We were absolutely excited about this meal....
Unfortunately with Disney related issues, by the time we checked into out hotel room, changed and then paid for an expensive taxi ride there we were so stressed out that it was hard to enjoy our meal. Atleast it was at first. The service here is outstanding, as I am sure that most people who have written about V&A's have said before me. It was actually a little too outstanding...
My DH is in the Military and I am a nurse, so we aren't used to being taken care of. Having someone walk me to the bathroom and fold my napkin for me while I was gone then replace it in my lap when I returned had me a little on edge. It was nice, don't get me wrong, I am just not used to it.
This is one of those meals I don't have pictures of. Partly because I was so stressed out and partly because taking a picture in such a beautiful romantic setting seemed close to sacrilege.
As soon as we walked in they realized we were stressed (we had called a head of time to let them know we might be late because of buses and the woman at the front desk of out hotel) and they were wonderful in their attempts to calm us down. Our servers were lovely people who were very knowledgable about the food... and the sometimes confusing silverware...
They said they had just changed to a new style and that many of them don't like it much. I took etiquette classes when I was younger, and I'd like to think that I can understand the tools well, but not only had I never seen a couple of them before, but the handles on the knives were heavy, causing them to tip over easily. This caused issues for myself and others around the room at different points during our meal...It actually was quite humourous....
Well, the restaurant was beautiful and the service was wonderful, but onto the food.
We decided to both simply get iced tea with our meals...we figured adding the wine pairing when we were stressed wouldn't be the best idea as our senses were already slightly off, to put it nicely. They actually took this to mean that we didn't drink, and at the end of the night they gave us a bottle of sparkling cider instead of glasses of champagne to celebrate our honeymoon. This was actually really nice because we were able to take it back to the room with us and have it on a later night when we really needed that little bit of us time.
Four the first course we had the Tamarind-Ancho marinated gulf shrimp with tomato vinaigrette and the jumbo lump and dungeness crab with california asparagus salad. I say we because honestly I don't remember who had what of this course and we tend to share everything anyway. Both were lovely and the shrimp were perfectly cooked with a tartness from the vinaigrette that cut through any richness they had. The crab was good too and the asparagus was done perfectly. I had when asparagus is over cooked or comes stringy and these were neither.
For the second course I had the Truffle cured poussin with fresh morels and english peas and DH had the Poach South Carolina Quail with black mission figs and fuji apples. Again, this was a total hit. I loved the mushrooms and the peas were beautiful. The poussin, which in much simpler terms was cornish game hen was tender and had a wonderful flavor. To say that I was surprised by how much DH liked his would be an understatement. I knew that if it wasn't dry and tasteless that he would like the quail, he has always said he liked quail a great deal, but he tends to be only level with cooked apple preparations and has an unnatural fear of figs that comes from what we are pretty sure was an incident that happened to his mother not him when she was a child. But regardless, he absolutely loved both and cleaned everything off of his plate...of course in true french fashion there wasn't much to clear, but it was still clean...I also got to try his dish and must say I loved it. I love figs though, so it wasn't as much of a stretch for me. I had never had quail before, because I grew up with them living outside my aunts house and have grown rather fond of the tiny birds, but I must say that if all quail tastes like this I must eat it more often.
For the third course we both had the Florida Grouper Amandine with Bean Ragout and Marcona Almonds. The other option was Ivory King salmon with torpedo onions and demi-tasse cup of smoked salmon. We both like smoked salmon but are fans of sushi and view cooked salmon as a waste of a good fish. At best salmon steamed mildly with lemon and dill is edible to me, which shows how I feel. The Grouper however was beautiful. It was perfectly cooked with a fabulous sauce and the almonds added a perfect hint of nuttiness to the dish. I don't remember much more than I really liked it and the fish was not overdone, and this is the most important thing to me. I grew up thinking I hated cooked fish and only years later after I started cooking it myself realized I had always tasted it overdone. So A+ on the grouper.
