Katsu of all Katsus

One of the best parts about traveling around the world and coming home to Manila is that you can pretty much buy a grocery list of local ingredients and take them home for a global home cooked dinner.

Cities around Asia have some of the finest gourmet groceries with local and European ingredients. And in every trip, groceries and markets are my museums.

During a recent trip to Hong Kong, City Super in IFC had some irresistible Spanish and Japanese meats. Spanish Iberico pork and Japanese A5 Wagyu cuts. Thanks to their packing, we were able to take home Spanish Iberico pork chops.

Spanish Iberico pork chops come from the spine of the pig and usually contain a bone. They are juicy and rich in taste. Combined with my dad's awesome katsu recipe and frying... Every bite was euphoric.

To balance the pork katsu, we also fried sweet potatoes, mushrooms, onions, eggplants, broccoli, and bell peppers. One of the best home cooked dinners of the year. After this meal, we hurried back to Hong Kong and took home more Iberico pork chops. I can't wait for the next katsu dinner!

The slide show here runs on Flash. If you can't see it, check out my Flickr album: Katsu at Home

Four Seasons Chiang Mai: Chef's Table. A Dining Experience to Remember.

Chef's Table. Eating dinner while the chef prepares your meal right in front you.

That's pretty much a guaranteed memorable dinner. The perfect way to celebrate a birthday.

The Four Seasons Chiang Mai's Chef Table was one of the most memorable meals and dining experiences I've ever had in the world. First of all, the setting is on the mountainous Chiang Mai. The Four Seasons property highlights the natural beauty and greenery.

Then, the cooking school setting makes your jaw drop with how amazing the school is set up with huge exhaust systems, cooking stations, and wooden structures.

There's also the chefs who make you feel so special and welcomed.

Finally, the Thai food is so delicious that weeks (and I'm sure months and years later) I'm still remembering the flavors playing on my tongue and warming my stomach. Great Thai food does that to you. What a night.

10 courses, an open bar, and an exclusive private dinner. All for 2500 baht (~$80USD). I've spent hundreds of US Dollars on meals in the US for great meals from highly reputable celebrity chefs. This night blows them all away.


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The slide show here runs on Flash. If you can't see it, check out my Flickr album: Four Seasons Chefs Table

Four Seasons Chiang Mai

As part of my mom's birthday celebration, I treated my family to a special culinary experience at the Four Seasons Chiang Mai.

We arrived at the resort early to tour the property. Wow, it's just as impressive as the Mandarin Oriental.

Its a gorgeous, lush resort filled with trees and surrounded by the northern mountains. You totally get the whole Chiang Mai/Northern Thailand feel. If I find myself back in Chiang Mai, I think I might try out this resort next time.

The slide show here runs on Flash. If you can't see it, check out my Flickr album Four Seasons Chiang Mai

A Casual Meal, Poolside at the Mandarin Oriental Chiang Mai

After an early morning of touring the city of Chiang Mai (and visiting all the celadon and bronze factories), it was already past lunch time. We were left with only a couple choices of where to dine in the resort. Poolside at the Loy Kham Bar. There's something about dining outside by a pool that makes you want to eat light, eat healthy, and enjoy a tropical drink...


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The slide show here runs on Flash. If you can't see it, check out my Flickr album: MO Chiang Mai Pool Bar

Northern Thai Lunch in Chiang Mai

If you only have a few days in Chiang Mai and you stay at a resort like the Mandarin, it's so easy to just stay in the resort and enjoy all they have to offer. The resort is huge.. like Disneyland huge. Along with all the sights and activities, there's also a great variety of dining throughout the property.

One of my favorite Thai restaurants is here at the resort. Lanna offers traditional Thai cuisine and traditional Northern Thai cuisine of the Chiang Mai area. Northern cuisine offers lots of fresh flavors and vegetables, as well as deep flavored curries. The tables are spacious to accomodate for family style dining - perfect for Thai cuisine to enjoy tastes of all the dishes.


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The slide show here runs on Flash. If you can't see it, check out my Flickr album: Lanna

Back at the Mandarin Oriental Chiang Mai

In my years of traveling, I have a growing list of favorite resorts around the world. Resorts are more special than hotels because they tend to have a unique theme or architecture. Shangri-la Boracay and Grand Hyatt Kauai are two of my favorite beach resorts. It's more than the room, it's the whole resort hotel experience.

The first on my list of favorite resorts around the world is the Mandarin Oriental Chiang Mai. Since I visited last year, I still can't stop talking about it. To celebrate my mom's birthday, we went back to our favorite place, and back to the Mandarin Oriental. Now this is the way to celebrate a birthday!

My post of last year has more pictures and videos of the property. These pictures from this year's visit contain more views of our villa and other shots that I may not have taken last time.

The slide show here runs on Flash. If you can't see it, check out my Flickr album: MO Chiang Mai

Thiptara at The Peninsula Bangkok

Aside from Sala Rim Naam at the Mandarin Oriental, Thiptara at The Peninsula is another stand out Thai restaurant. The setting is also by the river, with beautiful open air dining areas. Even during rainy season, you can still enjoy a great meal.

I can't emphasize enough how I enjoy some of these hotel restaurants. Plus, it's really a convenience after a long day to dine in the hotel. At restaurants like this, the hotel hospitality service is still present and the quality of all the food is excellent. Thiptara is definitely one of my favorite restaurants in Bangkok because of the overall experience.


