Shivers Attacks Everything

Adega – 1 Michelin Star, Portugese

I ordered the Classico Tasting Menu of traditional Portuguese dishes. The staff was very attentive and friendly, constantly refilling my water and asking how each item was. As each item arrived, I was informed what the various components were. The decor is nice, if somewhat generic, with large tiles, “old-time-y” lights, and a farmhouse feel. The pictures on the wall were hung slightly crooked, which may have been intentional. The dress was casual, with no one wearing anything fancier than a buttoned up shirt, and a handful of people in tees.

First they brought the bread.

There was a hummus, marinated olives, and salted butter. For bread there was chorizo bread (a focaccia style bread with bits of cooked chorizo), a sweet bread (two words, a slightly sweet roll), and white bread. The hummus was excellent, and the olives (marinated in olive oil, garlic, and an herb) were less overly salted than standard tapas place olives. The butter was butter, and the breads were all tasty, but not outstanding.

Then came the first amuse bouche.

It was a shot of gazpacho, with a touch of oil on top. It was light and refreshing with good tomato flavor and a few other minor notes.

The second amuse bouche had prettier presentation.

The little pastry had blood sausage and green apples. The flavor of the sausage was mild, and the crust was soft. The fish tartare was good, but apparently not very memorable.

Next came the first course.

The codfish cake had a piece of preserved tomato on it, and the spring mix salad had a slice of dried tomato. The codfish cake was slightly over-fried, so was a bit burnt and difficult to chew. The salad was nice and lightly dressed.

Second course was a creamy potato soup.

The soup had a nice creamy consistency, and the chorizo bits were nicely crunchy. The fried kale stuck together more than I would have hoped, so were difficult to parcel between spoonfuls of the soup, resulting in a couple of spoons that were mostly kale.

The third course was oven roasted octopus with potatoes and spinach. The octopus was meaty and tender (for octopus). The potatoes and sautéed spinach were good, but unsurprising. The roasted garlic clove was served whole, including its base and skin. The garlic itself was slightly green, and so not what I expect from roasted garlic cloves. While I enjoyed the octopus, it was of such size that I could not finish it entirely. The knife that was provided for this course was not sharp enough to make easy, clean cuts through the tentacle, which further slowed me. I thoroughly enjoyed the flavor of the outer parts of the octopus. The very mildly flavored meat in the center, while helped with the flavored olive oil and sides, was not sufficiently interesting for its volume.

The fourth course was basically a duck fried-rice.

The chorizo, duck, and demi-glace worked together excellently in the rice, giving sweet, savory, and smoky notes to its interestingly varied textures. The duck breast on top was mostly good, though the skin was not crispy, but rather chewy (and slightly too chewy for me).

Next came a palate cleanser in the form of a papaya (I think) mousse with lime gelatin and dehydrated lime. The lime slice was bitter, and not sufficiently cut by the flavor in the mousse. The mousse was nicely textured, but less sweet than I was expecting. The lime gelatin was nothing special, but did provide a bit of sweetness.

The final course was a trio of egg yolk and sugar sweets.

The egg mousse on egg was creamy. The egg with orange sorbet was nice, though the sorbet melted slightly before I could finish it. The little omelet with almonds was very good. All three of these items were interestingly spiced and had a good level of sweet (which may have been helped by the bitterness in the palate cleanser).

The meal finished with three bites.

The fruit jelly candy had good flavor. The chocolate bonbon was soft, but not gooey. The meringue was good, but just a meringue.

Taj Campton Place Restaurant – 2 Michelin Stars, Indian

I ordered the Spice Route Menu tasting. The staff was attentive, keeping my water full and regularly checking that I was enjoying my meal. As each item arrived, I was informed of its components (occasionally including story touches like the item being te chef’s mother’s recipe) and given suggestions for how it might be best enjoyed. The decor is that of a formal hotel restaurant, with an interesting centerpiece. The dress was mostly casual, with some guests in tees or polos, and some in dress shirts and even a couple of blazers.

