Sea Smoke Magnum Dinner at The India Restaurant

 Saturday, January 28, 2023

CJ sponsored this dinner. He has magnums of wine that need a crowd to share. This is the first of several dinners he plans on having to relieve his cellar of this big bottles.  The restaurant was packed all night long. Very popular in Little India area of Artesia. as the food is some of the best around. Eleven of us tonight.

I am still having digestion problems so I knew my selection of food would be very limited and I would need to watch my consumption of alcohol. Spicy and alcohol are top on the list of things to avoid.  

We started out with a couple of appetizers, Vegetable Samosas which are pastry stuffed with potatoes and green peas and then deep fried. I did eat one of these. It was very good. The other was Chicken Tandoori. White meat chicken marinated in yogurt, herbs and spices. I passed on this one. 

Next was Jeera Aloo. Sauteed potatoes with cumin seed, onion and tomatoes.  This I passed on. Others said it was very good.

Then a dish of Karahi Goshi which is diced boneless lamb cooked in spices with onion, bell pepper, ginger and garlic. I took one piece of lamb and had one bite. That was it for me. I knew my stomach was not going to be able to handle this one.

Chicken Tikka Masala was next. Boneless white met marinated in spices and yogurt, tandoored in a clay oven and served in a curry sauce This dish was very good, chicken was very tender and the sauce was tempered by the yogurt. I sopped up the sauce with Naan bread. 

Garlic Naan and Basmati Rice rounded out the meal. 

There were 4 magnum bottles of Sea Smoke, Southing, Pinot Noir, 2007, 2008, 2009 and 2010. There were differences in opinions of what years were best, I personally liked the 2007 and 2010.  I had less than 2 ounces of each. And small pours of two champagnes.  Did not want to tempt problems.

Several Champagnes were on the table. Top for me was the 1998 Piper Heidsieck " Rare" Brut Millesime.  25 years old and was vibrant. Excellent bubby.

Also a Moet & Chandon, Ice Imperial. This champagne is specially made to be served over ice. A  Duval-Leroy, Brut Reserve.  There was another bottle of champagne on the table but I did not make a note of it. 

I found it difficult to take pictures tonight. Table was very long and the magnums are big bottles and hard to move around. I use pictures to remind me what we drank and the details of the bottle. Also the champagnes did not move down to my end of the table easily. A batch of hearty champagne drinkers at the other end of the table. A good dinner, glad to be able to attend.  Looking forward to the next one. 

Lunch at Irrawaddy, Taste of Burma Restaurant

 Friday, January 6, 2023

6 of us today for lunch. This is a new restaurant for me. Irrawaddy in Stanton. Have never tasted Burmese food before. Looking online is seems very similar to Indian but without the fire. Lot of coconut milk and tea leaves used along with loads of spices but not hot like Indian food.  Restaurant is very clean and well appointed.  So many "asian" restaurants are on the tacky side. Service was very good.

This will be a place where the boys and I go for a lunch soon. Corkage is $12. There was no wine at this  lunch but a few people had the Myanmar beer. 

All the dishes we had we shared. that way we got to taste numerous items.

Started out with Tea Leaf Salad. Very good, interesting flavors. They sell the mix in a jar for takeout. You just add your own greens etc.

Then onto Paratha with curry sauce. A pancake style fried bread, slightly sweet and a non spicy sauce. I really liked this dish. This would be a definite reorder for me.

Sauteed green beans with sweet onion, carrots and a light sauce came next. Beans are al dente and bright green. Good job in cooking and presentation. 

Next is the one dish I did not care for. Mint Leaf Chicken. Did not like the texture nor the flavor. Whatever spice they used was over whelming to me. 

The Chicken Masala was more to my liking. A bit different from what I am used to in Indian cooking. Nice blend of flavors but would have preferred to have boneless chicken. Wasn't keen about spitting small bones out of my mouth. 

The Sour Leaf Shrimp was interesting. Good flavors in the sauce. But not sure if I would order this again.  Not sure why but it just did not knock my socks off. 

Dessert was Fried Banana with Green Tea Ice Cream. Ice cream was exceptionally good.  Over the years I have OD'd on bananas and just do not like them anymore. The fried ones did look good as they seemed to be caramelized. 

A large menu and so many more items to try.

