2.19.2005
mmm...
I realized that I haven't done a food review of any sorts lately. Especially not one that is pretentious and devoid of wit. I have two to offer in quick succession, and I figure that this is as good a time as any.
Last Tuesday, the Queen's College Music Society had its annual black-tie dinner, to which I was invited. The menu was a little weird, and it still reinforces my belief that Queen's College food is awful and Keble food rocks.
The menu was as follows:
Avocado vinaigrette.
* * *
Braised pheasant
Parsley potatoes
Brocolli
Carrots
* * *
Bombe Alaska
* * *
Chevalier la Tour Sauvignon
Pinot Noir
Vintage Port
The avocado was OK, though the vinaigrette was far too vinegary and not well balanced at all. The pheasant was supposed to have been braised, which is a method of cooking which renders tough cuts of meat extraordinarily tender. This pheasant must have started out like a block of concrete; the only other explanation is that this meat was not braised but roasted, dehydrated, and spraypainted. The bombe alaska, on the other hand, was a delicious rush of sugar heaped upon more sugar heaped upon ice cream. Fantastic. The wines were OK, but not well paired with the vinaigrette (wine with a vinaigrette seems a little silly) and nothing, not even a good pinot noir, could have saved the pheasant.
Then on Thursday, Keble MCR had its termly black-tie dinner. Liike I said, Keble food rocks, and this was no exception. The menu for Keble:
Prosciutto, mozarella and mango salad
* * *
Supreme of pheasant with apple, raisins and capers with apple gravy
Braised red cabbage
Creamed potatoes
* * *
White chocolate and vanilla mousse with a dark chocolate sauce
* * *
Coffee and mints
* * *
Red and White Concha y Toro
Port
OK, the mango salad had mint and dill in it, two things that I don't normally associate with a prosciutto and mozarella starter. But still, it was quite refreshing, and did a lot to whet the appetite. The pheasant at Keble was ridiculously far removed from the pheasant at Queen's. Tender, juicy, succulent, and perfectly cooked, this dish was outstanding - the red cabbage was delicious and the potatoes were creamy and soft without being watery. The dessert was the only lackluster part of the meal, especially when compared to the delicious bombe alaska at Queen's. Still, this had the advantage of being far more elegant (we were asked to help ourselves at Queen's off of giant silver platters carried with some difficulty by the wait staff) and less prone to overindulgence. The wine was decent, both better than that at Queen's. It just goes to show that Queen's food really is sub-par; even when they're trying hard.
Finally, a potent potable story to share with you. Tonight was the MCR pool tournament, which I did not win. Nor was I on the winning team for the doubles tournament. But there was a prize for the most ridiculous slop shot of the tournament, which was given to me for not one, but a series of amazingly lucky and spectacular shots which I made in two separate games, including two shots which sank two balls each, and a shot which sent my ball the entire length of the table and then back down again, and then back down again before it entered the pocket.
The prize for the garbage shot award is a bottle of Sainsbury's Bucks Fizz. Sainsbury's is a grocery store, so this is bargain basement stuff already. Bucks Fizz, evidently, is "a sparkling blend of white wine and orange juice". The horror... the horror...
Last Tuesday, the Queen's College Music Society had its annual black-tie dinner, to which I was invited. The menu was a little weird, and it still reinforces my belief that Queen's College food is awful and Keble food rocks.
The menu was as follows:
Avocado vinaigrette.
* * *
Braised pheasant
Parsley potatoes
Brocolli
Carrots
* * *
Bombe Alaska
* * *
Chevalier la Tour Sauvignon
Pinot Noir
Vintage Port
The avocado was OK, though the vinaigrette was far too vinegary and not well balanced at all. The pheasant was supposed to have been braised, which is a method of cooking which renders tough cuts of meat extraordinarily tender. This pheasant must have started out like a block of concrete; the only other explanation is that this meat was not braised but roasted, dehydrated, and spraypainted. The bombe alaska, on the other hand, was a delicious rush of sugar heaped upon more sugar heaped upon ice cream. Fantastic. The wines were OK, but not well paired with the vinaigrette (wine with a vinaigrette seems a little silly) and nothing, not even a good pinot noir, could have saved the pheasant.
Then on Thursday, Keble MCR had its termly black-tie dinner. Liike I said, Keble food rocks, and this was no exception. The menu for Keble:
Prosciutto, mozarella and mango salad
* * *
Supreme of pheasant with apple, raisins and capers with apple gravy
Braised red cabbage
Creamed potatoes
* * *
White chocolate and vanilla mousse with a dark chocolate sauce
* * *
Coffee and mints
* * *
Red and White Concha y Toro
Port
OK, the mango salad had mint and dill in it, two things that I don't normally associate with a prosciutto and mozarella starter. But still, it was quite refreshing, and did a lot to whet the appetite. The pheasant at Keble was ridiculously far removed from the pheasant at Queen's. Tender, juicy, succulent, and perfectly cooked, this dish was outstanding - the red cabbage was delicious and the potatoes were creamy and soft without being watery. The dessert was the only lackluster part of the meal, especially when compared to the delicious bombe alaska at Queen's. Still, this had the advantage of being far more elegant (we were asked to help ourselves at Queen's off of giant silver platters carried with some difficulty by the wait staff) and less prone to overindulgence. The wine was decent, both better than that at Queen's. It just goes to show that Queen's food really is sub-par; even when they're trying hard.
Finally, a potent potable story to share with you. Tonight was the MCR pool tournament, which I did not win. Nor was I on the winning team for the doubles tournament. But there was a prize for the most ridiculous slop shot of the tournament, which was given to me for not one, but a series of amazingly lucky and spectacular shots which I made in two separate games, including two shots which sank two balls each, and a shot which sent my ball the entire length of the table and then back down again, and then back down again before it entered the pocket.
The prize for the garbage shot award is a bottle of Sainsbury's Bucks Fizz. Sainsbury's is a grocery store, so this is bargain basement stuff already. Bucks Fizz, evidently, is "a sparkling blend of white wine and orange juice". The horror... the horror...
