Beef and red wine

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I'm back in Hong Kong, and it was time to do a year end catch-up with Rice.  We wanted to go somewhere simple where we could just open a bottle or two, and after much procrastination - with the two of us kicking the ball back and forth - I finally suggested that we try out Beefbar.  The menu looked simple enough... just some meat 'n' potatoes and stuff.  And I haven't yet been disappointed by the food in one of Uncle Peter's restaurants...

I didn't want to eat too much after a few days' of stuffing myself in Vietnam, so I kept things simple and "light".

Our amuse bouche tonight was veal with wakame and wasabi mayo.  I didn't see any wakame, but I think the green stick may have been a salicornia?

Black Angus mini burger with bacon and lemon sauce - very nice.  Tasty but at HKD 100 a pop, not the cheapest 2 bites.  Served with a light salad on the side.

Australian Black Market Black Angus beef short rib - I remembered how beautiful the Black Market beef was that I had at Gaddi's a couple of months ago, so I opted for this... and 200g of beef was definitely enough for me tonight.  Apparently this was slow-cooked so "medium" was recommended.

Initially I thought they had overcooked the beef, but once I transferred it onto my plate, I realized this was cooked to perfection.  Beautifully charred on the outside for that smoky flavor, and the heavy marbling had been brought to their melting point.  Not exactly as soft as buttah, but close enough.  Happiness is... fat melting in one's mouth.

Grilled mixed vegetables - had to have my daily veg intake.

Chocolate and sesame soufflé with yuzu ice cream - maybe I was already a little toasted by the time this came, but I am struggling to recall any remembrance of sesame flavor.  Nevertheless, this was pretty decent.

The yuzu ice cream on the side was decent.

I brought a couple of bottles for us to sip on tonight, and there were some surprises in store for us...

1990 Marcoux Vieilles Vignes - double-decanted 1 hour prior to serving, and finally started to open up.  Nice fruit in the nose, with forest notes.  Sweetness in the nose showed up after 80 minutes, along with leather and animal notes even later.  A lovely wine.

1996 Chapoutier Ermitage L'Ermite Rouge - opened for 30 minutes prior to decanting and serving.  Sooooo much coconut butter on the nose, very sweet, exotic, with cedar notes.  Good acidity levels.  Beautiful!  But was this really a Chapoutier?  It tasted nothing like any other Chapoutier Hermitage I've ever had, and actually came close to its 99/100-point rating... which was definitely a first for me.