Lunch at Seafood Cove # 1

 Tuesday, December 27, 2022

Lunch today at Seafood Cove. We were supposed to go to Cali-Chilli on the 19th but I had a bad episode of GERD and had to cancel. This was a last minute decision today.

Place was packed. Almost all were Chinese. All 3 lobster tanks were virtually empty. I saw one lone lobster left. Christmas must have been extremely busy for them. No deliver until Friday. 

Started out with the House Sweet and Sour Soup with tasted very good to me.

Next was Hong Kong Style Crispy Noodles with Chicken, Shrimp, Calamari, Bamboo Shoots, Bok Choy and Carrots.

Followed by Beef with String Beans and Fried White Fish Fillet with Carrots, Baby Corn  Pea Pods and Mushrooms.

Apparently, I was having issues again with taste The fish tasted good along with the mushrooms and string beans. Nothing else.  I talked with several people I know that had Covid and developed taste issues. They are having the same thing. again. Not much tastes good. Seems we all want only salty or sweet. This issue  seems to come and go. Lasts a few hours or a few days. No rhyme or reason to it.

Two wines on the table.  A 2019 St. Huberts, The Stag, Paso Robles, Cabernet Sauvignon and a 2012 Trimbach, Alscae, France, Pinot Blanc. I had a very small taste of both wines and they tasted the same to me, off.  It was me not the wines.

Annual Christmas Soirée

 Saturday, December 2022

My annual Christmas get together tonight. Was not sure when I made plans the first of the year if it would pan out after my accident. Did not get my Christmas tree nor the house decorated this year but party went off as scheduled.  It did lift my spirits a lot to have the group in. 12 of us tonight. Same group every year. Very compatible. Some people I had not seen since 2021's party. It has been a slow recovery and not much socialization. It was so good to see them again. Only one missing and he was babysitting his grandson. 

I put out shrimp, smoked salmon, mini meatballs, cheese, dip and other small nibblies. A charcuterie board was brought by Tim & Maria and CJ made Samosas. Greg brought seared Ahi.  Big hit of the evening was the two pizzas Stan and Karen brought from Domino's. So simple but so good, Handmade dipped chocolates from Bob, Panettone from Kelly & Dimitry along with chocolates and chocolate covered strawberries which were to die for and cookies from Marc & Judy. A feast board. 

A lot of wine for us to choose from bubblies to port. The two Terravox wines from Missouri I put out was to be able to open and taste. They were drinkable but not stellar. But I needed the 16 different grape varietals that were in them. I now have 582 grape varietals tasted. (we all have our quirks) A Lemoncello was brought but not opened. In the freezer waiting for the next martini night. 

NV   Gruet, Blanc de Noirs

NV   Domaine Allimant-Laugner,  Cremant d'Alsace

2012 Moet & Chandon, Champagne, Grand Vintage

2020 Peake Ranch, Chardonnay

2002 Chateau St Jean, Sonoma, Cinq Cepages

2010 Elio Grasso, Italy, Barolo

2012 Stolpman, Ballard Canyon, Angeli

2016 INum Cellars, Napa Valley Cabernet Sauvignon

???? Kistler, Sonoma Coast, Pinot Noir

2016 Longoria, SBC, Blues Cuvee

2020 Terravox, Missouri, Chateauneuf du Platte

1991 Croft, Portugal, Vintage Porto

2016 Terravox, Missouri, Norton Report

Dim Sun Lunch With The Boys at Seafood Cove # 2

 Tuesday, November 29

We had a hankering for Dim Sum so off to Seafood Cove # 2.  Which is in the heart of Little Saigon. # 1 does not serve Dim Sum but the rest of the menu is the same.

We arrived at 11:00 and the place was half filled. Seems they start serving Dim Sum at 8:30 am. Large dining area on second floor. Parking was a nightmare. They did have an elevator (dirty)  so that helped me a lot.

All of the food was good and Henry said it was on par with the Dim Sum places in the San Gabriel Valley area which is heavy Asian population.

We started out with Siu Mai which is a shrimp, pork and vegetable steamed dumpling. Then on to Har Gow which is shrimp and vegetables wrapped in a thin, translucent dough and steamed.

Then came Black Mushroom Sui Mai, pork ribs, and steamed BBQ pork dumplings.  Highlight for me was the Turnip cake. Henry explained how it is made and it seemed like a long process. But it was really good.   Egg tarts for dessert. These tarts had a heavier crust than the one we got at Duong Son when it was open. 

