Degustation: My First Tasting Menu

(Note: This space is now Restaurant Ukiyo)

This dinner at Degustation really put my interest for food into overdrive. I’ve never had a tasting menu prior to this awesome birthday gift from my sister. It was an intimate space and the counter allowed you to watch the chefs prepare every single dish.

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My sister and I were seated at the beginning of the counter near the entrance. The menu offered small plates and a few desserts. We decided to do the Chef’s 10-Course Tasting Menu for around $80. Not bad at all. The chefs and cooks immediately got to work. I was so amused by the tweezers being used to assemble the dishes.

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The first course consisted of a couple small bites. I really should have taken notes. Towards the top of the plate was the Spanish ‘Tortilla” with quail egg and shallot confit. The other small bite was an apple and serrano croqueta.

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Tortilla and Croqueta

We also decided to do the wine pairing. Might as well! It started off with a sherry from Andalucia, Spain.

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La Garrocha Sherry

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Amuse Bouche

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The next course was Hamachi crudo with Dragon fruit sauce.

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Hamachi Crudo

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Crudo with Citrus Sauce

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I have to say the pours were fairly generous since we were given a new wine for almost every single course. My sister could not even finish most of them. I took care of that!

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Up next was the soup course. The mug was filled with a sunchoke soup and the spoon held the sea urchin and apple gelee.

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Sea Urchin Soup

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Sea Urchin and Apple Gelee

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Wine Glass Collection

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Preparing Our Next Course

The next course was crispy fried broccoli.

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Carefully placing the egg on top

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The next dish was sort of like breakfast with a twist. A slow-poached egg was placed on top of mushrooms and prosciutto.

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Poached Egg, Mushrooms, Prosciutto

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Cheers

The next dish was crispy sardine with pickled red onions and leek sauce.

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Crispy Sardine

It was paired with a pilsner beer from Barcelona.

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Pilsner

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White Wine from Terra Alta

Another course, another wine. It was a white wine from Terra Alta served with our seared scallops.

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Scallops

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Keeping Up with the Pairings

We continued to watched the chef prepare our next course.

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I want to say this dish was duck on flatbread. It was gone in two bites.

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Red Wine from  Madrid

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Our last savory dish was braised short ribs, cassis, pomme puree, and carrots.

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Braised Short Rib

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It was almost time for dessert. Our palate cleanser was a berry gelée.

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Palate Cleaner

The last dish was yummy. It was a torija (Spanish french toast) with grapefruit segments.

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Torija

We were served a sweet white wine from Malaga, Spain.

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Dessert WIne

I really enjoyed this dinner. It claimed my tasting menu virginity. The dishes weren’t mind blowing, but the set menu, wine pairings, and open kitchen made for a memorable experience!

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Thanks!


 

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