L’Atelier de Joel Robuchon. Sigh. Just the mention sends me into wistful happy memories. Every once in a long long while, you get to taste a little bit of perfection which startles and excites your taste buds in ways you never thought possible. I dare not say I know everything there is to food, and while we’re at it, neither am I qualified to make any critical assesments. But goddamnit, this is a blog and I can say whatever I want and for now, L’Atelier de Joel Robuchon in Las Vegas is my idea of heaven.
It’s like eating works of art.
Due to my procrastination, L’atelier de Joel Robuchon has changed their menu so I can’t get the actual names. So I’ll just describe it best I can.
Pic 1 (top left clockwise): cumcumber yogurt something, tuna with guacomole, scallops with caulliflower couscous (I have fond memories of this one!), lobster cream soup (and this!)
Pic 2 (top left clockwise): asparagus cappuccino with parmesan cheese, fried cod with squid, beef cheek (is it?) with mashed potatoes, squab/quail with truffled mashed potatoes
Pic 3: Screw it. I give up. All I remember is that the green thing has a pistachio theme.
I’m especially inspired by the asparagus cappuccino with parmesan. I never knew the cheese and asparagus soup were such great complements. Joel Robuchon is especially famous for his mashed potatoes and I know you are probably thinking, ” Mashed potatoes?? Any kid knows how to make mashed potatoes. OMG, what a n00b. lolz,” but this is one special dish. It’s so buttery and smooth that it just slides around in your mouth and down your throat (cue a “That’s what she said” joke). It’s just a whole new texture and flavour and don’t get me started on the truffled mashed potatoes. Truffles will give the dish a whole new dimension in taste. Love the scallops and the lobster soup since the scallops gave me an idea how to cook cauliflowers differently. Wasn’t too crazy about the desserts but they were still good.
I’m not going to do a rating anymore, because I just get tired trying to compare it with other places I’ve eaten. How do you compare such a meal with say, Tian Tian chicken rice at Maxwell Market when they are obviously in different leagues of their own? Also, I got a suspicion that food is so subjective that my aged grandmother will probably declare loudly that this angmoh food is quite inedible. So, there is no way I can come up with an impartial rating system and I’ll just leave it at that. Just take it that L’atelier de Joel Robuchon is one hella dining experience, albeit way over my budget, but definitely worth it in my book.
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I miss Las Vegas already. I lost money at the blackjack tables, which has convinced me that I’m not fated to do any form of gambling. Cirque du Soleil Ka was amazing, and so was the Hard Rock hotel. The weather was crazy hot though, but then again, no one goes Vegas for the weather, do they?
In order of appearance: (1) Versailles; (2) The garden in Versailles; (3) A street vendor outside Versailles; (4) A street market; (5) Outside Sacré Coeur. I’m pretty happy about how my photos turned out since I had no idea I was using B&W film in the first place. When I shot these photos, I placed a lot of emphasis on the colour composition which I guess is not evident now. If I had known I was using B&W film, I might have approached it at a different angle. But then again, most probably not.
So Paris was a blast. I spent two long ass hours queuing for the Versailles and was 25 euros (the most expensive admission fee I’ve forked out) poorer. Toursists have made Paris a madhouse, especially the touristy areas like the Eiffel. I think the key to visting these places is timing. You either get there really early, or really late to avoid the crowds. For places like the Lourve and Versailles which cannot be covered in one day, it’s best to get there early. Actually on hindsight, I spent such a long time in Versailles because we wasted so much time queuing that we felt the need to spend as long as we physically can to make the pain of queuing all worth.
I don’t need to say how great Paris is. It is, and you know it.
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Overheard from an unnamed source (cos he’s my friend and I feel bad for revealing him but I just have to say it): “Don’t tickle other people’s backside or you might get raped next time”. Which makes sense, but in the most perverse way ever.
It seems a bit silly to be blogging about Frankfurt now that it has been almost a month since my visit, but I suppose I have to keep with the spirit of things. To be honest, I don’t really have much to talk about Frankfurt since I think it’s one of the more boring big cities I’ve been to. It’s a huge financial hub, but that’s just it. Even though I spent 3 days 2 nights there, by day 2, I was almost running out of things to do. So my take is, if you have to go Germany, just give Frankfurt a miss, or a cursory stopover.
