It was the Mrs' birthday last Saturday so that evening I treated her to dinner at the best gourmet Italian restaurant in Hiroshima, which happens to be a two minute walk from our gaffe, so very convenient indeed.
It's run by a Japanese husband and wife team. The hubby trained as a chef in Italy and the wife is a qualified sommelier; if you fancy lashing out on some upscale Italian wine, this is the place for you!
For my part, I stuck with the lower end of the wine list, kicking off the evening with a half carafe of Trebbiano to toast the Mrs' birthday.
However, I got a nice upgrade when we ordered the cheese dish as the hard cheese came with a recommendation that it be taken with a rather fine Fino Sherry. Okay, sherry isn't Italian, I grant, but the Fino on offer was a rather fine one and our sommelier poured us a courtesy glass to enjoy with the cheese, which also was not Italian.
It's been a long time since I last drank sherry, but the nose instantly took me back to my childhood at my Nan's. Nan always kept a supply of sherry and let me - and my younger sister - have a small glass or two, whenever she poured one for herself, which was not seldom. That, and her penchant for roll-ups were two of her endearing qualities, all the more piquant for her being a "chapel lady," he he!
After the sherry, the remains of the Trebbiano slipped down like water.
Later, I tried a white wine, perhaps from Puglia, that had been refined in American oak barrels; a punchy conclusion to the evening.
As for the grub, every dish was a winner tonight. After the cheese, we ordered roast venison and roast Japanese beef (wagyu), both excellent.
To my surprise, the Mrs wanted to order prosciutto. I had absolutely no objection, especially as prosciutto seems to have given way to Spanish jamón serrano in a lot of Japanese outlets in recent years. When I tasted the prosciutto, it was absolutely superb!
The Mrs still hadn't finished! We ordered fusilli with truffles and chicken.
There were some other dishes that we forgot to photograph - an excellent tuna sashimi dish, an al-dente risotto dish come to mind.
It was one of those meals that you linger over and remember with deep satisfaction, long after the evening has passed. Here I am, a few days later, at Kansai International Airport about to fly to Kuala Lumpur, but I don't want to blog about anything else until I have blogged about that meal and uploaded the pics!
Job done.
Cheers!
See you in Kuala Lumpur if you're attending the Hive Fest!
For the best experience view this post on Liketu
