Krug for senpai

It's been much too long since we last saw our high school friend, as he decided to move back to Tokyo some 6 months ago. We're pretty happy to have a chance to catch up with him tonight during his business trip, and naturally chose Metropol Restaurant (名都酒樓) for our dinner. The boss put together a special menu for us, and I always trust him to show us some of the best dishes.

Fuzzy melon soup with seafood (海鮮節瓜盅) - really nice to start with this, as the fuzzy melon helps cool the body down. Sort of like a mini version of winter melon soup (冬瓜盅) with similar ingredients, including Tonkin jasmine (夜香花).

Sweet and sour prawn with crispy rice and shrimp toast (蝦多士拼脆米咕嚕蝦球) - deep-fried food is always tasty, and it's even better when you combine two different items on one plate!

The shrimp toast (蝦多士) was really nice. Just look at the ratio of shrimp to the piece of toast... Just can't beat crunchy, deep-fried piece of toast.

The sweet and sour prawns were pretty nice, too. As if it weren't enough to batter and deep-fry prawns, sprinking some puffed rice on top makes it even better.

Deep-fried abalone with spicy salt (椒鹽鮮鮑魚) - this was pretty damn tasty! Good thickness with springy texture, but still tender enough. I would have loved a second one.

Steamed garoupa fillet with cordyceps flower and fungus (蟠龍海星斑)

Crispy salt baked chicken (秘制鹽焗雞) - this was very, very good. The seaoning on the skin was very tasty, with lots of different spices. I couldn't believe that the five of us finished the entire chicken - every single piece of it.

Fried rice with preserved vegetables and minced pork (東江炒飯) - I was pretty intrigued by the use of preserved leafy mustard (梅菜), which lent its sweetness to the rice. Pretty damn tasty.

So... a few weeks ago, SOMEONE messaged me and told me that he wanted to drink Krug Champagne. This person had obviously seen my posts about this special Krug dinner, and wanted to enjoy some delicious bubbly. Well... seeing that I had recently acquired a batch of Krug Champagne and was feeling generous, I decided to grant this person's wish.

Krug Grande Cuvée, 170éme édition, ID 221035 - nice and fresh, initially some toasty notes but not too heavy. After 10 minutes this got a lot more of the toasty, brioche notes along with nutty notes. Still very young and vibrant.

2012 Domaine de Montille Puligny-Montrachet 1er Cru Le Cailleret - nice and toasty, with some lemon, a little buttery, and also later some fruity and tropical citrus notes.

2005 Blankiet Vineyards Rive Droite - served more than 1 hour after decanting. Very ripe fruit here, with mint and eucalyptus, and a little earthy.