NYC photos up!

The album is filling. Feel free to take a look.

NYC FEB2009

Culinary Consolation as Market Metric?

Observation: NYC is awash in comfort food. From snazzy mac’n cheese joints to steaming bowls of pork ramen or two-handed chocolate-chip cookies, New York purveyors seem to feel that reassurance is the new luxury in these turbulent times. And people are lining up all over town for varying types of cozy calories.

It occurs to me that one way of plotting the true recovery from this recession may be to watch for the return of fancified cookery. When the ring molds and unpronounceable preparations reappear, they may be chasing revived expense accounts & bonuses burning holes in bespoke pockets.

Pizza Pilgrimage: Una Pizzeria Napoletana

We’ve heard about Anthony Mangieri’s near-fanatical dedication to the classic Naples-style approach to pizza. Una Pizzeria Napoletana was thus high on our must-try list. On our first night in town, we headed down to the east village only to find the joint closed. We finally got there for a “snack” on day 2 before meeting friends for dinner.

Bottom line up front:
The quality of Mangieri’s few ingredients shines, and his dough is lovely. However, the very oven that is such a focus of the restaurant seems to also be the source of two significant problems with the product. I’m VERY glad that the world has Mangieri uncompromisingly practicing his craft, but it’s hard to justify the price and trip in a town filled with so many worthy competitors.

Details:
Only five of the 35 seats were filled when we arrived. We were seated with a view of the small kitchen which is really just a one-man work counter in front of the massive oven. We happily ordered a Margherita to share.

They only offer four pies at Una Pizzeria Napoletana, and any alterations are strictly prohibited. They believe strongly that they know what works and what doesn’t – and in particular that a few superior quality ingredients make for a finer product than a voluminous hodgepodge. Their doctrine shines through in the product.

The pizza that appeared consisted of only of San Marzano tomatoes, mozzarella di bufala, extra-virgin olive oil, fresh basil, & sea salt. We watched Mangieri build the pie to order in his sparse work space and bake it out with careful attention. It came from the oven to our table and we dug in excitedly. The flavors of the prime quality ingredients shone. The taste of the pie was stellar.

How good? Let's put it this way, for all the noise about his imported mozzarella di bufala and the painstakingly selected olive oil, we found ourselves debating where he got his basil. His freakin BASIL was that splendid! Did he grow it himself? Get it from a trusted source? We were enthralled.

However, even given the restrained portions of ingredients used in constructing the pie, a problem was quickly evident. There was so much excess liquid present that the lovely thin crust was quickly soaked through. While the edges held their chew and body for a while, the middle of the pie was a soggy mess.

But we savored the taste of that first pie and quickly decided to try one more.

The Bianca that soon arrived was just as carefully prepared and beautiful. It also matched both of the problems of the first pie. Both? Oh, yes. Aside from the sogginess, there were the bubbles.

You can see examples of these bubbles in the photo below. They didn’t taste of toasted or caramelized dough. They tasted of ash and carbon. And if they found their way into a bite, they sublimated every other flavor in the pie under their cinders.


I don’t have anything like Mangieri’s experience or expertise, but it seems to me that if each pizza coming out of that oven bears these burnt (not "well-done", they're b-u-r-n-t) parts, perhaps the oven is too hot. A cooler oven might also, it seems to me, allow you to leave the pizza in long enough to steam away more of the liquid inherent in the very fresh mozzarella.
But like I said, I don’t have the technical chops to recommend a better approach. However, a better approach is needed. Because what I got for $21 each were pizzas that were a sodden messes with burnt spots along the edges.


Una Pizzeria Napoletana
349 East 12th Street,
New York, New York 10003
212-477 9950
http://www.unapizza.com/

Finally! - The Burger Joint

In the lobby of the posh Parker Meridien hotel, there’s a little curtained hallway behind the front desk. It looks like an employee entrance to something. Down at the end of the hallway is a little sculpted neon burger. Ignore the looming dudes with earpieces and the disapproving stares of the desk staff. Walk towards the neon. Turn into the doorway on your right, and there it is. The Burger Joint. The secret greasy spoon hidden away in this tower of $350/night single rooms and $28 omelets. I’ve been wanting to eat here for years.