I brought a 2015 Lando, Russian River Valley, Pinot Noir which was showing very well. Other wines were a 2020 Daou, Cabernet Sauvignon. Nice wine but a bit too young and a Gruet Cuvee 89 sparkling Rose. The Rose went very well with the Dim Sum.

On the way out I noticed a small freezer with a translucent lid that had bags of frozen dumplings in it.  Next time I plan on buying a bag. Also had small containers of sauces.

Lamb Dinner at The India Restaurant

 Saturday, November 12, 2022

Eight of us tonight for a Lamb dinner planned by CJ months ago.  Finally came to be.. The India Restaurant in Artesia which is also known as "Little India" because of the numbers of Indian people in the area .Loads of shops, restaurants etc., Very unique area.  We will be back in January for another dinner. 

Table was loaded with wine bottles and glasses. Most of us had 4 wine glasses in front of us. CJ had the food sent out in 3 different timelines. Made the table easier to navigate. Even then I know I missed tasting a couple of the dishes. 

For appetizers we had Onion Bhaji which is onions floured and deep fried. Also Tawa Aloo. Pan roasted potatoes with Indian masalas. This dish had quite a bite to it but the dry Gewurztraminer was the perfect wine to pair with this dish.

6 more dishes along with garlic Naan and rice rounded out the selections.

Lamb Skeekh Kabab.

Lamb Garlic Masala - sauteed with tomatoes, green onions and garlic in a brown curry.

Saag Paneer - house made cheese cooked in spinach with herbs and spices.

Lamb Keema Masala - ground lamb with spices, onions, ginger, garlic, tomatoes and cilantro.

Rogan Rosh - boneless lamb cooked in a yogurt based sauce with kashmiri herbs in Muguali style.

Navratan Korma - assorted fresh vegetables cooked in yogurt cream and mild spices.

Everything was cooked on the mild side. There was nothing I tasted that I did not like. All the wines brought went well with the food. People did a really good job of pairing. A lot of thought on their part.

2012 Saxum, James Berry Vineyard. Blend of Grenache, Mouvedre, Syrah and Counaise.

2011 Rochioli, RRV, Pinot Noir

2010 La Croix de Boyd-Cantenac, Margaux

???? Hirsch, Reserve, Pinot Noir

2012 Private, Syrah Reserve from India

2020 Tercero, The Outlier, dry Gewurztraminer

???? Dovecote, Syrah

2018 Optimist, Sanguis. Blend of Syrah, Grenache and Petit Verdot

NV   E, Guigal, Cote-Rotie

NV   Veuve Cliquot, Rose Champagne

2012 Revelation, Champagne, 100% Pinot Meunier

Lunch at Cali-Chilli

 Monday. November 7, 2022

Impromptu lunch today. Had a dental appointment and CJ who drove me decided to walk around the area while he waited for me. Just around the corner from the dental office was a restaurant we have been wanting to try since it opened.

Cali-Chilli, a Mexican-Indian restaurant run by a Michelin star rated chef. Small restaurant with a really nice bar set up. Some tables are bar height and others normal height. A couple of booths at the front with big windows. Very subtle colors. Very nice in color selections. 

We ordered 3 dishes and a garlic-chive Naan bread.

Crispy calamari rings with crispy French green beans. Came with a lime aioli sauce. Subtle spices in the crunchy batter. Took the leftovers home and hours later they were still crunchy. Good flavor.

7 Spice crispy chicken wings. 6 wings to an order. Excellent flavors, Crunchy skin and very moist meat. A real winner. 

Tandoori mushrooms. Large button mushrooms that had a very slightly blackened skin form the Tandoori over.  Another winner.

Prices averaged about $20 per dish. A tad bit high but excellent quality so I have no problem with the pricing. We did not order any drinks this time. Wine menu was on the mediocre side.  They do have a full bar now so I would like to try a few of their specialty cocktails.   Corkage is $20 so when we go back, we will bring our own wine. 

I have an idea that this is not a menu that you would ask for substitutions. They had a large menu so anyone should be able to find something that they would like.

Not sure of the parking. Restaurant is located in a small neighborhood shopping area. There are a few lots available, but I do not know if this restaurant has availability to them. There is street parking and we lucked out to be able to park right in front. But on a Monday at 1:00 I would suspect is an off day and time. 

Can't wait to go back and try a few more new dishes.