Atame

I got invited to try out this new restaurant a couple weeks back. Lea came with me and we were both very excited to see what this 'aphrodisiac' restaurant had to offer.

We were invited for 6 PM and got there at that time and thank the lordy lord we did because it became really full, really fast. Mistake was to have about 8 drinks (free :) ) to offer the clients instead of just one or two. It's an opening, it'll get busy and pretty much everyone will get there at the same time. But apart from that first impression, the restaurant itself was ok, a tad tacky with white everywhere a little stage for sexAY shows and big cushion-y chairs. We were seated in front of the stage with 2 couples; one girl that writes another food blog and her boyfriend and another girl that writes a fashion blog and her husband. They turned out to be great table friends! So interesting and fun to speak to other bloggers! 

Anyhoot, let's get back to those drinks, shall we? Lea had the Red Passion which was amaretto, cranberry juice and a bit of tabasco for a kick. She said it was sweet and very tasty. Lots of amaretto=yummy! I had something like the aphrodisiac cucumber. Or somethin. It was cucumber gin, grapefruit and smoked cinnamon. Oh and a hint of I don't know what that was supposed to be aphrodisiac... The smoked cinnamon was good but this drink took about 7 minutes to make! No good for an opening. It was refreshing and tasty nevertheless.

We were then served some bubbly. More drinks? Uh, sure! We were then supposed to pay for our subsequent drinks, so we had a couple but actually did not end up paying for them! Wait. More free drinks? Uh, sure!

At around 7h30, ze food started to come out. First, we got oysters. Aphrodisiac you said? They were served with a lychee mignonette and a passion fruit jelly. Oh and there was a mango chutney as well. It was a bit too much. I mean, for Lea who had never eva tried oysters, it was heaven because the oysters did not even taste like oysters. But one who enjoys them would not have appreciated the fact that the oyster taste, the brininess of it was nonexistent. 

Then, it was veal meatballs. A tasty dip and spicy mayo went well with them balls (I had to). The lettuce was not the right vessel though; it was hard to hold on, dip and eat. The sauce was better than the meatball, which was dry. I just know, deep, DEEEEP in my heart that if that meatball would have been moist, it would have tastier great. 

Then it was the beef tartare with 'asian flavours'. Even if I like everything asian or even 'asian flavoured', this didn't taste like much. No, wait.... The first bite was alright but the problem was that all the spices were concentrated on top of it.

Lamb sausage on a homemade pita bread. I like the idea. There was actually a homemade eggplant mousse that was wonderful. Unfortunately, the sausage was dry. Yet again dry meat. Grrr. Mama likes her meat moist (oh, boy, that sounds bad). The pita was a bit burnt but still tasted ok. Really, the best part was the soft, well seasoned eggplant mousse. Kudos.

Safran and coconut milk scallops. The crust was weird, as if they had crusted them 2 hours before. It was quite an unattractive dish.

Quails marinated in truffle oil. The meat was too dry and the truffle oil was a bit too strong for my taste.

Duck with a prune sauce with figs and a quinoa, blueberry and nut salad. First off, do you see any quinoa on my plate? That's because the two grains were hidden under all that arugula. OK, I usually love arugula but this was overkill: there was arugula in at least half their plates.

Filet mignon with pepper sauce and button mushrooms. The doneness was...not done at all... I'd say almost blue but I liked it and the flavours were very nice. Thick sauce with tender meat. Yum.

Hum hi, have you met me? Ya'll know I love seafood, especially lobster!!! Granted this one was a tad overcooked but it was still good. The tagliatelle were good and well cooked. Good flavours I thought.

For desert, it was a brownie with some fleur de sel and milk+amarula. This hit the spot. It was very rich but it was goo-hood!

Let's not forget this is an 'aphrodisiac restaurant' so... well... hello! There were a couple 'shows'. First one was this cute girl playing guitar, second one was this girl reading from Fifty Shades of Grey... which we found a bit annoying (I mean... it's an opening, don't expect everyone to shut up!) and the third one was...a stripper? Anyway, she stripped down to the bare minimum. I wouldn't say this was entertaining per se (even for me :) )

And now, the service. Our waitress always made sure we had water and she was always there to answer our questions about ze food. Oh and the other waiters/waitresses kept on bringing us only 4 or 5 of everything... but we were 6. At some point, she got it and brought us 7 of each :p Plus, after our two drinks, we ordered a couple more and those ended up being free as well so yay!!!

And now, the scores!

Food: a very generous 6
Service: 8,5

OK, so the food wasn't great and I don't think I'd go there only for the service... and certainly not for the shows. Sorry, but no bananas :p