So I had a birthday dinner last tuesday, at my fav restaurant at downtown La Jolla called WhiskNLadle. I go there sooo much that the bartender always slips me free drinks, and all the servers and manager knows me by name. I booked the private function room, and got 14 of my closest friends to come. I was a tad worried about the minimum of 500 bucks (excluding tax and gratuity), but the total bill came up to 950, so I guess I had nothing to worry about after all. I guess it makes sense since the cake they made was a frigging 140 dollars (and it wasn't as good as I thought it would be. :( ) Although a few peeps paid short (prolly because everyone was drinking), Deron was so nice to pay for the difference, and to this day, I still don't know how short we are, just that it wasn't a small amount. Ian the bartender stayed to work my party, even though he was down with a very nasty flu. And he gave us a couple of appetizers for free too! Thanks Ian! :)
The private function room, from the outside.
Tom and John!
Mike and Dev!
Jackie and Guang!
Me and Ms. BFF! :)
Brandy and Chanel!
Deron and I!
Yun and I!
Terrell and I!
Jason and Jeff and I! Thanks guys for coming all the way down from L.A!
I had my usual, the seared scallops with fennel risotto. It was pretty good. I'm not a big fan of fennel, but the scallops are amazing, as usual. :)
I got the roasted bone marrow with toast as well. Known as the poor man's caviar, it's melts in your mouth. Mmm mmm! (I forgot to take a pic of that...whoops)
I got the seared lamp chops with salsa verde for my main, but it was just okay, but I was really full at that point. Might have been biased.
Me looking thrilled with my cake. I asked the pastry chef to make a strawberry and blueberry cake with sweet cream, and pink and white flowers on top. And it looked really pretty.
My cake.
I felt that the cake was too firm, but it was good flavor. The cake layers were soaked in honey, and that was nice.
At the end of the night...
In all, it was a blast. :) All the peeps I invited turned up, the food was great, and it was just really nice. :)
Jenn gave me her fav bath and body works products.
Jason gave me a Swarovski bracelet and necklace, and Jeff gave me Versace shades.
I got the Weezer blue album that I wanted, from Deron, which was one of many presents. :)
I got this lucky shit charm from Renee, who thought it was really funny to give me shit for my birthday. :P And she bought tickets for us to go to the "Death Cab for a Cutie" concert in April. :)
On the actual birthday itself, I had lunch with Deron and Lisa and Jason, and they were so sweet to pay for the bill. And during happy hour at the lab, there was a cake waiting for me, and tulips and calla lillies from Danielle. I was sooooo touched. :)
The cake and flowers
Me looking very content.
The whole lab! :)
Then I was whisked away to dinner at Del Mar at the Pamplemousse Grill, where I had the best french food, ever! :) Apparently, they entertain clientele like Princes Charles and celebrities blah blah.
When I walked to the table, there was a Swarovski bag waiting for me at the table, and it turned out to be a really gorgeous amber pendant, to replace the Swarovski star I broke in my car. :)))))
We ordered four appetizers, and two entrees. By the time we were done, I had absolutely no room for dessert. I can't even imagine how much the bill was though...
I had the duo of foie gras, one seared over fresh pumpkin bread, and one of a pate, with homemade apple chutney. It was accompanied by a lightly breaded quail egg, with tomato chutney. The dish was AMAZING. The foie gras melts in your mouth, and the pate was a killer with the chutney. The quail egg just explodes when you bite into it. The best foie gras ever!
We had the pistachio-crusted abalone with lightly breaded lobster tails. It was a disappointment. I think abalones are still better prepared the oriental way, with oyster sauce and all that jazz.
The truffled white asparagus soup was awesome. The chef imports all his truffles straight from Italy and France, so they're really potent. The soup was superb, not too creamy.
The roasted tomato and fennel soup was a disappointment for me, but Deron loved it. I hate licorice, and although I applaud them for adding such a creative ingredient to the soup, I really didn't like it.
