Om Nom Nomad

Out of the Cookbook and into the Fire | Nopi, London

During the last couple of months my friend started collecting Ottolenghi’s cookbooks. Each time I visited her we dogeared dishes from them and prepared meals based completely on their content. The recipes aren’t simple in most cases and contain many techniques and components. It was worth it though – almost every dish we tasted from these books blew our minds. So when I had plans to visit London, I just knew I must visit one of Ottolenghi’s restaurants.

Yum Cha serves traditional Chinese cuisine, including dim sum with a modern twist: It’s colorful, playful, and fun. These creative dim sums are are truly a feast for the eyes (and the camera), and are bound to add some cheerful quirk to your Instagram feed. The name “yum cha”, which literally means “drink tea” in Cantonese, has become the term for Chinese style brunch tea. A brunch which involves drinking Chinese tea and eating dim sum.

Friday morning, Shuk Tzafon is packed with people grabbing food and loading their baskets for the weekend. Entirely unbeknownst to many of them, a huge, spacious deli had opened just a minute’s walk from their very location. Agatha is more than a deli, though, as it offers a casual dining experience where you can get a taste of the great quality ingredients it has to offer. If you always envied the Europeans for their ostentatious delis, you’ll just love Agatha. Visiting there will make you forget you’re in Tel Aviv, if just for a few blissful moments.

The Norman is a luxury boutique hotel on Nahmani st, just off Tel Aviv’s central and busy Rotchild blvd. They offer a few dining experiences, including The Norman, a French brasserie-style restaurant with mediterranean influences. The Norman website promises and fails to deliver on a “world class fine dining restaurant”. In our case it definitely delivered “an unforgettable experience in the heart of vibrant Tel Aviv”, only not in the way they intended.

When planning our trip to Hong Kong, we originally made reservations for a different dessert place. After seeing photos on Instagram though, we knew we had to cancel those and make sure to reserve a spot in ZUC.CCH.ERO. Because of the rigorous planning of said trip, we reserved our place via Facebook months in advance, which turned to be an unusual event for the dessert bar – nevertheless our reservation was kept. In fact, when we made the reservation via Facebook Messenger, the person on the other side of the keyboard (and on the other side of the world) turned out to be Karen, one of the co-owners. She was nice and kind both online and offline.

Sometimes the timing works out just right. We’re really excited to share this post with you, since our lunch at JAAN under chef Kirk Westaway last month was one of our best ever, and only a few days ago have they received their first star in Singapore’s debut Michelin guide. If it were up to us, we would give them ten of those, and we’re about to tell you just why!

Om Nom Nomad - Giant Candy Haul from Korea, Hong Kong and Singapore

We’re back from an amazing tour in southeast Asia, which included Seoul, Hong Kong and Singapore. What do you think used up most of the space in my luggage? Snacks, of course.

During the next few weeks I’ll be compiling a series of posts which will include tasting of over 35 types of candy I collected during my travels. So let’s get started with the first 10!

The second part of the haul is available here.

Comforting Japanese Curry | Sama, Hong Kong

In our last night in Hong Kong we were strolling around the Mid Level Escalator area. We must have walked around an hour and a half looking for a place to eat. You see, it’s not that there’s nowhere to eat in the Mid Level Escalator area; It is, in fact, full of restaurants and bars! It’s just that we were in the mood for a cozy and quiet place but every spot that seemed decent was just too crowded and noisy.

Located In the lobby of the boutique Mendeli Hotel, Mashya offers modern interpretation of local cuisine and serves Moroccan and mediterranean dishes with a fine, modern touch. The kitchen is headed by Yossi Shitrit, which is also the chef of two other great restaurants in town – Onza and Kitchen Market. Mashya prides itself on using local ingredients, produce and spices with advanced cooking techniques.

Hong Kong is full of good restaurants, particularly chinese restaurants but among them there was one that is unanimously dubbed as a “must” – and that is Tim Ho Wan. “The cheapest Michelin star restaurant in the world” is actually part of a dim sum restaurant chain originating in Hong Kong, with three of its branches receiving the acclaimed star. It was opened in 2009 by chef Mak Pui Gor, formerly of the 3 Michelin starred restaurant Lung King Heen (where we also had a chance to dine in). Tim Ho Wan rapidly expanded and currently has branches in Australia, the Philippines, Taiwan, Singapore, Thailand and soon even New York.

Om Nom Nomad

nom tales from near and far

Out of the Cookbook and into the Fire | Nopi, London

Dim Sum for your Instagram | Yum Cha, Hong Kong

Deli-cious Brunch | Agatha, Tel Aviv

Breakfast in Bad Taste | The Norman, Tel Aviv

The Molecular Dessert Bar you don’t want to miss | ZUC.CCH.ERO, Hong Kong

Spectacular Degustation Lunch | JAAN, Singapore

Giant Snack Haul from Korea, Hong Kong and Singapore [Part 1]

Read More

Comforting Japanese Curry | Sama, Hong Kong

Modern, Moroccan and Magnificent | Mashya, Tel Aviv

Avoiding the Lines at the Cheapest Michelin Star Restaurant | Tim Ho Wan, Hong Kong