The first amuse bouche was a fried roll with mango sauce.

This finger food was interestingly spiced and quite tasty.

The second amuse bouche was a pillow of fried dough around ricotta.

The thin naan-style dough around the cheese was very good, with nice herbs accenting the normal greatness of a cheese-y, bread-y item.

The third item was a yogurt soda.

This was very interesting, with citrus and carbonation, and also yogurt. This might have been slightly too far outside of my normal experience to really work for me.

The final item before the actual meal was described as fried crayfish (or something along those lines).

This fried bit of seafood (it seemed like fish) came with a chili cream sauce and radishes. The heat accented the dish well.

The first course was a spring salad with cucumber, greens, flowers, pomegranate seeds, grapefruit, and snow made from a yogurt sauce.

Mixed together, this salad became cool and dressed. It had sweetness and bitterness from the fruit (and some of the greens) along with floral and yogurt flavors.

The second course was lobster and a stuffed shishito pepper.

The lobster was nicely flavored and less stringy than most. The stuffing of the pepper was very nice, but the pepper tasted a touch greener than I was hoping for. The sauce had many flavors and enhanced the lobster without obliterating it.

The third course was fried cauliflower and rice with milk curd.

The granola added a nice crunch to the rice, and the turmeric foam added nice flavor to the well spiced cauliflower.

The fourth course was a piece of halibut with fava beans, a cashew sauce, and some curry oil to the side.

The fish was well cooked, moist with large flakes. The beans and sauces were good, and provided variety to the flavors of the fish.

The fifth course was slow cooked lamb with rice, snap peas, and a yogurt sauce.

The meat was tender and flavorful. The fattiness was well accented with the spices rubbed on it. The rice was very good with and without the sauce, but worked best with the snap peas.

The pre-dessert was a milk curd and a sorbet, each of which was excellent.

The sixth course was a shrikhand (strained yogurt) with pistachio dust, a rhubarb filling, a crumband a nutty spun sugar.

The  creamy, salty, sweet and nutty flavors played well together. And the variety of textures was delightful.

The meal ended with three sweet bites.

The pistachio fudge was nicely chewy. The middle bite was good, though I can’t recall anything else about it. The chocolate with silver leaf had good chocolate flavor. The leaf did nothing to enhance the flavor, and was clearly just to add visual interest.

Baumé – 2 Michelin Stars, French

I had the lunch tasting menu. The staff consisted of one nice, professional woman who kept my water from emptying. The restaurant is very dark and intimate, with light illuminating the food on the table and basically nothing else. As each item arrived, I was told what it was and to enjoy it. (In one case, I was instructed as to the order for a pair of items that came out together.) The dress was formal, with most men in suits, though not ties.

The amuse bouche was spring pea and lemon. It was very green tasting and slightly odd.

Then came the bread service. The baguette was soft and  with a medium hard crust the butter creamy with a good level of salt.

Then was the caviar service. It was less salty than I expected and had good savoriness, with crispy bits and a pea (?) puree to add textural interest.

The first course was an egg with mushrooms and puffed oats. The white was solid but not hard and the yolk was thick but fluid. The mushrooms were savory and the oats were crispy. The paprika, green onions, flowers, and other spices worked well together with the egg.

The second course was a piece of turbot. The fish was flaky and tender with good meatiness and oiliness. The sauce it was served on was tasty.

The third course was a roasted squab. The meat was delicious, with a slight char on the outside and strong rare meat inside. The little poofs of wonton wrapper around roasted corn had almost no flavor beyond a little corn.

The fourth course was comté cheese with honey. The cheese crisps added sharpness (possibly parmesan). The honey was very mild. Each bite of cheese was great.

Next came the apricot course. The main item was a fruit mousse in a shell with a berry filling and an orange sorbet leaf. Also, there was a peach mousse with raspberry and rose. These items had a bit of tartness to them, and were good.