Bottom line up front:

Go. REALLY good burger. Good fries and shake. But the place itself is the draw. It's a wondrously dive-y enclave in the midst of all the glam. EXACTLY the meal you need in mid-town.

Details:

Pleen and I arrived about 11:30 and the place was empty. We managed to snag one of the few booths with a view of the door and the kitchen. The guys in suits started filing in around 11:40. By 11:55 there was a line out the door and down the hallway. Things got rolling for the crew behind the counter quickly, but they remained nonplussed - calling orders and scolding slowpokes

Cheeseburger with the works. Fries. Chocolate shake. What more does one need in life?
They make a really good burger. The meat is nothing like the quality of Ray’s Hell Burger, but it’s fresh and flavorful and gently treated. The grill itself delivers significant char flavor. And the cheese actually adds flavor rather than just fat. Although frozen, the fries are good. Long cut Idaho ¼ inchers. They could use a stiff hit of salt & pepper while still glistening next to fry-o-lator before they go in the bag. Their milk shake is the shake of my childhood - just vanilla ice cream, Hershey’s syrup, & milk. I like it a lot. If you have a different point of departure it may strike you as a bit . . . hollow. Pleen, as an example, found it not chocolaty enough compared to the likes of Talyor’s Refresher.

I’m definitely coming back.

Burger Joint
118 W 57th Street
New York, NY 10019
212-708-7414
http://www.parkermeridien.com/eat4.php

Vamoose Virgin

In the world of low cost bus rides between the Washington, DC area and New York City, I was a virgin up until this trip.

Having had the pleasure now of a ride on Vamoose from Rossyln to Penn Station, I’m not sure if I can ever go back. Total time from our front door to our destination was markedly less than with airplane or train – and of course it was vastly cheaper.

The people were cool, the ride was comfortable, and ya can’t beat $25 for a lift to New York. Make mine Vamoose!


Vamoose Express Bus Service
16 Penn Plaza, Suite 514
New York, NY 10001
877.393.2828
http://www.vamoosebus.com/

Tokyo photos are up!

The album is still a bit disorganized, but feel free to take a look!

Tokyo2009

Tokyo Highlights: FOOD!!

Dear god have the Japanese got the good eats thing sorted! Central Tokyo is positively AWASH in yumminess from all over the world. Decades of prosperity have brought every conceivable cuisine to town to mingle with domestic cookery refined by centuries of thought about how to take pleasure and nourishment from food.

There is little if any ghettoization notable. The French stuff is side-by-side with the local, Thai, Indian, Byelorussian, etc. Heck, we even wandered by a New Orleans themed “Bourbon Street Bar” on a back alley in Roppongi sandwiched between a yakitori joint and a soba shop.

Five dinners & four lunches weren’t nearly enough to even begin to sample the offerings. We concentrated entirely on Japanese food (novelty aside, I can get good pasta in a lot of other places). Thanks to JM’s knowledge of the city and language skills, we were able to get a taste for a lot of stuff we would have missed.

Our lack of experience with Japanese cuisine means that we didn’t bring many preconceived notions of what we liked or didn’t. Thus, the experience of trying new food and new ways of eating played a major roll for much of our trip. We’re usually 100% food-centric – atmosphere plays at most an amusing supporting role. On this trip, some of our favorite experiences were all about (or at least equally about) the atmosphere/experience rather than the food itself. Thus, two lists.

