Day 5

Today I had the most amazing ramen ever.

Ramen of the Gods

Christine and Beatrice call it "bone soup."  Apparently the broth is made out of bones that are blended for two days straight.  There are noodles and seaweed and pork, along with some other greens.  We got it with eggs, probably the most delicious eggs ever in the history of the world- I think they were hard boiled, and marinated in some sauce, and they were sooo good.  We also got some croquettes and tofu along side it, but they were barely worth mentioning next to these other plates.

Most Amazing Eggs Ever

For desert, we got "ice"- ice topped with "grass jelly," tarot and yam balls.  So good.  Christine said that I don't have white-people taste buds, which made me feel proud.

"Ice"

After this, I was very seriously stuffed.  I was still pretty seriously stuffed when we got to this fancy French restaurant that Christine was really excited to take Beatrice, her best friend here who had studied abroad in Paris, for quite some time.  When we got there we were greeted by the chef, a prestigious Swiss drunk who moved to Taiwan a couple years ago.  Unfortunately, the food wasn't the most noteworthy thing about this establishment.  The chef came over to chat us up not once, not twice, but seven times.  Talking about his age, he shared that "although there may be snow on the rooftop, there's still fire in the furnace" while he thrusted his hips forward.  After treating us to a cup of free wine, he walked around the table asking for kisses on the cheek, and one point whispering "next time I'll turn my head."  We each took turns entertaining him (read: taking one for the team) while he rambled on about this or that and the other three at the table got to enjoy each others company for a brief, uninterrupted moment.  Christine (who I should mention was sitting farthest away from his chosen hovering spot and therefore experienced the least of this man's creepiness) managed to have a fruitful, productive conversation with the man, where she picked up a few very good cooking tips.

Desert

Anyway, onto the food: we got and shared: foie gras, escargo, two different pastas (one with prawns and tomato sauce and another with a creamy mushroom sauce) duck with the chef's "special orange sauce" (not on the menu, big whoop) and then a desert that he called "sauvignon."  It was my first time eating foie gras, and it was pretty delicious.  I had eaten snails once in Spain but they were prepared very differently and I didn't like them very much- the escargo was really good.  The pastas were both pretty delicious as well, especially the creamy mushroom one.  The duck was the only plate that kinda disappointed- it was a little rarer than I like, and the "special sauce" really wasn't that great.  The desert, however, was AMAZING.  It was beaten egg whites, licquor (we chose cherry flavored kirsch), sugar and some white whine, heated with a little scone on the side.  At the time, the desert made all the creepiness we put up with worth it.  In retrospect, a big part of me wishes we would have told him to leave us alone when he first made us uncomfortable.  Oh well, I guess...