The final course was two filled balls of white chocolate. One orange and the other blueberry. They were tasty. (As these were finger food, a warm towel was offered, heated at the table by pouring warm water on it.)

After the meal I received a bag of candies. Inside were two tubes of chocolate hazelnut ganache and pairs of hazelnut, chocolate, and sea salt candies. Two flavors of the candies were hard, and not to my taste, with excessive burnt notes. The third was softer and better tasting. (I could not determine which candy was which flavor.) The hazelnut ganache was good, with a thinner texture and less chocolatey flavor than Nutella.

Coi – 2 Michelin Stars, Seafood

The staff was friendly and slightly chatty. My waiter had a bit of conversation with me and the staff kept my water full. As each item arrived, it was explained. The decor was casual and consisted of smooth natural materials with soft seating. The dress was formal with suits and the occasional tie.

I was provided an elderflower soda which was floral and slightly sweet.

Before the first course I was given a radish and egg tartlet. It was less sharp than radishes might be expected to be. The crust was standard pastry. The flavor was good. It appeared that one item not in the official menu was provided to each person at some point in the meal, as I saw others receive an item during dessert instead.

The first course was a mussel cannoli. The bacon and crust gave these few bites a nice crunch for their creamy savory  flavor.

The second course was an oyster. The gelatinous pond with bits of truffle and an airy crust puff was tasty and less ocean-y than I expected. The green tower had a stronger taste of ocean to it, to go along with its pea paste.

The third course was a European sea bass. The fish was tender. The cream balls and caviar on mini-crackers went well with it. The jelly ball worked to provide citrus and herbal notes.

The fourth course was Dungeness crab. These bites were good, and the puffs were not as hard as a meringue, and worked with the grapefruit and creamy base.

Then came the bread service. The bread was a nice sourdough and the butter was pretty.

The fifth course was bone marrow stuffed shells. These shells were tender with crunchy toppings and a good sauce.

The sixth course was turbot with root vegetable scales in a cream and root vegetable sauce. The fish was juicy and the vegetables were delicious.

The seventh course was black bass with spot prawn. The bass was served with a prosciutto skin. The fish was good, the yellow sauce worked with it. The prawn and black gel dots was cooked well, but the flavor was only okay.

Then came a sorbet with elderflowers on top of strawberries. This was really good, with interesting flavors and much of the sweetness coming from the strawberries.

The ninth course was a praline. I enjoyed the flavors, with fruit and chocolate and coconut playing well off each other.

The meal ended with a selection of sweets. A filled white chocolate, a blueberry jelly, a coconut cream, and a mini lemon tart. Each was good, but the lemon tart was my favorite.

Michael Mina – 1 Michelin Star, New American

I had the lunch tasting menu. The staff was somewhat indifferent, dressed well, but not significantly more attentive than is typical at a nice sit-down restaurant. As each item arrived I was told what it was. The decor was elegant of the sort one expects in a financial district. The dress was somewhat formal, with many sports jackets, but no ties.

The first course was an oyster served with an elderberry mignonette. The oyster was okay (though may have been more to the taste of a fan of oysters). The mignonette had good flavor, but was offered in much too large a quantity for a single oyster.

Next came the bread course. This consisted of a caramelized onion focaccia and ricotta in oil and herbs. This was a good focaccia and a great spread.

The second course was ahi tuna tartare with ancho chile, quail egg, pine nut, and mint. This was combined at the table and served with toast points. The fish was fresh and the items mixed in gave it a varied texture with nice spice.

The third course was Maine Halibut with green strawberry, cucumber, and cilantro. The fish was meaty and offset the green of the strawberries, cucumbers, and avocado well. I enjoyed the thin broth this was served on, which was light and herbal.

The fourth course was a ribeye cap with new potato, ramp, and morel. I am a big fan of morels, and the earthiness worked with the slight bitterness of the ramp and the nicely cooked fatty meat.

