It’s funny how three out of my top five meals in this recent Japan trap were from non-Japanese restaurants. Picchu is certainly one of them, the fact that I traveled halfway around the world to Sapporo and spend a good ten minutes trying to find the place with the taxi driver and still walk out very happy with my meal is a testament to the food and the restaurant

I’ve been to Japan three times and I always seem to find something new to enjoy each time. The first time was in 2004, when we didn’t eat sushi or sashimi at all. I then went again in February 2009 for the Socceroos vs Japan match and I ate raw chicken and cod sperm. During [...]

Hong Kong, the land of dumplings, good shopping and acid attacks. Fortunately for us, we didn’t experience the latter. However when I picked up the paper from the bottom of my hotel room door, the first thing I saw was a front page article about acid attacks in the area we were staying in. I figured there was a higher chance of me getting hit by a car, so I soldiered on and got on with the rest of my week in Hong Kong.

This afternoon, I decided to do the new york-touristy thing and walk across the Brooklyn Bridge and have my first sample of what’s been voted in a number of circles as New York’s “best pizza” at Grimaldi’s Pizzeria. A reputation such as this, comes with certain things (i.e. lines, long lines). After braving the brisk early autumn weather to cross the bridge, my dining companion and I chose to brave the approximately thirty-minute long line outside for a chance to sample New York’s best.

One restaurant I really found intriguing was the Bodhi Tree, a Burmese restaurant. Luckily the restaurant is a mere 10 minutes walk from our hotel and is tiny, fitting around 15 tables and I’m charmed by its orange walls and Burmese menus, within 30 minutes all of the tables are packed and the restaurant is buzzing.

Before coming to New Zealand I really only had two intentions, to eat at Fleur’s Place and to eat at Nin’s Bin. Let’s just say I have a pretty one track mind when it comes to food! I knew that NZ had a good reputation for seafood and after seeing Not Quite Nigella’s post on Nin’s Bin, I immediately put it down as a stop on our epic road trip.

A worn out by a day of driving in New Zealand we decide to take a local recommendation and keep it simple with Pizza at The Cow. Stepping inside I’m immediately charmed by the exposed ceilings, the booths tucked along the walls and the sight of the open fireplace and we decide to relax and eat in rather than take away as per our original intentions.

Fleur’s Place is perched at the far end of Moeraki, and even the official website has the address as ‘At the Old Jetty’. We ended up driving around Moeraki twice before realising that we’d been staring at the restaurant all along, which in the end is exactly what Fleur wanted to create, a restaurant that didn’t jar with its settings.

It’s not often I pay $47 for a lunch, but this was really worth it. To be fair, I havn’t had any lunches at a 3 Hat establishment here in Sydney but it’s fair to say I havn’t had anything which has impressed me as much as what I had here. Everything from the view, service and food was perfect.

I touched down in Singapore a day before everyone else, so I had a bit of time to explore. The first thing I did was go to Orchard Rd so I could find a shirt for the awards night. I somehow forgot to pack a shirt, so I was left with a suit and about 5 t shirts, what a disaster. Luckily my dinner was a bit more organised.