Dunarea Romanian Restaurant

Saturday, April 9, 2011 A small group of 6 gathered at Dunarea Restaurant in Anaheim for dinner. We had not been back here is a long time. It was nice having a small group instead of the 20 plus people that CJ usually had when he was doing his monthly "wine n' dine" dinners. Better conversation with everyone instead of just the immediate people around you. Better wines. We ordered a lot of appetizers and when that was finished I was almost also. Way too much food but so good you just kept eating. We started off with: Salata De Vinete - an eggplant spread - I normally do not care for eggplant but this was good. Delta Appetizer - Caviar spread with olives and lemons Cabanos Sausages - small grilled smoked pork sausages Mamaliguta Cu Branza Si Smantana - polenta with feta cheese and sour cream Our main courses were: Stuffed grape leaf rolls, Lamb pastrami (I passed, its too dry for me) and Cordon Bleu, a breaded pork sirloin roll filled with ham and kaskaval (cheese) and mushrooms. I was absolutely stuffed and could not even have a bite of the dessert. Wines were very good tonight, ???? Windward Pinot Noir, 2004 Alapay Rebecka ( a bordeaux blend) 2004 Williams Selyem Flax Vineyard Pinot Noir 1998 Staglin Family Rutherford Napa Cabernet Sauvignon 2009 Gypsy Boots Sonoma Pinot Noir 2000 Battaglini, Twin Vines Ranch Russian River Zinfandel 2009 Tobin James Late Harvest Zinfandel NV Provenance California Port The Staglin was a big surprise. It was decanted and when first poured seemed light and maybe over the hill a little, but after about an hour it changed dramatically Became much bigger in scope, more body, fresher fruit and longer on the palate. It did have what I took as a hint of petrol on the nose but that did not show up in the taste. We had entertainment tonight. For some reason all Romanian, Hungarian etc., music seems to be alike. But it did have a few of us bouncing in our seats. We will have to make a point of coming back to Dunarea a little more often.