I met Robert Mueller for lunch at 1:00 at Ichiban Restaurant at Alameda and Coors. Ichiban has my new favorite lunch Chirashi, because as of today the Chef followed my request to include my favorite selections of fish and seafood and to not include any of my less favorite fish, which I listed on the back of the sushi menu provided me. He included all the favorites I mentioned plus seaweed salad, squid salad, and flying fish roe. I loved Lunch. Ichiban also makes my favorite cup of tea n Albuquerque, a rather astringent green tea that cleans the palate beautifully. For $16.95, it is a couple of dollars more than Azuma, but well worth the extra cost.
I has made reservations at Mas for dinner at 5:45. It was fun eating in an elegant hotel restaurant for a change. It has been years since I have eaten in a fancy hotel restaurant and I loved it. There was a pride fixe dinner for $65.00, which we passed on . Instead we chose three tapas and a bowl of soup. James Carasco Campbell of Santa Fe’s La Boca set up the menu at Mas and I was pleased to order one of my favorite tapas that recently was removed from the happy hour menu at La Boca, the three spread tapa with house baked lavash. A beet hummus, a spicy carrot spread and a roasted eggplant spread are served with a small ramekin of olives and pickled garlic. Our favorite tapa was a skewer filled with grilled octopus, potatoes and cauliflower flowerets dressed with thin slices of preserved lemon. The Moroccan mussels were bland in a mostly milk medium and garnished with fresh kale. Puréed kale was also in the soup, which I liked but Suzette found less than interesting, although it included whole white beech mushrooms, which was a little weird.
We both ordered glasses of Martin Codex Albariño. Generally, we enjoyed getting out of the house and the festive atmosphere and crowd of dinners at Hotel Andaluz made the evening memorable. The restaurant served a rum ball after dinner and gave Suzette a rose? But we had freshly dipped chocolate coated strawberries from the Greenhouse a Bistro at home and so we left after eating tapas.
I don’t know if a 50% successful meal rates a good recommendation, but I am closer to 75% favorable based on the three spread tapa tray, the grilled octopus brochettes, and the kale soup.
Bon Appetit
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