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Roadtrip: Napa Valley (Food)
2008.07.19
For our first meal, we had a picnic and got some yummy bread from Bouchon.
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For our first meal, we had a picnic and got some yummy bread from Bouchon.
1
Besides bread, we also got some pate, cheese and, of course, wine.
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Besides bread, we also got some pate, cheese and, of course, wine.
2
We had dinner at Angele on our first night in Napa. While the food was really not too bad, the experience was certainly tainted by the rather inattentive service, as well as the fact many of us could not get the dishes we wanted. (They ran out of all their daily specials, and we weren't even that late!)
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We had dinner at Angele on our first night in Napa. While the food was really not too bad, the experience was certainly tainted by the rather inattentive service, as well as the fact many of us could not get the dishes we wanted. (They ran out of all their daily specials, and we weren't even that late!)
3
This is definitely my favorite dish at the restaurant - glazed pork Belly, Chicory Salad, Brooks Cherries, Honey Glaze. The meat, very well cooked and marinated in the sweet sauce, was very tender, but not overly fatty. Very much like the Chinese braised pork belly dish with a crispy top.
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This is definitely my favorite dish at the restaurant - glazed pork Belly, Chicory Salad, Brooks Cherries, Honey Glaze. The meat, very well cooked and marinated in the sweet sauce, was very tender, but not overly fatty. Very much like the Chinese braised pork belly dish with a crispy top.
4
Pate with apple and cabbage (?) salad. The terrine was rather average, though I really enjoyed the salad on the side.
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Pate with apple and cabbage (?) salad. The terrine was rather average, though I really enjoyed the salad on the side.
5
Maria and I shared the cassoulet - lamb sausage, duck confit and cellini beans. Surprisely, the lamb sausage did not have any lamb taste and it was probably the first time that I could stomach lamb-related food. Besides that the dish was rather forgettable. (Oh, it could be a bit more generous with the meats and give us less beans.)
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Maria and I shared the cassoulet - lamb sausage, duck confit and cellini beans. Surprisely, the lamb sausage did not have any lamb taste and it was probably the first time that I could stomach lamb-related food. Besides that the dish was rather forgettable. (Oh, it could be a bit more generous with the meats and give us less beans.)
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We had a really awesome lunch at the Martini House the very next day, thanks to the recommendation by the guy doing the wine tasting at Quixote ;)
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We had a really awesome lunch at the Martini House the very next day, thanks to the recommendation by the guy doing the wine tasting at Quixote ;)
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Complementary Hors d'Oeurves from the chef. I can't remember exactly what it is (I think it is truffle moose on filo pastry), but I remember thinking it was very yummy.
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Complementary Hors d'Oeurves from the chef. I can't remember exactly what it is (I think it is truffle moose on filo pastry), but I remember thinking it was very yummy.
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Beef carpaccio, with crushed Himalayan truffles, truffle aïoli and Josephs Herbal Salad. It tasted as good as it sounded :D
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Beef carpaccio, with crushed Himalayan truffles, truffle aïoli and Josephs Herbal Salad. It tasted as good as it sounded :D
9
Country-style duck terrine, celery root and apple salad with creamy hazelnut vinaigrette. Once again, I was more impressed with the salad than the terrine. Maybe I should stop having terrine and just order salad next time. That would be cheaper too ;)
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Country-style duck terrine, celery root and apple salad with creamy hazelnut vinaigrette. Once again, I was more impressed with the salad than the terrine. Maybe I should stop having terrine and just order salad next time. That would be cheaper too ;)
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Marinated ahi tuna on a cucumber carpaccio with shiitake mushrooms, tuna confit, drizzled with preserved lemon aïoli. It was a very nice refreshing appetizer for a warm summer afternoon :) It could be more generous with the tuna!
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Marinated ahi tuna on a cucumber carpaccio with shiitake mushrooms, tuna confit, drizzled with preserved lemon aïoli. It was a very nice refreshing appetizer for a warm summer afternoon :) It could be more generous with the tuna!
11
This has got to be the best burger I ever had! Grilled Kobe beef burger (prepared medium), with Gruyère cheese, wine stewed onions and onion rings. If you can only have one meal in Napa, I could strongly recommend this dish. The beef patty was soooo tender and juicy. And the melted cheese and onions just added more oomph to the burger. It was really really good, and it is only $17 :)
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This has got to be the best burger I ever had! Grilled Kobe beef burger (prepared medium), with Gruyère cheese, wine stewed onions and onion rings. If you can only have one meal in Napa, I could strongly recommend this dish. The beef patty was soooo tender and juicy. And the melted cheese and onions just added more oomph to the burger. It was really really good, and it is only $17 :)
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We ended the day with a meal at Mustards Grill, which has been at the Napa Valley area for more than 20 years.
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We ended the day with a meal at Mustards Grill, which has been at the Napa Valley area for more than 20 years.
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Seared-rare ahi tuna, wasabi cream, with housemade sesame crackers.
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Seared-rare ahi tuna, wasabi cream, with housemade sesame crackers.
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Maine crab cakes, chipotle aioli, arugula salad with molasses vinaigrette. The crab cakes were packed full of fresh sweet crab meat :) Unfortunately there were only 2 cakes per order and we had to split it 6 ways.
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Maine crab cakes, chipotle aioli, arugula salad with molasses vinaigrette. The crab cakes were packed full of fresh sweet crab meat :) Unfortunately there were only 2 cakes per order and we had to split it 6 ways.
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Chipotle-rubbed quail, honey roasted cippolini onions, dried cherry-Pedro Ximenez sauce. The portion above is only half of the dish since Maria and I shared again. So, at $23, it is certainly quite worth the money. Plus, the quail was very delicious.
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Chipotle-rubbed quail, honey roasted cippolini onions, dried cherry-Pedro Ximenez sauce. The portion above is only half of the dish since Maria and I shared again. So, at $23, it is certainly quite worth the money. Plus, the quail was very delicious.
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After sharing the appetizers and main courses, we decided to be greedy and ended off with 4 desserts. The one above is the lemon-lime tart with brown sugar meringue.
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After sharing the appetizers and main courses, we decided to be greedy and ended off with 4 desserts. The one above is the lemon-lime tart with brown sugar meringue.
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Honey polenta cake with peaches and ice-cream. The polenta cake was really good, though I was a bit disappointed with the ice-cream. It was supposed to be some thyme and lemon favored according to the menu, but it turned out to be just vanilla. We would have wanted to check with the waitress and had it changed, if not for the fact that they had already given us an extra sundae for another previous mix-up with the dessert.
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Honey polenta cake with peaches and ice-cream. The polenta cake was really good, though I was a bit disappointed with the ice-cream. It was supposed to be some thyme and lemon favored according to the menu, but it turned out to be just vanilla. We would have wanted to check with the waitress and had it changed, if not for the fact that they had already given us an extra sundae for another previous mix-up with the dessert.
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Guittard bittersweet chocolate cake with Jack Daniels brown sugar ice cream and coffee caramel sauce. This was a rather yummy cake though I couldn't taste any Jack Daniels...
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Guittard bittersweet chocolate cake with Jack Daniels brown sugar ice cream and coffee caramel sauce. This was a rather yummy cake though I couldn't taste any Jack Daniels...
