Saturday, April 17, 2010

Friday Liquid Lunch at Gourmand

It has been quite a while since my last meal in Gourmand (some time December if my memory does not fail me) and honestly I was really craving for my comfort food. We were 4 that day for lunch and we had a great time.

For starters, Foie Gras Terrine, one of Marc's bets sellers in the restaurant. It is done perfectly and always a good way to start a meal.

For my first course, I had Special Escargots, which Marc makes for us upon special request. I had this the first time in Daniel Boulud Brasserie in Las Vegas. Escargots with Chicken Oysters, Panceta, poached Egg and Salad. Lovely dish. We paired this with Rene's Bottle of 2008 Domaine Tempier Bandol Rose. Without doubt, this is the best Rose in the world for me. Such an elegant wine, of a pale salmon color. It also pairs very well with Escargots.




For main, Onglet with caramelized Onion and fries. We asked it rare and it came out Medium rare, which was already for me. Onglet is a cut that is near the kidney, so it is a a bit gamey but very tender and tasty if cooked well. Gourmand serves very good Onglet (Hanger Steak) in my opinion.


For the wine, we had 4 bottles of Red: Jojo's 1989 Tinto Pesquera Reserva, from Ribera del Duero, Noel's 1988 Chateau Talbot from St. Julien, Rene's 1999 Leoville Les Cases, also from St. Julien and my 1995 Dalmau Reserva from Rioja.

We enjoyed Pesquera (well at least Noel and myself) the most paired with our Steak. It had the body to stand up and pair well with the gaminess of the Onglet. The Chateau Talbot was very good also and could stand up a bit to the Steak, although I detected a bit of a funny(stinky) smell at first, which dissipated after a few minutes. The Les Cases was a very elegant wine, and was perfect for after the meal, with a cheese platter. My wine was opened last and we all agreed that it would have paired very well with with the Steak.




We lingered around until around 5:30 PM and headed home after .It was good to be back in Gourmand with good friends and good wine. I hope we can repeat this again soon!!

5 comments:

Unknown said...

I know what you mean about Gourmand being comfort food. Been craving for it myself. Luckily, my friends and I are having dinner there this week. Can't wait!

Noel said...

Great lunch, good thing you organized it. It was a great way to end the week, as usual. Thanks for the ride too! I really didn't want to drive that day!

N

Keiichi said...

This I miss most in Manila. Escargot, beef onglet at JSG with good wine and and company. I always felt most at home there.

Miguel said...

Chinkee - yes comfort food talaga...you can never go wrong there..

Noel - it was a fun and relaxing lunch..

Keiichi - you should have been with us.

Anonymous said...

Thanks for an idea, you sparked at thought from a angle I hadn’t given thoguht to yet. Now lets see if I can do something with it.