Pouilly-sur-Loire
Loire white made from Chasselas grape, never tasted it before.
Not very impressive drinking alone but went well with the dish below.
Saumon tartare with caviar, capers
Someone ordered it the other night, it looked luxurious. So I got it, too. There was some mist around it while serving(from the dry ice), tasted a bit salty but very good with baquette and the Loire white.
Calamar Farci
Quite different than the last time. Although it was in the set menu, usually the portion is smaller, but when we came in October, there were 2 whole calamars on the plate, both stuffed with some vegetables, mushrooms and herbs. This time there was a lot of sauce but you can hardly find any calamar. (The sauce tasted pretty good but Dan was disappointed. He enjoyed the dish very much when he tried it in October.) Orange color sauce and green salad on a black plate looked very nice, but over all, it looked better than it tasted.
Benoit suggested this white to match the calamar." Les Murgers Des Dents De Chien" means walls shaped like dog teeth. Not sure why they put this on the label. Both from Meursault, Burgundy, this one tasted quite different than the one below(Domaine Michelot) because of the "terroir"(climate, soil, method, etc....). This is also one of the interesting parts of French wines. Same grape(in this case Chardonnay) in the same region, different wineries could reach sometimes completely different results. As for the new world wines, same grape won't show so much difference.
White truffle on riccotta cheese and spinach ravioli with hazelnut sauce
General portion of white truffles, matches well with cheese and ravioli.
Pairing Chardonnay: Meursault, Domaine Michelot 2004
Told Benoit that I was in a mood of having a red with my pasta, he obviously didn't agree. Since I was the client, he gave me this one anyway. (a syrah from Cotes de Rhones) I had to admit that "Il avait raison" after trying it.
Les Tagliolini
Angelo made us this home made pasta with aged 2- year comte cheese, fresh poitou butter and truffles. The pasta was softer than the so called usual standard in Taipei, but Italy is not too small a country, shouldn't there be different ways to cook their pastas? Besides, this dish was absolutely delicious.
There were so much truffle on top of the pasta that the pictures look similar.
Mendoza Malbec 2008 from Argentina
Malbec from this region tends to be chewy and heavy, but paired well with the lamb.
This simple lamb chop was unexpectedly good. The former Japnese chef seemed to make the fish dishes very good, but the only 2 times I liked his meat dishes were the "ris de veau" and some grilled lamb with couscous stuffed inside some kind of flower.
Chestnut souffle
Tarte Tatin
French country style warm apple tarte. Beautifully presented but honestly a bit disappointing. Still prefer the ones I used to order in some Parisian bistros or cafes, big chunks of warm apple tartes with the creme Anglaise, very simple, but also very hearty.
Ended the soiree with Zacapa 23 year Rum again. Dan loved it so much.
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