I’m Cher. I started this space to trace the way cities speak through food and drink—and to share my reflections on sake, culture, and the stories behind the table.
I’m originally from Beijing. I completed my undergraduate studies at Purdue, earned my first master’s degree at NYU, and I’m now beginning a new chapter at Keio University. I believe every city has its own cultural rhythm, and the dining table is one of the most expressive and intimate ways to understand a place.
I love visiting fine dining restaurants for their craft and imagination, but I’m just as interested in the stories behind small, humble spots—the devotion, the choices, and the people who make them special. Through words and photographs, I hope to share these experiences with you.
I’m also an SSI-certified International Kikisake-shi, Shochu Kikisake-shi, and a sake instructor, and I continue to contribute in my own way to promoting sake culture.
A couple of days ago I wrote about my favorite Michelin three-star in the UK, Sketch (This is what a Michelin three-star should look like). Today it’s Sabor — a Spanish Michelin one-star in London, and also my favorite discovery from this UK trip.
There are three menus: the Bar Menu with simple drinking snacks, tortilla, and sandwiches; the walk-in Counter Menu with a few classics; and upstairs, the reserved El Asador menu, which offers more regionally diverse dishes.
The first visit was a walk-in — while waiting at the bar, we ordered the tortilla. Cut open, the center was still runny, and the potato slices inside were incredible, thin yet with a slight crispness. Expectations were fully loaded from there.
Counter Menu
Cuttlefish Papardelle & Manchego Pesto
A genuinely surprising small dish. The lightly seared cuttlefish is crisp on one side, chewy and springy on the other, and the Manchego pesto is a genuine aroma bomb. Rich in texture and bold in flavor, yet still easy to pair with a drink.
Octopus, Mojo Rojo & Baby Potatoes
The signature little octopus — we shamelessly ordered two portions. Genuinely the best-textured octopus I’ve had recently. Soft without falling apart, with a slight springiness, yet the fibers had turned genuinely delicate. The sauce underneath had a Mexican-tomato kind of character, blending freshness, sweet-salty balance, and spice — a perfect match for the baby octopus.
Arroz Negro, Monkfish Tempura & Alioli
Jet-black but genuinely fragrant squid-ink rice, the sauce thick and clingy with a touch of spice running through it, not too rich, just a little on the salty side. The monkfish on top didn’t particularly stand out, but it didn’t take away from how good the dish was overall.
This one was a bit of a misfire. The pepper itself was fragrant, but with a fried shell and then a layer of sauce on top, the crispness was gone.
El Asador
Prawn Croquetas
Spain’s endlessly versatile fried croquette. Sabor’s filling uses whole, unbroken shrimp meat — the croquettes are fried a deep golden, and cut open, the center oozes slightly. The shell is crisp, and inside, a rich, creamy filling carries little bouncy bits of shrimp running through it. Sinful, but delicious.
Crisp Fried Pig’s Ears, Quince Aioli
Fried pig’s ears — a fairly regionally distinctive Madrid dish. The outside is crisp and toasty, the inside soft with a bit of crunch, genuinely great with a drink. But the real highlight is the quince garlic aioli, which keeps all that collagen-rich richness from feeling heavy at all. Sin +1, but I couldn’t help reaching for one more piece.
Bluefin Tuna
Alongside the regular El Asador menu, the restaurant also offers a few daily specials at lunchtime.
Picked the bluefin tuna off the day’s chalkboard. Tuna with avocado is a fairly standard move, but once you upgrade the quality of the tuna, these two naturally rich, oily ingredients really show off their character. The plant and the fish aromas set each other off beautifully, and a bit of pea shoots added extra freshness. But the real standout was the sauce — carrying the aroma of olive oil and sesame oil, with something familiarly soy-sauce-like woven in between. Ordered a side of the restaurant’s house-made bread and wiped the plate clean.
Pulpo a Feira
The hot octopus dish is a must-order, though unlike the Counter menu version, El Asador’s octopus comes already cut into bite-sized pieces — exactly one bite each. No additional sauce needed this time either; the flavor and texture were already just right.
Confit Cod, Baby Potatoes & Fried Egg
This one — cod, shredded potato, and egg — was a small miss. It read more like a brunch dish, but ended up feeling a bit heavy.
Seafood Rice
The seafood rice gets a small upgrade upstairs — the flavor shifts from squid ink to tomato, and the stock is spiked with brandy and Manzanilla sherry. Super rich! Though it shares the same issue as the squid-ink version: a touch too salty.
