Appointment with an Eye Surgeon

I gotcha didn't I?
hehehehehehehehehe
indeed it was really an appointment
but a Dinner appointment
hua hua hua hua

an 8 course menu was planned by Dr. Epicurian
all we need to do was to bring our stomachs and wines


we were also celebrating Life, Health and Wine Lord ST's arrival to Malaysia
anyway he comes back every other month from Australia
kekekekekeke might as well
guess we were just finding excuses to have great wines

Complimentary fr the chef - amuse bouche
of a super yum Octupus and japanese bamboo shoot
very good duet together
both has got a different crunch and bite
both are subtle in taste
so it really test ur taste bud to examine the symphony of the word "FRESHNESS"


sometimes simple things are most difficult to achieve
just like who said boiling rice is easy? not everyone can get the right texture u know???
example of such person is ME
:P heeeeeeeeeee
JS can boil rice fr scratch be it wood fire or stove
guaranteed he can survive in the jungle but who needs to live in jungle these days???
heheheheh Yes I'm mocking him again

First course was the signature Chef Takashi's beef tartare
not just any beef but SAGA Beef
highly regarded by Japanese alongside Kobe and Matsusaka

Next I was analyzing its marbling of fats...
so consistent and perfect
as we were turning this plate 360 degrees to admire the beef
Puji the Maitre D kept on stressing "It is very very expensive."
yes we got u :P
Beef with such marbling comes with high price tag

then I was focussing on the egg yolk which looked like sous vide
Chefs around the world lurve to sous vide everything these days, it's a technique achieved with consistency of temperature.
for dummy like us, just get the damn sous vide machine


a few months ago, JS & Monkey were shopping at Harrods London and saw it
it wasn't expensive - definitely cheaper than my Kitchen Aid
JS was almost on his knees begging "Can I buy it can I buy it??? pleasseee?"
-_-"
after much pondering staring at the machine that looked like an ice cream maker, we decided not to...


"u wanna eat, u go to chef takashi....dunnit all the trouble...spare me from cleaning up."
JS :"(( sniff sniff...okie lor.....


that was a few months ago and now back to present and to that beef tartare
we were made to break the pretty yolk, mix it with the beef and the dollop of aioli sauce prepared on the side of the plate
a separate plate of thin crispy bread with anchovies butter were served on the side
the taste.....mmmuuuuaaahhhhhhhhhh
Beef was actually SWEET!!! the RAW BEEF was SWEET u hear me????
How could it be????
Human can start WAR bcoz of this dish...hahahah it's that yummy!!!!

Abalone pasta
I am not givin up on this yet....coz Chef refused to teach us the technique and secret to this dish
I said I am not giving up coz he still owe me my birthday pressie which is this dish!!!!
wuahahahah *tak malu, not shy*


the abalone has got a smokie taste to it
while the thin pasta aka cappelini is so fine and tasty, it has absorbed all the sauce innit and yet still has got a bite. Very al dente - just the way we like our pasta.
Looks like we need to install a spy camera in his kitchen -_-

such a pretty dish
Lightly smoked ocean trout served with vegetable chips and avruga caviar
again looked so simple huh???

the Ocean Trout, famed for its texture and taste was so lightly smoke
there was only a tinge but it gave such satisfaction to this dish
my only problem was...the portion is too small but we have a 8 course dinner
I can survive on this dish alone....and yes the Abalone Pasta!!!!
wuahahahahahha

such fine presentation
and they didn't open it until everyone has got their servings
the waiting staffs were so cute......on cue they lifted up the lid together, all of them
to unveil the surprise underneath :)))))

it's not so much of visuals that they wanted to surprise us
but the NOSE!!!!
OH MY GAWDDDD....LORD....I'll do anything for any company that can give me perfume in this nose
and yes...if they can manufacture perfumes with noses of my favourite wines...lemme start listing now...maybe something of a Morey-St-Denis and the beautiful bouquet of a Griotte Chambertin...and I also don't mind some tinge of the floral nose from Musigny 
I now proclaim myself the master blender for this perfume :PPP pfffttttt


