Quick dinner at Muine Vietnamese in Shenzhen: Pictures

Did not know this place existed, apparently it won, Thats PRD's award for best South East Asian 2014, which doesn't mean shit in teh real world. Thats PRD has turned into a crappy rag that simply does not know how to do food reviews or write, or do anything they are supposed to do. The awards are a joke, because they consistently give awards to places that have either shut down or pay the add revenues. This is China after all. More in this subject another time.

Strolling about COCO park, we stumbled upon this well decorated, crowded place, that smelled quite inviting, so we gave it a go. This is not a review so I am not getting into the finer details.
The food was decent, the service was good, the price was mid range...all in, a successful dine and dash. Not sure if this is the best Vietnamese in the city, but it sures ranks up there.

Once again these are just phone pics, no DSLR at hand. 

Fried Mandarin Fish, served with a tangy chili garlic sauce

Steamed Squid in a spicy lime sauce served with steamed okras. 

Sole fish and mango summer roll

Lemongrass Beef Skewers served with lettuce leaves, cucumbers and basil/mint to wrap them in. 

Honey Lemongrass roasted Chicken

Spring rolls also wrapped in lettuce and basil/mint. 

Seafood Streetfood, Shenzhen

Shenzhen China has some superb Street seafood, cheap, fast and spicy. taken down with the help of some cold TsingTao beer. We, as in the family, end up at the Shui Wei village street food street at least once a week. This post is just from one road side stall selling fiery shellfish tossed in some super spicy broth, hand eaten right there. 

The quality of the photographs is a bit wanting, but this is the best I could do wih my phone in bad light conditions. I will take our DSLR out there soon. 

Clams, Prawns, Crabs, Snails and more (the names escape me right now) 

I ordered a mixed bowl of crawfish tails and shrimp tossed in a spicy garlicky dip. 

These clams are particularly good this time of the year, here in a spicy broth. 

An upscale bbq, rooftop at the The Butcher Club, Hong Kong.

Good weather, good friends, good food and fun for the kids, a perfect Sunday bbq Hong Kong style. You say the words dry aged beef and I am already running out of the door. That is prett much all I focused in on, when I got the email invite to join my close friends, Billy & Nadira to celebrate their birthday on a roof top terrace in Aberdeen, Hong Kong. The Butcher Club at Editus, hosts a fantastic rooftop BBQ party with the Southside magazine about once a month, serving top notch food and drink. This is definitely more upscale than the usual BBQ you get elsewhere, but it's well worth that extra coin.

On the 16th & 17th floor 18 Wong Hang road, Aberdeen, The Butcher Club shares a space with fashion retailers Editus. Serving a smaller menu compared to their flagship store in central, the Deli has a superb terrace to throw these afternoon shindigs. Entrance fee of 500 (80USD) HKD per head for all you can eat and drink with a few cash only booths selling boutique wines and such.

The ice pops for the big kids were seriously boozy (Caipirinha and Mojito, among others) while the kid friendly versions included a nice watermelon with balsamic and mint option.

The happy helpful crew, not something you always see in Hong Kong. Here serving a Sangria blanco, that could have used a little less of whatever was so sweet. 

Peroni, from the Lombardi region of Italy, on draft, the slight bitterness is perfect to compliment and cut through the meaty full flavoured sausages being served.

Moist and creamy, the carrot cake was perhaps the best dessert offered. The brownies however were too dense and felt like the packaged variety a clear miss. Cookies were decent and chewy as I like them. 

Super Porkilicious, this blessed creature was well looked in its after life, as he probably was during. Perfectly crispy skin throughout, succulent, well rested, masterfully cooked. What a treat this was. 

The master caretakers of this finely roasted pig. 

There was quite the crowd waiting for these lads to break down the roasted pig and boy did they do a good job. Breaking down a fine animal like this is as important as cooking it perfectly.

Two men and a pig....

The Butcher Shop Hong Kong, does some of the best Dry Aged Beef in the city, it's what they are known for and it is well deserved. If you’re a meat eater, there are few meals as phenomenal as well-raised, well-marbled steak. That is, until you’ve had well-raised, well-marbled, dry-aged steak.

“Why age a piece of beef, period?” 

Pat LaFrieda (legendary NYC meat purveyor) : “In controlling the decomposition of the meat, you’re breaking down the collagen, which is what holds the muscle fibers together. Collagen is what can make a steak tough. After the dry-aging process the collagen is broken down and all you have is that protein sitting there and it’s very tender. So you have a tender steak and it has that dry aged flavor.” 

