A veritable feast

I landed early this evening, dropped my bags at home, picked up a bottle and immediately headed out to dinner.  A special dinner has been planned at On Lot 10, and in spite of my reluctance to consume more food after the last few days, I showed up as planned to enjoy the meal with my fellow foodies.

I really liked my introduction to the restaurant a few months ago, especially for the availability of more interesting items.  My friend simply left the decision up to Chef David, although we did request to have foie gras.

We started with a series of very simple yet delicious appetizers.  The breakfast radish was eaten as is or simply spread with a bit of butter.  I enjoyed this so much that I'd probably went through more than a third of the bowl myself...

The artichokes arrived and there were "ooohs" and "aaahs" all around.  They simply looked beautiful.  We plucked out the leaves one by one, and dipped them in the anchoïade provided.  After all the leaves have been plucked, the hearts were cut open for consumption.  Soooo good...

The Tourteau crab became a contentious item.  There was only one serving on the table, and initially was placed right in front of me.  The WOMMER sitting across from me seemed hell bent on protecting it from the people at the other end of the table, and had to be coerced cajoled bullied into sending the plate over.  The crab meat was extracted, mixed in with spices which seeemd to include paprika, then stuffed back into the shell.  Mmm mmm good.  No wonder there had to be repeated calls before the WOMMER released the plate from his grasp...

Then a plate of deep-fried croakers arrived, and there was more excitement at the table.  What's not to like about deep-fried fish?  The only thing to do is to reach out, grab one with your fingers, and drop it into your mouth.  Crunchy and delicious.  Very fresh.  More calls from the other end of the table to pass the plate...

The salt-baked red prawns were, as the name indicates, very red and looked gigantic.  I think pretty much all of us thoroughly enjoyed sucking the goodness out of the heads, especially Mrs. Dyson next to me.  Once cooked, these Spanish prawns seemed to shrink a couple of sizes, as there was a noticeable gap between the size of the shells and the flesh inside.  Nevertheless it was very, very delicious.  I definitely wanted a second and a third.

We started with 2003 L'Esprit de Chevalier, which was pretty dry when I first tasted it.  It got better.  When the meat started to arrive we moved on to an Amarone whose name escapes me.  It turned out to be pretty fruity and fragrant. 

The rice birds with bacon elicited more cries of ecstasy.  I am not certain of the exact species of the birds but they were possibly 黃花雀, which would explain the joy seen on the faces of those who were in the know.  It took me exactly 3 bites to finish - one for the head, and two for the body.  I supposed I could have just inhaled the whole thing in one swift motion, but this delicacy is meant to be savored.

We were floored when the next dish arrived.  The huge pan of pot-au-feu in the picture is only one of the two servings on our table...and the other pan was bigger!  Needless to say just one of these would have sufficed... Of course there were large plates of vegetables which were cooked in the same pot, so you can imagine the total volume of food on the table at that moment.

The beef shank and the short ribs were very very good.  I didn't have room for the oxtail or the tenderloin, as I went for the other goodies instead.  The marrowbone was split sideways, exposing long strips of the marrow which slid into my mouth effortlessly...  OMG.  I had two and, like the WOMMER, was eyeing a third...  The ox tongue was tender and heavenly, making me wish for more room in my stomach.  Let's not forget the yummy duck breast, and it's a shame I couldn't fit a whole duck leg.

In the middle of all this was a whole goose foie gras.  How sinful is that?!  I brought a bottle of 1990 Guiraud to go with the foie, and this mature Sauternes drank very well.  Definitely lots of honey, marmalade and honeydew melon in the nose.  Very yummy.

I happened to have brought a couple of jars of jams back from Taipei, and I decided to bring them along to go with the foie.  These jams from Red On Tree (在欉紅) were a big hit with the crowd.  The "glutinous rice" lychee (糯米荔枝) jam made with fruit from Nantou (南投) was awesome.  The fragrance hits your nose once the cap is opened.  Sweet and floral.  The gooseberry (燈籠果) jam wasn't as intensely sweet, but it was also very good. 

We were also served a delicious beef consommé - the by-product of all that beef, duck and vegetables cooking together in a pot.  I usually pooh-pooh things such as consommé, but not tonight...  Truly yummy.

There was no more room in my stomach - or so I thought - so I only had a little bit of cabbage.  But how could I say no to the giant Japanese peach?  I could do without the vanilla ice cream in the middle, but the peach itself was ripe, juicy and succulent.  What a way to close out this wonderful feast!

There was so much food leftover that we packed it all away and distributed it 6 ways.  I know what I would be having for lunch tomorrow...