We had lunch again at Mariposa in Needless Markup... I mean Neiman Marcus. While merchandise outside of the restaurant may carry slightly inflated prices, I think that Mariposa is priced reasonably considering the quality of food and service that you receive. From appropriately colored napkins (the server places a black napkin on your lap if wearing dark trousers/dress), to the amuse bouche chicken consomme and complimentary popovers (that don't make your fingers greasy anymore) to the view and great service.
Monday was the actual holiday for the Mrs and me so we started with some fizzy - a Peach Bellini for the Mrs and a Kir Royale for moi.
I had trouble deciding on my selection(s). I first had to decide if I would take the route of restraint with just a salad or a sandwich or a pasta. Once I threw restraint out the door (since Monday was the actual holiday, calories and cholesterol didn't count), would it be a salad and sandwich, or salad and pasta, or pasta and side... decisions, decisions. So I followed my simple rules. When deciding between a special and a regular menu item, choose the special. You can always come back for the regular item. When choosing between a favorite dish and a new dish, choose the new dish. If you keep selecting the favorite, you soon turn into your parents and next thing you know, you're up at 4am every day (regardless if it's a workday or not) and start eating dinner every evening at 4pm. Variety is the spice of life, choose something different on the menu. Lastly, when selecting between an item that you know will be very good - but can make at home - versus something you would never try to make, go with the mendokusai dish that you'll never try to replicate at home. That being said, I chose the Chilled King Crab Salad with avocado, hearts of palm and radishes with Green Goddess dressing over the Waialua Asparagus Salad with olive ciabatta and fried egg. Why? I already tried the asparagus dish before and though I'm a total egg slut, I had yet to try the King crab salad. Next up, the entree. I already tried the Lobster Club Sandwich and the Mrs was ordering a side of sweet potato fries so a side of fries with a sandwich wasn't needed. Go for the Smoked Salmon with Whole Grain Spaghettini in Mascarpone-Thyme Sauce.
The crab salad was KILLER! About a 1/2 cup of flaked King crab on chopped lettuce and butter lettuce tossed with cubed avocado, julienne radish and cubed hearts of palm (for a nice contrasting crunch) with Green Goddess dressing. Perfect with the Kir Royale!
The smoked salmon pasta was no slouch either. About 3 ounces of flaked smoked salmon tossed with whole grain spaghettini (to lessen the guilt of the mascarpone), sliced fennel, fresh spinach and Hamakua mushrooms in a lighter mascarpone-thyme based sauce dotted with ikura. I paired this with an Au Bon Climat Pinot Noir... (gotta try to replicate this in my own kitchen now... the pasta, not the wine... in fact, drink the wine while trying to replicate the pasta).
The Mrs started with a Special Chopped Salad with mixed cherry tomatoes, yellow and red watermelon, feta and kalamata olives served in a crisp edible bowl with a raspberry vinaigrette. She enjoyed her salad as much as I scarfed mine.
She selected the Stuffed Chicken Breast with beet tzatziki and baby watercress on wild rice (the Mrs does count calories and cholesterol even on holidays).
She finished the meal with a Peach Cobbler which was a little unusual. It was a half fresh peach topped with peach gelatin (that was very firm like kanten) layered with mascarpone and seated on a slice of pound cake. This conconction was served in a martini glass so slicing the peach was a little hairy - push too hard and that peach might end up flying out of the glass onto another table... but she managed to finish the healthy parts.
And in the words of Ah-nold, "we'll be back"!
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