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The slide show here runs on Flash. If you can't see it, check out my Flickr album: Thiptara

4 x 4 = 16 Thai Dishes for Dinner

High end hotels around the world are known for hiring some of the best chefs. Years and outstanding skill make an executive hotel chef. Outside of the US, many Michelin rated chefs are from the league of these hotels.

In every city we travel, my family makes a point to eat in at least one of these hotel restaurants. In Bangkok, we are repeat customers of both Mandarin Oriental and The Peninsula's Thai restaurants. They are completely authentic and high quality with the most beautiful riverside settings.

At the Mandarin Oriental, Sala Rim Naam is a must-try. You have a choice of the Thai lunch buffet, a la carte dinner out by the river, or a set dinner while watching traditional Thai dances. Or, if you don't want to choose, you totally can go back and do all three. The lunch buffet is my favorite buffet from around the world right now. It's such a fun and extensive spread.

On my most recent trip back to Bangkok, the four of us enjoyed 16 dishes, 18 including dessert. 4 salads, 4 appetizers, 4 dips, 4 curries, and 2 desserts. Sala Rim Naam's menu lets you have these assortments of 4 dishes and you get to choose the 4 in each category. I love variety during meals, and this was totally the way to go. It's also a great way to try out new dishes to learn more and more about this amazing Thai cuisine.


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The slide show here runs on Flash. If you can't see it, check out my Flickr album: Sala Rim Naam

Back at The Oriental Thai Cooking School!

Back in Bangkok.. and back to The Oriental Thai Cooking School! This is my third time in Bangkok, and this is my third time taking a class at the cooking school.

I love the format and the detailed explanations from Chef Narain. It's not just the menu or the atmosphere of the school, it's really the chef/teacher that keeps bringing me back. I learn so many new things about cooking techniques and Thai cuisine every time.

Aside from learning about the dishes, you also discover new ingredients that you can use in other cuisines, aside from Thai. Plus, after the class, we make a list to shop for ingredients and certain brands at Paragon to take home.

Thai food has instantly become one of my favorite cuisines. The flavors are really exciting to the palate, especially with the combinations of salty, sweet, sour, bitter, and spicy packed in every bite. I can eat it multiple times during the week. Thanks to all these lessons, I have a growing list of recipes to make at home. I can't wait to go back to learn more!


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The slide show here runs on Flash. If you can't see it, check out my Flickr album: MO Bangkok Cooking Class

Off the Grid at Golden Gate Fields

When I'm planning my trip back to the Bay Area, I always look at the schedules for concerts, Giants games, Niners games, Sharks games, and food events. One such food event caught my eye. Off the Grid was having an event at Berkeley's Golden Gate Fields. The poster totally sold me: Food Trucks, Racing, Big Hats, and Bloody Marys. What's not to love?!

The food truck spread had a pretty good variety with a nice Asian representation. It was really great to see some creative Filipino trucks, too. I tried some Sisig Fries from Senor Sisig. Totally not the real deal for sisig (which consists of pig head parts), but it's a clean, fun version. It's basically tender cuts of pork meat diced and really well seasoned. You also have a choice of chicken or tofu. It's all put together with a very Californian influence. The Sisig Fries are basically like San Diego's Carne Asada Fries.

The Bloody Marys were a bit weak and not as good as a bar, but it's was still fun to drink a huge cup during the event.

As for the races, it was a memorable afternoon at the tracks. We were fortunate to meet the marketing manager who gave us a front row tour of the tracks. We were able to get right up to the rails to get a great view of a photo finish. We even took pictures with the winning jockey (who's height matched our Asian lady height).

The slide show here runs on Flash. If you can't see it, check out my Flickr album: OtG

Kara's Cupcakes

The cupcake trend is still alive and thriving! Whenever I travel out of the Philippines, I indulge in all the sweets my stomach can handle. (Sweets here in Manila can be waay too sweet because of the Filipino palate. I'd rather not have sweets in Manila and overindulge while traveling.)

While I was living in the Bay Area, my go-to cupcake place was Sprinkles. Light, fluffy, moist cupcakes. They have some really great Red Velvet cupcakes. I had tried Kara's Cupcakes once before, but I found my Fleur de Sel Chocolate cupcake to be on the rich side. Delicious, but rich.

Kara's has done an excellent job expanding, and they are now in the Town & Country Village in Palo Alto.. right near Howie's Artisan Pizza. So after enjoying my soft serve with butterscotch sauce at Howie's, I went right next door to Kara's for dessert, round 2.

All because of one cupcake, I'm a total Kara's convert. I'm in loove with their S'Mores cupcakes!! It's so light, moist, and totally my favorite cupcake right now. Each time I go to Kara's now, I order at least a box of 6 (which is gone in 2 days). It's soo good. I highly recommend this for cupcake lovers, marshmallow lovers, chocolate lovers, graham cracker lovers, and all the above combined.


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The slide show here runs on Flash. If you can't see it, check out my Flickr album: Kara's

Pizza in the Peninsula

Every trip to the Bay Area feels soo short. There's just too much to do. It's a challenge fitting in visits to favorite restaurants and trying out new restaurants. There are some restaurants that we visit everything single stay, even if it's just an overnighter. One required restaurant for every Bay Area visit: Howie's Artisan Pizza.

My family and I have been fans of Chef Howard since his Marche days in Menlo Park. He's a five star chef who has followed the trend of chefs opening up more casual dining experiences. What I love about this trend is that the food is more affordable, the atmosphere is more relaxed, AND the food is still of five star quality. You can't beat that formula.

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The slide show here runs on Flash. If you can't see it, check out my Flickr album: Howie's