“So for people who’ve never tried a dry-aged steak before, how does it differ in taste from a steak that has not been dry-aged? 

PL: “I can’t say gamey, because that always means something negative. And I hate to use the word “beefy”—but it is a more intense beef flavor. You put the two side-by-side and you can immediately tell what’s dry-aged and what isn’t. Dry aged beef smells like buttered popcorn and tastes like very rare roast beef—that’s the best way I can describe it. You just have to try it to know what I’m talking about.”

Some of these have been aging since December 2014 as the label states. developing those complex flavours. The room smelled a salivating combination of meaty, cheesy, beefy, intensity........there is no other way to explain the aromas swirling around my head. 

These thinly sliced (for sandwiches) dry aged steaks had a meaty, cheesy intensity and tenderness that only comes from the collagen breaking down and the flavours intensifying over time weeks of aging. 

 

Sliced dry aged beef stakes, pork and sage sausages with some excellent accoutrements: onion confit and a blue cheese dip served with buns.   

One of the best sirloin tip pies I had ever had served here with minty mushy peas. The meat perfectly cooked and spiced, in the most buttery, flaky pastry dough. The addition of mint in the mushy pies made it just right to cut through the richness of the pie.

Dim Sum at Central Walk, Shenzhen

Shrimp Dumpling, Ha gow or Xiā jiǎo . hese shrimp dumplings are transparent and smooth. The prawn dumplings first appeared in Guangzhou outskirts near the creek bazaar Deli. This dish is said to be the one that the skill of a dim sum chef is judged on. Traditionally, ha gow should have at least seven and preferably ten or more pleats imprinted on its wrapper. The skin must be thin and translucent, yet be sturdy enough not to break when picked up with chopsticks. It must not stick to the paper, container or the other ha gow in the basket. The shrimp must be cooked well, but not overcooked. The amount of meat should be generous, yet not so much that it cannot be eaten in one bite.

Xiaolongbao is a type of steamed bun (baozi) from the Jiangnan region of China, especially associated with Shanghai and Wuxi. It is traditionally prepared in xiaolong, small bamboo steaming baskets, which give them their name. The number of folds of this delicate wrapper are a testament to the skill of the kitchen, Equally important is the delicate umame soup bomb inside that needs to be gently sucked out before eating the entire thing. 

Tofu Skin Roll or Fupi Gyun (fried version) for the vegetarians is filled with mushrooms

Scallion Pancake cōngyóubǐng, is a Chinese savory, unleavened flatbread folded with oil and minced scallions (green onions). There is a story in China that pizza is an evolution of the scallion pancake, brought back to Italy by Marco Polo. A humorous newspaper article, that also includes Marco Polo inventing cheese fondue when he is lost in the Alps and wants to eat Chinese hotpot

Turnip cake or Lo Baak Gou is dim sum dish made of shredded radish (typically Chinese radish or daikon) and plain rice flour. The less commonly used daikon cake is a more accurate name, in that Western-style turnips are not used in the dish; It is usually cut into square-shaped slices and sometimes pan-fried before serving.

humai or siu mai or shaomai, also called pork dumplings (although this one is Pork and Shrimp), a dimsum staple. 

An unusual form of rice noodle roll (also translated as steamed rice roll) is a Cantonese dish from southern China including Hong Kong, commonly served either as dim sum. It is a thin roll made from a wide strip of shahe fen (rice noodles), filled with shrimp, pork, beef, vegetables, or other ingredients. Seasoned soy sauce -- sometimes with siu mei drippings -- is poured over the dish upon serving. 

Steamed pork ribs are made by steaming pork rib tips with whole black beans and oil .

XO chili sauce with dried shrimp and scallops and obviously plenty of chili

Mixed Berry and Yogurt with a Pomegranate syrup - Westin Hotel, Long Beach, CA

Lobster time at Delmonicos, Los Angeles

The spread 

Claw time 

Nice Tails 

Turning a rich lobster bisque, decadent by adding a few pounds of lobster tails into it. 

Filandering Forker sets to make a video, finds Fish instead

Delhi's traffic is horrendous, absolutely mad, frenetic, the air choked with pollution and dust. A gigantic parking lot moving with the frustrating grace of a glacier. Who in their right mind would voluntarily decide to spend the better part of a day and night driving from one end to another, and repeat it again and again ?

