Sunday, April 02, 2006

EOS Wine Bar



Valentino and I finally made it out to EOS on Monday for a re-try of the date we were supposed to have on Valentine's Day. I must say, it's pretty rare for me to leave a restaurant thinking "What a great meal! I really can't wait to come here again!", especially in this town of 4,000 or so restaurants. But by the time we were wiping our plates clean of the main courses, I was planning for my next jaunt to EOS.

We went there with the purpose of trying a bunch of wines, and I was very impressed with their list. We tried two different flights, the Varietal Hodgepodge Flight to begin, and my favorite was the Alsacean Pinot Blanc, as it usually is. Valentino doesn't care too much for whites, so I sipped the Soave, the Rhone blend, the Pinot Blanc, and the Riesling Kabinett with gusto.

I started off with a Thai spiced chopped salad, and Valentino had the organic lettuces with pommelo and hazelnut-shallot vinaigrette. Both were amazing, and we shared back and forth, but not too much because the salads suited our tastes perfectly. I love spicy, sour foods with mineralistic, high-acidity whites; he loves smoky, sweet, nutty tastes and so sticks with classic palate-pleasers and dark, plummy red wines.

Main courses were the Belgian ale marinated angus hangar steak for him, which was pretty good but arrived well after my Prince Edward Island Mussels with chorizo and Asian herbs. I think the waiter thought we wanted to do a fish course, then a meat course. With the main courses, we had the Spanish Reds Flight, which paired really well with the mussels and chorizo. We also added a half-glass of the Andrew Murray Vineyards "Esperance" blend (Grenache-Mourvedre-Syrah), which was good but overpriced at $5.50 for a tasting pour. Valentino and I both agreed that the best red was the Bodegas Murviedro Old Vine, which was a varietal I'd never tasted before: Monastrell.

Service was great; our waiter was extremely wine-knowledgeable. My favorite reds tend to be Cote du Rhones, and he had a lot to say about the white CdR that was in our first flight. We skipped dessert because although the food is supposed to be "tapas-style," we were quite full from 2 courses each. A signifier of a good meal is that each party likes what s/he ordered the best, and we felt that way after leaving EOS. On the way out the door, we noticed the little bistro next door, and I can't wait to go back!

1 comment:

Sam said...

I used to eat here with an ex, and enjoy it to boot, but it's been over three years. Your post makes me want to head back for one of those scrummy cocktails I recall with the chilli-sugar rim. I remember the flights too. Erm, how come I remember the drinks and not the food?

Actually I remember the brussels in the EOS wine bar next door, which were one of only two versions of sprouts I have really enjoyed in my entire life.