Chocolate Cheesecake, Evo & Salt
Since it was our last meal on this leg of the trip, we were already stuffed but still wanting more. Closed it out with the signature chocolate cheesecake — silky and light on entry, with the sense of weight coming from the chocolate’s richness. Genuinely gentle, the kind of dessert that makes you slow down and savor it.
Sabor
www.saborrestaurants.co.uk
Genuinely a restaurant made with real care — delicious, full of surprises, and genuinely good value. If a place like this were near my house, I’d happily queue up every single day.
— That said,
I recently discovered a delicious little Spanish spot in Beijing too.
I’ll keep you in suspense — writing about it later.
Four years since my last trip to London, and Sketch was the first name on the restaurant reservation list.
In my memory, this is a restaurant that stands apart within London’s Michelin scene — almost like an art museum. Last time it was still two stars; since then it’s been promoted to three.
The restaurant’s entrance is unassuming, but pulling open the door feels like stepping into an entirely different world — dopamine maxed out instantly.
The moment we sat down, a champagne cart was wheeled over, along with a thick wine list. Sketch arguably has the most lavish, bold wine selection in all of London — nearly a hundred by-the-glass options, spanning every wine region in the world.
Worth noting: a genuinely delightful surprise on Sketch’s wine list — a bottle from Ningxia, Silver Heights’ Emma’s Reserva 2017, from the first Demeter-certified winery in Asia.
Eight amuse-bouches in total, each a tiny single bite — from a cauliflower-and-smoked-salmon macaron, to a mini lettuce-and-crab roll, to a mustard mussel and a chestnut soup paired with whisky. Rich across the senses, though this season’s flavors leaned sweeter overall.
Before the meal, small square rolls arrive — pull one apart and the crust has a bit of crispness, the inside soft yet substantial. Butter comes in three varieties: plain, caramel, and citrus.
At the window seat, when the sunlight came through, we were surprised by a rainbow.
Last time at Sketch, I had what I still consider the best langoustine of my life — one langoustine served four ways as a starter. So this time, scanning the menu, the first course I locked onto was the langoustine again. Except the accompaniments seemed to have changed completely.
-· 01
The langoustine starter comes split into four small courses in total.
On the main plate is the charcoal-grilled langoustine tail, its shell fragrant to the point of obsession, the texture gently springy, paired with smoked whisky adding another layer to the aroma. The plate is finished with spinach crisp and a touch of purple artichoke — striking and genuinely interesting, pulling out a hint of peat right alongside the drink.
The accompanying dishes were: a rich broth made from the shrimp heads, paired with native British greens — genuinely good enough to wipe the plate clean with bread; langoustine-filled dim sum; and a tomato jelly paired with fennel flower, meant to cleanse the palate.
Every single part of one langoustine was perfectly broken down and worked into this dish, each part’s individual character on full display — nothing wasted.
As for the order, the chef believes a meal can also become a process where the guest creates their own piece of work. So all four dishes arrive together, and it’s up to the guest to decide how and in what order to eat them. The same dish ends up giving every guest their own, entirely personal dining memory.
-· 02
At Sketch, a dish isn’t just a work by the chef alone — it’s more like an open-ended question left for the restaurant and the guest to work through together. As Sketch itself puts it on their website: ‘inviting every friend who walks in to play a game.’
This time, for the seafood main, we chose the turbot; for the land-based main, veal. We’d had the veal before too, though prepared in a completely different way this time.
The turbot came with a chicken-stock base — the fish itself kept its springy texture and lean-yet-not-dry quality, while the broth added a delicate texture and a rich, concentrated aroma.
The side elements leaned on chicken breast, paired with refreshing radish, and a champagne-based sauce added some acidity. A bed of green wheat underneath added yet another layer of texture.
There was also a lemon sorbet — don’t let the diced cucumber fool you, it genuinely cleanses the palate well.
-· 03
For the red meat course, we went with veal — the restaurant uses milk-fed veal rib, cooked over a base of parsnip and vegetable stock. The meat kept exactly the tenderness it should, but the lentils underneath were assertive, coating the tongue in a rich, beany aroma, with the finish carrying a faint, lingering spiciness.