Skyscrapers in Frankfurt. Believe me, you don’t see many skyscrapers in Germany. They seem to like their buildings short.
The old city of Frankfurt. Frankfurt is compact enough that I could walk around without using the public transport. They were having a gay pride weekend, which explains the rainbow flags hanging around.
Apple wine. That’s a Frankfurt drink which tastes just like how you would expect apple wine to taste like-alcoholic apple juice. Give me apple shots anytime!
I could probably talk more about Frankfurt such as their museum mile, the gay parade, or the German restaurant I went to where I got free apple strudel. Oh yes, I could even tell you about the Indian restaurant near the hotel with an unfortunate name called Gaylord, but I’m getting bored with writing about an unintersting city so I’ll just stop now.
The Explorer´s Club will kick your ass, run a bamboo stick through it, and bbq it over a spit while they laugh at your audacity for daring to say you have travelled widely. At least mine. The good news is, for a pricey sum, you could go with them on their tours which are one of a kind.
Apparently, Samantha Brown has a new show: Passport to Great Weekends. Catch it every Thursday, 10:00 PM (EST) on Travel Channel. They are doing a segment on London this Thursday (Jul 24), so you can see how awesome the Tower of London actually is!
I’m writing so much about London that I feel the need to split the post up for easier reading.
Tower of London
Tower of London is another must-go. It’s actually a huge fortress with lots of towers and full of gory bloody English history (I like!). Stories of deceit, murder and execution are abundant, but it’s best to hear it from one of the Beefeaters who acts as a tour guide. The Beefeaters are actually yeomen, whatever that means, and no one really knows how they got their name. One version is that they are traditionally paid in terms of food, in this case, beef. Anyway, one of the more famous occupants of this fortress was Henry VIII, he of let’s-execute-my-wives fame. I’ve only learnt about him from watching The Tudors on Showtime. Who says television can’t educate? Anyway, one of his wives whom he executed, Anne Boleyn (yea, she of that Natalie Portman movie, The Other Boleyn Girl), was buried in the church on the grounds and there’s a rumour that she haunts the ground carrying her severed head. Scary stuff.
Henry VIII’s armour. He was apparently fat. And erm…big.
Tower Bridge
The so-called London Bridge. That’s actually Tower Bridge. London Bridge is butt ugly, and not worth a photo.
British Museum
The Elgin Marbles
The British Museum. It’s free entry so that’s good stuff. You’ll get to see really cool artifacts such as the Rosetta Stone, which unlocked the key in translating Egyptian hieroglyphs. Also, the Elgin Marbles which were from the Parthenon in Greece. There’s this whole argument about who should get the Elgin Marbles, but I think the British Museum’s argument is kinda lame.
Real mummies and corpses, preserved for all to see. I was wussed out to photograph the mummy in New Haven because there was no one around but since there were no shortage of visitors this time, I manned up to risk their undead wrath.
Open a checking account with the Bank of Hell and get your free cheque book! Good for eternity.
I had been to London when I was young, but even then, I remembered being freaked out by all the stories about Jack the Ripper. Stories about a crazy English man carving young English girls for kicks did not bode well for me. Though I was (and still am) neither English nor female, I was apprehensive of meeting an insane English man who might have a morbid fascination with Chinese boys. Suffice to say, London was not my favourite city at that time.
Not anymore. London is now my kind of city. Screw Jack the crazy, this is the city of Austin Powers and the Beatles, and I can see why. It is a city with such a rich history, and yet, its long past doesn’t hinder its progress, but adds to its appeal. The city has a vibrant soul, and there’s a little bit of something for everyone.
First thing on the itinery after I touched down at 8.30pm : Head down to Baywater for some long-awaited kickass roast duck. I’ve heard of the famous roast duck from Four Seasons for a long time, and some regard it as one of the best in the world. When we reached the restaurant (which is pretty easy to find once you exit the tube station), we were greeted by an efficient curt waitress by the name of Sandie. Apparently, she’s the door bitch of this establishment and she made us wait for an entire hour before we got a table. Not that it was her fault, the queue was just crazy long. Of course, I was a little miffed that a group of 6 jumped ahead of the queue because they knew her, but I guess you gotta hate the game, not the player. Besides Babbo, I never had to queue that long to get into a restaurant so every passing minute raise my expectations just that little bit higher. It was sheer torture to see people tucking into their duck.
