)

steamed scallop dumplings with green pea shoots (THB150)

steamed salmon dumpling with red tobiko fish roe (THB220)

spiced lotus root, water chestnut and kale crystal dumplings (THB150)

shrimp and pork "Siew Mai" dumplings flavoured with X.O. sauce (THB180)

dipping Siew Mai into soy sauce

"Shanghai" style juicy pork dumpling served with red vinegar (THB100)

vinegared Shanghai Xiao Long Bao

freshly made "Cha Siew" rice rolls with coriander (THB200)

steamed buns filled with fragant coconut and egg cream custard (THB220)

fully filled bun with custard

"Yang Zhou" style fried rice with barbeque pork and shrimps

stir-fried egg noodles with seafood and soy sauce

mango and dragon fruit pudding

petit fours

The China House @ Mandarin Oriental Bangkok

48 Oriental Avenue
Bang Rak
Bangkok 10500
Thailand

Open Hours: Tue - Sun 11:30am - 02:30pm for lunch and 06:00pm - 10:30pm for dinner

Tel: +66 (0) 2659 9000 ext 7650
Web: http://www.mandarinoriental.com/bangkok/fine-dining/the-china-house/

One Harbour Road @ Grand Hyatt Hong Kong, Wan Chai, Hong Kong

Cuisine: Chinese (Cantonese / Dim Sum)

Map: One Harbour Road @ Grand Hyatt Hong Kong, Wan Chai, Hong Kong

Price: HKD300 per person (what we paid for)

Visited: 28 September 2013

Food: 8/10

Atmosphere: 9/10

Value for money: 9/10

Services: 7/10

As for our quick visit to Hong Kong for business/short-break between 26 - 28 September 2013, we indeed did not waste our chance in the search of decent restaurant to be added into the profile. We had come across this restaurant "One Harbour Road" at Grand Hyatt Hong Kong and thought that it might be a good idea to have dimsum with a good view of Victoria Harbour.

Yes indeed, it did not disappoint us at all. The restaurant itself is beautiful and elegant. The venue is in duplex format with decor that resemble high-end Western/Chinese mansion: the cosy ambient, the fountain, grand window with good view of the harbour, and the gorgeous fine china.

One Harbour Road @ Grand Hyatt Hong Kong

comprise of 2 spacious floors

large window with good view of harbour

large table available: perfect for family meal

For those who seek for private dining, a few large room format are also available upon request. Though, we were only there for lunch and of course dimsum to be more specific, the service quality of this restaurant is more towards higher end than many other fine Chinese restaurants in Hong Kong: staffs were attentive and provided good recommendation on the choice of dishes.

Menu range for dimsum here is not wide but comprises of quality selection. As for wine list, One Harbour Road provides a satisfactory range of selection (also 5 choices of red and white each for wine by glass), however, at really high marked-up. For example, I had a glass of Michele Chiarlo Superiore le Orme Barbera d'Asti 2011 (89pts) that costed HKD130, in which you can get the whole bottle at this price on high street.

private dining room

selection of wine by glass (red)

3 common dipping sauces

For the traditional dimsum range, we had Steamed Shrimp Dumplings with Bamboo Shoots or Ha Gow (8/10), Steamed Pork and Shrimp Dumplings with Crab Coral or Shu Mai (7/10), and Steamed Pork Dumplings "Shanghai" Style or Shanghai Xiao Long Bao (8/10).

These traditional dimsum may not be spectacular on the look but taste yummilicious. Ha Gow was filled with really large and sweet prawn and Shanghai Xiao Long Bao was juicy and tender. For Shu Mai, it was not fabulous but deliciously enjoyable.

Steamed Shrimp Dumplings with Bamboo Shoots (HKD68)

Steamed Pork and Shrimp Dumplings with Crab Coral (HKD58)

Steamed Pork Dumplings "Shanghai" Style (HKD56)

What I really love about dimsum is cheong fun with bbq pork and I did not miss my chance to taste. Rice Flour Rolls with Barbecued Pork or Cheong Fun BBQ Pork (7/10) was typical. The sauce came separately which was a good idea as some people may or may not like the dish to be soaked with sauce. If the rice flour was thinner, this could be a standard fabulous dish of One Harbour Road.

Lastly but the loveliest dish, Baked Honey Barbecued Pork Buns (9/10). The buns were so yummy that we had to double our order. It was kind of crisp and soft and honey bbq pork filled inside was drooling: mild sweetness, tender, and savoury. What a magic that combines dough and bbq pork together. This was probably one of the most delicious bbq pork bun we have had in Hong Kong.

The only point that let our meal down was there were only 2 of us and we could not try more dishes. Next time we will make sure there are more friends and family accompany us. (^[]^)

Rice Flour Rolls with Barbecued Pork (HKD75)

sauce came separately

Baked Honey Barbecued Pork Buns (HKD56)

good filling of yummy bbq pork

One Harbour Road @ Grand Hyatt Hong Kong, Wan Chai, Hong Kong
Floor 7 and 8 Grand Hyatt Hong Kong
1 Harbour Road
Wan Chai
Hong Kong

Open Hours: 12:00pm - 02:30pm for lunch (from 11:30am on Sunday) and 06:30pm - 10:30pm for dinner daily

Tel: +852 (0) 2584 7722
Web: http://hongkong.grand.hyatt.com/en/hotel/dining/OneHarbourRoad.html
FB: https://www.facebook.com/grandhyatthongkong