The final course was dessert consisting of a root beer float and a chocolate chocolate chip cookie. The dark chocolate straw in the float was okay, but the float and cookie were pedestrian.

Quince – Three Michelin Stars, Continental

I had the Quince Menu with the foie gras and cheese course supplements. The staff was numerous and very attentive, dressed in formal attire and attempting to cater to any whims. As each item arrived it was explained, with the occasional note of where the food came from in addition to what it was. The decor was formal without being excessively stuffy. The room was dim, but not dark, and the table was fairly brightly lit. The dress was formal with everyone in suits and a number of people wearing ties.

I was provided a sparkling lemonade when I turned down champagne and other alcoholic beverages.

The first course was canapés. They included a beer-battered onion ring, a spring pea chip, a puffed pocket, a tartlet, a savory marshmallow, two savory puff pastries, and a fried cheese ball. All of these items were good bites.

Next came an item called black diamond. It is a ball of cheese and Iberico ham fried together in a crispy breading. It was very good, with nice crunch, cheesiness, and a bit of smokiness.

As these items were all finger food, I was then offered a warm moist towel.

The next course was the caviar course. It came in three preparations. Each was very pretty and did a good job of balancing the saltiness of the caviar, whether with vegetables, fish, or bread.

Next came a dish with Dungeness crab with green asparagus and green strawberry. The rawness of the strawberry complemented the creamy sauce and moist crab. This was tasty.

The fifth course they called springtime in Bolinas. It consisted of spring vegetables and herbs in a nettle soup with a nettle dusted breadstick. The soup was very rich and the items in it worked well. The breadstick was okay, but not great.

The next course was poached white asparagus in a cream sauce with morel mushrooms. The asparagus was tender and flavorful without tasting much like green asparagus. The cream sauce was delightful and the morels had just the right level of springiness. The dish was served with a teapot of the poaching liquid which was flavorful and quite nice to drink.

The bread came out next. There was a sourdough made from spent grain from beer making, a cheese roll, and a focaccia with an olive. Each was very good. The butter was goat (or maybe buffalo) milk based and was a slightly better than average butter.

The seventh course was a hand-rolled pasta with lobster. I am not much of a fan of lobster, but I found this quite enjoyable. The foam gave a hint of creaminess while keeping the dish light.

Then came halibut with fiddlehead fern, wild ramp, and sunchoke. The fish was moist and tender. The sauce was tasty. The fern was a bit tougher than I would have liked.

Next was turbot in a light creamy sauce. This was a well cooked tasty piece of fish.

The next dish was the foie gras course. It was served deeply seared with a sweet sauce and kumquats. The meat was creamy, but not a paste, and its savoriness was nicely offset with the sweet and bitter flavors around the plate.

Course eleven consisted of two pastas: a mushroom stuffed green pasta and a suckling pig stuffed pasta served in a rolling pin. The sliced porcini mushrooms and fried sage nicely matched the mushroom pasta and truffle sauce. The suckling pig pasta was buttery and tasty.

The next item was a beautifully cooked piece of lamb. It was served with a nice au jus and tasty crunchy bits of variously flavored fried dough.

After this came the cheese course. I received a local blue cheese, a local soft cheese, and an imported hard cheese. These came with two breads, a sourdough and a fruit and nut bread, blueberry jam, honeycomb, and Jordan almonds. The cheeses were a good variety, with nice smokiness, sharpness, creaminess, and pungency. I liked the fruit and nut bread and the jam and honeycomb. I wasn’t a fan of the almonds.

The first dessert course was a rose sorbet. It was cool and sweet with nice floral notes.

I had a cup of mint tea with my desserts. This was milder than most commercial mint teas, but good.

Next was a strawberry ice with smoked caramel coffee (decaf at my request) mousse and meringue. This came on a tasty crunchy base. The coffee mousse tasted strongly of coffee which, while not bitter, was not to my taste. The rest of the dish was quite good, with a nice variety of textures.

