the year’s top restaurant meals

Photo by *Lele

As the curtains of 2008 slowly draw close, I am slightly reminiscing the good and bad times, the laughs and heartaches.  Let’s leave the bad times and heartaches aside for now.  Dining out had been significantly less as I returned to simple and hearty home cooking this year.  Nevertheless, some things are best left to professionals and there’s nothing quite out there that beats a fabulous meal.  Maybe a fabulous meal eaten while dressed in Lanvin, or maybe not.  Here are my favourite meals of the year!

Bü‘s Restaurant, Zurich

“Should I or not?” I asked myself countless times.  F was arriving in a couple of days and I thought it’d be nice to wait for him.  Quickly I changed my mind, “Why should I deny myself the experience just because I’m on my own?” I pushed the doors open, “I’d like to have lunch and I’m on my own.”  The restaurant was fully booked for lunch and the waiter offered me a seat on the bar.  Three courses, a glass of wine and an espresso later, I walked back on Bahnhofstrasse with an extra bit of bounce in my steps.

Vinaiolo, Munich

It was the night before the Chinese New Year annual family reunion dinner and I was quite a long way from home.  F secretly booked a table at our favourite Italian restaurant as a substitute for reunion dinner.  Well it would have been a successful substitute if I did not confused my dates.  The Chinese New Year eve was actually on the following night.

Cantinetta Marchese, Salzburg

My brother came with his girlfriend to Munich armed with a plan – to propose to her. We were in Salzburg for a day trip and couldn’t settle into a place for a more than decent lunch. Several recommendations came from local that we stopped on the streets but the restaurants didn’t quite draw us in until we stumbled into this one. Situated on the basement level with an open kitchen, the most important cooking tips they share were use butter always, only fresh herbs plucked just before cooking and the freshest ingredients you can get your hands on. And over lunch, we toasted to his successful proposal and their engagement.

Stewed Pork Rice, Bangkok

Not actually a restaurant but instead on the street. As the three week Cambodia and Thailand trip came close to its end, I left F at the Ratchadamnoen Boxing Stadium for his dose of adrenalin and headed back to rest. It was slightly unnerving at first to go out for dinner on my own, you could say it was separation anxiety amplified in a foreign country. I stepped out and walked out on the street and ordered a plate of stewed pork rice I had spotted countless times in the stalls. Sometimes you have to be alone to appreciate the times when you are not. F came back all excited from the boxing matches and I was glad I chose to stay in for my rest.

Sage Restaurant, Kuala Lumpur

Nothing can quite go wrong when you combine your favourite people, foie gras, shirakko, wagyu beef and the best vanilla ice-cream in town. Yes it can if you don’t put wine on the table. It’s so refreshing to be able to dine like this 15 minutes away from home.

I have to admit though on that night, the chef Takashi’s food wouldn’t have shone so bright if it wasn’t for G’s excellent selection of wine (C, please read this sentence out loud to G for me). We finished every drop of the 2004 Domaine Guy Roulot, Meursault ”Luchets” and the 1995 Léoville-Barton, St-Julien, Bordeaux. These were clearly the best wines I’ve drank for the year.