I had the chilean sea bass, in a basil pesto sauce, and seriously, it was the best sea bass I've ever had. The fish flesh literally crumples in your mouth, and contrasted wonderfully with the crispy crust. The basil pesto was very savory, and complemented the fish very very well.
The fish... soooooo good.
And they were so nice to bring us home made sugar cookies at the end. Hee. :)
I spent my V-day in L.A finding my car. Jason and Jeff were nice to put me up at their apartment, and it was a really nice day. :)
I got a dozen red roses from Deron in the morning, before I boarded the train to L.A.
Happy! :)
Spent the whole day visiting a few dealerships, and private sellers...
My V-day dinner was at this place called yuan bao chinese restaurant. It was pretty empty, since the rest of the world was prolly at some romantic restaurant celebrating...
I forgot to take pictures until the end of the meal, but...
the beef shank wrap is really good, and according to the two of them, very very authentic Taiwanese flavor.
The golden pumpkin shrimp pork dumplings were reeeaaallly good. The pumpkin was sweet, and it went well with the savory pork. :)
And when I got home to their apartment at the end of the night, they had a gorgeous bouquet waiting for me! :)))))) Thanks Jason for the lovely flowers. :)
Me looking very very happy with the flowers. :)
Apparently the bouquet was 200 USD. Geeez! The wrapping paper was paper with pressed rose petals imported from Italy, and the whole bouquet was adorned with pearls, real seashells, and fake butterflies...
And the calla lillies had real Swarovski crystals stuck in them. You guys know how I feel about crystals... Hee.
I gave each of them a single-stemmed red rose each too!
Jason with his.
Jeff the joker with his. :P
The next day, we had lunch.... taiwanese porridge!!! My fav!!! :DDDDD
The taiwanese porridge with sweet potato....
The spread of small dishes we got! :)
Jason was so funny, on the way to the train station, he wanted to take another pic with the flowers cuz apparently, he had "bad hair" in the ones we took the night before. :P So we took one before we got into his car after lunch.
And then the train ride back to San Diego.... :)
Anyways that's all folks! Imma update with pictures of my new car tomorrow! Wee! :) I'm very excited. ;)
The private function room, from the outside.
Tom and John!
Mike and Dev!
Jackie and Guang!
Me and Ms. BFF! :)
Brandy and Chanel!
Deron and I!
Yun and I!
Terrell and I!
Jason and Jeff and I! Thanks guys for coming all the way down from L.A!
I had my usual, the seared scallops with fennel risotto. It was pretty good. I'm not a big fan of fennel, but the scallops are amazing, as usual. :)
I got the roasted bone marrow with toast as well. Known as the poor man's caviar, it's melts in your mouth. Mmm mmm! (I forgot to take a pic of that...whoops)
I got the seared lamp chops with salsa verde for my main, but it was just okay, but I was really full at that point. Might have been biased.
Me looking thrilled with my cake. I asked the pastry chef to make a strawberry and blueberry cake with sweet cream, and pink and white flowers on top. And it looked really pretty.
My cake.
I felt that the cake was too firm, but it was good flavor. The cake layers were soaked in honey, and that was nice.
At the end of the night...
In all, it was a blast. :) All the peeps I invited turned up, the food was great, and it was just really nice. :)
Jenn gave me her fav bath and body works products.
Jason gave me a Swarovski bracelet and necklace, and Jeff gave me Versace shades.
I got the Weezer blue album that I wanted, from Deron, which was one of many presents. :)
I got this lucky shit charm from Renee, who thought it was really funny to give me shit for my birthday. :P And she bought tickets for us to go to the "Death Cab for a Cutie" concert in April. :)
On the actual birthday itself, I had lunch with Deron and Lisa and Jason, and they were so sweet to pay for the bill. And during happy hour at the lab, there was a cake waiting for me, and tulips and calla lillies from Danielle. I was sooooo touched. :)
The cake and flowers
Me looking very content.
