Say Cheese!

It's tough to find good cheese in East Asia--tough enough that every now and then, they'll devote a whole restaurant to it, like some sort of delicacy.

Such is the case with Cheese Dining Angelo, a restaurant in Tenjin that specializes in all things cheesy.

(Many thanks to our coworker, Dayle, for showing us the place and guiding us through the menu!)

The menu at Angelo is built around a bunch of different types of fondue, some familiar, some exotic (think "squid ink"). We stuck mostly to the familiar stuff: plain, basil, tomato, and sesame (our one adventure).

 Here's plain (on the left) and basil (which was my favorite).

Here's tomato (on the left) and sesame.

As per usual, you're given bread and veggies to dip in the fondue--but the addition of squash, okra, and little cocktail weenies provided a distinctly Japanese touch. (The Japanese are obsessed with hot dogs.)

We also had a great caesar salad with hunks of bacon and tofu in it. The cheese, ironically enough, left something to be desired (it was that chewy, plasticy Asian cheese), but the dressing was awesome--a hint of smoked red pepper, I think.

After our fondue, we indulged in some risotto made inside a giant wheel of Gran Padano cheese.

Our deserts were also cheese-themed. Here's a surprisingly light baked cheesecake.

And a tart with cheese, nuts, and chocolate. (Plus the world's smallest fork.) Yum!