At Koya and Koya bar (49 and 50 Frith St, London W1D 4SG, London; tel. +44 20 7434 4463) the main focus is cold or hot udon noodles and all kinds of traditional or innovative broths that can go with them (think smoked mackerel, beef shabu-shabu or mushrooms with walnuts…

Not your everyday dim sum at A. Wong in London, whose chef Andrew revisits and modernizes traditional regional Chinese recipes. Pork buns with a sugar coating deserve a special mentioning. (and some desserts, such as “coconut ice cream with glutinous dumpling, apple, pandan jelly and peanut cream” …) Besides the…

When Hedone’s chef Mikael Jonsson decided to bake his own bread, he didn’t just improvise, instead, the ingredients quality-obsessed chef did his bread baking training at Alex Croquet boulangerie in Wattignies, France. Michelin has described Alex Croquet as a bread-making genius, whose approach to baking is almost scientific. (Read the full…

If you have ever passed by rue Saint-Anne in Paris, you must have certainly seen people queuing outside the Kunitoraya udon noodles shop. Since a while already, the queuing and waiting no matter the meteorological conditions, has moved to the neighbouring rue Villedo, where there are now two Kunitorayas, at…

If I had to name my “cantine”, only one restaurant, where I’ve been mostly in the recent years, it would be Takara (14 Rue Molière, 75001 Paris). It’s a traditional Japanese restaurant located in Paris “Little Japan” where you can have anything from sushi to shabu shabu or sukiyaki. I…

Croque-monsieur with ham from Desnoyer-Poujauran butcher, truffle salt and Comté cheese at Café Trama (83 Rue du Cherche-Midi, 75006 Paris;tel. +33 1 45 48 33 71) . Love it! (ask for extra crispy)

An Iphone report from Atelier Vivanda (18 Rue Lauriston, 75016 Paris; tel. +33 1 40 67 10 00), the 24 places bistro – steakhouse by the very talented Akrame Benallal, whose eponymous 2 Michelin starred restaurant is just across the street. As it seems that Akrame Bennallal knows how to…

It was my third time at Saturne (17 Rue Notre-Dame des Victoires, 75002 Paris; tel. +33 1 42 60 31 90) and despite trying really hard to love it (thus, the repeated visits), I am still convinced that the simplistic, “market-based” cooking practised at this restaurant lacks taste, emotions and…

This is what I would call the quintessentially perfect piece of veal. It’s been slowly braised and then roasted which makes it soft, juicy and fatty in the inside and crispy on the outside. Even if the new chef of Les Enfants Rouges (9 Rue de Beauce, 75003 Paris; tel.…

I am not a big fan of chicken-based ramen broth, but I must admit that Totto ramen (specializing in only chicken-based broth) overall quality was better than Ippudo (specializing in pork-based broth). I used to love Ippudo in NY and I still do love their small plates as pork buns…