More culinary firsts (I do mean it when I say: I eat EVERYTHING)

I went to IP Cafe, the hotel restaurant for dinner buffet. Before I usually just would throw some dried seafood into one of those noodle-bowls and add hot water, but today I felt like something different.  Good thing too!

The buffet was heavy on seafood, which was perfectly alright with me because the absence of seafood would have generated a caustic post about not getting any fish in a port city.

After having samples of Asian Calamari,Seafood Fried Rice with Truffle, and some Thai style Clams as an appetizer I ventured into culinary Terra Incognita.  Even though I had absolutely fabulous crab legs at the table of Hansu and Denise only about a week ago, I went for a Snow Crab Leg. Yummy!  The Sushi wasn't really unknown, but I think the longish reddish Nigiri might actually have been some fake or real Crab as well.

Also placed on my plate was a kind of Sea Snail.  But the sides of the house weren't flat like in Garden Snails, it very much looked like Bruegel's Tower of Babylon. It looked like this but the inhabitant's feet (?) were still sticking out. And one could imagine how tightly it would be wound around in there.







When I worked up the courage and the muscle ( ;-) to pull the fortunately deceased occupant from its house I was greeted by something that looked exactly like the ones living in these slightly different shells.
Long story, quick and rushed end:  Dip in cocktail sauce, insert into mouth, bite, and the texture is pleasantly solid and the taste nonexistent to cocktail sauce.

I prefer Escargot in garlicky butter ;-)



Also devoured were small samples of Grilled Salmon (Yummy Sauce), Seasonal Vegetables (Bok Choi. Is that ever out of season? ;-)

When my Grandpa J.J. was still alive he would always salivate about the Duck in Orange Sauce that he had had some unspecified time before.  Where ever we went for food, this dish seemed to elude him, because we never found him.  I wish he had been here tonight, because the small sample of Duck in Orange Sauce I tried (another first) was truly delicious. Miss you, J.J.!

For dessert I had. STOP. NO lying allowed on this Blog!
Among the three (small) desserts I had, was Serradura, also known as Macau Sawdust Pudding (See pictures HERE). Fortunately someone had pigged out on it already so that I only had a tiny sample. Fortunate because the stuff tasted like it was made from whipped cream and cookie crumbs.  If you look up the recipe on the web, you'll find out that's pretty close to the real recipe.  Astonishingly YUMMY though ;-)

Add to this 2 glasses of wine in the restaurant, the remnant of THE BOTTLE back in my room, and being awake at a time later than I've managed so far here, and I'm really glad I'm typing this right next to my very comfy bed.

Sweet Dreams!

Before I forget:  I mentioned THE BOTTLE but I must also mention something that my friend Yiman pointed out to me just today.  Deng is actually the family name of Deng Xiaoping, which would make Xiaoping his first name.  Don't blame the Chinese, because as I just found out last week from Alesia, the most amazing receptionista of the Grouse Inn, Russians also put their first name last (if that makes any sense ;-).

Today this would make even more sense than normal:  The world is my oyster ;-)

P.S.:  2 days before my departure I will eat lunch at the hotel restaurant again: The most memorable and tasty dish of the day will be sauteed OX TONGUE. Here is a PICTURE off the web of what that dish roughly will have looked like (these P.S. posts are hard on my grammar skills ;-)