CHEN Kentaro’s culinary pedigree is of the loftiest order. He is grandson of CHEN Kenmin (1912 – 1990). The late Chen was born in Sichuan and worked in restaurants in China, Taiwan and Hong Kong. In 1952, he arrived in Japan and in 1958 founded the first Shisen Hanten. Often credited with introducing Sichuan cuisine […]
This is our only restaurant recommendation which is a self-service establishment. Xian Heng is the most well-known eating destination in Shaoxing, the city which also gives its name to China’s fabled rice wine. Shaoxing is the ancestral home of China’s most beloved prime minister, the late ZHOU Enlai (1898 – 1976) and birthplace of ZHOU […]
Nanling Restaurant was founded in Shanghai by CHEN Wangqiang in 1998. A lover of Peking opera, he is acquainted with many such artists. In fact, the restaurant was originally in an old building where one such star, ZHOU Xinfang (1895 – 1975), once lived. The name of the restaurant is a tribute to Zhou as […]
Founded in Singapore in 2004, this is the Imperial Treasure Group’s first foray outside its home base. Imperial Treasure Fine Chinese Cuisine in Yi Feng Gallery is one of Shanghai’s most popular restaurants. It’s advisable to book well in advance. There are several reasons for this. The first is the high quality of the Cantonese […]
Most people – including younger Shanghainese – do not associate pork knuckle with Shanghai cuisine. Their most go-to Shanghainese food would be Xia Long Bao, those small steamed pork dumpling that are not even Shanghainese in the first place. Xia Long Bao has been around since the Song Dynasty (960 – 1279) and originates from Kaifeng, capital of […]
Situated in the 16th arrondissement, the Shangri-La Paris was the private mansion of Prince Roland Bonaparte, whose grandfather Lucien Bonaparte was the younger brother of Napoleon. Dating back to the 19th Century, some of the rooms and suites of the hotel have views of the Eiffel Tower. The first Shang Palace in Europe opened in […]
Singapore-based Imperial Treasure Group lit up the City of Lights on Sunday 29 September 2019 when it opened its first restaurant in France. Three days earlier – Thursday 26 September – the restaurant was booked out by La Clef Champs Elysees for their official opening. This is the 5-star hotel which is part of the […]
New York’s Chinatown is one of the most impressive Chinese enclaves of its kind. The fresh produce includes different varieties of prawns and clams. When I visited, the fruit vendors were not just plying peaches and longans but also rambutans from Malaysia. One of NYC Chinatown’s oldest restaurants is Nom Wah Tea Parlor which opened […]
Nanjing Jinling Hotel opened on 4 October 1983. At 110 metres, its 37 storeys made it the tallest building in China in the 1980s. Such has been the breakneck surge in that country’s economy and infrastructure the Jinling is not even amongst the top 40 highest buildings in today’s Nanjing. China has the most skyscrapers […]
The Gateway of India was built to commemorate the landing of King George V and Queen Mary. When the British royal couple visited Mumbai – known at that time as Bombay – in 1911, they were however only shown a cardboard model because construction did not start till 1915. It was on 9 December 1924 […]