  

Bollywood beats, thumping base, familiar tunes from those innocent years, new dance numbers fresh in the cortex from a recent wedding, all pretensions of high culture, requiems and amise buches now slowly washed over with a warm nape of Old Monk rum.... Adrenaline pumping, childhood memories edging us on, we set on a task, perhaps too tall an order but the mood was just right and a food adventure was in the making.

There is a reason I went with name Filandering Forker, among the other short listed choices, It's all about mucking about the city finding that perfect bite, that hidden gem in some forgotten alley.
A few clinks of glasses, a few Dunhills smoked, we set a future mission of finding what we thought would be the 10 best Seekh Kebab spots in Delhi. Just Seekh kebabs, hunted down live on camera, drinks in hand in all in one day. I wanted it raw, gonzo style, unfettered, real, no glossing over, no soft peddled bullshit. This was going to be the first video for a series that I want done around the cities and countries I travel and live. What better place to start where I spent my childhood, than Delhi. 

That was the plan, and we were ready to roll on a future date with all the logistics almost in place...almost... In the end I couldn't get the necessary time and technical resources together to get this pilot going. The dream lives on, and will probably happen first in China somewhere or Hong Kong, because stuff just happens faster here.

That settled, the boys were not going to give up, so we decided ad hoc to check out this fish shop that chief enthusiast and all around awesome dude Pawan had been raving about. From there on it turned into a memorable evening chasing down some favorite haunts supported by a cast that included Pawan's cuz, a fellow foodie and Delhi expert and my old friend, Nishit, Asterix to my Obelix.

I did realize over the course of the evening that to cover 10 places spread around Delhi we would atleast require two full days of shooting, This realization came about when hours in I had managed to cover just two spots for an actual review. The copious amounts of whiskey was not helping either. That said it is far harder to write a dining report than have shenanigans and drunken rumblings caught on camera.

Perhaps this introduction is longer than the actual review, but I had to share how we got here.

Paramjit Fish Wala 011 33106586

Moti Nagar › WZ 1, Opposite Metro Station, Basai Darapur Road, Moti Nagar, New Delhi

Front view of the famous Paramjit Fish Wala

Paramjit Fish Shop, has all the trappings of a Delhi Institution. Started post partition by a family that made their way from Peshawar via Amritsar. The food reflects the journey they took with local influences evident to the knowledgable. The history of these historical subcontinental cities is reflected in the food and its owners making for a winning combination.

The ultimate Paramjit fan, the awesome Pawan
who arranged the logistics and is a man in the
the know for some of Delhi's best eats. 

Talking about surroundings and influences, the Paramjit family has created an entire ecosystem that supports the take out only shop with a liquor shop, soda shop and amenities shop all serving the multitude of patrons sitting quietly in their cars waiting for some of the freshest and choicest fish on offer in the city.

All the cars on the road here are waiting
to get served before the stock runs out,
which is almost a daily thing. They shut
shop when they run out of fish.

There are no tables, there are car hoods served by waiters who's phone numbers the patrons know by heart and call to reserve a plate before they run out, which is almost daily. There is a parking usherer who takes his vocation very seriously guiding your car to one of the few spots, stretching a cool 100 meters along an extremely busy road. Like a crawling centipede this busy road is full of cars trying to get to Paramjit or wishing they were in for a fix of their favorite fish kebabs. 

Paramjit excels at fish kebabs, I think it's one of the finest in the city and can hold its own against the big boys. The fish procured daily from the same source as the Oberois, is cooked to a moist finish in the tandoor, glazed ever so often with what I was told was pure ghee from the country side. 

Fish Kebab cooked to perfection by masters of their trade

Served with a ubiquitous green chutney and some onions it worth a trip to this far end of delhi. The spice is just right, light to let the fresh fish and the mastery of the cooks shine through and enough to keep you salivating for more.

Fish Kebab Served with Green Chutney
& Onions

The journey is purely for the fish kebab, there is a small menu peppered with the usual tandoori fare, but it's purely for the kebabs that I recommend this treasured joint. A online name search highlights a sizeable following for their Amritsari Fish Pakodas. In fact to many in this part of Delhi they are known as, THE Pakoda wallas, which I mustvsay are quite good, but the kebabs are far superior in the opinion of this  reviewer and his friends. 

It is critical to note that these kebabs and pakodas do not travel well and the optimal cooking to your tongue time is really short. 

The menu is fairly small, but the fish is king
and I would suggest sticking to the
Fish Kebabs 

Mutton Seekh and Tandoori Chicken in the Tandoor

This is how most people get down to the business of eating
at paramjit, served right on the car.

Filandering & Forking around Model Town for some Fish Kebabs

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