Had dinner last Saturday with my parents at Grand Shanghai (previously Ye Shanghai) situated in Grand Copthorne Waterfront Hotel. The menu is slightly different from the menu of the previous Ye Shanghai. We had king prawns in salted egg, claypot seafood (which is more like a soup), fried diced prawns with pine nuts and served with lettuce wraps, radish pastry and rice balls in wine (as dessert). The dishes are all quite nice.

The service is attentive but not intrusive. The restaurant has nice ambience. Best part is there's live oldies music and song performance when you dine (but only from Thursdays to Sundays).

Had dinner with my family some three weeks ago at Aburiya, a new Japanese grill restaurant along Robertson Quay. Reservations is definitely a must at this restaurant. The first time we went without a reservation, we were told that the waiting time is about an hour!

You order plates of marinated meat and vegetables and throw them on the grill set up in front of you. The novelty is in the grill, which is fired by charcoal instead of the hotplate that you see everywhere in Korean restaurants. I personally prefer charcoal grills because they impart more flavour in the meat.
You can get pork, lamb, beef, ox tongue and vegetables here. The meat is marinated in a variety of ways -- lemon juice, wasabi, and soy sauce. They also serve rice in a hot stone bowl, a variation of the Chinese claypot rice.

An interesting restaurant!

Had wine dinner at Las Pampas (36 Club Street, Singapore 069469) with a group of friends on Tuesday night. This is a South American/Spanish theme restaurant. We took the set dinner which came with king prawn with angel hair pasta, roast suckling pig, seafood paella, and Valrhona chocolate cake. The king prawn with angel hair pasta is ordinary, the roast suckling pig has too much fat and seems more like coming from a mature pig rather than a suckling pig. I would prefer the Chinese style suckling pig anytime. The seafood paella is quite good but they are cooked in batch and the chef did not take care in making sure that every plate served has the right amount of seafood -- my seafood paella had no squid whereas those of my friends had. The Valrhona chocolate cake redeemed the night. The melted chocolate oozing out of the warm cake is just heavenly.

Stayed at Holiday Inn Seoul in Mapo-gu, north of the river. This hotel is pricey, but which hotel in Korea isn't? The rooms are small, but the service is friendly, and there's free internet terminals in a room at the lobby. However, chances of me returning to stay in this hotel the next time I'm in Seoul is quite slim.

Had lunch this afternoon at Dae Kwan Ryung Ribs Korean Restaurant (next to Holiday Inn Seoul). We had beef ribs (both marinated and unmarinated), which were bar-b-qued on a hot metal grill in front of us. The marinated beef ribs are quite nice. I also had my first introduction to water kimchi. This is not spicy at all and is easier to eat (or rather drink) than the normal kimchi.

Arrived Seoul on Monday morning at around 7:15am. This is my first time in Seoul, although I've been in transit at Seoul once before on my way to Vancouver, Canada.

My first impression of Seoul is that it is a clean and organized city. It is, however, very foreigner-unfriendly in the sense that sign boards of buildings and shops are almost always entirely in Korean.

I've just come back from a night walk in the Namdaemun night market neighbourhood and the area behind Holiday Inn Seoul in Mapo-gu and find Seoul rather safe.

Seoul seems intriguing to me. I wish I have more time to explore it in further detail. However, I'm leaving for Singapore early tomorrow morning, so that would have to wait till my next trip.

Just had dinner at Lee Won Restaurant (Holiday Inn Seoul, Seoul, Korea). I ordered the ginseng chicken soup which is not found in their menu, but which I had read about in a magazine. Soup is an understatement because what accompanied the soup was a fully array of food morsels that really stretched my waistline. I was served green pea soup (very thick), pancakes, various kimchi, ginseng salad, ginseng chicken soup, chicken porridge, ginseng wine, iced persimmon, and traditional korean fruit punch.

The ginseng salad is very unique and very good. It is a sweet salad, with julliened fresh ginseng, salary, cucumber, and red dates. The bitter sweet combination is just heavenly. Very refreshing!

The ginseng chicken soup is made with a whole spring chicken stuffed with sticky rice and is very rich.

The entire dinner set me back about 33,000 Won (about S$50), inclusive of service charges and taxes. Not cheap, but certainly value for money.

Went to Max Brenner's Chocolate Bar (8 Raffles Avenue, #01-06/08 Esplanade Mall) on Friday afternoon. I couldn't eat any solid food due to the extraction of a wisdom tooth in the morning, so took solacement in some chocolate. I ordered suckao, a unique invention by Max Brenner. You combine chocolate chips and milk in a potppouri-like aparatus, warmed by a tea-light candle. When the chocolate chips and milk are well combined, you sip the mixture through a metal straw. It is wonderful! My friend ordered a chocolate with orange peel which came in a hug-mug, a mug without handles and is meant to be hugged by both hands while drinking. This chocolate drink is also very nice. I want to go back and try their Mexican chocolate with chili flakes, which I first experienced in Seattle while dinning in Yarrow Bay Grill.

Note added (20 Jun 2004): This place has deteriorated in quality and service. A review of my recent visit can be found here. Recommend to give this place a miss.

Had dinner at Queen's Tandoor (Plaza Permata, Jl. M. H. Thamrin Kav. 57) last Wednesday with some colleagues. This is quite an authentic North Indian restaurant. We ordered papadum, mock duck tikka, prawn tandoori, butter chicken, lamb curry, butter naan, garlic naan, and gulab jamun. I especially like butter naan with butter chicken. The dessert gulab jamun is also quite nice, though sinfully sweet.

Had dinner at The Olive Tree (Hotel Nikko, Jakarta) on 27 July 2003. Ordered a thin crust pizza with cheese and sun-dried tomatoes. Ordinary.

Had dinner at Pondok Laguna twice these past 2 weeks, once with Bank Niaga officials, and once with BII officials. Pondok Laguna serves Indonesian food. I particularly liked the lumpia udang (prawn roll), gurame goreng (deep fried gurame fish), fish head curry, bapas (prawn otak), and cumi panggang (BBQ squid). The restaurant is decorated like a big hut, with streams of water flowing by the side.

When the JW Marriott Hotel in Jakarta was bombed on 5 August 2003, I was having lunch at AutoMall (about 4km away) with Hardy Sunyata. SMS was flying all around informing of the bombing. I immediately SMS my family. Ken in Singapore kept me updated by sending me CNN's latest reports via SMS. The telcos must have benefited greatly that day.

I was a little shocked at first, that it could happen so near me, but calmed down along the day. I had actually been to the JW Marriott Hotel four times over the last 2 months. I shall avoid being near American establishments in Jakarta in the future.

Johan Sudiato from Bank Internasional Indonesia (BII) brought me to this famous Hakka restaurant in Jakarta, which started from a road side store some decades ago. The food is very reasonably priced. My favourite dishes here are salted chicken, eel (lindung), braised pork, sea cucumber, and prawn roll (lumpia udang). The fresh orange juice from local mandarin oranges is also very good.

Les Saisons (Central Mall) is owned by the previous owner of Intermezzo, maitre'd Mackie Chee, and the chef Nikolais Joanny. Had lunch there two weeks ago and had the executive set lunch with foie gras, sea bass, and green pea sorbet. I have always liked foie gras prepared by Nikolais but the fish is ordinary, and the green pea sorbet a little coarse. The restuarant is small but cosy. The menu is quite similar to that of ex-Intermezzo, with french pigeon, lamb and veal cheek. The dessert offereings are exactly the same. Those who like the food at Intermezzo will no doubt like those at Les Saisons as well.