There’s actually a fair amount of NYC content, because a lot of FTCers travel to the east coast regularly.
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The walleye po’ boy at Custer Wolf in Custer SD. I’m still thinking about it!
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HAPPY NEW YEAR AND HAPPY CHOWING TO ALL!
The following is a round-up of all the best and most memorable dishes I have eaten throughout 2025. They are listed in no particular time or geographical location order. Nor were these dishes differentiated by their degree of opulence, classiness or modest and humble nature,
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Deep fried crispy pig’s trotters - Wu Gu Fish Noodle, Richmond Hill
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Oil poached crispy Thai Marble Goby with premium soy dip - The One
Fusion Richmond Hill -
Stir fried free range chicken with chestnuts and aromatics - The One
Fusion, Richmond Hill -
House special Berkshire Pork Chop - Boulevard, San Francisco
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Beef Randang - Sate House, Taipei
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Baked stuffed Crab Shell - Tan’g Court, Hong Kong
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Stir fried fresh frog legs paired with honey roasted Chinese Hunan Ham
Tan’g Court, Hong Kong -
Danish Langoustine with Cocoa Foam - MONO, Hong Kong
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Made-to-order BBQ Suckling Piglet - Lantern Seafood, Hong Kong
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Thick cut Kobe ox-tongue and striploin combo - Dojima Yakiniku
Ryoriten, Osaka -
Snow crab meat cream croquette - KaniKaniJo, Osaka
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Steamed Flower Crab with Xiao Shing Wine - Kam Man Kitchen,
Hong Kong -
Stir fried chives with sun dried wild local shrimp - New Hon Kee,
Tai Po, Hong Kong -
Char-grilled A5 Wagyu striploin with Morel mushroom sauce - PANO,
Hong Kong -
Lobster Chawanmushi - Bouillon Bilk, Montreal
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Maple glazed Foie Gras Sushi - Au Pied du Cochon, Montréal
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Braised, roasted Pheasant in mushroom cream sauce -
Au Pied du Cochon, Montréal -
Mamacita Mega Jumbo and Sea Angle oysters, Cherrystone clams
platter - Jean Talon Market, Montreal -
Sizzling frog legs and aromatics hot pot - Golden Horse, Richmond
Hill -
Steamed preserved mustard greens with local Choi Sum - The Gallop
Hong Kong Jockey Club -
HK style Wonton noodles - Shing Kee, Jordan, Hong Kong
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Stir fried Angus steak cubes with minced garlic & Maggi with Dagon
Fruit - LUNA Private banquet, Markham
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I reckon we’ve had a year of very nice eating but nothing really sticks in my mind as an absolute standout.
Maybe the Herdwick hogget main course at Li-ly in October. Maybe the bread course at the White Swan for our anniversary meal in August - housemade bread, pea and mint houmous, butterhead lettuce, mustard & tarragon dressing.
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My favourite food in 2025 has to be Rina’s Capriccio from the Pasta Grannies cookbook. That’s including some stellar meals out. There’s just something so satisfying about this dish that I can’t stop craving it. Guess what’s for dinner tonight? 
If life wasn’t constantly throwing nasty curve balls at us, Big J and I would love to live in Italy for a while. In the meantime, at least I can make it feel like that around the dinner table.
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That’s how I treat my cooking these days, too.
I like to be inspired by other HO’s travel abroad (looking at you @ZivBnd ) and restaurant meals.
Apart from my 4 day trip to Montreal in 2025, and some road trips to small towns and cottage country in Ontario, my meals are limited to what I can find in Toronto and Southwestern Ontario, what I can order online (Goldbelly has become ridiculous with their surcharges to Canada, so I did not place orders for anything to be delivered to Canada in 2025), and what I make at home.
I am really really glad I visited Japan in January 2020, and NYC, Kauai, Maui, Germany, and Austria in 2019.
I really wish I had squeezed in a trip to Greece to see my cousins in 2018 or 2019, because I can’t travel to Greece now, apart from vicariously through ZivBnd.
One of the best things I ate in 2025 was my first Sunday Gravy that I made at home. I didn’t seek out red sauce when I lived in NYC in the 90s. Back in the 90s, my favourite thing to order at an Italian resto in NYC was penne alla vodka.
I wasn’t really curious about Sunday Gravy until 2 or 3 years ago. I really like it.
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That Sunday gravy looks delicious!
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I’ve started freezing scraps from roasts, sausages, and meatballs on Day 3 of cooked leftovers, to use in future Sunday type gravies.
V simple at a local place for Mrs PB’s birthday. Recommended by the waiter and a great rec. Sourdough made on site with a shrimp and sage butter.
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