I don't know what to say; this city's a grind. everyone is constantly on the verge of critical injury. everyone's a toddler playing catch in the traffic. everyone's squatting in a puddle to rewire a live powerbox. everyone's butchering meat on the footpath, and cutting fresh herbs through the dirt and blood. if you have a nerve the city's got an angle-grinder. if your shoes give up the ghost it will glue the soles back on. it wants to back a motorbike over you, and then drive a motorbike over you, then drive another sixty or seventy motorbikes over you. that's the city; the vendor just wants to you take a photo of you in her coolie hat so she can sell you a bag of chopped pineapple.
in the war museum are the wooden stakes the vietnamese used to spike the red river. they tipped them with iron and hid them below the high tide. and the bamboo stakes used to spiked the booby-trapped latrines; and the swinging balls with iron spikes, and, and, and clothing of children killed forty years ago in the christmas bombings, the photos of Heroic Mothers who lost their husband and only child to the war effort, or all their children - two, five, seven, nine....
.
last night we ate in a quiet room in the back of a restaurant, next to the maitre d's family as they ate their own dinner. he was african-french, she was vietnamese, both tall and elegant, their maid shy, their little girl restrained in her squeals and their boy completely elusive, slipping out of the room repeatedly without ever showing his face or seeming to return. in between service the father checks their meals, and teaches their maid to hold both the toddler's hands up high so the toddler can keep her balance as she learns to walk.
at the table in front of us is a chinese couple in their mid-twenties. she's ultimately groomed, with luscious extension curls and doll eyes, wearing a black silk jumpsuit and tan platform heels. she spends their degustation meal examining a series of self-portraits on her i-phone, taking photos of each course, texting with a friend, and checking her face in her compact. two or three times she looks up at her partner, and shows him her phone, then takes it back. he spends the meal just watching her with a half-smile that seems a little bit adoring, a little bit embarrassed. not once does he check his own phone.
at the other table is an older french mother and her 11 year old daughter, both petite and with long, windswept black hair. they look worn out with each other. they both order steak tartare and french fries. the daughter slumps into her silence and the mother glazes into hers.
our meal -
everything was wonderful - perfect, even - except the cannelloni, which was a little too salty and rich, and lacking in integration, because the more subtle flavours were lost, and because it was hard to get firm asparagus spears, soft gooey cannelloni and the delicate salmon eggs on one fork. the dessert was threefold - a chocolate truffle, a vanilla cream and a pineapple 'basket'. Coming after the sorbet this seemed too much. but the bisque and eggplant crumble were incredibly comforting, and the foie gras was - unfortunately - incredibly delicious, memorable, more-ish....
in the war museum are the wooden stakes the vietnamese used to spike the red river. they tipped them with iron and hid them below the high tide. and the bamboo stakes used to spiked the booby-trapped latrines; and the swinging balls with iron spikes, and, and, and clothing of children killed forty years ago in the christmas bombings, the photos of Heroic Mothers who lost their husband and only child to the war effort, or all their children - two, five, seven, nine....
.
last night we ate in a quiet room in the back of a restaurant, next to the maitre d's family as they ate their own dinner. he was african-french, she was vietnamese, both tall and elegant, their maid shy, their little girl restrained in her squeals and their boy completely elusive, slipping out of the room repeatedly without ever showing his face or seeming to return. in between service the father checks their meals, and teaches their maid to hold both the toddler's hands up high so the toddler can keep her balance as she learns to walk.
at the table in front of us is a chinese couple in their mid-twenties. she's ultimately groomed, with luscious extension curls and doll eyes, wearing a black silk jumpsuit and tan platform heels. she spends their degustation meal examining a series of self-portraits on her i-phone, taking photos of each course, texting with a friend, and checking her face in her compact. two or three times she looks up at her partner, and shows him her phone, then takes it back. he spends the meal just watching her with a half-smile that seems a little bit adoring, a little bit embarrassed. not once does he check his own phone.
at the other table is an older french mother and her 11 year old daughter, both petite and with long, windswept black hair. they look worn out with each other. they both order steak tartare and french fries. the daughter slumps into her silence and the mother glazes into hers.
our meal -
Amuse-bouche
Bisque de gambas, bruschetta d’avocats au wasabi & sa gambas grillée
Prawn bisque, avocado bruschetta & wasabi, grilled prawn
Bisque de gambas, bruschetta d’avocats au wasabi & sa gambas grillée
Prawn bisque, avocado bruschetta & wasabi, grilled prawn
Entrée - Starter
Saumon fumé, crumble d’aubergines au gorgonzola
Smoked salmon, eggplant crumble in Gorgonzola, pesto & balsamic sauce
Foie gras
Terrine de foie gras au sel de Guérande, mangues rôties aux épices
“Foie gras” terrine in Guérande salt, roasted mango in spices
Plat au choix - Choice of main course
Cannelloni de crabe & d’asperges au safran, émulsion de caviar de saumon au vin blanc
Crab & asparagus cannelloni in saffron, white wine emulsion & salmon eggs
ou/or
Filet de bœuf australien Rossini, petits légumes de saison à la Provençale
Australian grilled beef Rossini, Provencal seasonal vegetables
Tangerine delicacy
Sorbet tangerine & vin liquoreux
Tangerine sorbet & sweet wine
Dessert
Variation de gourmandises du Chef
Chef’s delicacy variation
Saumon fumé, crumble d’aubergines au gorgonzola
Smoked salmon, eggplant crumble in Gorgonzola, pesto & balsamic sauce
Foie gras
Terrine de foie gras au sel de Guérande, mangues rôties aux épices
“Foie gras” terrine in Guérande salt, roasted mango in spices
Plat au choix - Choice of main course
Cannelloni de crabe & d’asperges au safran, émulsion de caviar de saumon au vin blanc
Crab & asparagus cannelloni in saffron, white wine emulsion & salmon eggs
ou/or
Filet de bœuf australien Rossini, petits légumes de saison à la Provençale
Australian grilled beef Rossini, Provencal seasonal vegetables
Tangerine delicacy
Sorbet tangerine & vin liquoreux
Tangerine sorbet & sweet wine
Dessert
Variation de gourmandises du Chef
Chef’s delicacy variation
everything was wonderful - perfect, even - except the cannelloni, which was a little too salty and rich, and lacking in integration, because the more subtle flavours were lost, and because it was hard to get firm asparagus spears, soft gooey cannelloni and the delicate salmon eggs on one fork. the dessert was threefold - a chocolate truffle, a vanilla cream and a pineapple 'basket'. Coming after the sorbet this seemed too much. but the bisque and eggplant crumble were incredibly comforting, and the foie gras was - unfortunately - incredibly delicious, memorable, more-ish....
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