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Osaka Trip December 2023 Reviews

We visited Osaka, Japan in December 2023 and made a list of interesting finds.  Our goals are to eat local and seek out authentic experiences.  Sushi, udon, soba, yakitori, oden, whatever! Yelp and Trip Advisor were not helpful in spotting places to eat at, only Google reviews were useful. We did not seek our Michelin rated spots.

Osaka Trip December 2023 Reviews

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Coque, Madrid, Spain

Coque, Madrid, Spain

Coque (coal in Spanish) is a very expensive (340€) 2 Michelin star restaurant in Madrid Spain. There are five total Two star spots in this great city. (Available 160€ optional wine pairing)

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Encanto, Lisbon

Encanto, Lisbon

Vegetarian heaven! Encanto is a vegetarian restaurant in Lisbon with one Michelin star from star chef José Avillez. We have no vegetarian restaurant with this rank back in San Francisco, so we had to give it a try. You can book online, they have a single 12 course tasting menu that is also available in English. Our server spoke English too.

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Best Shanghai Steamed Soup Dumplings or Xiao Long Bao in San Francisco

Last Update: December 2023

We love Xiao Long Bao (XLB) aka Shanghai Steamed Soup Dumplings and have eaten all over the world seeking the best. Are you a Xiao Long Bao addict too? Read on.

One tip: If you are looking for good XLB, do not order them from a Cantonese Chinese restaurant. You are almost always guaranteed disappointing results even at the Best Chinese Restaurant in San Francisco: Koi Palace.  Order these little balls of wonder from a Shanghainese Chinese restaurant.

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Best Buffet in the World

We have a soft spot for buffets. Large assortments of food from around the world lets us try items that we would never order.  High end buffets with everything from Prime Rib to Lobster to Foie Gras to Souffles are always on our hit list. Foodnut values quality in addition to quantity, so forget about Hometown Buffet or Golden Corral.

Buffets originated in France, where French hosts would set up tables full of food so diners could help themselves during parties. This concept grew and was super sized in Las Vegas.

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Yauatcha Soho, London

Yauatcha, London

Why did we dine here? – Yauatcha is a fancy Chinese restaurant chain with several locations in London. They are the more inexpensive sister of Hakkasan. We came for dinner and found it packed, with a loud clubby atmosphere. There are locations in India and Saudi Arabia.

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Dishoom, London

Dishoom, London

Why did we dine here? – Indian food is a MUST when visiting London. Dishoom is a popular local chain of Indian restaurants that combines reasonable prices and decent food. (8 locations and counting) Rated 4.5 on Yelp. We had to wait 45 minutes for a Table at 5pm Monday!

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Celebrity Cuisine, Hong Kong

Celebrity Cuisine, Hong Kong

Celebrity Cuisine is a One Michelin star Cantonese Chinese restaurant in Hong Kong. It has ping ponged between one and two stars for years. Michelin 1 Starred Restaurant (2010, 2017-20), Michelin 2 Starred Restaurant (2011-2016) We were looking an easy same day online lunch reservation after a disappointing meal at Maxim’s Palace. This spot fit the bill, Perfectly. It is located in Central, across the street from the old school Lin Heung tea house.

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Phuket and Chiang Mai, Thailand Restaurant Reviews

Phuket SeafoodWhere does a San Francisco Foodie eat in Thailand? Follow our journey and learn from our experiences.

Here is a compilation of more casual restaurants, snack places we visited during our 2020 Asia trip. Our goal was to find good eats at reasonable prices, primarily restaurants where locals go. We have no interest sampling cuisine that is done better at home in the San Francisco Bay Area. This is challenging on an expensive ‘island’, full of pricey tourist traps.

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Singapore Restaurant Recommendations

Where does a San Francisco Foodie eat in the Singapore? Follow our journey and learn from our experiences.

Here is a compilation of more casual restaurants, snack places we visited during our 2019 Asia trip. Our goal was to find good eats at reasonable prices, primarily restaurants where locals go. We have no interest sampling cuisine that is done better at home in the San Francisco Bay Area. This is challenging on an expensive ‘island’, full of pricey tourist traps.

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Mandarin Oriental Hong Kong Clipper Lounge Buffet

Mandarin Oriental Hong Kong Clipper Lounge Buffet

Gluttony in Hong Kong. We are lovers of high end buffets. Hong Kong is one of the top spots for pure gluttony with high end food options for Sunday Brunch. (Prime rib, Many raw seafood options, sushi/sashimi, Foie Gras and more) Past visits have seen us visit other top hotel buffets. We have methodically tried to dine at all the heavy hitters.

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Ritz Carlton Singapore – Colony Buffet

Best Buffet in the world?

