Seventeen going on eighteen

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Ahleeso is busy going through her birthday month at full speed, being wined and dined just about nightly. Since they were kind enough to take time to help me celebrate my birthday earlier this year, it was only right that we return the favor. Foursheets has been telling Ahleeso about her new favorite Chiuchow place, and taking a Chiuchow girl for a birthday meal out at a Chiuchow restaurant just seemed perfect... so we rounded up a couple of more people for a night out at Noble Imperial (尚御潮滷居). This was, actually, my second visit this month.

Our focus last time out was on the lo shui (滷水) dishes marinated in masterstock, but we had heard that the hot dishes coming out of the kitchen were not to be missed. The task of pre-ordering dishes then went to RAW Yeah, and within minutes of us sitting down, the first dishes started to arrive in rapid fire fashion...

There was a bowl of pickled radish, and I liked the citrus notes coming from the orange.

Chilled razor clams Chiuchow-style (潮式凍蟶子) - very nice and refreshing. Just a little touch of kick from the chili.

Chiu Chow style chilled threadfin fish (潮式凍馬友) - MAN! This threadfin sure was fatty! So, soooo delicious! I never felt it needed the fermented bean sauce, but I guess they can go together.

Cuttlefish (滷水墨魚) - nice and crunchy.

Sweet and spicy flavoured lotus root (醬香蓮藕) - the crunchy lotus root came lathered in a familiar-tasting sesame sauce highlighted with a chili kick. Nice.

Mustard-flavoured chicken leg gristle (芥末雞腳筋) - very crunchy, and that mustard sauce reminds me of the one they serve with duck web in Beijing.

Oyster omelette (酥炸蠔餅) - YASS!!!! I get to eat this again! This amazing oyster omelette with that incredible pile of cruncy batter, most of which have crumbled and fallen away from the oysters which it was meant to cover. While I was happy to eat the oysters, my heart was always after the batter. In fact, I happily scooped up two (or was it three?) bowls of the batter while leaving the oysters to the others. So, sooooo happy! I really wish we had ordered two of these.

Layered pig's ear (特色千層豬耳) - this was really nice, and the smoky flavors from the lo shui marinade really got into the pig's ears, and the texture was pretty fantastic. I do love me some crunchy and jiggly pig's ears.

Goose liver marinated in Chinese wine (極品酒香鵝肝) - we loved this from our last visit, and this was still very nice and elegant, beautiful with the fragrance from the wine.

Marinated goose liver (滷水鵝肝) - this packed more of a punch in terms of flavor, but I still prefer the wine marinated in wine.

Drunken baby pigeon (宮廷醉鴿) - I finally got to order this, and the meat was very tender and tasty. But... the marinade seemed so completely different from the one used for the goose liver. The alcohol just seemed much stronger and sharper, and certainly not nearly as elegant. I later found out that in addition to Huadiao wine, they also added whiskey, white marinade (白滷水), and zao lu (糟露) into the mix. No wonder...

Noble Imperial marinated slice goose (尚御鵝片「起片」) - this was meant to be one of the stars tonight, but... the meat seemed overcooked and a little tough. As it turned out, the slices of tofu underneath were also just so-so... We suspect that this serving of goose meat wasn't as fresh and had been re-heated...

Steamed eggs and undulate venus clams (花甲蒸水蛋) - we thought about ordering this since we saw a few other tables had gotten it, but as luck would have it, the birthday girl knows someone at a neighboring table, and they shared some with us so we could have a taste. The steamed egg was really fluffy and tasty, but the birthday girl didn't think much of the venus clams... So we didn't get a bowl of our own.

Marinated pig intestines trio (滷水豬大腸三拼) - so we've got a trio of marinated goodies which included goose wings and webs (滷水鵝掌翼). The marinade here was much, much tastier than the one that came with the sliced goose, and the texture of the sliced tofu served here was also much, much smoother than the one that came with the goose meat.

I LOVE pig intestines, and they way they stuff and layer them in Chiuchow lo shui is really nice. Very, very tasty.

The marinated goose kidney (滷水鵝腎) was very firm and crunchy. I took an end cut and this turned out to be too crunchy... I had difficulty even biting down on what I thought was not a thick slice.

Lard and fish powder mixed noodle (薑蔥豬油大地魚撈麵) - this was... disappointing. There wasn't nearly enough lard for the taste to come through, and the worst part was that the alkaline taste of the egg noodles was much too strong. FAIL.

Marinated goose head and neck (原條滷水鵝頭頸) - this was very, very tasty. And what an incredible steal for the price being charged! RAW Yeah ordered a second portion to take home.

Noble Imperial fried rice (尚御炒飯) - we had been informed that the flied lice here was good, and it sure was! I didn't expect chai po (菜脯) to come with the rice, but that definitely added a Chiuchow touch to the dish. It also made the rice more seasoned than expected, but that was OK with me. I'd definitely get this again.

Since we only got about 2 hours to eat and everything, we ended up going through only 4 bottles of wine. And THAT, boys and girls, was definitely WEAK considering this crowd. ESPECIALLY with Ahleeso at the table.

La Closerie Ampersand - a little yeast on the nose. There's good acidity balance with good depth on the palate.

I was a little surprised that the restaurant didn't even have those plastic buckets one normally sees being used to chill beer, but my white wine was just too warm to be enjoyable. I was grateful that RAW Yeah went to grab a bag of ice from the nearest convenience store, and proceeded to come up with a system of chilling the bottle without getting the label wet and ruining it - since I had announced that I was keeping the bottle for the label.

2008 Sine Qua Non Kolibri - 2/3 roussanne, 1/3 viognier. Started drinking 30 minutes after opening. Initially the wine was too warm, but showed lemon and vanilla on the nose while it was sweet and ripe on the palate. It was also very sweet on the nose thanks to the vanilla, and almost some pineapple. Very buttery. Got so much better after chilling.

Henri Giraud MV Rosé, dégorgée le 15 Juin 2022 - served a little too war, but it's got good depth on the palate with some bitterness starting mid-palate and carried to the finish. Nose of strawberries, as one would expect.

2002 Araujo Cabernet Sauvignon Eisele Vineyard - double-decanted and stoppered for 2½ hours before popping the cork again. Minty with a nice whiff of smoke, there's some nice and ripe fruit along with coconut butter. Very smooth on the palate but still got the concentration, very much in its prime.

We then heard a story from Ahleeso about why Araujo is called "3 a.m. wine" in their family...

This was a really, really happy meal for all of us, but I hope especially for the birthday girl. It was a real feast with 17 different items ordered, and there were still a few dishes that I would love to try. Tasty food and amazing value for money. I can see us going back there again real soon.