Four Seasons Roast Duck
Egg Foo Yong
Our duck finally arrived (though we needed to remind them twice), and we attacked it with gusto. It was delicious, but it was a little cold. And though the duck meat was tender and the skin crispy, it was a little salty near the bones. Also, I was not sure if the duck was worth waiting one hour for. I could easily get that quality of roast duck at Johnson Duck opposite Beauty World in Singapore, assuming of course, quality hasn’t dropped since the last time I went there which was 1 year ago. Bottom line, it was good, but not one-hour-wait good. I liked the Egg Foo Yong better though, because they had these huge prawns on steroids instead of the Mini-Me prawns that I was used to. And they used real crab on the veggie dish we had so thumbs up for that. Anyway, FYI, they had stopped selling the duck takeaway. You can only get it if you dine in the restaurant. And I think the best time to go is either early (6 pm?) or really late (10 pm) to avoid the long ass queues if you didn’t make reservations.
Four Seasons Restaurant
83 Queensway, Bayswater, London W2 3RL
020-7229-4320noon to 11:15 pm (Mon-Sat), noon to 10:45 pm (Sundays)
And the final is:
Service: 0.8/2 thumbs
Food: 1.3/2 thumbs
Value: 1.4/ 2 thumbs
Overall: 1.2/2 thumbs
The next day: Westminster Abbey. I have to admit, I was a little hesitant on entering Westmister Abbey at first. All the churches in Germany I’ve been to were boring. It was the same thing over and over again: high ceilings, images/sculptures of the cross/Jesus, altar etc. Plus, I had to pay 9 pounds to get in and the currency converter in my head was ringing alarm bells. But the sight that greeted me when I entered took my breath away. The place was filled with all sorts of statues remembering famous figures in English history. It was like a walk through the pages of a history textbook. From what I gathered, famous important figures, such as the monarchs were buried here in the Abbey. According to Frommers, the most hallowed spot in the Abbey is where Edward the Confessor was buried and there is restricted access to that area. You can get in only on private visits. One thing cool about the Abbey is that they also recognized other non-royal figures in English history such as Charles Darwin, Shakespeare and the RAF during WW2. And since the Abbey was and is used for coronation purposes for a looonng time, you can really tell this is an important place. Unfortunately, no pictures are allowed so that’s the only bad thing about it. It’s still a must-see though.
Big Ben
Gothic buildings around Westminster
Palace of Westminster
Lunch at Borough Market is DA BOMB! I don’t understand how Frommers can miss this place out. There are loads of interesting food stalls selling all sorts of mouth-watering dishes that I can spend hours wandering around. There’s ostrich meat, home-made pasta, and of course, fish and chips. The fish and chips were so good because they actually used real fish (with skin!) and not some cheap ass white meat that most people try to pass off as fish.
Fish&Chips
The chocolates are really good. We picked out a few flavours but our lousy palate can only recognize the chocolates with ginger in it.
Scallops from the Shellseekers. For 4.5 pounds, you get 3 scallops grilled and served with bean sprouts and bacon. Super.
Next up is Wurzburg. 3 hours away from Ludwigshafen, so I reckon this would probably be the first and last time I see this charming city. Much nicer than Mannheim or Ludwigshafen, that’s for sure.
Images of the Fortress Marienberg. The main attraction of Wurzburg. It’s this huge complex on top of a hill, so it was a bit of a bitch to climb the hills to get to the fortress. I wished we joined some tour explaining the significance of the fortress, because it just felt like we were wondering aimlessly around the complex.
The second must-see of Wurzburg. The Wurzburg Residenz. It was partly destroyed in World War Two, but they did a great job in restoring the place. It’s also a UNESCO World Heritage Site. Again, we wanted to go for the tour, but half the place was closed for restoration works, so we didn’t want to pay to see only half the place.
