About 1 month ago, we sampled the first menu from The Pig and the Lady and all courses were superb! Last night was the final night of menu number 3 and we were graciously invited by the K's to celebrate their anniversary. As usual, we started the evening with several rounds of bubbly - tonight's selection was "J" Rose.
Menu number 3 read like this:
HEADCHEESE
fresh green peppercorns, pickled fuji apples, chicharrones, fish sauce vinaigrette
Normally headcheese is a dish I probably wouldn't order but Chef Le's version was sliced very thin and spiked with peppercorns to cut through the gelatinous bits and also cut through the rich pate slathered on mini toast points. Though my Otokoyama Junmai sake held its own with the dish, the real stars were the aged rieslings.
shallots, purslane, onion and beancurd jus
Several rose were poured for this dish but I must say that I really enjoyed the Egly Ouriet Grand Cru Rose with this dish. The effervescence also cleansed the palate between bites of fried earthy croquettes and rich beancurd sauce.
BEEF
roasted bavette, pickled mustard seeds, braised short ribs, green onion and lime, jasmine rice congee
Now I know that I need to braise my short ribs for a lot longer than I normally do since Chef Le's version literally melted in your mouth. With a touch of green onion and cilantro(?) and the lightly scented congee, I almost ignored the beef bavette. And the star wine was a 1969 L'Oratoire Chateauneuf du Pape - glorious just by itself.
BUN RIEU
crab and tomato soup, rice noodles
Once again, The Pig and the Lady shows that soup is an integral part of any meal... and while Mama Le's pho is still my favorite, this bun rieu was a very, very close 2nd.
HONEYCOMB SUGAR
jasmine tea ice cream, mung bean cake
I actually sat next to Chef Le's father throughout dinner and listened to his fascinating stories of life in Vietnam. He mentioned that the honeycomb sugar was specially flown in since it's difficult to make and it did elevate the jasmine ice cream to new heights.
Another great meal with good friends and good wines (a lot of wines once again). If you still haven't tried The Pig and the Lady, their fourth menu starts on 8/23 and runs through 9/3 but alas, all seatings are already sold out and they're taking a break after the fourth menu. Hopefully it's not too long of a hiatus...
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