In need of a good whipping

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A casual dinner with a couple of friends, and I thought I'd go back to have a second serving at Whisk.  I really enjoyed my first meal last year, and wanted to introduce my friends to the place.

My friends arrived a little late, and for some reason were led to a different table.  It wasn't until minutes later that the staff responded to my friends' request to check around, which finally got them to be seated next to me.  It's sad when restaurant staff can't even seat their guests properly.

The tasting menu didn't really appeal, so I decided to keep it simple.  The chef started us off with an amuse bouche of steamed egg with Parma ham.  It was alright, and the bits of black truffles made it tastier.

Dashi consommé, foie gras, shiitake, soba, pickled ginger - this looked interesting, and it was both interesting and weird.  The prominent flavors were bonito dashi (出汁) and Japanese pickled ginger, which I wasn't sure went all that well with the foie.  The foie gras itself was very nicely done... lightly pan-fried, moist in the middle, firm and not flabby.

We were told that one of the meat items was sold out, which just happened to be the only thing I really wanted to order.  After hearing our protests - and my half-joking threat to leave the restaurant - the waitressed promised to check with the kitchen.  Surprisingly, the kitchen managed to come up with two servings of the dish.  So what was that business about the dish having been sold out?!

Roasted crispy suckling pig, truffle salad, spiced red wine sauce - the dish was pretty good. The large patch of skin was pretty crispy, although not the absolute best I've had.  The meat itself was moist and tender, although I was hoping for a little bit better.  Still pretty enjoyable, though.

Coffee macaroon, vanilla, pear, chocolate - I liked the combination of the flavors, especially pear and vanilla.  The big macaron was moist, almost a little too wet.

I brought a bottle of 1996 Peter Michael Chardonnay Belle Côte.  This was just too sweet, and definitely over the hill.  The nose was clearly oxidized, caramelized, with honey, straw, white flowers and marmalade.  Kinda alcoholic at 13.9% and burned a little...

For me, the evening was OK if a little lacking in highlights.  The food didn't seem as exciting as I remembered.  Maybe I'll do the tasting menu next time...