Visionarium

Tucked in an alley parallel to the Hiroo Shopping District (Hiroo Shotengai) is a new restaurant called Visionarium. The place is trying to be cool with two menus (one for drinks, another for food) tucked inside a box, served to customers after they are seated. The place serves tapas-style food, as well as hearty entree (which we did not try as the menu noted the 20-30 minute preparation time, and we were just too hungry to wait that long). We tried the Mushroom Risotto, Cabbage and Anchovy Pasta, Mini Burger Set, and

buzz at Alila Jakarta (Indonesia)

Buzz is Alila Jakarta's restaurant cum coffee shop located at the lobby area. Service was good, but food took way too long to arrive. Even our drinks took some time to come out: we actually had to summon the waiters to remind him about the drinks. When the fruit juice finally came, it was lukewarm and watered down. I had to send it back to have it re-done.

The Nasi Goreng, a typical Indonesian hotels' staple and perhaps the best-known Indonesian food known to all foreigners, was not good at all. How can an

Straits Kitchen at the Grand Hyatt (Singapore)

By the time I checked into the Grand Hyatt Singapore, the hotel's coffee shop had gone through a renovation and re-opened as the current Straits Kitchen. Not having been to Singapore and/or stayed at this hotel for more than a decade, I had no recollection of how the coffee shop used to be, but the renovated version sure looked alive.

There are many stations for both western fare and different ethnic food, but most of the taste was mediocre at best. The exception goes for the South Asian

West Park Café (Akasaka-mitsuke | Tokyo)

West Park Cafe (Akasaka-mitsuke, Tokyo, Japan)
Originally uploaded by bloompy.

In our early days in Tokyo, in our quest to find non-smoking restaurants and cafés, we found this West Park Café in the Akasaka-mitsuke district. Our first visit to this place aroused our suspicion that this place was foreign (non-Japanese) owned as we found out that:
1. The place was entirely non-smoking
2. The portions were big
3. Bottomless iced tea service

Although we did not move to Japan so that we could eat non-Japanese food, we did come here every now and then when we missed home. The Cafés had three locations: Shibuya (the original one within a tranquil residential neighborhood), Akasaka-mitsuke, and inside the Marunouchi-building in front of the Tokyo station.

The Chinese Chicken Salad half-order was so humongous that it was enough to feed two people (well, two health-conscious Californians). Such big serving applies to just about every item in the menu, including an order of French Fries. The pasta and pizza were good, and on hot days, the bottomless iced tea service was a heaven-sent. Sunday brunch offers rottiserie chicken set menu, very generous in its portion, too.

We have not gone to this place since the end of 2004, so when we returned in the summer of 2005, certain things had changed. The boring straight counter that stood in the bar area was now changed into a sexy curved counter that opened up space in the foyer.

The menu has changed slightly, and unfortunately, at least the pizza we ordered (Prosciutto and Rucola) was not as good as it used to be. Non of the toppings stuck to the pizza pie, and the pie itself was not well made. It wavered between a full-bodied pie and a thin crust, ending up with what looked like a thick-crusted pizza but turned airy and thin when we ate it.

One disappointing new feature we found was that the restaurant no longer was an entirely non-smoking place. Smokers will be delighted, indeed; as will the owner, perhaps, in welcoming more business from people who had been shunned in the past because of the regulation (the Marunouchi location has always been embracing both clientele).

Smoking section occupies the first half of the room that is closest to the French windows, which remains open during mild-weathered days. Unfortunately when the wind blows inward, non-smokers will be trapped in the back half of the restaurants with cigarette smoke...

Breakfast fare used to be good, as were most of the entrées, but we have not had much since they implemented the changes in menu and in the restaurant. We will again review the food as time passes on.

West Park Café Akasaka
Nagatacho 2-14-3
Akasaka Tokyu Plaza 2nd Fl.
Tokyo
Open 11:30am-10pm (LO) Daily
Tel: (03) 3580-9090.

The Lobby at the Peninsula (Hong Kong)

The hotel is still known for its grandeur and luxury, and the lobby is still remembered as an exciting place through which to watch guests and visitors pass. With the reputable Felix restaurant on the 28th floor, what's up with "The Lobby"?

There is nothing special about the food, but unfortunately on the last visit, the service was wanting: coffee came instead of tea; then hot tea came without the strainer, plus the tea had a fatty film afloat. Club sandwich came only sliced in half, not quartered; when my friend asked if the usually quartered "Club Sandwich" could be cut the same way, the waiter demured, saying that this was how it was presented. Well, the customer won.

In other places with the same reputation, wait staff would have come and refill the teacup, refill the hot water, or even ask if anything else or anything more was needed. The place was not chock full, but hardly any wait staff was to be found. I would still come back, but let's hope the service does not go southward.

Original photograph taken from the Peninsula Website. © All Rights Reserved