March 23
Was a wine dinner at Cava in Bangsar. Wines were Les Domaines Paul Mas imported by Straits Wine.
Billing themselves as Old World vines with New World outlook, the Vineyard rep made a stumbling introductory speech which he wisely cut short.
Starting with a Viogner seemed a bit strange - would have preferred something more refreshing - but the restaurants and importers do what they can with what they got. No sparkling wine from the vineyard so that was that. It did make a good match with the aubergine vol au vents which, outside of the seafood cream oyster, proved to be the best dish of the evening.
Yes, again the Cava didn't quite deliver in food terms. It's not that the food there is bad, far from it. Just that it somehow doesn't leap off the plate and into the tastebuds. Something always seems to be missing, a little zip that would take the dishes above the ordinary. This is not a plea for chili - just a bit more imagination with the ingredients and less on the sauce.
The Trio Oyster was okay, as was the Lamb Shank Fettucine - came over as a kind of lamb stew noodles and quite tasty. They decided to swap the Malbec for the lamb and save the Shiraz for the Steak. Didn't make much of a difference , to be frank. Neither were particularly memorable. I blended them together and they did improve each other. Slightly.
The Baked Maine Lobster Tail was well overcooked, though the Cod was light and tasty. Surprise of the night was the Chardonnay. Rich and creamy with steel and structure, it came across as a pleasant Puligny style wine. We ordered two cases.
The cheese platter I left on the plate. The Enigma dessert wine was billed as a lighter style sweetish wine. Came across similar in taste to the excellent Torres Santa Esmeralda, one of our favourites for aperatif or as a livener before going out. Not as good though.
All in all, fun evening, with okay food and okay wine. RM160 was a bit stiff given the experience, but Cava are good friends so we support them la.
No comments:
Post a Comment