Chinese Dinner

March 31, 2007

Dined at a favorite restaurant tonight. Duong Son BBQ Restaurant in Westminister. A group of friends get together every two months to partake in their delectable food dishes. Everyone brings a bottle of wine and we share food and wine. One of our participants speaks the language and is a friend of the owner. We let Henry do the ordering for us and there is always a surprise dish that we have not had before. We limit the table to 8 people and that way it ensures that the conversation stays intimate and we can converse with everyone without having to yell across a larger table.

We started off with some kind of dried cuttlefish and their house specialty, roasted peanuts, then went on to the following:


Stuffed Tofu
Clams with Black Bean Sauce
Whole Lobster, chopped in pieces with the shell on, stirred fried with ginger and scallions.
Soft noodles infused with the sauce from the lobster.
Barbecued Pork Ribs
Spicy Green Beans with Chicken
Chinese Flat Noodles with a Sauce - (not really sure what)
Deep Fried Sea Bass
Sliced Fresh Papaya
Green Tapioca with Sweet Corn
Steamed Dumplings Stuffed with Crushed Lotus Seeds

I am not a big fan of tofu, but this particular dish is a winner. We have had it several times and it is always the best. Very light panko type coating on the outside and soft and creamy inside.

What can I say about the Clams, another favorite dish, full of flavor and the clams were really fat and tender tonight.

The lobster dish is one of the best ways I have ever had lobster cooked. It creates such a succulent juice.

The owner of this establishment will not give out the secret for the ribs. They taste like there is maple syrup in the sauce.

The spicy green beans really had a punch to them, but I was so busy eating and sucking on the lobster feelers that I did not get any of the chicken. (you snooze you loose).

I am not going to keep a pad with me to write things down when I go out to eat. If there is a printed menu for a special dinner, I will use that. But when I'm doing a casual dinner with friends, I will rely on my memory for notes. My focus is having a enjoyable evening with friends. I 'm not a professional food/wine critic. So that be said, the wines we had tonight were a mixed bag, like all the other dinners here.

There was a Rosenthal Merlot from Malibu, Just & Nat Cabernet from Napa, a Gerwurztraminer, a white blend which I have totally spaced out on the name (sorry Clyde), 2003 Stolpman Angeli, 1999 Perolleti (not sure of the spelling) Sangiovese, 2004 Kosta-Browne Sonoma Coast Pinot and a Carmondy-McKnight Late Harvest Chardonnay.

I brought the Kosta-Browne because I was anxious to see how the Sonoma Coast Pinot compared with the Russian River Pinot. 3 of the people at the table had been to my house last month and had the Russian River Pinot so it was a good evaluation of the wine. This Sonoma Coast Pinot was excellent but we all agreed that the Russian River Pinot was better. I'm glad I got on their allocation list before it was closed.

I have had some people tell me that red wines do not go with Chinese food and/or that a mixed group of wines really doesn't lend itself to a food/wine pairing. We had a small discussion of this tonight and we all agreed that the big, bolder flavors of these type of food dishes pair well with reds. It is interesting that whenever we have one of these dinners, that the whites always have wine left in the bottles and for the most part the reds are gone.

The dinners at this restaurant are casual and are meant to be fun. The main focus is to have a enjoyable evening with good food, good wine and good friends. It is not meant to be a sophisticated food and wine pairing. I can pay big bucks and go someplace else for that.

That said, the total amount that each person paid and that includes a large gratuity was $20 per person. We do not get charged corkage and I do not know where else I can go and have such good food at such a low price. ( if we did not have the lobster and substituted another dish, the tab would have been around $15 per person)

I'm already looking forward to our next dinner in May/June.