The Dining Car, Hong Kong-Beijing Train

Ni hao oh good and patient readers. It is the forth anniversary of 'Aroundtheworldin80dinners'. I hope you've enjoyed our little journey around some of the more interesting restaurants in our area, as well as some of the more exotic locations I have visited. After all we don't want to get too parochial. So I thought we would end this travelogue with a journey. To save on airfares and to see something of the countryside, I decided to travel from Hong Kong to Beijing by train. Despite taking some 24 hours, it was a pleasant and intriguing trip, made all the better a fully functional and charming dining car that would put many stationary eateries to shame.

I lunched on a fine omelet, rice and soup as I watched the Chinese landscape flow by. I traveled without interruption, slept soundly in my appointed sleeping compartment and arrived in Beijing no more than 10 minutes behind schedule.

The service was immaculate. I can't remember ever seeing any attendant on a British train in a pristine uniform let alone a frilly pinny and a ready smile!
When I arrived home I asked for a ticket for the 20 minute service from the airport to Oxford Rd only to be told there was a replacement bus due to engineering works. Oh, the shame!

Him Kee Restaurant, Hong Kong

One of the highlights of my visit to Hong Kong was reacquainting my friendship with Teresa and Jessey, two of the esteemed guests at last year's 'Visible Secrets' film festival at the Cornerhouse (see Zouk). Teresa kindly took us to the 'Him Kee', a restaurant specialising in hotpot.

Those of us living in the north west or followers of 'Coronation Street' would think of Betty and the 'Rovers Return' but in Chinese cuisine it is a banquet of raw ingredients which you cook at the table in tureens of steaming broth. It was a great experience to which the act of cooking together added to the communal glow of the evening.

Of course that could have been down to the designated beer waitress, who was kept busy at our table, or at least my section of it. 'Maai fei fat' meal with 'maai fei fat' people. Ng gui Teresa, it was jan.

Sampan Retaurant, Lamma Island

Continuing our travelogue food fest, Miss Sarah Perks and I moved from the Middle to the Far East, meeting Shivani and Andy on the way. We were off to the Hong Kong Film Festival, to meet some old friends, make some new aquaintances and to experience some of the finest Chinese food in the World....in China.

Sarah's brother, Chris and his family, Frankie, Petra and Omar, live on the delightful (and car free) island of Lamma, which is a short ferry ride from Hong Kong.On a sunny afternoon, we lunched on the waterfront at the 'Sampan Seafood Restaurant', lots of dishes (including prawns) and bottles of T'sing Tao shared in true Oriental style.

The company was joyful, the food was succulent and the beer, plentiful. As Sarah stayed to play Auntie to the endless energy of Petra and Omar, we thanked Frankie and Chris for their unending hospitality. Shivani, Andy and I sailed hotelward as the sun sank over the South China sea, a little drunk and a lot happy.

Pierchic, Al Qsar Hotel, Dubai

On our way to Hong Kong, Miss Sarah Perks and I stopped over in Dubai for 'Art Dubai'. Before our visit to the art fair, we had time for lunch- and a very special lunch it was too. We decided on 'Pierchic', not realizing the fabulous location or quality of the food and service. We were met at the entrance of the Al Qsar Hotel and driven to the restaurant in a golf buggy ( a first ever there was one) I understood the name when I saw that it was a chic restaurant on a pier!









We lunched royally on a three course special. Shrimp salad, a tender seared beef and a chocolate souffle to die for, accompanied by a crisp Austrian white.












The food, the wine, the company, the weather and the view were all perfect. As we looked over the Arabian Sea, the iconic Burj Al Arab rose from the turquoise waters like a scene from 'Stingray' to remind me that experiences like this happen once in a life time.(....fade out to the strains of 'Marina, Aquamarina')

Travelogue

Ni hao dear readers. As you can see, I've been on my travels to China to consult with my colleagues at 'Aroundthewotldin80dinners' Global Headquarters in Beijing. We discussed, at length, future plans and projects for our ever popular site. I have also returned with some exciting posts for the many great restaurants I visited and fantastic dinners I ate. Needless to say, they will not count towards my 80 (aka 'red dotters') but they are good enough to provide my dear readers with your attention and time.
I've been away for the best part of a month and this has lead to some impatience on the part of some of our clients (yes, I mean you, Bob) but please bear with us and I promise it will be worth the wait.