Okie let's concentrate back to the dish
Name: Foie Gras and oysters pot a feu
the first nose that got me was EGGS!!!!!
and I was asking everyone if eggs were involved in any way inside this dish
nobody answered me....everyone was bz chomping and slurping away
I felt -_-"
"weiiii....are u all listening to my question???"
still no answer.....


pot a feu is something like a beef stew, so I assume the broth were done this way
so clear almost like a consomme
and Chef gave not one oyster but 2!!!! wahhhhh strike lottery :P
so u see the oysters and the thin slices of beef were rare, and he let the hot broth cook it subtle-ly
after this dish, I was so contented I wanna zzzzz in Cilantro already

Filet of Bar Fish and Landes white asparagus
bar fish = yellow bass
and the meat is delicate
but the hero of this dish was the WHITE ASPARAGUS
yessssss
not just any white asparagus but this one is from Landes - the Kingdom of asparagus


wuahahahahhah just by putting it in my mouth I felt like a Queen already
it didn't have the bitterness and tannic of a normal white asparagus but it has such sweetness equivalent to fruits...
Asparagus fr Landes has their "AOC" equivalent classification of their own, just like fine wines and cheeses.

Prince C is a bad boy coz he doesn't take his greens, but he lurved the asparagus
he kept on asking me why izzit so sweet?
my answer was coz it's not green!!!! hahahahhah
and he believed me >.<

a lil sneak-peek of wat we had that nite
hehehhehehehhehehehe

hehehehehehehehehe
no one can separate me from my beef :)))))
just melts in ur mouth
I can still remember its taste until now :P

He's still asking how come the asparagus was so sweet
:P

I myself can't believe it we had 2 Musigny on the same evening
wat a treasure :))))))
but during blind tasting, all of us got it wrong coz it didn't have the properties of one at first

analyzing wine notes and food with Chef and Dr. Epicurean
that's my face thinking hard
we finished every drop of the wines that nite and forgot to reserve some for Chef
Pai Seh!!!!!!


and again for the dunno how many times, I was begging for the Abalone Pasta's recipe and technique
Chef brushed me away..."No no no...u wont come back after that"
-_-"
Trust me, I'll still come back for your foie gras, beef tartare, the Beef steaks, and the list is long...

Inverted Caramel Souffle
wat a challenge!!!!
making souffle is already that difficult and this one was inverted form its ramekins

While we were bz enjoying our desserts, Chef Takashi Kimura sneaked JS into his kitchen 
I've never been to his kitchen and he banned me from goin in
prollie that Abalone Pasta's recipe was stucked there on the wall
or I might discover some secrets in his kitchen
afterall I'm a Notti Monkey, I know how to snoop around like a CSI detective :P


from his face, u can tell he's very proud of his TEAM
and his kitchen is HUMONGOUS!!!!

He's still asking Wine Lord....why is the asparagus so sweet?
he never give up doesn't he?

Lineup for the evening....

not a lot for the 5 of us

afterall we were drinking GEMS!!!!!

Somehow I had to drive the gentlemen home

in Prince C's car and he kept on asking me to run it faster coz it can take that sort of horse power....

I just ignored him and took it as they r pretty tipsy -_-

maybe I have higher tolerance towards alcohol but in actual fact, I hold my drinks and had one serving per bottle

so that's not really a lot :P

Okie u can now ask Chef himself why was the asparagus so sweet
:P
confirmed u cannot buy from any grocer nor supermarket
hehehehhe


Tonite another round at Cilantro
:)))))
wish me luck for my abalone pasta recipe ok
hehehehehheeh :)))))


Thank you to Dr. Epicurean for the amazing dinner and wines
JS and Wine Lord ST oso brought the yummy reds
Terima Kasih!!!!!