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.

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.

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.

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

The next course was Hamachi crudo with Dragon fruit sauce.

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!

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

The next course was crispy fried broccoli.

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

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

It was paired with a pilsner beer from Barcelona.

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

We continued to watched the chef prepare our next course.

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

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

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

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

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

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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