WARNING: Our comments page has recently been hacked by 'Ladies of the Night' sites in Chinese. We urge you to ignore these. They will be meaningless unless your Mandarin is as good as mine. (my little joke there).
Zaijian

El Rincon

We at 'Aroundtheworldin80dinners'PLC, have come to the conclusion that a monthly post seems to be a regular and desirable outcome in these days of worldwide economic depression and global gloom. It is also sustainable (a trendy eco-word I know, but apposite here) given the task ahead. Further to this, we have decided that 80 dinners is not necessarily an attainable goal but rather (another trendy word) a benchmark. To redefine and redesign our mission statement, we have recalled Robert to our global headquarters in Beijing. He takes up the tale

I know I've done Spain before, but Rafa's is firm favorite and a fantastic place for a late lunch with my good friend and cultural guide, Ying. We feasted fully on patatas bravas, meatballs, hake and chorizo which we washed down with a bone-dry rosado in true Iberian fashion.

Ying (as ever 'hen hao kan') has an encyclopedic knowledge of Beijing and Hong Kong where my travels will take me in the coming month. Not only to our global headquarters, but also the China Film Archive, the Beijing Film Academy and the Hong Kong Film Festival. More of this on my return. My only regret is that Ying cannot come with me to enjoy the many good meals that await for she is a culinary companion and soul food mate.

Jason's Burgers 'n More, Hot Springs, Arkansas.

Not so long ago, I had the enormous good fortune to work in Arkansas for a short period. Of all the great times I spent there, my Sunday at the resort of Hot Springs in the company of Beth, Jay, Beth-Ann and Trisha will remain with me. Hot Springs is a spa town, south of Little Rock, much favored by America's gangsters for the restorative qualities of its' waters. You can drink cocktails next to Al Capone's car in the lobby of the Arlington hotel. Another treat was dinner at Jason's.A Southern gem on the road to Lake Hamilton.

I had probably the finest burger this side of Scott's homemade cheese burger (another true Arkansas gem). Accompanied by Cat fish, hush puppies ( a small fried ball of dough, usually fed to fractious puppies), tatter tots and cajun fries, it was washed down with local brew, Amber Bock and American football on the TV. Sheer Southern bliss.

Trisha, Beth-Ann and Beth tuck in.

In the midst of life's everyday drudgery, God grants us a few days that will live long in the memory and this was one one of them. As I write, Beth is seriously ill and I pray that God grants her a full and speedy recovery so that there will be more days such as this.

Host, Liverpool

Happy New Year, readers and we at 'Aroundtheworldin80dinners' Global Headquarters, Beijing, wish you all a prosperous 2010- even in these difficult times. To gauge to extent of the downturn, we sent our Manchester agents (Robert Hamilton and Angie Atmadjaja) to Liverpool. Our understanding is that it is an area largely devoid of employment, with only football, the Beatles and the infectious Scouse humour to keep the wolves from the door.
Our agents reported that, although Robert remains immune to the humour, they found both culinary excellence and pockets of culture free from 'fab four'references. At the Bluecoat Gallery they viewed the sound installations of Janek Schaefer, then lunched at a new fusion eatery, Host.

A tasty Indonesian chicken and shrimp rice was preceded by seared tuna and duck gyozas, and on a cold clear day, warmed up with glasses of tea. The interior was clean and modern, the service was as bright and breezy as the day.

Angie commented that some of the fusions didn't quite fuse though we agreed that it flavorsome and filling. We took our leave of the port more cultured and fuller than when we arrived. Certainly better off than than the City fans who arrived as we left.

Ning

Seasons Greetings, dear readers! As you've no doubt guessed that the feastive season is upon us once again- as if the drunken idiots wearing Santa hats and the anxious ridden faces of shoppers carrying Primark bags didn't alert you (tho the shoppers could be anytime of the year). As ever, the catering industry has moved into cheap but overpriced turkey meals for even drunker office workers mode and we at 'Aroundtheworldin80dinners' Global headquarters, Beijing (Manchester Branch) almost give up on finding a meal without a festive flavour. One such recent exception was a visit to the highly recommended Ning, in the Northern Quarter.

Ning serves great Malaysian and Thai food such as this tasty Mensummun curry, cooled only by a few ice cold Singha beers.

I went with the Chinese Film Forum, UK (Felicia, Ying, Xiaochen and me) and invited guests ( Shivani, Lucia, Dong and Steve) to celebrate our first Christmas as a group- watch out for forthcoming events!! It was a great evening and thanks to Felicia for organising it. It also marked the first of what I hope to be many CFFUK celebrations (hey, it worked for French Connection) and the first of many festive parties to follow...Merry Christmas to one and all.

Zouk

It's been a busy month for us at 'Aroundtheworldin80dinners' Global Headquarters, Beijing (Manchester Branch). We offer a Gold Standard Cultural Ambassador Service to other institutions. As part of the 'Visible Secrets:Hong Kong Women Filmmakers Festival'at the Cornerhouse, I was engaged to provide both my culinary and filmic knowledge to the visiting dignitaries. This meant many galas and premieres as well as the many celebratory dinners that attend such functions. Although, I suspect my actual duties didn't go beyond that of court jester.

