Again this year, Vy and I enjoyed the absolutely dreamlike Valentine’s Day menu at Nibblers Eatery. Those of you who follow me on twitter probably saw an abbreviated and order jumbled rendition of the courses because the twitter service was having some sort of a meltdown. Here in fuller form, the delicious dishes delivered and dined upon.
- The amuse was a whisky smoked salmon mousse next to bergamot preserve on baguette toast. It tasted exactly like you’d expect those two things to taste together, assuming you’ve ever drank Earl Grey tea or eaten lox.
- For the first course, we chose lobster purses on pea sprouts. This was a course where Vy knew exactly what she wanted and so we didn’t really discuss the other options available. I liked every option here and would have been fine with any of them. There was a sparkling wine tasting paired with this and it really helped cut the doughiness of the pastry satchel.
- With the second course, we had no strong feelings other than wanting to avoid some ingredients which give us trouble, so we went with the waitress’s suggestion and had the frittata with duck & fig sausage and red potatoes. As was evident once it arrived, it had a delicious mustard sauce over it. Well, delicious for me, anyway. Vy actually didn’t hate the mustard taste which is a tribute to the culinary skills at this restaurant. It was paired with a red wine.
- Then, an intermezzo of champagne sorbet. I’m not a sorbet fan. This was pretty good for something I don’t much like, certainly better than any of the several fruit sorbets I’ve tried from all sorts of places.
- Do you know what barramundi is? Me neither! But the third course was some of this new-to-me fish, lacquered with mirin and served on a bed of couscous. This was the winner of the dinner for us both. I liked the strong tang of curry and mirin and the solidity of the fish. It had a satisfying texture and engaged the tongue. Back to a white wine taste paired with this one.
- Then, because I love to exercise options, I got the cheese plate. On it were an Andante Pianoforte, a Torta la Serena Serra de Estrela, and a Rogue Creamery Rogue River Blue. The blue was paired with apple slices and ginger biscuits, the Serra with honey and the Andante with a preserve. Vy tasted each of them and pronounced the Pianoforte the one she disliked least while I ravaged all three of them and in the end would say what I did as I began, that the blue cheese is my go-to cheese. Especially the Rogue Creamery, which we’ve had before at Nibbler’s.
- The meal finished out with a poundcake bite with custard on it and it really put the closure on the meal that you would expect.
As ever, one of the best meals we can remember having since, well, the last time we went to Nibbler’s. The restaurant was reassuringly crowded on this occasion and so we have hopes they’ll be in business for a good long while yet to come.
