VIP treatment

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A day after I took them out for my birthday, some friends very generously returned the favor and took me out to dinner.  It's been a while since I was last at the Yung Kee VIP Floor (蘭亭閣),  and I wanted to dine there once more before leaving town.  My friends were kind to oblige me...

We arrived and were seated at the first table just past reception, against two partition walls in the narrow dining room.  We were not given menus to browse through, but a waitress came and asked what we wanted to eat.. throwing out a few suggested preparations for every food category we mentioned.  I guess that's how VIPs do their ordering, since they should know the menu by heart...

Century eggs and pickled ginger (皮蛋酸薑) - can't start a meal here without it...

Deep-fried sea cucumber stomachs (椒鹽海參扣) - one of the specialities here.  The digestive tracts are pretty chewy, and become crunchy at the same time thanks to deep-frying.  This might sound really weird, it's nothing more than espardeñas to the Spaniards... and I had my first taste of it at Rafa's in Roses.

Stir-fried freshwater shrimps with mini crab roe (禮雲子炒河蝦) - I've always loved the flavors and the creamy texture of the roe from these local freshwater crabs, and having them with succulent freshwater shrimps is even better!  Today the crab roe seemed a little on the salty side, and the dish came out a little lukewarm...

Roast goose drumstick and fatty char siu (燒鵝脾，肥叉燒) - although I always thought that Yung Kee's reputation for their roast goose isn't really justified, what is undeniable is that the customers on the 4th and 8th floors get the best stuff.  The goose was pretty good tonight, as was the whole goose I had a couple of months ago.  As for the char siu (叉燒)... they weren't kidding about it being fatty!  A couple of the slices seemed to be nothing but fat...

Braised speckled black grouper (炆黑瓜子斑) - this was suggested by the waitress to match our red wine.  The fish was boned, flattened, deep-fried with batter, and braised along with pork belly, garlic, mushrooms...etc.  Definitely worked with the red.  Interestingly the head was also squashed flat and became unrecognizable...

Stir-fried beef with deep-fried crullers (鬼馬牛肉) - always found this combination interesting.  I do love deep-fried crullers (油炸鬼) so this dish is like a no-brainer for me... Pretty surprised how red the beef looked... but the slices were definitely cooked, and very tender.

Stir-fried noodles in soy sauce (豉油皇炒麵) - off-menu but I remember that they did it well.  Very happy with this homey dish... Not gonna be able to find this in Taipei...

Mini egg tarts and sesame seed balls (蛋撻仔, 煎堆) - the tarts were OK, and the black sesame paste filling inside the balls seemed a little toasted/burnt.

My friends were generous and shared a few bottles of wine with me...

1997 Haut-Brion Blanc - pretty cold in the bucket and we took the decanter out to warm it up.  Nose was initially a little toasty, with minerals and a little lemon.  Acidity was pretty high, but the ripeness showed through after the wine warmed up a little.  Nose was a little dusty at the end.

1978 Solaia - I'm pretty lucky that this was my third time drinking this wine.  Nose was minty, fruity, slightly medicinal, with dried herbs, smoke, pencil lead notes.  Later on nose was a little savory, almost soy sauce-like.  Very smooth on the palate.  Perhaps not as spectacular as the bottle I tasted at the Solaia vertical last year, but this was still very lovely.

1971 Freiherr Langwerth von Simmern Rauenthaler Baiken Riesling Beerenauslese - my friend drank this 2 nights ago and brought us the leftover half.  Seems to be the trend for dessert wines these days...

The color is now dark amber, which I think is due to the sugar being oxidized...  Nose of honey, dates, nuts and marmalade.  Still reasonable acidity left and not just overly sweet.  A very lovely wine.

Many thanks to my very generous for such an enjoyable evening!