The two accompanying dishes were: pressed ox head with a sweet-and-sour sauce, richly fatty yet keeping a refreshing quality; and sweetbread shaped like an Indian dumpling (?), paired with a traditional French citrus sauce — a richness that hits you straight in the head, but surprisingly without much murkiness to it.
Comparing the two mains, one was bright and clean, the other rich and intense — two completely unexpected extremes.
Strong recommendation here: finish your own full set of mains before trying your dining partner’s. Every one of Sketch’s mains genuinely paints a different world, each with its own distinct personality.
-· 04
The cheese course was probably the low point of this meal. On my last visit, Sketch used a lavish cheese trolley — it felt like falling straight into a jar of candy. This time, though, it was just a simple pre-cut cheese platter, and a few of the cheeses were even slightly oxidized. Thankfully, an aged vintage Port we chose helped save the moment a little.
The restaurant said they’ll be switching back to the cheese trolley presentation soon — asked us to hang tight.
-· 05
The Grand Dessert comes as seven courses, built mainly around seasonal fruit — apple, chestnut, corn — but with hints of classic desserts woven in too, like black sesame and tiramisu.
But the real showstopper was the chocolate soufflé.
A soufflé built on fruit-forward Taïnori as its base, with a caramel-toned Caramélia worked into chocolate shards, layered with Guanaja ice cream, and finished with an accent of Manjari and whisky.
A dessert built from four different Valrhona chocolates — whether single-origin or blended, each sourced from the world’s top-tier growing regions, each carrying a clear, concentrated character.
The chocolate itself is rich, layered with a light, finely textured quality. Sketch’s chocolate soufflé genuinely peaks the moment it hits your mouth — the satisfaction rushing straight to the heart makes you completely stop caring about the calories. The aftertaste lingers on and on; before you know it, the whole plate is clean, and you’re still left wanting more.
Genuinely, in one bite, it became the single best chocolate dessert I’ve ever had.
So, to sum it all up:
What makes this restaurant so compelling
is that it has its own,
utterly unique way of speaking with its guests.
It knows how to lay every small narrative detail in place ahead of time,
so that however you choose to combine things,
you’re left with the best possible experience.
Even for a longtime regular, it keeps adjusting,
giving you something new to experience on every visit.
For the National Day holiday, I chose the UK — eight days, two cities.
The itinerary was mostly built around eating and… walking around parks!
This post rounds up the restaurants from this UK trip — 8+1+1 (Market & Bar) in total. Aside from one two-star that turned into a real letdown, every other place we picked was genuinely satisfying.
Hope this short record helps with your next trip.
Sketch the Lecture Room & Library (Three Stars)
Hélène Darroze (Three Stars)
The Clove Club (Two Stars / The World’s 50 Best Restaurants No. 38) — a big letdown
Sabor (One Star)
HIDE Restaurant (One Star)
Tayer+Element (The World’s 50 Best Bars No. 8)
Noble Rot Soho
Borough Market
Sheila’s Café
Pairing Wine Bar (York)
Sketch the Lecture
Room & Library
Three Michelin Star
This has always been my favorite restaurant in London. My first visit was Thanksgiving before the pandemic — it felt like a completely different world from New York, and pushing open that heavy door revealed a lavish space, with an experience that kept shifting and surprising.
Coming back after three years, the restaurant’s tone hasn’t changed, though the layout has been adjusted in the details — familiar, yet with a fresh sense of novelty. The menu is the same way: the mains still feature familiar faces — langoustine as a starter, veal as a main — but what accompanies them has been updated through several seasons since.
I feel like Sketch isn’t just a lunch experience — it’s a world that only exists in fairy tales, a space where guests and food converse freely and create on their own terms.
Full notes here → This is what a Michelin three-star should look like.
Hélène Darroze
Three Michelin Star
The bar at The Connaught has landed on the World’s 50 Best Bars list multiple times, and it’s always stood as the benchmark in my mind for London hotel bars. Discovering that fourth-generation chef Hélène Darroze’s restaurant is also housed inside The Connaught raised my expectations sky-high. I trusted a restaurant inside this hotel would deliver the most luxurious ingredients, showcase the most classic techniques, and offer flawless service.
Unlike Sketch, Hélène Darroze leans more into tradition and elegance. Though the chef herself is French, the whole meal blends in elements from around the world remarkably well. A three-hour lunch, composed and calm, with every detail on the plate handled meticulously.