Favorite food experiences:

1. Sukiyaki & shabu-shabu at Roppongi Jidaiya. A basement right off Roppongi Dori houses this comfortable izakaya serving up a wide selection of home-style food. We wandered down the winding staircase from street level through the diminutive doorway and were quickly seated at a comfortable corner table looking out at a room filled mostly with sararīman getting some after-work socializing done.
While shabu-shabu is basically the Japanese version of the “steamboat” dish offered by every East Asian culture, it’s still a fun communal cooking and dining experience. Also, the typical Japanese fetish for the finest quality ingredients really stood out – beautiful meat and produce here. Our favorite taste, however, was by far the sukiyaki.

2. Okonomiyaki at Sometaro in Asakusa. This old school low ceiling joint had a line running down the block for a reason.

Once again, the experience of cooking & chowing down on the crêpe-cum-pancake-thingies was a blast. Just being in the space made us happy. Check out the video below for a look at the process.




3. Wandering the food hall at the Takashimaya department store in Shinjuku. Harrod’s is for wannabes. Seriously, this is the greatest free food attraction in town. All that stuff I said before about the diversity of global cusine available in Tokyo? Yea. Now put it all inside a Sax Fith Avenue and you’ve got an idea of what it is to stroll the food offerings at this high-end Tokyo department store. We ended up grabbing a taste of a lot of things and finding a bench on the roof top to have our experimental picnic.


Roppongi Jidaiya
B1 Yuni Roppongi Bldg.
7-15-17 Roppongi
Minato-ku, Tokyo 106-0032
03-3403-3563

Sometaro
2-2-2 Nishi-Asakusa
Taito-ku, Tokyo
03.3844.9502
http://www.sometaro.com/

Takashimaya Shinjuku
5-24-2, Sendagaya
Shibuya-ku , Tokyo 151-8580
03-5361-1206


Favorite dishes:

1. Korokke Pan from the 60 year old Nagano Bakery right on Roppongi Dori. JM sent us over here and we’ll never forgive him. That handful of heaven haunts our dreams. Pleen woke up in a jet lagged fog in our bedroom last night and mumbled “korokeeeeeee pannnn”.

Breakfast of champions!!

2. Spicy tonkatsu ramen from Ippudo in Roppongi. This dish was so good that we’re going to New York to try the offering at their US location. Can’t stop thinking about it. Admittedly, the place itself was great with a funky and charming staff of young turks and a common dinning area rambunctious with groups of friends slurping happily away. But the noodles?! Oh, those noodles.

3. Random “shrimp burger” from a tour group rest cafe near the Yasukuni shrine. It took us so long to make our way over to this part of town that we were in serious need of a refuel by the time with got within range. Imagine our surprise when the food turned out to be pretty good. This block of fresh shrimp held together in fried goodness was better than that. Imagine MY surprise when Pleen appropriated my sandwich!
4. Red bean and cream “pancakes” from a street side shop in Asakusa. These are made by pouring batter into a mold, inserting a bit of filling in the center, and closing the mold to yield a sealed snack filled with molten goodness. We used to love the ones at the Japanese department stores in Singapore. Yea . . . we didn’t know what we were doing. These were spectacular. Thin and flavorful and stuffed with high quality fillings. More than worth the stop.

5. Black sesame ice cream from snack shop near the Sensouji Temple in Asakusa. JM brought us over here to visit the “Japanese 31 flavors”. While my Yuzu flavored cone was grand – redolent with the sweet citrus flavor and bits of the fruit itself, JM’s sesame flavored portion was the clear winner. This was adult soft serve – deeply flavored and luxurious.



Nagano Bakery
2-17-31 Akasaka
Minato-ku, Tokyo
03-3583-4216

Ippudo
4-9-11, Roppongi
Minato-ku, Tokyo
03-5775-7561 http://www.ippudo.com/top/index.html

Tokyo Highlights: Planes, Trains, & Buses

Tokyo’s Narita airport long occupied a groan-inducing role in the hearts of many of us who traveled through it on our way to other parts of Asia. Its refurbished incarnation, however, is a total pleasure both for passing through and as a point of entry. Immigration was fast & efficient - although the Japanese government now has my fingerprints and photo on disk.

