The Tasting Menu

   C and I decided to go out on an impromptu date. The restaurant we planned to go to had a long wait list so we decided to go to another place. It is one of my favourites and one we have been to before. Normally we go there only for very special occasions, but we had just got our income tax refund back and decided that we could afford a bit of a splurge.
   We were shown to our table and given menus. I already knew what I was going to have. I was going to have the Tasting Menu. The Tasting Menu is is six courses of different entrees from the menu. (Served in appropriate portions of course.) Since this restaurant sources its food locally and seasonally, the menu changes every couple of weeks. It's my way of being a bit adventurous.
  Usually I look at the menu to see what is on it. If there are too many things I don't like, then I won't order it. This has never happened though, so I just ordered the menu without checking first. This is what I had.
  Course 1 Strawberry soup  I knew that you could make fruit soups, but imagined that it would be like eating Jello or preserves. This was really good and tasted of fresh strawberries. There was a small sorrel leaf on top of the soup as decoration. It made me think of the scene in 'Seven Brides for Seven Brothers' where one of the main characters picks sorrel in a field because, "It makes real nourishin' soup". It was a good start to the meal.
  Course 2 Halibut  When I went down to South Carolina to meet my in-laws a few years ago we ate a lot of fresh fish. I had some halibut there for the first time. I liked it a lot. This halibut was very good and served with roasted vegetables. The fish may have been roasted too, I'm not sure. Whatever they did it was as good as the fish I had in South Carolina. So far so good.
  Course 3 Octopus  Yes, octopus. This was a bump in the road. I have eaten octopus before in a sushi restaurant that I went to with my sister once. I didn't like it. I'm not sure if it was the texture, the flavour or the fact that there was one sitting in a case in front of us waiting for the next order. It was served with vegetables and salsa verde on top. I cautiously took a bite. It wasn't bad. I looked at C and said, "It tastes just like chicken." We both shared a chuckle over that. I finished the course and the vegetables that went with it. I would probably never order it by choice, but I was glad that I had tried it.
  Course 4  Breast of lamb  This was not good. I have been told that lamb is tasty, but I have always refused to eat it. Lambs are cute and have nice fur. They aren't mean and nasty like chickens. When my plate arrived, I picked up my fork and tried it. I gagged after a few bites. There are few things worse than gagging in public. I have a low tolerance for slimy things and  something on my fork was very slimy. I had to force myself to swallow and not choke. I'm not sure what it was. I sampled the side vegetables. They were very good. I sampled a small slice of the meat and started to gag again. Obviously I had to leave the meat alone. I finished the vegetables.
  Course 5 Cheese  This is one of my favourite courses. Cheese is my favourite dairy product. The cheese I was served was herb dusted goat cheese. This meal was going downhill. I have tried goat cheese several times. It tastes like sweat socks to me. I have tried all kinds of goat cheese hoping that I will find one that I like. Sometime the sock taste doesn't show up right away, eventually it creeps in. I tried a little of the cheese thinking the herbs would cover the sock flavour. It didn't, it only held it at bay for a few seconds. There were dried berries and honey on the plate with the cheese. I found that if I piled enough other items on the cheese it tasted just fine. C and I shared this course.
   Last Course Cheesecake and Berries There is only one word to describe this course. Yum. There was cheesecake pudding, a small side of some graham cracker stuff and fresh berries. It was welcome after the last two courses. Even though the meal had a few rocky parts, this made up for all of it.
  Note to self, next time check the menu before ordering.