What stuck with me most were the two seafood starters: bluefin tuna paired with Spanish zucchini and dashi vinegar, the flesh keeping plenty of freshness and tenderness, balanced against a bright, savory seasoning — one dish that showed off both the quality of the ingredient and the chef’s creativity. The lobster was cooked to exactly the right tenderness, borrowing Thai spices while still letting the shrimp’s sweetness come through. And the turbot main used smoked eel to add another layer of flavor.
The post-meal cheese trolley offered plenty of options too. And the chocolate dessert — a classic pairing, but shaped so elegantly you almost hate to break into it — closed the meal out perfectly.
Will definitely come back.
The Clove Club
Two Michelin Star
The World’s 50 Best Restaurants No. 38
This restaurant currently holds two Michelin stars and ranks No. 38 on the World’s 50 Best Restaurants list — you’d expect a lot from it, right?
This turned out to be the biggest disappointment of the whole trip — thankfully also the only one.
The restaurant sits near London’s financial district, and visiting on a weekend, it felt distinctly quiet.
We went with the Full Tasting Menu plus Wine & Tea Pairing. Worth mentioning: the restaurant’s mixed tea-and-wine pairing was genuinely interesting, switching between the two nimbly, and in some ways covering for the dishes’ weak points — it’s also a great option for lunch if you want a drink but don’t have much tolerance.
As for the menu as a whole… I just can’t say I understood it. There were memorable moments — fried chicken as the first course, lobster made into a curry rice, pheasant turned into a meatball, and a piece of pork with absolutely no flavor at all.
It felt like, chasing fusion and innovation, they forgot that food is meant to be eaten.
The guest’s money must be earned; the ingredients’ money must not be spent.
Sabor
One Michelin Star
A tiny Spanish restaurant, and also the one that gave me the most surprises of the whole trip. Two meals on the trip landed here purely by chance. On the last day, we rushed to catch a flight right after eating, and I kept thinking about it the whole way there.
The restaurant does walk-ins — doors open at 5:30pm, and to make the first seating you should show up around 5:10pm, with your entire party present before you can be seated.
There are three menus: the Bar Menu with simple drinking snacks, tortilla, and sandwiches; the walk-in Counter Menu with a few classics; and upstairs, the reserved El Asador menu, which offers more regionally diverse dishes. The three menus barely overlap, each with its own distinct character — even shared ingredients get subtly adjusted depending on the dining setting, turning one small space into three completely different worlds.
Full notes here → A magical little Spanish spot — if it were near my house, I’d go every single day.
Oh, and don’t forget to order a Sangria when you’re here — fruity and refreshing, one glass in and it feels like a mini Spanish vacation has begun.
HIDE Restaurant
One Michelin Star
— If you genuinely can’t stomach another hotel breakfast, book a brunch at Hide.
Hide sits right by a park in central London, with wood-heavy, dim-toned decor, and floor-to-ceiling windows looking out onto lawns, passing cars, and sunlight. It’s something of an Instagram-famous restaurant, but the comfort and its unshakeable, reliable signature dishes make it a solid breakfast choice every time.
The chocolate croissant is a must-order — a genuinely huge one. One bite delivers plenty of crisp and softness, with chocolate hidden quietly in the middle, oozing out in a molten stream. A restaurant that isn’t shy with butter can keep a croissant properly structured while delivering full aroma, and layering in the chocolate’s richness makes this giant croissant absolutely perfect.
The Croque Monsieur is the other must-order, a genuine crowd favorite — essentially a deluxe version of a grilled cheese sandwich. The egg is non-negotiable; the black truffle honestly doesn’t change the flavor all that much. It’s built for a lavish sense of satisfaction, though you’ll need three cups of coffee to get through it.
Next time I really want to add a side of sourdough…
Tayer+Element
The World’s 50 Best Bars No. 8
I remember last time I was in London, hotel bars still dominated the award circuit. But on the World’s 50 Best Bars list, just released last week, Tayer + Element ranked No. 8.
This one came about because a senior friend, Yangnan Laoshi, happened to be visiting London at the same time, and this little bar had been all over his social feed. Unlike the old-school elegance I associate with London’s hotel bars, this place felt young and lively.
We went with two fruit-forward cocktails, clean and refreshing in style, easy to drink without any pressure. The yuzu slush especially was the kind of thing you’d finish before realizing you’d gotten a little tipsy.