Rather than spending a fortune on a slow-moving cab or dragging our bags through multiple train changes, we followed JC’s advice and grabbed two tickets on the Airport Limousine service’s bus to town. For ~ $33 per head, we got a speedy, safe, and comfy ride to a drop point two blocks from our buddy’s apartment. The hour and a half ride into the center of town offered up a lovely set of views and non-stop service that departed precisely on time and arrived earlier than promised. The return trip to the airport several days later was just as smooth.



Airport Limousine
http://www.limousinebus.co.jp/en/

Tokyo Highlights: Getting around

Last time ‘round we felt notably constrained by our lack of Japanese language capability. Getting on a train or navigating the streets or ordering a meal was a major effort. This wasn’t an issue this time. Perhaps our last sample was unlucky? Perhaps there’s been a boom in English language signage and education? I don’t know. But this time we felt we could find our way and feed our faces with no difficulty.

This was a particular boon in that it freed us to use the fantastic (but complex!) Tokyo rail network to hop from point to point.

Still, we did a lot of walking. Tokyo’s neighborhood topography is so varied that strolling between major areas really helps to fill out the mental map of the town. We enjoyed moving from the glitzy consumer haven of Shinjuku to the teen fashion alleys of Harajuku. A long stroll past the majestic Imperial Palace, through the public spaces filled with museums and tour groups leading to the Yasukuni shrine made for a lovely morning. But it was certainly a total counterpoint to our evening amongst the hipsters in the narrow lanes of Naka Meguro.

Everywhere we went, we were amazed at how the compacted hustle & bustle of the busiest neighborhoods gave way to charming quiet residential areas just a block or two off the main drag. In the frenetic center of Roppongi right across from the ultra-modern high end Tokyo Midtown development (the new Ritz Carlton residences look down on this gourmet shopping mall), walking 100 meters off the main street left us in the midst of idyllic pocket parks and picture perfect small homes.

This is a great town for wandering about and bumping into pleasant surprises.

Positive reinforcement for light packing

Walking out of Dulles passport control after a week-long trip to Tokyo, we made straight for the customs exit without stopping at the luggage carousel.

As I handed my Form 6059B to the CBP agent, he sternly demanded, “Where the heck are your BAGS !?” I was so lagged out that it took me a second to look up into his grinning face.

I pointed to the daypack on my shoulder, lifted the tote in my hand, and shrugged. “Get on outta here man,” he said as he shooed us on our way - cackling as we went.

"One Bag" travel has lots of bennies. If the customs guys are diggin' ya, life is certainly easier.

Only in Japan

One of the greatest things in the air travel world has to be the "Magic Beer Machine" in the United Airlines Red Carpet Lounge next to Gate 31 at Tokyo Narita.

A tilting platform? A separate foam-jet to put the perfect head on it!? Only the Japanese would do such a thing. God love 'em!

Watch and be amazed.

Tokyo!!

The promise of 2 million extra people flopping onto DC’s already overloaded infrastructure was enough to motivate us for a quick trip out of town. Two tickets on United 803, a bit of a visa drama (boo-hiss on you mean-embassy-visa-lady), and we were off to Tokyo!

We were in there for 3 days back in 2001 and have always wanted to return. Our buddy JC & her boyfriend JM made the trip possible by offering us a bed at their place.

Bottom line up front: Tokyo rocks! What a great town. The density and diversity of cool stuff combined with the safety, ease of access, and great people make it a world class destination. It's a must-return town for us.

In five days on the ground we wandered and laughed and ATE . . . a lot. We’ll put up some smaller individual posts to cover several highlights. Stand by!

New Favorite Airline: Air Asia

As we started planning our month in Asia, it quickly became apparent that intra-regional air fare would be a major component of the total cost - maybe even a show-stopper. Flying Singapore Airlines is a delight, but too much such delight can empty the wallet quickly.

