Hope you are all doing well today! I know that I am extremely glad it's the weekend! In keeping with my Asian theme from Thursday I thought I'd write about another of my favorite local restaurants, The Bento Box. It's a sushi restaurant that opened several years ago but just underwent a makeover (and a short move) within the past few years. We've been going ever since it first opened and have never been disappointed. The atmosphere is very modern and zen, the food is fantastic and the service is always exceptional. I don't go as often as I'd like, as it's not particularly close to where I live or work, but each time I've gone I've always left satisfied. My most recent visit was over the summer, when I went with my mom and Chris.
Duck Confit Spring Rolls
As I've mentioned before, if a restaurant has duck on their menu, I will always order it, regardless how it is served. As soon as I saw that they had duck spring rolls listed as an appetizer I knew we had to get some. They come filled with duck confit, Thai chili, roasted garlic, cilantro and hoisin sauce, and served with a mango-meyer lemon relish. If you're not familiar with confit, I'll go ahead and tell you that it is the most juicy and savory way to serve meat (normally poultry, like goose or duck). The meat (usually served from the leg) is cooked slowly in grease, oil, fat or sugar water at a lower temperature than what is used when deep-frying. The result is absolutely incredible, and these spring rolls were no exception. They were fried perfectly - very lightly, and the duck combined with the herbs and other ingredients melded beautifully. I was slighgtly hesitant about the relish, because, personally, I wouldn't pair lemon with duck, but the mango sweetened up the lemon flavor and complemented the duck very nicely. The only other appetizer I had ordered here before was the tuna tartare (which I also highly recommend) but these spring rolls were equally as delicious. Definitely a promising start!
Garden Spider
The Bento Box is famous for its sushi, so choosing which roll to order is always difficult. This time, I went with the Garden Spider, which is an inside-out roll (meaning the rice is on the outside of the roll rather than the inside), consisting of soft shell crab tempura, shredded carrots and cucumber, topped with tempura crumbles, scallions, masago (fish roe, or eggs) and a spicy honey glaze. I have had Spider rolls before - generally, they have tempura soft shell crab, of which I am a huge fan. This particular Spider roll was fantastic. The crab was crispy and flavorful, the veggies were fresh and the glaze drizzled on top was phenomenal. If you have never eaten fish roe, I suggest that you try it at least once in your lifetime. The texture is surprising - the tiny eggs are firmer than you'd expect and burst in your mouth when you bite into them. I prefer the red or orange roe over the black (caviar); it's not as salty, and the flavor seems slightly less fishy. Every bite of this roll was spectacular, but my favorite part was the glaze. Equally spicy and sweet, it complemented the crab perfectly. Believe me when I say that every bite was savored.
Katsu
Chris ordered the Katsu roll, which had eel, salmon, asparagus and cream cheese, rolled in panko (Japanese-style breadcrumbs) and flash fried topped with eel sauce and scallions. We are both big fans of eel and eel sauce in sushi - they add an extra savoriness to it, and really aren't as fishy as you might think. Flash frying the roll gave it a nice, crunchy exterior texture and warmed the cream cheese just enough so that it had a soft, velvety feel. Salmon, asparagus and cream cheese are some of the most popular items combined in sushi for a reason - these three elements go extremely well together. Between the Duck Spring Rolls, the Garden Spider and the Katsu rolls, we were all quite pleased with the outcome of our lunch choices.
I'll leave you with a quote today from Virginia Woolf: "One cannot think well, love well, sleep well, if one has not dined well."
Enjoy the rest of your weekend!
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