The snack options weren’t extensive, but they were genuinely interesting — a soft-boiled quail egg paired with little croquette-like balls made from mashed potato and cured pork, small but filling and a great match for a drink.
Noble Rot Soho
Wine Bar
A small spot recommended by teacher Xibei. He said the wine selection was excellent, and it turned out the food was genuinely good too.
That day I’d hit a real letdown at lunch at The Clove Club — wasn’t even hungry that evening but was genuinely annoyed. Then Noble Rot’s first tiny choux bun completely healed me! Filled with a delicate duck liver, faintly sweet, satisfying yet still refreshing.
The smoked eel had its skin removed, and it looked a bit different because of it. The texture was genuinely fascinating — without the direct richness that eel skin usually gives, but still tender and delicate, with a slight springy quality. Genuinely delicious.
The monkfish came out whole, and one cut in was enough to feel how springy and tender the flesh was — a genuinely addictive quality. Simply seasoned, paired with ham for a surprising and delicious combination.
By comparison, the beef carpaccio and cured trout were a step behind. But the overall impression was excellent, the atmosphere genuinely relaxed — a place that’s a real, proper spot for drinking. I liked it, got a little hooked, and am already thinking about going back.
Borough Market
Mushroom Risotto & Dough Donut
On the last day of the trip, we headed across the river to Borough Market. Wherever we go, the market stop is never one to skip.
It wasn’t too crowded when it opened at ten, but the grilled sandwich stall at the entrance already had a long line.
The site has three parts: Borough Market, the Green Market, and a deli food court.
It was still early for the seafood paella, but the market’s mushroom risotto is also quite famous. It’s a beautiful-looking dish, like a little mushroom forest right after rain. A rice base topped with freshly sautéed mushrooms, with the option to add black truffle oil and cheese. Genuinely fragrant and satisfying — you’ll be full halfway through, and it really calls for something to drink alongside it.
The Green Market’s coffee is famous, but you can also find juice and alcoholic drinks back at Borough Market. There’s a small path connecting the two big sites, and the well-known Bread Ahead sits right on it — London’s best community baking school, famous for dough donuts, croissants, and cinnamon rolls. I got a pistachio dough donut — a texture that’s grainy yet soft and lingering, with a touch of sweetness and nutty aroma. Genuinely, deeply satisfying.
A friend also recommended the nearby pork chop sandwich — couldn’t fit it in, but watching the crowd who did buy one, they all looked thrilled. Definitely coming back for that one.
Overall, the crowd at Borough Market is mostly tourists. I’d recommend coming with 3-4 people, since there’s such a huge variety of food and every portion is a full meal’s worth — coming alone genuinely limits your options.
Sheila’s Café
British Breakfast
If you’re tired from wandering Hyde Park and want breakfast, this neighborhood breakfast spot is a solid choice. It’s a tiny storefront, and it was already completely full just past eight. Traditional English breakfast and croissants are both on offer.
They say the English ‘eat breakfast like an emperor, lunch like a prince, and dinner like a beggar.’ English breakfast is always the same handful of things, but a full plate really is generous. This little spot takes it seriously — bread toasted properly crisp, house-made baked beans, a runny fried egg, and hash browns with a genuinely crisp exterior. Everything simple, everything delicious, a warmth and satisfaction that comes straight from the food itself.
The croissant held up well too — a fresh one, simply reheated, the crust genuinely super crisp; add cheese and ham and it’s satisfying in one bite.
A simple, satisfying morning~
Pairing Wine Bar
York
Last up is a little gem discovered in York, run by a pair of sisters, built entirely around Food & Wine Pairing.
There’s a long list of cheese, ham, and by-the-glass options, plus various combination flights. The restaurant will suggest suitable pairings for whatever you order. Prices are also noticeably friendlier than in London.
Full details here → Found a soulful little spot in York, a small paradise for cheese-and-wine lovers 🤩
Overall, it’s a restaurant that clearly puts in the care, genuinely able to convey the joy of Food & Wine Pairing to its guests — I’ll definitely be back in York just for it. Strongly recommend it to anyone who loves drinking wine with cheese and ham — bookmark this one!
END
A few closing thoughts,
The reality of adulthood is this discovery — once you’re working, international trips depend entirely on the Chinese New Year and National Day holidays. Just two pitiful chances a year.
After this UK trip, the next place I want to go is Spain. Does anyone have restaurants they’re excited about? Recommendations welcome~
