Garden pickings

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For reasons that are completely unknown to me, Mandarin Grill + Bar is one restaurant that doesn't get a lot of love from me.  The food itself is of a very high quality, and Uwe is a very talent chef as well as a really nice guy.  So why is it that my last visit - not counting the time when I was there for a guest chef - was some four years ago?!  I've been meaning to go with Tigger for months, but as he's now holed up on the other side of town these days, it just never happened.

So I was pretty happy to have occasion to pay them a visit for a business lunch today.  I knew exactly what I wanted to order, and finally was able to scratch an itch…

Mushroom: organic, custard, pearl barley, chicken, consommé - there was a layer of mushroom custard at the bottom of the bowl, with a bunch of little shrooms "sprouting" out of it.  I found the custard to be rather over-seasoned, but fortunately the delicious consommé was light and delicate, and provided a welcome relief.  Lovely fragrance of the undergrowth, though…

Flower pot: organic, leaves, vegetable, cress, soil, earl grey - I'd been wanting to have this salad for soooo long… and finally got my wish today.  This was almost too pretty to eat…  delicious radishes and stuff.  I thought I'd need to eat the entire layer of "soil" to be full, but couldn't manage to do it in the end…

Yes, this was meant to be a light lunch.  I'm still on a salad routine for lunch for as much as I can take, and that meant sticking with this today… Coupled with my session with the personal trainer tonight, this should hopefully nudge me towards a lower weight / fitter body…

P.S.  Looks like I need to come back for that bacon and eggs thing my dining companion was having...