Enter the low cost airline phenomenon, which has fully hit in southeast Asia. Although there are a number of players in this space, we heard good things about Air Asia. We compared their offerings with conventional airlines. Very quickly it became clear that Air Asia’s pricing could make the difference between “affordable” and “undoable” for the itinerary we wanted.

Air Asia’s no-assigned-seat policy (al la US carrier Southwest Airlines) and super-low prices gave us a moment’s pause, but we decided it would make for an interesting experiment.

Short version?

We flew Air Asia seven times in 23 days. We each checked one bag on every flight. We experienced one delayed departure. No lost bags. We were never stranded or uncomfortable. Service was pleasant and efficient in all cases.

And the prices? Check out what we paid per head (converted to US dollar since Air Asia charges in the currency of the point of departure).

Bali to Jakarta: $60

Medan to Kuala Lumpur: $67

Singapore to Kuala Lumpur: $55

Kuala Lumpur to Siem Reap: $73

Bangkok to Krabi: $31

Krabi to Bangkok: $52

Bangkok to Singapore: $102

And this is for international standard service on new Airbus and gently used Boeing aircraft. No livestock in the overhead bins (anyone else every flown Daalo Air?). No duct taped control surfaces. The uniforms were even cool.

Air Asia’s motto is “Now Everyone Can Fly”. At these prices? YA!

** Oh, that one delayed flight we experienced? Ya. There was an Air Asia voucher for about 1/3 the cost of the flight in our email box the very next day.

Air Asia

http://www.airasia.com

Singapore Hotels

We passed through Singapore three separate times on this trip. Two of them were just brief overnight stops. For those, we crashed at the Crowne Plaza at Changi Airport's newly opened Terminal 3.

Super slick and wonderfully convenient, we were only sorry that we couldn’t stay longer. Everything from the toiletries in the rooms to the departure screens in the lobby caters specifically to the needs of a traveler. The lobby opens directly into the terminal. Airline check in desks are perhaps 200 meters from the hotel’s front desk. On our last night before returning to the States, thanks to the generosity of our buddy RS, we had a wonderful Cantonese meal at The Imperial Treasure restaurant in the lobby - just the thing to armor us for 20 hours of the culinary train wreck that is United Airline’s food service. This is a great hotel. The only drawback is the cost. If our old friend BL hadn’t gotten us a super-discount rate, we probably couldn’t justify the price.

For our longer stay in town with some friends, we chose the Intercontinental Singapore.

We stayed there perhaps a dozen years back and loved the decor and location. Sitting right atop Bugis Junction, the place is proximate to several different sides of Singapore. While many of the top flight hotels in the area isolate you from the neighborhood, the Intercontinental gives the feel of being in the midst of things. It was perfect for our needs. Unfortunately, the desk made a hash of our carefully coordinated reservations and left us feeling like a nuisance rather than welcomed guests. The final straw was when they attempted to charge us more than the rates contained in our reservations!! The management attempted to salvage the experience on the last day by comp-ing a van for six to the airport, and the concierge and bell staff were wonderfully helpful throughout our stay. Still, after their performance at check-in, I'm not sure if we’ll be back.

Crowne Plaza Changi Airport

75 Airport Boulevard #01-01

Singapore 819664

+65 6823 5300

www.singapore.crowneplaza.com/

Intercontinental Singapore

80 Middle Road

Singapore 188966

+65 6338 7600

www.singapore.intercontinental.com/

Fish Spa Horror

While in Singapore, we were "conned" by some of our Singapore friends (who will remain unnamed - you know who you are!) into going to a Fish Spa. Described as a "relaxing" and "cleansing" experience, we all paid for the privilege of being fish bait for 15 minutes. At best, it is a surreal, unsettling and ticklish sensation -- hardly "relaxing." Note the guys in the background laughing as us too!

