Eleven Madison Park
11 Madison Ave
New York, NY 10010
Dining date: 9/26/16
This was my second time dining at Eleven Madison Park. There aren’t many restaurants more highly regarded – the Michelin three star restaurant continues to climb the list of the world’s best restaurants, currently at #3 in the 2016 list. I think my expectations were a little too high in my first visit and have been wanting to give EMP another try.
Le Bernardin
155 W 51st St
New York, NY 10019
Dining date: 9/26/16
I’ve been to Le Bernardin once, dining on the chefs tasting menu in the main dining room. This time, I came to try more of Eric Ripert’s seafood-centric cuisine in the bar/lounge area.
The restaurant serves the full menu in the lounge, as well as a ‘City Harvest menu’ for lunch. This fixed menu offers three courses (two options for each) for $49, with $5 of that going to a local organization called City Harvest (which helps feed the city’s underprivileged). Given that $49 could be the price of just one entree in the main dining room, this seemed like a great price point to drop in for lunch on a few courses.
Per Se
10 Columbus Circle
New York, NY 10019
Dining date: 9/25/16
I’ve dined in Per Se’s dining room once, but this was my first time dining at the restaurant’s lounge, called the Salon. In the Salon, right outside the main dining room, the restaurant offers an a la carte version of that day’s tasting menu. Desserts are also offered a la carte, as well as a dessert tasting menu priced at $70 for 5 courses. I picked out a few items from the evening’s menu – one appetizer, a fish, a meat and a dessert.
The Salon offers the same view as the main dining room.
T’ang Court
The Langham Hong Kong 1/F and 2/F
8 Peking Road
Hong Kong
Dining date: 3/13/16
While planning meals over the last couple of days in Hong Kong, we wanted to fit one more dim sum lunch in. T’ang Court, a Michelin three star restaurant at The Langham, was just a couple of blocks down from the hotel and had a last-minute reservation available.
Like fellow three-star Lung King Heen, the menu was extensive even for lunch. We planned to go for one of the set tasting menus, but they were only offered for tables of 2 or 4. Oddly, neither could be tailored for a party of 3 so we went a la carte.
Lung King Heen
Four Seasons Hotel Hong Kong 4/F
8 Finance Street
Hong Kong
Dining date: 3/10/16
Dim sum was one of the things my family and I really wanted to explore while in Hong Kong. How much better would it be in Hong Kong vs. California? My mother’s cousin, who is a frequent visitor to the territory, recommended Lung King Heen as his favorite. The restaurant at the Four Seasons, which is Michelin three-starred and ranked 99th best restaurant in the world, certainly promised to be a different kind of dim sum experience compared to what we were accustomed to.
Window seats provided plenty of views of the harbor.
Robuchon au Dome
Grand Lisboa 43/F
Avenida de Lisboa
Macau
Dining date: 3/8/16
While spending a couple of days in Macau, my parents and I decided to stop by three Michelin-starred Robuchon au Dome at the Grand Lisboa Hotel for lunch. The Robuchon name was certainly a draw, but so was the opportunity to dine in the dome atop the hotel, which happens to be the tallest building in Macau.
Much of the restaurant’s 14,000+ bottle wine list is on display at the entrance in a hallway of wines, before taking an elevator up to the dome and restaurant. The elevator opened up to a piano and grand chandelier, surrounded by seating with 360 degree views of Macau. Given some really dense fog on this day though, the view wasn’t quite as spectacular as expected.
