Seafood and Sauvignon Blanc

Another sinful lunch at Pierre, this time with a seafood theme because we were drinking a bottle of white. My partner at work drafted me to accompany him to lunch at the last minute, and urged me to bring along a bottle of the 2005 Cloudy Bay Te Koko. Apparently he has some sentimental reason for liking Cloudy Bay. The wine was exactly as I remembered it - with nose of green apple, muscat grapes, mineral and flint. After an hour I detected some sweet butter on the nose. There was lots of crisp acidity but it was pleasantly balanced. A great wine to drink at lunch, but now I only have two bottles left...

We started with some pan-seared scallops with black truffles. The scallops were perfectly fresh, and the aroma of the black truffles is just overwhelming. The whole thing sits on a bed of what looks like apple confit, and I must say that the tastes worked well together.

I had half a bowl of the mushroom soup, which was rich, creamy and delicious. It doesn't hurt that they laid plenty of dried mushroom slices as well as a bit of black truffles on top.

My main course was the seabream Jodphur with couscous and lemon confit. I have always liked Pierre's dishes that involve couscous because they actually do the fusion thing well, and this one was no exception. The fish was poached so the flesh was sooo tender. The only issue I have is that the fish actually tasted a tad "fishy" (imagine that...) This is where the Indian-spiced couscous comes in, as the combination of the fish and the couscous means that the spices completely cover up any hint of the fishy taste. This one's another winner, with some slight adjustments...

Once again I come away smiling from a meal at Pierre. Looking forward to my return next weekend!