Johnny and I like to try new foods, and I like to talk about it, so this is my new home for that!
As I posted over in the positivity thread, we signed up for a 6-course meal at one of my favourite restaurants in town, prepared by a guest chef from one of my favourite restaurants in another city entirely. (He made me a ghost pepper ramen a month ago that was *amazing*.) Folks asked for pics, and I am more than happy to provide! (Note that these are all thumb-nailed, so feel free to click if you want larger pics. Furthermore, note that these pictures were all taken and provided by my very sweet girlfriend, without whom I suspect I would not have remembered to take a single photo, despite desperately trying to not forget to do just that.)
To begin, we ordered a bottle of sparkling mead for the table, from a local apiary here in town. I liked it quite a lot, but I'm a sucker for mead to start with. That said, as someone who doesn't really care for carbonation as a rule, I'd have just as soon had one of their other meads instead.
The first course was Suan La Tang, a sichuan-style soup with wood ear, bamboo, and pork:
This was my first time having wood ear mushrooms, I think. They seem fine! Honestly, this was a very mild tasting soup, but an appropriate way to ease us into the evening.
The second course was salmon crusted with lobster mushrooms, served on a bed of smoked tea lentils, chanterelles, roast beet, charred green onion, and lobster bisque:
I thought this course was delicious, although my SO wasn't a big fan-- the salmon was undercooked for her taste (I thought it was perfect, though!). The lentils were too bitter to be enjoyed on their own, but paired very well with the salmon and the bisque.
Course #3 was the salad course, with a simple salad of shredded potato and seaweed:
The salad was surprisingly sweet, and I more or less inhaled it.
Course #4 was when we started to get into the mains, with a Peking duck taquito topped with a marachino cherry and ginger compote and served on a cucumber cilantro salad and garnished with a bit of pickled carrot, spring onion, and hoisin sauce:
This was probably my favourite course of the evening. It was sublime. Again, I don't think I would have cared for the salad much on its own, but it paired fantastically with the taquito.
Course #5 was Hong Shao Rou, pork belly slow-cooked with wine and sweet & sour sauce:
The tastes here were pretty simple, but no less delicious. The pork was nice and fatty, and the sauce was very sweet. Possibly too sweet for some, but there's no such thing as "too sweet" in my book!
Finally, we come to dessert-- a charred peach upside-down cake topped with berries and served on a bed of pumpkin seed brittle and sour cherry brandy coulis, with a side of foie gras ice cream:
It was, of course, very good, as you'd expect. This was, as you might imagine, the first time that anyone at the table had tried foie gras ice cream. I would describe it as... unique? I don't think I'm a fan, but I enjoyed the taste experience regardless!
And that was the night! A great meal all-around.
As I posted over in the positivity thread, we signed up for a 6-course meal at one of my favourite restaurants in town, prepared by a guest chef from one of my favourite restaurants in another city entirely. (He made me a ghost pepper ramen a month ago that was *amazing*.) Folks asked for pics, and I am more than happy to provide! (Note that these are all thumb-nailed, so feel free to click if you want larger pics. Furthermore, note that these pictures were all taken and provided by my very sweet girlfriend, without whom I suspect I would not have remembered to take a single photo, despite desperately trying to not forget to do just that.)
To begin, we ordered a bottle of sparkling mead for the table, from a local apiary here in town. I liked it quite a lot, but I'm a sucker for mead to start with. That said, as someone who doesn't really care for carbonation as a rule, I'd have just as soon had one of their other meads instead.
The first course was Suan La Tang, a sichuan-style soup with wood ear, bamboo, and pork:

This was my first time having wood ear mushrooms, I think. They seem fine! Honestly, this was a very mild tasting soup, but an appropriate way to ease us into the evening.
The second course was salmon crusted with lobster mushrooms, served on a bed of smoked tea lentils, chanterelles, roast beet, charred green onion, and lobster bisque:

I thought this course was delicious, although my SO wasn't a big fan-- the salmon was undercooked for her taste (I thought it was perfect, though!). The lentils were too bitter to be enjoyed on their own, but paired very well with the salmon and the bisque.
Course #3 was the salad course, with a simple salad of shredded potato and seaweed:

The salad was surprisingly sweet, and I more or less inhaled it.
Course #4 was when we started to get into the mains, with a Peking duck taquito topped with a marachino cherry and ginger compote and served on a cucumber cilantro salad and garnished with a bit of pickled carrot, spring onion, and hoisin sauce:

This was probably my favourite course of the evening. It was sublime. Again, I don't think I would have cared for the salad much on its own, but it paired fantastically with the taquito.
Course #5 was Hong Shao Rou, pork belly slow-cooked with wine and sweet & sour sauce:

The tastes here were pretty simple, but no less delicious. The pork was nice and fatty, and the sauce was very sweet. Possibly too sweet for some, but there's no such thing as "too sweet" in my book!
Finally, we come to dessert-- a charred peach upside-down cake topped with berries and served on a bed of pumpkin seed brittle and sour cherry brandy coulis, with a side of foie gras ice cream:

It was, of course, very good, as you'd expect. This was, as you might imagine, the first time that anyone at the table had tried foie gras ice cream. I would describe it as... unique? I don't think I'm a fan, but I enjoyed the taste experience regardless!
And that was the night! A great meal all-around.
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