Ritz Carlton Singapore – Colony Buffet

In late 2019 we went back to the Ritz-Carlton, Millenia Singapore Colony buffet.  It changed name and upgraded in 2015. The interior is much more ornate and structured. After reading about the food options in 2019, we felt it remains the top buffet in Singapore, in from of Rise and The Line.

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T’ang Court Restaurant Review, Hong Kong

T’ang Court Restaurant Review, Hong Kong

3 Star Hong Kong Restaurant with no wait. T’ang Court is a 3 Michelin star restaurant in the ritzy Langham Hotel in Hong Kong’s touristy Tsim Sha Tsui district. It got upgraded from 2 to 3 stars in 2016.  Our last visit was in 2020 for dim sum lunch when we stayed upstairs and could just walk right in. (Protests worried visitors.) We previously ate there in 2011.

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Top 5 Chicken Rice Dishes in Singapore

Last Update: December 2019

Chicken Rice is a legendary dish at Singapore’s food hawker centers. It consists of chicken cooked in pork and chicken stock, rice with chicken stock, and some vegetables. Dipping sauce is usually a hot chili dip or soy sauce with ginger. Occasionally they throw in a bowl of soup. We read several articles that state that this is the number 1 thing many people miss when they leave Singapore. Chicken Rice is a National dish for Singapore.

We arrive skeptics, but left believers.

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UK iPhone Prepaid Sim Card – Android Prepaid Sim Card

Be sure to secure your iPhone or Android Smartphone whenever you travel. Precautions will help prevent disaster.
The iPhone or any Android Smartphone are an essential tool when traveling to the UK – United Kingdom for tourists. Google maps, travel guides, language translation, and many other apps are extremely useful. Using our United States, USA AT&T iPhone in the UK is tricky. Verizon iPhones from the USA do not work internationally. Here are some tips on using your unlocked Smartphone in the UK.

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Porfirio’s, Cancun

Porfinos Cancun Exterior Decor

An amazing find in Cancun! Porfirio’s is a Mexican restaurant in Cancun, right at tourist area Zona Hotelera, just north of the Hard Rock Hotel. We wanted to get some Mexican food and luckily this place was a short 7 minute walk from our hotel. (What is the point of eating sushi in Mexico?) Reviews were good. Porfirio is more than a restaurant, with on going dj’d music videos, live mariachi’s, it was the whole package.

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Foodnut Cancun Restaurant Reviews

Last Update: 2018

Foodnut travels, eats, and tells.  We’re based in San Francisco but have flown all over the place. We love Mexican food and find some of the best in Cancun.

We recently finished up our latest culinary tour of Cancun in 2018. Other reviews farther down are from previous trips. Cancun is a world class destination full of great food. Most of the Mexican food was superior to that in the San Francisco Bay Area. The service is on another level here.

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Hanoi Street Food Tour Review

Hanoi Vietnam is known for its dynamic street food scene.  The language and culture are definitely big barriers to going it on your own.  A street food tour was definitely a must.

We took our hotel’s Street Food tour to sample the local restaurants in the Hanoi Old Quarter. This was a fun and useful tour. We dined at several places that we would have been scared to approach ourselves. The guide explained the different types of local food and asked us about specific items we wanted. It lasted about 3 hours, cost $30/per person and included all food and drinks. Cheaper than other tours we saw.

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Arzak Review, San Sebastian, Spain

Arzak San Sebastian Exterior decor

Some call this place the Best in the world! San Sebastian is teeming with Michelin Stars, some of the higher number in one area.  We chose two 3 star restaurants for our trip, Arzak and Martín Berasategui. This was primarily driven from research and recommendations from others.  Mugaritz was one 3 star restaurant that many people discouraged us from dining at.

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Martín Berasategui Review, San Sebastian, Spain

Martin Berasategui San Sebastian exterior decor

One of the Best Meals We’ve ever had! In Lasarte-Oria(Gipuzkoa) about 15 minutes from foodie heaven San Sebastian, Spain, Martín Berasategui has been awarded three Michelin stars since 2001. Most people think about Arzak or Mugaritz, but you need to dine HERE! The chef holds eight stars in total, more than any other Spanish chef with many restaurants around the world.  He has 3 stars at this restaurant, 3 stars in Barcelona at Restaurante Lasarte, and 2 stars in the Canary Islands.

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McDonalds, Barcelona

McDonalds Sagrada Familia Barcelona Spain 2017

We like dining at McDonalds at different countries around the world. What interesting items will we find. Our last trip was to Spain. We checked out the local McDonalds in Barcelona and found some interesting items.

