I finally made it to Lucky Belly this weekend. I've had take-out but ramen take-out just isn't the same as freshly prepared. And our visit was purely by happen-stance. The Whole Ox Deli didn't seem like a good option since the Night Market event was on the same night and parking is never great in Kakaako. Le Guignol's first table was at 7:30pm as well as HASR Bistro. Heck, 7:30pm is almost my bedtime. So a suggestion was made for Lucky Belly. We'll just walk-in... which almost didn't happen as they only had bar seating. I started with a Block M which consisted of Hayman's gin, Carpano Antica, maraschino liqueur, barrel aged bitters, balsamic vinegar and Absinthe. Whew! Served over a huge cube of ice, it was like a cross between a Negroni and a Manhattan.
The Mrs chose the Herb and Vine with Raynal brandy, grape and lime juice, simple syrup and sparkling wine with a shiso garnish. Refreshing and appetizer friendly!
While Ms K chose the classic French 75 with Bombay gin, lemon juice, simple syrup and sparkling wine. Can't go wrong with both gin and sparkling wine!
We then sampled the Pork Belly Bao with sake hoisin and pickled cucumbers. Tender slices of pork belly balanced by the pickled cucumbers, I could have sampled a whole tray. Of course, I would have to down several Lipitor after dinner if I consumed a whole tray.
The Duck Lumpia with shredded cabbage and cherry sauce. Loads of shredded duck meat with a nice sweet sour sauce.
The Oxtail Dumplings with soy glaze and hot mustard creme. I assume the oxtail is used to create broth for the ramen bowls and of course, no sense wasting that leftover meat. The mustard cut through the richly flavored oxtail filling and again, I could have sampled a whole bowl by myself.
The Togarashi Spiced Beef Tartare with quail egg and toast points. No explanation needed, you know how I am when it comes to raw meat... just as good as runny egg yolk... which was also part of the dish.
And the Roasted Beet and Spicy Greens. The beets were served Napoleon style interspersed with goat cheese and the salad was covered with candied pumpkin seeds and a pomegranate dressing. KILLER! The Mrs made sure she got every bit of the candied crunchies!
I then ordered a Toki Doki with sake, orange bitters, cucumber, lemon juice and jasmine syrup. This was very refreshing and I think the girls enjoyed it more than I did!
We ended with the Belly Bowl and the Beast Bowl
A great meal off the beaten path and guarantee that we'll be back for more! Of course the night was still young so we headed to Mezz 127 for their Saturday night Jazz at the Mezz. Tucked into the Topas building at Bishop and Nimitz, the Mezz offers jazz nights on Thursdays and Saturdays for a $10 cover charge and they offer a limited menu of salumi, cheese platters and panini along with a full bar. I didn't get the name of the first band that played be-bop but the 2nd group, Adagio played jazz fusion and had the most entertaining drummer I've ever seen.
Reminded me of days past while in grad school in the Bay Area going to live performances at Yoshi's and Kimball's. Live jazz and wine; that's two of life's major food groups. We'll definitely be back!
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