One magnificent function was held at 'Zouk', a relatively new Asian restaurant and grill, serving tasty treats such as the succulent Tandoori chops


Jessey and Teresa

The occasion was to honour our esteemed guests from Hong Kong, Ivy Ho, Teresa Kwong and Jessey Shan. Both Ivy and Jessey gave us the pleasure of hosting the western premieres of their new films, "Claustrophobia"(Ivy Ho,2009) and "Lovers on the Road" (Jessey Tsang Tsiu Shan,2009) and both were excellent. Teresa showcased the marvelous 'Hong Kong Short Film Festival' that she runs and which I hope to attend one day.
The festival is now over and our guests have returned home, hopefully with many good memories and many new friendships. To them I say 'Ng Gui', you were 'Jan!!'.I ,too, returned home to find a strange fire breathing dragon in my kitchen- then I remembered, it was a cooker.

Eat Goody

Dear readers, as you will no doubt gather if you venture out to Oxford road, that the academic year has started. The congestion has only been added to by those pesky Tories, who have been heard loudly complaining about the lack of decent restaurants in our great, non-tory city. Not followers of 'Aroundtheworldin80dinners' then. They scurry back to whatever God forsaken holes they crawled out of today, hopefully never to darken our doorsteps again.
I have to say that around the University, they are nearly right. There is little in the way of good eats ('haochi' as they say in China). So I was happily surprised when I happened upon 'Eat Goody' on my very doorstep. Not a cannibalistic tribute to the late, sainted Jade, but a Korean fusion cafe. Though given the peccadilloes of Kim Il Jung, I'm always a little nervous when I see the words 'Korean' and 'fusion' in the same sentence.

As it turned out 'Eat Goody' is an excellent eatery, serving Korean goodies not normally found in Manchester. Such as the tasty chicken chili stew you see above, also beef bulgugi, bibimbaps, dupbaps and kimchi juns to a discerning University clientele seeking sanctuary from the usual pizza and kebab joints the infest the area.

I went with my colleague and 'hanyu laoshi', Qi (Chinese teacher), who appeared to enjoy her chicken ramen with gusto. We both agreed it was indeed 'haochi, hen haochi!'.

Azad Manzil

Despite a strict code of conduct here at 'ATWIED' Global Headquarters, Beijing, our worldwide network of highly paid operatives (application form on request) are only human and as such, have been known to commit the odd sin. Unlike our overpaid, underworked and corrupt MPs, 'ATWIED' agents have their expences examined to the point of torture but ,as mentioned in the last post, we are guilty of minor sins like omission and now another, the sin of return! While some of our more religious readers might be choking on their communion wine, we are aware that 'return' isn't even an eleventh comandment. However, during a minute audit and review of policies and procedures after customer complaints about 'ATWIED's failure to deliver a reliable and regular service, we found that this systemic failure was down to one factor. Put simply, our operatives (you know who you are- Robert Hamilton) have been returning, time and time again, to restaurants already crossed off our global list of eateries.To managment's horror, it was even found that they returned to restaurants not on the list or to countries already 'red-dotted'. Such as Manzil's of Chorlton. During an interrogation (tough enough to make the CIA blush) our Manchester agent confessed to going back to Manzil's having discovered their Wednesday night 'Bangladeshi Tapas' menu (6-9pm). After several hours under the spotlight, he broke down in pain and tears admitting the the short tapas menu of reasonably priced Chicken Desi or Bangdladesi Fish Aloo too good to resist.

We at 'ATWIED' Global Headquarters, Beijing, shall endeavour to ensure that this disreputable practice ceases to continue, despite the excellence of the food and staff of unscrupulous restaurants like Manzil. It will be added to our list of proscribed establishments such as Red Chilli, Tai Wu, Al Jazera, Turkish Deilght, Samsi, Aladdin, Great Kathmandu.....

Yadgar Cafe

Of the seven deadly sins, the sin of omission is not there. I mention this as I was planting my red dot on Syria to mark my 50th meal (see previous post) there was no such dot on Pakistan. Given the ubuquity of the food from the sub-continent in Manchester, such an omission is a sin indeed. To make up for this grievous oversight, we at 'Aroundtheworldin80dinners Global Enterprises (Beijing) PLC' will bring you 2 reports from Pakistan with no expence spared. The first is from the Yadgar Cafe, a rememant from the ragtrade in the increasingly trendy Northern Quarter. I have been going to the Yadgar for more years than I care to remember for the authentic taste of Asia, as the Curry mile catered for Anglo-Indian (usually drunk) palates.