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Xiecheng Seafood & Hotpot, Macau

Xiecheng Seafood Hotpot Macau exterior decor

Why did we dine here? – Xiecheng Seafood & Hotpot is a popular restaurant in Macau. This restaurant group owns many different restaurants through out Asia including Jinyuexuan. Our friend recommended this restaurant, and we noticed you will not find it in tour books, nor on Trip Advisor. This place is not located on a central street, so you may need a taxi to reach it.

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Sushi Kanesaka, Tokyo

Best sushi ever!

Sushi Kanesaka Ginza Tokyo Japan exterior decor

Why did we dine here? – The first food we think about when we were planning our Japan trip was Sushi. Sushi or sashimi is a favorite dish of ours, so we were eager to plan a pilgrimage to eat some real Japanese authentic sushi.

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Nihonryori RyuGin, Tokyo

RyuGin Tokyo exterior decor

Why did we dine here? – RyuGin (Inspired by a Zen poem that describes a powerful dragon) is a 3 Michelin Star Japanese restaurant in the Roppongi district of Tokyo. We had planned to dine here about 5 years ago, but the Tsunami got in the way. We finally crossed it off our bucket list.

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Dons de la Nature, Tokyo

Best Steak in the World?

Dons de la Nature Tokyo Japan Exterior

Why did we dine here? – After Sushi and Ramen, Steak was our next must try food in Japan. They are home to cattle taken to the next level. Legends of beer guzzling, massage cows danced in our minds. We have had A5 grade Wagyu only once before, at 5A5 in San Francisco. We remember it tasting like artery clogging foie gras.

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Lei Garden Guangzhou Dinner, China

Lei Garden Guangzhou

Why did we dine here? – Lei Garden is a top restaurant group with locations in Hong Kong, Singapore, China, and Macau. In late 2014 we had dinner at the Guangzhou location of Lei Garden, based on our local friends re-iteration that even this location serves up great food. Interesting to hear that the Xi Jinping’s crackdown has affected business at this restaurant too. Government officials do not want to be caught near any fancy restaurants any more. This location takes up one floor and is 50% made up of private rooms.

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8 1/2 Otto e Mezzo Bombana, Shanghai

Incredible Italian in Shanghai

8 1 2 otto e mezzo bombana Shanghai exterior decor

Why did we dine here? – 8 1/2 Otto e Mezzo Bombana is the sister restaurant to their Hong Kong location. They have been awarded 3 Michelin Stars in Hong Kong. We were getting sick of several weeks of Chinese food during our Asia trip and decided it was time for something different. Being huge fans of Italian food, we went for the number one bet.

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Zi Yat Heen, Macau

Why did we dine here? – Zi Yat Heen is the Chinese restaurant at the Four Seasons Macau. We were staying in the hotel and saw that this restaurant had two Michelin stars, making it a no brainer to eat here. We knew nothing about the restaurant, so off we go on another dim sum adventure. Prior to this, we were in Taiwan, so we missed traditional high end Cantonese fare.

Zi Yat Heen Macau interior decor

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MGM Macau Rossio Buffet, Macau

250lb Wagyu beef roast?

MGM Macau Rossio buffet interior decor

Why did we dine here? – MGM Macau Rossio Buffet is the main buffet at this huge resort in Macau. Macau is China’s Las Vegas, and generates $44 billion in gambling revenue in 2014, compared to $6 billion in Las Vegas. Clearly Macau has become the biggest gambling area around. We stayed here for one night to see how the small country has changed.

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Jia Jia Tang Bao Review, Shanghai

Best xiao long bao in Shanghai?

Jia Jia Tang Bao Shanghai exterior decor

Jia Jia Tang Bao (佳家汤包) is a small but popular Shanghai steamed dumpling or Xiaolongbao shop in Shanghai. Our first visit was in 2010, our last in late 2014. In 4 years, the facade outside has improved, but we swear the interior is exactly the same.

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Da Chun, Shanghai

Da Chun Shanghai exterior decor

Why did we dine here? – Da Chun is an old school Sheng jian bao restaurant. We love Yang’s Dumplings (Xiao Yang) and try to eat there everytime we visit Shanghai, but made sure we visit the harbinger of this genre. This restaurant has several locations, yet we chose the Da Shi Jie outpost as it is supposed to be the best.

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Yang’s Dumpling, Shanghai

Dumplings worth flying across the Pacific Ocean for…

Yangs Dumpling Shanghai exterior decor

Yang’s Dumpling – Chinese name: 小杨生煎馆 or xiao yang sheng jian guan – is a small but popular fried dumpling shop serving pan fried pork bun or Sheng jian bao, a Shanghainese Chinese dish. It was formed in Shanghai in 1994 by Mrs. Yang, who still keeps her recipe secret. They have over 20 locations in Shanghai and are opening another more all the time. We dined at the closest location to our hotel near People’s Square.

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