FoodMeUpScotty

London: World #91 & 1* St John

I walked right past St John when I was wandering the back streets of Smithfield, such was the unassuming facade of the restaurant. With it’s roller shutter pulled down, the pub looked just like all of the other semi industrial businesses that help make Smithfield one of the more interesting locations in London. That I…

Tokyo: World #52* & 3* Nihonryori RyuGin

I’ve always liked the idea of Japan. I mean, ever since I took up karate as a young boy and started watching those cool samurai movies on a Saturday morning. It was enough for me to take an interest in the (at the time) very exotic country that seemed all so alien to my limited…

Gough’s on Gough: A study in Style over Substance?

One of my favourite streets in Hong Kong is the very cool Gough Street, home to great little nicknack & coffee shops, great little restaurants; there is just a super vibe whenever you’re cruising the strip. A strange thing happened to one of those cool little shops this year; a groovy furniture and accessories store…

13 Stars in 13 Days: A Journey through Amsterdam and Germany

The number 13 is unlucky for many, but proved to be a happy number for the girl and I on our recent European holiday. You see, it was the total number of Michelin Stars we collected as we toured through Amsterdam and broader Germany. Many were planned, a few were not and almost all were…

Pirata: the other great Italian in Wanchai

It’s not too often that I’ll start a post about a restaurant by raving about another; but here goes. I absolutely adore Pici in Wanchai; it’s without doubt my favourite casual diner at the moment. But I will probably never go back. Why would I now that I’ve discovered Pirata, the other Wanchai restaurant by…

Hong Kong: World #24 & 2* Amber

2017 has seen an inordinate amount of travel for me; in fact it feels like I’ve circumnavigated the globe a couple of times. Not really a hardship, as it’s allowed me to visit a huge number of the world’s top 100 restaurants and ensured I’ve enjoyed some memorable meals. While galavanting around the world searching…

Gaddi’s: That old world charm

I’ve been trying to think about my culinary journey, more specifically, if there’s been a restaurant that I’ve visited that has the history and grandeur of Gaddi’s; Hong Kong’s most treasured fine dining destination. When we were telling our friends that we’d booked in for a dinner at Gaddi’s, the response was almost unanimously ‘oooooh,…

NYC: The 2* Atera blew my mind

As I walked from possibly the greatest meal of my life, I stopped at the exit to chat to the head chef on the night. As chance would have it, a fellow Australian and all round good bloke. There was no doubt that I’d been pinged as a blogger quite early into my meal at…

NYC: 2* Aquavit the Nordic King

A long time before Noma… Well before Nordic cuisine became the new zeitgeist, there was Aquavit. A restaurant that was opened in 1987, espousing Sweden’s 500-year-old culinary traditions; literally the only restaurant to offer modern Nordic cuisine in New York and one of the first to really hit it outside of Europe. With the region…

Mr & Mrs Fox: Surprising and worth the effort

I have to admit to being a little lazy of late; perhaps worse even, a total lack of imagination. You see, apart from hitting fine dining restaurants in fabulous cities across the globe, I’ve been living the hermit life back in Hong Kong. Sticking close to home and eating pretty boring. So we decided to…

NYC: World #87 & 3* Per Se

Per Se is a culinary icon. Pure and simple. But boy did the Thomas Keller restaurant take a brutal blow in 2016. Plenty has been said about NY Times restaurant critic Peter Well’s review of the once ‘bullet proof’ restaurant, so I’m not going to harp on it. If you want to read it, I’m…

NYC: 1* NoMad the other Daniel Humm experience

Have I told you how much I love morel mushrooms? Probably not, I’ve only just realised how much those unusual looking little mushrooms need to be part of my culinary life. I was sitting in NoMad enjoying the most amazing morel mushroom dish and ……. Hold on, I’m getting way ahead of myself; let me…

NYC: World #58 & 2* Momofuku Ko

If you’re a foodie, then you’re probably familiar with the name David Chang. For those of you who have been living under a rock for the last decade or so, David Chang is the genius behind the Momofuku Restaurant Group. While the name Momofuku is synonymous with high end restaurants; Chef Chang’s beginnings were a…

Locofama: Inconsistent food but worse, bad service

I have a bit of a problem. You see, I’m on this super health kick that’s seen me drop about ten kilos and get very fit; that in itself is not a problem 🙂 But there is the fact that I’m a food blogger and really really love excessively fatty food; most notably calorie dense…

Arcane: The tastiest of meals

What is it that stops a restaurant from achieving that all elusive Michelin Star? It’s a question that probably has no clear answer. I guess, if you could package up all the right ingredients, then everyone would have one. It was also something that I’ve long pondered about one particular restaurant. Arcane is a restaurant…

Mexico City: Biko #65 in the World

I really didn’t know what to expect for my visit to Mexico City; but I’d be lying if I said I wasn’t a little nervous. After all, I was heading into the great unknown, although what I did know was that my intended destination was one of the murder capitals of the world. My trepidation…

Rech: The Alain Ducasse replacement restaurant

At what point does a chef throw in the towel with a concept? Is it when dropping from two Michelin Stars to one? Or the final ignominy of losing that final Michelin Star? I never went to Spoon by Alain Ducasse when it was a Two Michelin Starred restaurant, but I did have the pleasure…

Montreal: Toqué! Canada’s #2 Restaurant

I was cut, completely disappointed. When I found out that Canada’s number 2 restaurant (then #1) was located in Montreal, a city that I’d be spending a few days visiting for work, I immediately set about making a reservation. All to no avail. It seemed that (like most places), Montreal’s top restaurant was hard to get…

The Optimist: Another Spanish gem in Wanchai

There is this ‘no mans land‘ in Wanchai; it’s not quite in the hip and cool part, and it’s not quite in the seedier strip club district. It’s not really anything to be honest, but it most certainly is an unexpected spot to find a surprisingly authentic Spanish restaurant. We’d walked past The Optimist a…