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I met this Singaporean couple outside the Residenz, which is always a patriotic thrill when I go travelling. Apparently, they’ve been travelling on a motorbike from Singapore all the way to Germany since Jan 1, making their way across the Asian and now the European continent. They heading down to the rest of Europe, then Argentina, then Russia then home. I’m way way impressed with them. It’s this spirit of adventure, the dare to chase your dreams, and the willingness to delay one’s immediate gratification for something else better that I’m trying to emulate. Check out his blog at Singapore Dream.
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It’s Euro final tonight! There were no riots during the Germany-Turkey match last Wednesday but there were loads of happy Germans (and loads of sad Turkish supporters). Please, please, let Germany win so maybe BASF will give us a day off in patriotic happiness.
German and Turkish supporters
Happy Germans. It was an extremely exciting match, with Germany scoring the winning goal at the last minute. I love this kind of matches. It goes to show it ain’t over till the fat lady sings.
So this past weekend, the DAAD (the organization that brought me here to Germany) orgnanized a compulsory meeting for all RISE-Pro scholars (which is what I am I guess) at Bonn, the former capital of Germany. It was all-inclusive, but we had to go for company tours so that was not very exciting. Still, with a free holiday, I can hardly complain much.
The Palace Augustusburg. I thought it was a little ridiculous how we were herded from one room to another as we toured the palace. We were literally chased out of a room the moment we stepped in, but I guess this was because we were pressed for time. Anyway, I didn’t think much of the palace. It was used to entertain foreign politicians when Bonn was the capital so that’s the only interesting fact I could gather from my 10 minute tour of the palace.
The palace grounds. Not very exciting too. Trees are trees.
Kolsch-Cola, which is a beer mixed with cola I think. It took me 3 tries just to get my drink at the beer garden. The first time I ordered, I got a small glass, which I was fine with, but someone else at my table thought I didn’t want such a small drink and insisted I exchange my Kolsch-Cola with her large Coke. So I stupidly did, and tried ordering a large Kolsch-Cola this time. The waitress came back with a large Coke instead, so I have 2 large Cokes now. I finally got my large Kolsch-Cola on the third try. And it wasn’t even very nice. German beer seems to be very malty and sweet and I hate malty beer. Luckily, drinks were free since DAAD was paying.
The city center in Bonn. Everywhere in Bonn, there are street names and shop signs with “Bonner” in it e.g. Bonner Street. I admit, I’m childishly amused by it.
Along the river Rhine to Linz, an old medieval town.
Scenes from Linz. I wish we could walk longer, but we were given only 1 hr 15 mins to walk. Again, pressed for time. That is why I hate tours.
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I’m extremely jealous of people who have went to Per Se or El Bulli. El Bulli is like my mecca. I will have to pay homage there one day. Per Se is more attainable though, but I’ll probably be broke when I’m done with it.
I’ve found a little cafe 20 mins away that has free wireless over at Manheim, so the cheapskate in me couldn’t resist taking advantage of the deal. The only downside? You’ll feel pressured to order a drink. So, if you get someone to come with you and you all share the drink (which is what I’m doing), it only works out to maybe 1 euro until your computer dies (which I hope it’s not too soon).
And scheiße means shit in German. I learnt that when my experiment went horribly wrong last Thursday and the lab tech in charge of me was going, “Scheiße, scheiße, scheiße.” The beta symbol is actually 2 s, so spelling it in English would probably get you scheisse (pronounced sh-ai-ze). And heilige Scheiße = holy shite
So my first weekend out is to Heidelberg! According to Zee and Ellen, it’s a must go. Maybe I’ve seen too many old neighbourhoods in Spain, so I was not wowed by it. It’s a nice city, pretty touristy, and I forsee myself spending my lazy weekends there, but like I said, not wow. Sorry Zee and Ellen =P.
The charming streets of Heidelberg. I think it’s a great place to just sit at one of the roadside cafes and watch the crowds go by.
The Heidelberg Schloss or “castle”. What’s left of it anyway. Pretty well maintained, but a huge bitch to climb up. It gives a great view of the city of Heidelberg. This castle has a long history and I guess any German history buff will love it, but since I know nothing about German history, I guess I can’t really relate to it.
Opposite the Neckar River
And by the way Ellen, I don’t blog on the job. Tsk. I go to a seedy little internet shop to blog and do all my online stuff. Ah, I hate having no internet..
