Gonzo70 wrote:I greatly enjoyed the whole duck a few weeks ago; really well executed and delicious course. It definitely is large enough to be be shared; it comes with three sides (in addition to a couple preparations of the duck) and is well more than double the size of a typical Boka entree.
Now I'm curious the version you had. The duck was indeed excellent, so much so that Mrs Willie & I went back 5 days later and this time took 3 of our family members. So I've had the duck twice now, there were two preparations of the duck and a single side. Thighs & legs are removed, breast w/skin on is then roasted on the remaining skeleton. Liver and legs are used to make a fois gras sausage.
When done, the server comes to the table to show off the gorgeous roasted breast, then states that it will be taken back into the kitchen to remove the breast for dinner.
Boneless breast w/skin on is sliced into 6-7 pieces, served on a plate w/fig jam & duck jus reduction. While this was quite delicious on our first visit, somehow 5 days later, the dish was noticeably better. Not sure how that happens, I'm guessing the duck itstelf was different as prep was same.
The fois gras sausage is served with some frisee salad and is good. very light sausage, not dense. Again, good but doesn't hold a candle to the breast. Side of roasted squash w/nuts (macadamia I believe) was quite excellent.
Other items:
Octopus starter: Roasted Spanish Octopus w/fennel, persimmon, nori. Octopus is poached in olive oil. Fantastic starter.
Our family also split a 4gram portion of the Alba White Truffles w/tagliolini pasta with parmesan. Um, yes please, should have ordered the 8 gram portion.
For an entree this time, Mrs Willie ordered the Roasted Lamb Loin & Belly w/grapes, olives, swiss chard. Lamb was perfectly tender but IMO was lacking pronounced lamb flavor.
My father had both the seafood chowder and the sweetbreads but ate everything so quick that no one else got to try (he was an only kid, still doesn't get the sharing thing).
Mrs Willie and I had the cheese course to finish off our meal on the first visit, 4 cheeses were served, highlight for us was the Red Rock cheddar, which had a slight blue vein and is colored with twice the amount of annatto as a traditional Wisconsin cheddar.
This time, our family (the sharing par) spit the Black Sesame & Chocolate (bittersweet), w/grapefruit quenelle, pistachio creme. An "adult dirt cup" is how the server described this to us. Our family found it delicious as it wasn't too sweet, with a nice sesame flavor coming through the rich pistachio creme. Cooling, tart grapefruit quenelle was nice contrast.
The amuse bouche to start was a slice of smoked eel, w/black pickled garlic on a nori chip. Wow, great way to start.
Service was impeccable the first visit, second visit was a on a busy Fri night and while the wait staff was excellent, the service was lacking, in particular table full of empty dishes sitting for long time prior to being picked up despite service personnel walking by repeatedly.
I did absolutely nothing and it was everything I thought it could be.