For the fourth I had The Marcho farms lamb with artichokes and zellwood corn and DH splurged on this one and spent the extra 35.00 and had the Australian Kobe beef tenderloin with smoked garlic puree. I have to say, if I can say nothing else about this meal that the Kobe ruined him. He had never had it before and now whenever we are at a restaurant if they have Kobe he gets this look in his eyes that makes me need to laugh. It was like butter and now nothing else seems as tender or tasty to him. I absolutely loved the lamb. I like mine with a little less of a mutton flavor and this was perfect. DH likes his a little stronger tasting and commented that it didn't taste much like lamb to him, which is his favorite meat. I loved it. The artichokes added a perfect touch and even though I hate corn, I truly enjoyed this dish. His garlic puree was yummy too and added the perfect bit to the beef. I want to say that there were also a marrow of some sort and something else on the plate, but like the other plates, I can not seem to remember exactly what sides were on them, just that they were all wonderful.
For the cheese course or cleanser course, whichever it happened to be called, I had the cheese plate, which had Colston Bassett Stilton, Roth's private reserve and monte enebro. The stilton, a blue cheese was rather strong, but it had a creaminess to it that I really enjoyed. I couldn't have eaten a big piece of it, but the taste that I got was nice. It is supposed to be one of the best in the world. The Roth's is supposed to be like a gruyere or a swiss, it almost had a sharpness of cheddar. I don't know if it was because of that it had been plated with or what the cause, but I really enjoyed it and could have eaten more. I think it would be something I would like to have with wine and crackers or melted with a panini. The monte enebro was a sheeps milk cheese from spain and had a thick rind to it. I liked that it almost seemed to have a citrus flavor to it but it was rather pungent. DH liked it when paired with other food, but not alone. He said he would definitely try the cheese plate here if we came back. (we both like cheese and tend to get the plates when possible.) He had the white chocolate gelato with tableside shavings and micro orchids. This dish made me want to cry it wa so good. The gelato was creamy and rich. It reminded me of a hot cocoa that they stopped making when I was a child that I loved, but it was even better. The micro orchids and the shavings not only added color, but they cut the richness and added a cleansing note. I loved the orchids, I have been wanting to use flowers in dishes for years but don't remember trying them before.
For dessert DH had the chocolate sampler, which had a tanzanian chocolate pyramid, a hawaiian kona chocolate souffle and peruvian chocolate ice cream in a puff pastry. I had the Caramelized banana gauteau. His chocolate plate was so rich. The pyramid had gold leaf on it and was beautiful. It had a rich deep chocolate taste and was almost like the portuguese brownies I grew up with. The souffle was sweet but still had a dark chocolate bite and I loved it, though it seemed to much for DH, which says something as I am not a chocolate person and DH loves it. The ice cream was very good but made the puff pastry soggy in some places which DH didn't care much for. My banana gateau was wonderful. It had layers of this rich custard and the caramelized bananas layered in it...It had a crunchy sugar wafer that made it all even more amazing. We ended up taking part of both desserts back to the hotel and having them for breakfast.
For after dinner they have a special coffee pot that they brew at the table with and DH had that. I had a tea that was very good. I can't remember which I ordered, because they didn't have the one I wanted and replaced it with something else. But the tea they gave me I liked a great deal, it had roses of some sort in it and I like floral teas. DH actually didn't like the coffee. He said it tasted old and watered down. That may have just been the way they made it that time, but as he had been contemplating buying one of the coffee pots for home because he liked the way they looked, this was not a good thing for him.
They sent us home with chocolates and a nut bread. We had the bread for breakfast and the chocolates the next day at some point. They were both good.
They also give all of the women a rose to take back which we had in our room for the rest of the trip. It was nice to have that fond memory of our first night for the next few days.
I hope that this was alright for a first review, I hope to remember more for later meals and I have pictures for many of them.
Sorry things didn't go well for you, especially on such an important occasion as a honeymoon.