The whole lab! :)
Then I was whisked away to dinner at Del Mar at the Pamplemousse Grill, where I had the best french food, ever! :) Apparently, they entertain clientele like Princes Charles and celebrities blah blah.
When I walked to the table, there was a Swarovski bag waiting for me at the table, and it turned out to be a really gorgeous amber pendant, to replace the Swarovski star I broke in my car. :)))))
We ordered four appetizers, and two entrees. By the time we were done, I had absolutely no room for dessert. I can't even imagine how much the bill was though...
I had the duo of foie gras, one seared over fresh pumpkin bread, and one of a pate, with homemade apple chutney. It was accompanied by a lightly breaded quail egg, with tomato chutney. The dish was AMAZING. The foie gras melts in your mouth, and the pate was a killer with the chutney. The quail egg just explodes when you bite into it. The best foie gras ever!
We had the pistachio-crusted abalone with lightly breaded lobster tails. It was a disappointment. I think abalones are still better prepared the oriental way, with oyster sauce and all that jazz.
The truffled white asparagus soup was awesome. The chef imports all his truffles straight from Italy and France, so they're really potent. The soup was superb, not too creamy.
The roasted tomato and fennel soup was a disappointment for me, but Deron loved it. I hate licorice, and although I applaud them for adding such a creative ingredient to the soup, I really didn't like it.
I had the chilean sea bass, in a basil pesto sauce, and seriously, it was the best sea bass I've ever had. The fish flesh literally crumples in your mouth, and contrasted wonderfully with the crispy crust. The basil pesto was very savory, and complemented the fish very very well.
The fish... soooooo good.
And they were so nice to bring us home made sugar cookies at the end. Hee. :)
I spent my V-day in L.A finding my car. Jason and Jeff were nice to put me up at their apartment, and it was a really nice day. :)
I got a dozen red roses from Deron in the morning, before I boarded the train to L.A.
Happy! :)
Spent the whole day visiting a few dealerships, and private sellers...
My V-day dinner was at this place called yuan bao chinese restaurant. It was pretty empty, since the rest of the world was prolly at some romantic restaurant celebrating...
I forgot to take pictures until the end of the meal, but...
the beef shank wrap is really good, and according to the two of them, very very authentic Taiwanese flavor.
The golden pumpkin shrimp pork dumplings were reeeaaallly good. The pumpkin was sweet, and it went well with the savory pork. :)
And when I got home to their apartment at the end of the night, they had a gorgeous bouquet waiting for me! :)))))) Thanks Jason for the lovely flowers. :)
Me looking very very happy with the flowers. :)
Apparently the bouquet was 200 USD. Geeez! The wrapping paper was paper with pressed rose petals imported from Italy, and the whole bouquet was adorned with pearls, real seashells, and fake butterflies...
And the calla lillies had real Swarovski crystals stuck in them. You guys know how I feel about crystals... Hee.
I gave each of them a single-stemmed red rose each too!
Jason with his.
Jeff the joker with his. :P
The next day, we had lunch.... taiwanese porridge!!! My fav!!! :DDDDD
The taiwanese porridge with sweet potato....
The spread of small dishes we got! :)
Jason was so funny, on the way to the train station, he wanted to take another pic with the flowers cuz apparently, he had "bad hair" in the ones we took the night before. :P So we took one before we got into his car after lunch.
And then the train ride back to San Diego.... :)
Anyways that's all folks! Imma update with pictures of my new car tomorrow! Wee! :) I'm very excited. ;)
3 comments:
Happy Belated bday.
*Kiss from Singapore* =)
Hehe.
*Kisses back!* :)
Aww...looks like you had a great week indeed. :)
But but...you were in LA and didn't let me know? I was totally free all weekend (with the exception of some overtime at work early Sat morning). :( :( :(
Well I'm still glad you had a good time, and it sounds like you got your car problem all fixed too which is a good thing as well. :)
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