Pictures from Singapore are up!

Pictures from Jakarta and KL are up!

Angkor Guide: John Teng

We were HIGHLY impressed with our guide in Cambodia. Trying to be useful, I posted a recommendation on several travel forums. On the off chance that anyone reading this is looking for a guide in Angkor, I thought I’d post it here as well.

“I searched this forum and others looking for recommendations for a guide for our trip to the Angkor Wat/Siem Reap area. Eventually, I contacted John Teng and arranged for 3 days of guide service plus transfer to/from the airport for our party of 8.

We could not have been more pleased with John and his colleague Saru. At every turn, John’s knowledge and reliability inspired confidence and put us at ease.

From the first moment, John was consistent & dependable. If he promised something, it happened when and how he said it would. When he was unsure about something, he warned us in advance about possible pitfalls. He was particularly careful to explain costs in advance in order to avoid surprises.

John answered our myriad questions with skill and good humor (even the third or fourth time we asked them). He was flexible enough to accommodate our interests even when they diverged from the more standard itineraries.

The burgeoning tourist trade in the area results in constantly rising prices. However, John’s rates seem remarkably reasonable given the quality of the service(s) he provides. Based on our experience, we would HIGHLY recommend John Teng’s for anyone planning a trip to Angkor Wat/Siem Reap.

John Teng

(+855) 12 995 977, (+855) 16 518 888

johnangkor@yahoo.com

http://www.angkorservice.com/

////////////////////

Our particular itinerary ended up as follows:

Day 1:

• Pick up from the airport & transfer to hotel.

Day 2:

Morning

• Ta prohm
• Ta Keo
• Victory Gate
• Bayon
• South Gate

Afternoon

• Angkor Wat

Day 3:

Morning

• Phnom Bakheng
• Baksey Chamkrong
• Preah Khan

Afternoon

• Lo Lei
• Preah Ko
• Bakong

Day 4:

Morning

• Tonle Sap Lake to see the floating villages
• Les Artisans d'Angkor school

Afternoon

• Banteay Srey
• Cambodian Land Mine Museum & Relief Facility
• Pre Rup for sunset

Day 5:

• Pick up from hotel and transfer to the airport.”

Kuala Lumpur Hotel

I know nothing about the KL hotel scene. That’s because every time I come to town I stay with family. This time, however, we’re traveling with friends and want to be downtown for a few days - see the Petronas Twin Towers, visit the museum, etc. After some internet searching and asking around, I booked three rooms at the Traders Hotel in KL’s City Centre. I’ve had a couple good experiences over the years at the Traders’ in Singapore, and the price for the KL branch was really reasonable.

Best. Deal. Ever.

Way cool, way cheap. Great location in the center of the city. Everything is a stone’s throw away and there’s even a little hotel-shuttle-golf-cart-thingy that runs you around the neighborhood. The staff are extremely helpful in arranging excursions, drivers, reservations, etc. Rooms are spacious and well appointed. The roof top pool and bar is ultra slick, but comfy with an expansive view of the city spreading out in all directions. This is a great city hotel. I’ll stay there again at my first opportunity.

Traders Hotel Kuala Lumpur

Kuala Lumpur City Centre

Kuala Lumpur 50088

Malaysia

(603) 2332 9888

thkl@shangri-la.com

www.shangri-la.com/en/property/kualalumpur/traders

Favorite Finds in Singapore

Several people have asked us for current Singapore recommendations. In no particular order, here are some places we think are worth a stop.

Loof: Hidden in plain sight on top of an office building right across from the Raffles Hotel is the bar Loof. It’s made up in seriously contemporary style with lots of gray steel and pop culture iconography, but the crowd and staff maintain a chill vibe (the self mocking name probably helps them avoid being too solemn about their cool). The roof-top setting hovering just above the street fray makes it an oasis in the midst of the bustling Raffles City area. A great place to start or end an evening.

