Duck & Botrytis

Saturday, March 7, 2009

Met with 6 friends at Duong Son BBQ Restaurant in Little Saigon (Westminister). This is a bi-monthly event for us and we cannot get enough of the food. Henry goes there every Friday night with a different group of his friends. The sure sign of a good ethnic restaurant is when you are the only non asian in the the place.

We started out with freshly made shrimp chips. Similar in texture and looks to a fried pork rind. But these are pink , large and very easy to eat. Pork rinds sometimes get a little tough and hard to bite.

Next came salt & pepper calamari. Very large pieces of calamari with a very light breading. These were so much better than the ones we had at the same restaurant when we came without Henry. There is a big difference in the quality when Henry is with us.

Out came a bowl with beef tendon. I know it sounds "awful", but it is one on the most tender pieces of meat with a great sauce. It takes many hours to cook the tendon until it is tender.

A platter of roast duck appeared and was devoured in no time . Duck is the specialty of Duong Son and it never disappoints us. On top of the duck was some long thin strips. It was some kind of fungi. Interesting. Nondiscript taste. I will try anything once.

The big hit was the huge scampi that was cut down the middle and cooked with garlic and a few other things that I don't know about. These prawns were at least 6 to 7 inches long and a lot of meat on them. They were so tender and succulent. This dish is only available at certain times of the year. And the prawns are very fresh. I could swear they were looking at me with their eyes (heads were attached) as I sucked on them.

Seabass with garlic green beans was served next. This again is always a very good dish. The fish is moist and tender and the beans have a little kick to them.

Our last dish was chicken with Chinese broccoli. Again always good.

For dessert we had fresh fruit, tapioca pudding (warm) and some kind of sticky bun.

The wines tonight were a mixed lot: NV Charles B Mitchell, Blanc de Noir, Sparkling. 2005 Domiane Schulmnerger Reisling, 2003 Giradet Chardonnay, 2005 Ken Brown, Sanford & Benedict Chardonnay, 1999 Hafner Cabernet Sauvignon, 2006 Cardwell Hill Pinot Noir, 2001 Rosenthal, Malibu Coast, Motor Canyon Meritage, 2005 Hug, Cedar Lane Pinot Noir, 2003 Green Point Shiraz .

The big hit of the evening was my 1975 Monterey Vineyard, Gonzales, Sauvignon Blanc, Botyrtis. This was bottle given to me by someone who was cleaning our their cellar and was throwing some bottles away. She said I could have them and I got 5 bottles of dessert, port and sherry. I did not know if this bottle was drinkable or not. When it was opened I said it was either going to be so bad we will dump it of it is going to be something really outstanding. It was so good. Deep caramel color and its was so clean. It was a beautiful wine. There was not a drop left in the bottle. Thank you Toby for cleaning out your cellar. I will take your rejects any time.