I always have the Aloo Gobi, as genuine a dish you'll find this side of Lahore and a firm favourite with us at 'ATWIED'(Beijing) PLC. My next visit is to an upmarket joint in the 'Mile' that too claims Pakistani authenticity. To be continued.....

50th Meal Celebration Commemorative Edition

Welcome, valued readers, to the '50th Meal Celebration Commemorative Edition'. It's been two years since the founding of 'Aroundtheworldin80dinners Global Enterprises (Beijing) PLC' and we have reached a milestone, our fiftieth meal. To mark such a momentous occasion, I took the entire staff to 'Moonlight' in Rusholme for a celebratory ice cream. Mmmmm!

While not as romantic as Lindy's on Route 66, we had a wonderful time and look forward to continuing our exploration of the culinary landscape of Manchester and beyond until we reach the magic '80'. We also continue to lose pounds (£) and gain a few (lbs).

Around the World in 50 dinners

Alladin

Once again, good readers, I must thank you for your patience as I have finally reached 50 restaurants. We at 'Aroundtheworldin80dinners' Global Headquarters (Beijing) realise that after getting half way last year, it has taken the best part of a year to crawl through the next 10. All will be explained in the forthcoming '50th Meal Celebration Edition' (signed limited edition available). To mark this momentous occasion I invited 'The Blonde' to celebrate at Alladin in Withington.

Alladin is a hidden gem of a Sryian eatery, serving exquisite Middle-Eastern food to Manchester's great and good for many years (Dev from Corrie was there!). We ate Kibbeh, fathoosh, tabbouleh and fayatar wth a fruity BYO white and a sweet Turkish coffee with a heavy hint of cardamon. A feast worthy of the occasion.

'The Blonde' is a relative newcomer to our great city and the newist member of 'Aroundtheworldin80dinners Exclusive Dining Club, (invitation only). She is fantastic company and the perfect companion on such a special event. 'Dev from Corrie' signed a menu, which is now availble as a limited edition '50th Meal Celebration' porcelain plate (price on request).

Zorba's

On my way to the cinema to see 'Blood, the Last Vampire', which according to the Guardian was 'Japanese school girls with swords fight vampires', the hunger struck. I stopped at a newish Greek Cypriot stall at the Arndale Food hall called 'Zorba's'. Now I'm old enough to remember the film with Anthony Quinn and Alan Bates, and that famous dance on the beach.

While lazily grazing on kefthes and rice (and wondering if there was a Turkish Cypriot restaurant- answers on a postcard), I realised this was a rare thing for a film historian and food lover, a film\food franchise. The only others I could think of were 'Tampopo' and a small take-away in north Manchester, 'The Omar Shariff'. I began to think of possible others-'Good bye Mister Chips', a health-conscience chippie or 'Hamberger Hill', a war themed fast food place with staff dressed as Rambo or, my personal favourite, '101 Dalmations', a Korean bosinting (dog stew) chain.

Someone said that life was all disappointment then you die-well there was only one school girl with a sword and Zorba was from Crete.

Restaurante O'Refugio, nr Lisbon

I took a short break from all the end-of-term madness at MMU to go to June and Rowena's joint birthday party in Valado da Santa Quiteria, a small village about an hour from Lisbon. It was a great party with all the trimmings- and it went on for two days, at least that's what I remember! Outside of that though, two culinary highlights stand out.

Firstly, a fabulous lunch at the Restaurante O'Refugio as a thank you to Maria. I stayed on Maria's farm with the goats, rabbits and chickens-I ain't afraid of no goats. The lunch was long and leisurely washed down with a rustic White and a few glasses of Port, the kind of delight that only the Europeans know how to indulge.

The second was an afternoon spent helping Maria make 'pasteis de Bacalhau', croquettes of salt cod, potatoes, egg and parsley and as fine a thing ever to come out of a frying pan as I've ever tasted. It was an experience I will never forget, I had found an Iberian Ambridge and my very own Clarrie.

Bem Brazil

Continuing the South American theme, Aureja and I went to 'Bem Brazil' (as in 'esta bem'-'its OK') on a rare sunny afternoon in early June. As you can see it's been some time lingering in my mind as the last few weeks have been taken up with grading papers and exams (over a million words!). All of which leaves me with a kind of word phobia that I'm only now getting over ,for example, I can read a newspaper without the overwhelming desire to mark it. So, my patient readers, you can see the prospect of putting pen to paper has been a daunting one. Thankfully this does not extend to reading menus.

'Bem Brazil' is a 'rodizio' restaurant. This means it serves a never-ending succession of succulent grilled meats to which one can add greens, salads, potatoes and rice (it caters for the rare Brazilian vegetarian as well) It was delicious as it was exotic.

It proved to be a warm and tasteful afternoon in the company of the sultry Aureja, and I hope there are a few more before she inevitabley sails away on a summer breeze.