Margie's Monthly Dinner at Taboon

 Saturday, May 4, 2024

Taboon Restaurant

Very small group for tonight's dinner. Only 7 of us.  Several people out of town, vacation etc.  But a nice, congenial group and very good wines.  We arrived close to 5:30 and I was very surprised to see the restaurant almost empty. I doubt that it was 25% capacity. Same when we left at 8:00. This is not the normal for Taboon.. Saturday nights it is usually at capacity.  Sign of the times. If the economy does not turn around somewhat we will be seeing a lot more restaurant closures. It is hard to stay open if you cannot make a profit. 

Margie was told corkage would be $10 but when the bills came it was listed at $15. I realize that restaurants make a lot of money on selling their own wines and when you bring your own wines in there should be a nominal fee. To me if the group brings in their own glasses, opens and pours their own wines and the wait staff does not need to provide any service in regards to your wines then a charge of $5 per bottle should be adequate. If the staff, opens, pours, provides glasses, etc  yes then charge your full corkage fee.   Restaurants buy wine at a 40% to 50% discount off of retail and then mark the wine up 2-1/2 to 3 times retail or more. At dinner we had 10 bottles of wine so that was $160 pure profit for them. My pet peeve at the moment. But maybe if it helped their bottom line for the evening it was a good donation. 

Everyone but me ordered appetizers and they did look good.  Large portions, to me a full meal. I will say the portions at Taboon are large and priced reasonably. 

I ordered the lamb chops for dinner and asked for rare which I got. The plate was loaded with 2 kinds of rice, salad, humus and a few other various items. A large plate full of food for $27. But - my lamb chops were so thin, I am sure they got 3 to 4 chops out of a regular cut. This is mainly an ethnic issue. I find it in almost every Middle Eastern restaurant. Probably because their meat in those countries is not as tender and flavorful as those in the US. Also not as plentiful. So they cook as their ancestors did. We are so spoiled here in the US

Wines were all good, I did taste most of them with about a one ounce pour. Did pass on the whites but did taste the bubblies.

I brought a 2009 Stolpman, Ballard Canyon, Angeli which is their top rated Syrah, It was showing very nicely and paired well with the lamb chops.  Other wines brought were.

2012 Harmonique,  Anderson Valley, Bounty, Pinot Noir. I had never heard of this wine label and was quite surprised at how good the wine was. 

2009 Williams Seylem, RRV, Flax Vineyard, Pinot Noir. Good wine but not as good as it should have been. Seemed to lack something, not sure what since I only had a one ounce pour. 

2019 Far Nienete, Oakville, Napa, Cabernet Sauvignon. A big bold cab.

2015 Peay Vineyards, Annapolis, Sonoma Coast, Pinot Noir. A nice clean Pinot.

2021 Domaine se L'enclos, Romain Et Damien Bouchard, Burgundy, France, Chablis - did not taste.

2017 LVE, Napa Nalley, Blanc de Blancs Sparkling - this was a new one for me also - I did like it and felt it was the best bubbly of the evening. 

2019 Schramsberg, Blanc de Blanc Brut - can never go wrong with this label. 

2021 Cantina Oramin Bianco, Italy - did not taste, a blend of Chardonnay and Sauvignon Blanc.

2012 Saxum, Paso Robles, Booker Vineyard, Red Blend. 73% Syrah and 27% Mouvedre - a typical Saxum wine, big and fruit forward. This wine is great by itself. No food required.