After a week of work, I left early one Friday and went to Bountiful Garden, the flower shop next door. I always have this crazy idea of taking off one day to Paris and working for a florist. The Bountiful Garden is just idyllic and almost dramatic. I just want to stay there forever. Apart from the atmosphere, this is the first time I'm getting my weekly flowers from there and I'm glad I did. The pink Oriental lilies are just lovely to look at, not to mention that they smell so good. I actually wasn't aware of their scent until one day, I opened the door to my apartment and this sweet swiff of fresh lovely scent reached me. I'll always remember that moment when I realized that the scent came from the lilies and how relaxed I felt after a long day's work.
Now, on to stonegrilling. Word of caution, the slab of volcanic stone is 400C. And surprisingly, lasts for almost an hour. While cooking the meat, it is not smoky at all and the smell does not cling to your hair and clothes (thank God!).
Downsides include: #1 the meat was not seasoned well, it lacked a certain flavor but then again, maybe that's not a bad thing, if you're into the more muted flavor or meat. The sauces definitely did not make up for it. Amazingly, 5 sauces were (from the top: ponzu, wasabi and black pepper, sesame, garlic butter and miso, and teriyaki) not enough to make up for it. #2 The basic rule is to cut and cook the raw meat on the stone. It will be better if the raw meat is separated from the stone grill, maybe another plate, where you cut the raw meat and place it on the stone to cook. I know it won't improve the taste and a mere personal preference.
All in all, it was definitely a pleasant experience. Will come back again to try stonegrilling seafood. Sidenote: went to the newly opened Passionflower for ice cream. AZUKI RED BEAN ICE CREAM ROCKS!
For the bites, we ordered what we wanted to try but I had the olive crumbed anchovy mozzarella and smoked tomato. Olive and anchovy crust was an interesting texture and saltiness to the entire chewy mozzarella. The smoked tomato puree is tangy but I think lacked that distinct "smokiness". Overall, a nicely presented bite.
My other choice is the rice flour crusted oyster po'boy, iceberg and sriracha mayo. This is a weird choice for me. When the dish arrived, I'm surprised to see that it's actually a very crusty sandwich (and I do mean very) with 3 crusted and fried pieces of oysters on a bed of iceberg lettuce dressed in spicy mayo. To be honest, I liked the combination but I'm looking for something else in between, maybe a fillet of fish like sardines or mackerel will be good.
To share, first dish is the kingfish sashimi, pear kimchi. I love, love, love the pear kimchi! It's sweet and not too spicy at the same time. Try having a piece of the kingfish sashimi with kimchi and it's divine...
Roasted duck breast, soy braised daikon, sour plum. Combination is good and concept is very Japanese. Lightness of the daikon cuts through the roasted duck breast. Enjoyable.
For dessert, I had the strawberry and marscapone cheescake, pistachio sauce. I must say that this one is not too heavy and almost fluffy. Not your average New York style cheesecake but delicate enough to go hand in hand with the pistachio sauce. I would like it better with whipped cream than the pistachio sauce.
For the most part, Small Block reminds me of Porgie and Jones except that Porgie's coffee is prompt and nice, while Small Block's late and weak. Coffee should be ordered first and will mostly likely arrive midway through the meal. Most of us are not used to having breakfast with water. I need coffee with my brunch.
We decided to order muffins because we were not satisfied. Additional coffee was in order. Muffins arrived. Coffee came after. Not a good sign. They need more baristas.
