Bad company

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The MNSC boys found ourselves sitting around the same table again just 3 weeks after our last gathering.  Since a couple of us will be out of town for the next few weeks, we decided to notch up one more tasting before the end of the year creeps upon us.  I was ever so happy that our host Curry Jayer chose to bring us back to Megan's Kitchen (美味廚), a place I have not visited for a few years.

The food has always been pretty good here, and I've always enjoyed my experiences on the few occasions I have been here. Glad to get another taste tonight.

We started with a sextet of appetizers:

Marinated jellyfish (蔥花拌海蜇)

Braised beef shank (鹵水鮮牛腱)

Deep-fried Bombay duck (椒鹽九肚魚) - not as good as I remembered from before, but still tasty.

Pan-fried eggplant (惹味燒茄子) - happy to have some veg, especially eggplant.

Deep-fried tofu with black truffle (黑松露豆腐)

Deep-fried cuttlefish cake with okra (秋葵墨魚餅) - this was really fantastic, with some Indian spices thrown in. Very, very nice and crunchy.

Mud crab two ways: steamed crab claw with egg white in Huadiao and chicken oil (大肉蟹兩食：花雕雞油蛋白蒸蟹鉗) - WOAH! I've been a while since I last saw a crab claw this big, and I was pretty happy to have it come on top of steamed egg white and flavored with chicken oil and Huadiao. Very yum, but I resisted from finishing the egg white. There's plenty more food coming!

Mud crab two ways: pan-fried crab cake (大肉蟹兩食：生拆大肉蟹脆煎蟹餅) - I think there were chunks of king oyster mushrooms inside the crab cake.

Crispy fried Shiqi pigeon (當紅脆皮石岐妙齡鴿) - this was OK, and definitely paired well with our wines tonight.

Charcoal grilled A4 Saga tenderloin (炭燒佐賀A4和牛柳) - this was pretty decent, and the sauce went pretty nicely with the beef.

Rose tea smoked free range chicken (玫瑰茶燻黃油走地雞) - nice and smoky, and certainly very tender and tasty. I would have given up the beef for this.

Stir-fried sliced New Zealand lamb with leeks (石窩京蔥爆紐西蘭羊肉片) - it's been a while since I last had stir-fried lamb slices, and this was pretty decent.

Stir-fried choy sum with Hokkaido conpoy and shrimp roe (北海道瑤柱蝦籽扒菜心苗) - the obligatory veg dish, accented with shellfish flavors.

Pan-fried rice vermicelli with beef (牛肉煎米粉) - some of us were still hungry, so a carb course was added at the end. The rice vermicelli was certainly on the very dry side, and some felt it was too hard even to bite down on, but I was kinda OK with it. I do like it crunchy, although it would have been better if there was a little more moisture here. The beef and chopped kailan (芥蘭) stems was a nice topping.

Double-boiled soup with pear and snow fungus (清潤雪耳燉雪梨糖水)

Megan's Kitchen mini egg custard moon cake (美味廚奶皇迷你月餅) - I was surprised that they offered moon cakes, but this wasn't bad at all.

Our host served up a pretty amazing lineup of Burgundies tonight, befitting his reputation. The surprise was how approachable some of the younger vintages were.

2009 Coche-Dury Meursault - nice and big, toasty nose. Good ripeness on the palate with some acidity still.

Flight 1: - opened some 3 hours prior to serving without decanting.

2013 Arnoux-Lachaux Vosne-Romanée 1er Cru Les Suchots - initially a bit stinky, with notes of leather, dried herbs. Lean and a little hard. Second pour was much better, more open, a little metallic and still on the lean side. 93 points.

2013 Bachelet Charmes-Chambertin - more fruit here, with black cherries, eucalptus notes. More open and vibrant. Acidity on the palate was higher. 95 points.

2013 Dujac Echezeaux - more toasty on the nose, also very nice fruit, with more body showing more tannins and a little "stemmy" and green. 95 points.

Flight 2: - opened some 4 hours prior to serving without decanting.

2013 Dujac Vosne-Romanée 1er Cru Aux Malconsorts - nice and open, lots of mint and eucalyptus. Sweeter fruit, like raspberries perhaps. Second pour showed more exotic characters, almost coconut-like. 95 points.

2012 Dujac Vosne-Romanée 1er Cru Aux Malconsorts - this was better than the 2013. Nose of leather, meats, pretty toasty and more fragrant. 96 points.

Flight 3: - opened some 4½ hours prior to serving without decanting.

2002 Sylvain Cathiard Vosne-Romanée 1er Cru Aux Malconsorts - sooooooo sweet on the nose, almost a little sugar cane, like bubblegum. Just beautiful! Almost showing a little acetone, and some muscat grapes. 97 points.

1999 Sylvain Cathiard Vosne-Romanée 1er Cru Aux Malconsorts - nose of leather and almost roses. 96 points.

Completely stuffed at the end of the evening, and very grateful for the generosity of our host. Now we know which wine to stock up on.