Loof

331 North Bridge Road #03-07

Odeon Towers Extension Rooftop

Singapore 188720

+65 6338 8035

http://www.loof.com.sg/rooftopbar/

Cookie Museum: Located right inside the ultra-modern Esplanade, this odd little shop is awash in Victorian tea-time décor. They push pricey cakes and flower-painted cups of tea in an over-the-top vision of what English ladies might have enjoyed 100 years ago while back in London from the colonies. Most of that stuff looks quite good actually, but that’s not why we stop. What draws us back is the constantly shifting menu of dozens of different dainty but full flavored cookies. Many of them are classic interpretations of fruit and nut and such. But their baking crew also has a funky side that emerges in odd-ball flavor combinations. Tins of lavender or rose or lemongrass or sardine or curry cookies are stacked around the shop. Their tasting cart contains samples of everything in the shop, and the staff will walk you through endless permutations to find something that suits you. In our experience, the weirder the flavor sounds, the more our friends back home dig it. Our buddy AS found that the curry-almond cookies in particular made a perfect pairing with prosecco, and she demanded a resupply. Unfortunately, on this visit we found that flavor discontinued. We’re hoping the nasi lemak version makes the grade for weird-but-wonderful.

The Cookie Museum

8 Raffles Avenue,

#01-02/04 Esplanade Mall

Singapore 039802

+65 6333 1965

Din Tai Fung: When I was a kid, xiao long bao, the classic Shanghainese miniature soup-filled dumplings, were virtually impossible to find in the United States. Thus, to this day I get giddy at the prospect of digging into a steamer-full of these comforting treats. The Taiwanese dumpling chain Din Tai Fung has a number of locations in Singapore these days, but my favorite is still the one in the basement of Paragon right on Orchard Road. There’s always a line, and it’s always worth the wait. While you wait, you get to watch hordes of masked chefs on the other side of the glass kitchen walls turning out numberless tiny dumplings by hand – a pinch of meat filling, a bit of broth, a twist of wrist sealing up the thin skin, and the little bundles of goodness are on the way. Yum, yum, YUM!

Here’s LG getting his dumpling on with good form.

Din Tai Fung - Paragon Shopping Centre

290 Orchard Road

#B1-03/06 Paragon Shopping Centre

Singapore 238859

+65 6836 8336

Maxwell Food Centre: Nothing presents everything that’s right about Singapore more concisely than a good hawker center. While lots of the best tend to be out in the residential suburbs, the one in the heart of Chinatown along Maxwell Road more than holds its own (as opposed to dummed down locations like Newton Circus). Go. Browse. Order anything that looks good. Look for vendors with long lines. Ask anyone eating something yummy looking where they got it.

Maxwell Food Centre

intersection of South Bridge Road and Maxwell Roads

Crystal Jade: We tend to give Pleen’s parents some grief for their unchanging loyalty to the dim sum at Crystal Jade’s Ngee Ann City location. Whenever they’re in town, they only seem to eat here. They never branch out. You can’t swing a dead cat in Singapore without hitting a dozen dim sum joints. Who knows what they might be missing!? Well this time round, we were determined to give other options a chance. We asked several Singaporeans friends about alternatives in the Orchard Road area. Surprisingly, a consensus quickly emerged. “Try the dim sum at East Ocean Teochew Restaurant,” people said. OK. Off we went to Scotts Road with our buddies L&NG. With all due respect to our recomenders, this was a wasted meal. The execution of the classic dim sum dishes lacked refinement. The quality of ingredients was clearly lower. Even without their impressive atmosphere and service, Crystal Jade is superior and worth the cost premium on taste alone. It’s all about the food. If you’ve got limited opportunities for dim sum, don’t waste them on an inferior competitor – head over to Crystal Jade and tuck in. Mom & Dad were right!

Crystal Jade Palace

391 Orchard Road

#04-19 Ngee Ann City

Singapore 238872

+65 6735 2388