The final course was migniardise, a collection of bite-sized desserts. The cart that came out had about a dozen options on it from which I wound up choosing five. I took a puff which was unmemorable, a lemon bar which was decent, a raspberry shortcake cookie which was okay, a devil’s food cake which was bad, and a mango-passionfruit marshmallow which tasted of its namesakes, which I remembered only too late that I am not fond of.

They brought out freshly baked herbal madeleines, which were quite tasty, with nice flavors and not too much sweetness.

Finally, as I exited the restaurant, I was handed a hot chocolate in a paper cup. I suspect if I had not told them I was avoiding caffeine that it would have been a coffee of some sort. The hot chocolate was okay.

Khin Khao – One Michelin Star, Thai

I had a turmeric lime soda, khao kan jin, and khao man gai. The restaurant is busy with a bit of a diner quality to it. The staff was attentive. As each item  came out, it was very briefly explained including suggestions on how to eat it. At lunch time, the restaurant is very casual, with almost nobody wearing suits.

The turmeric lime soda was strongly flavored and good. It was not too sharp or sweet, though it was both.

The khao kan jin was a pork blood infused sticky rice steamed and served in a banana leaf. It was accompanied by sliced red and green onion, a chili pepper, a wedge of lime, and fried garlic chips and onion slices. The rice was tasty with nice flavor and good sticky texture. All of the accompaniments offered a variety of taste and texture accents.

The khao man gai is chicken fat rice, ginger poached chicken, a sweet and spicy sauce, and a cup of chicken broth. The flavors were good, if slightly milder than expected, with nice fattiness and a little crunch from cucumber slices.

Lord Stanley – One Michelin Star, Modern European

I had the tasting menu. The staff was friendly and attentive and dressed in nice, but not fancy, clothes. As each item arrived it was mentioned what it was. The restaurant is a fairly small room with an upstairs area of a single communal table and a downstairs area with a number of smaller (single group) tables. Most men wore button-up shirts, but nothing particularly fancy.

The first course was a poached oyster with daikon, curry, and coriander. The flavor of the sauce and radishes was really good. The oyster itself had good texture and tasted fine. (I am not a huge fan of the flavor of oysters in general.) This was served with a nice crusty bread and good butter.

The next course was warm cabbage with buttermilk and uni bottarga. The cabbage was well cooked. The cabbage was nicely accented with the creamy sauce and slightly salty roe.

Next came pan seared scallop with English peas and black olive in an espellette broth. The scallop was tender and flavorful. I liked the saltiness of the olives and the slight spice of the espellette broth. The peas had an awkward texture as if they were in a papery shell. The flavor of the peas was okay, but the texture did not work for me.

The fourth course was a grilled pork rib with earl gray glaze served with piccalilli and avocado. The meat was incredibly tender and the bergamot gave the glaze a nice flavor. The relish was good with a nice selection of pickled vegetables that worked well with the pork and avocado puree.

Next came Wagyu sirloin with early summer squash, nasturtium and red wine jus. The beef was nicely seared and very rare inside. The flavor worked very well with the jus. The squash was mild and tasty.

Next came a nice strawberry sorbet. The waitress noticed I had not been drinking, so checked whether I wanted the alcoholic portion of the course, which I turned down. The sorbet would have been served as a float in a sparkling wine.

The final course was a frozen peach with arborio rice, verbena and ginger. The thin wafer of sugar, verbena, and ginger was delicate enough to break into the peach sorbet and cool rice pudding. The flavors balanced nicely and the rice texture contrasted nicely with the sorbet and crisp sugar wafer bits.

The meal ended with two sweet bites. The Neapolitan macaron had a swirled chocolate and vanilla exterior with a strawberry filling. It was a nice balance of flavors. The chocolate brownie bite was rich and nicely accented with a pinch of sea salt.