Labor Day is a great time for barbecueing, relaxing, and consuming a delicious beverage of your choice. I did not taste much wine this weekend, but I tasted some other really interesting things, all of which functioned to enlighten my palate.
Tsunami Sushi (Western Addition/NOPA area): YUM! We had the chef's selection of sushi and totally scored! They have an 8-piece combo of the fish specials for $27, or they have a 16 piece combo for the same price. I was with my sister and we decided to split the 16 piece, especially since the server informed us that it would still have some of the fish specials. That day, the specials happened to be Walu (hawaiian butterfish and our pet betta's namesake) and Toro (pure deliciousness). We thought maybe we'd be lucky and get at least one piece of one of these. She ended up bringing us 2 pieces each of both walu and toro, and a bunch of other delicious stuff (salmon, tuna, etc). This was really exciting!
The other exciting item I enjoyed at Tsunami was a libation called the "Cucumber Sparkle" made with vodka, cucumber, cava, and agave syrup. It was delicious and perfect with my sushi. It was effervescent from the cava and retained its dry/bitter flavors, pairing nicely with the fresh cucumber and it was definitely not too sweet.
After dinner, we went to Noc Noc on Haight. Small bar, interesting decor, way better than Marina venues, and a beer selection to be remembered! I'm not really going to go into detail because I don't even know the names of the beers I got (their knowledgeable barkeep just poured me a few). They were delicious though, and I would definitely go back to this place.
Yesterday, I went to Dosa for dinner and, recalling the mistake I made last time trying to pair Indian food with Cab Franc, I got refreshing, palate cleansing beer. Not really knowing what I was ordering when I requested Lindeman's Framboise Lambic beer, I ended up with something very interesting and unexpected-- beer fermented with raspberries! Sure, it said "raspberry" in the description, but I thought that was just a flowery descriptor. Anyhow, it was really interesting, a bit too rich for me to finish the whole glass, but it did work well with the food (better than wine would, in my experience).
If I did want to drink wine with sushi or Indian food, what would I have?....any thoughts?
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If it's sushi it's sake, a dry sake or beer is the way I have sushi. With indian food I'll have indian tea. Labor day weekend we had our annual McHugh BBQ / pool party; carne asada, pico de gallo, guacamole, Pacifico Beer and hand shaken Petron Margaritas, does Mexico make wine? Love Dad
ReplyDeleteHand shaken patron margaritas? I could use one of those now! Not sure if mexico makes wine... I think brazil is starting to experiment...
ReplyDeleteI read in F&W today that Pinot Noir goes really well with Mexican! I can say that I've never tried it... it sounds like a stretch to me. I prefer a marg, but who knows... I may try it.
ReplyDeleteOn the sushi/Asian/Indian note, I am on a Rose kick... esp if it has a slight bit of effervescence... yum!
well thanks for that, Shelbi. ill definitely try a pinot with mexican, especially since i cant really handle margs all that often. And as for Indian/sushi, you're totally right about Rose! i also realized that the food a Dosa specifically is just too hot for my palate to really notice nuances in pairings anyway.
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