Sunday, December 11, 2011

Partagas Number 10, Cappuccino, and Single Malt Scotch

Here is an update for all the cigar lovers out there.  I'm updating my writing blogs and enjoying a Partagas number 10 cigar, a cappuccino, and a single malt scotch.  I wish I could tell you the single malt scotch, but I can't remember it off hand and I couldn't spell it if I could.  It is a double cask madiera ad 12 years old--that doesn't bracket it much, but it is wonderful with the cigar and the cappuccino.

The cigar is my favorite.  The Partagas is a 7.5 inch by 49 ring cigar.  Is is a handmade mild double corona made in the Dominican Republic with a Cameroon wrapper and a Mexican binder.  The cigar has a wonderful flavor and fragrance.  You can smoke it to the very nub.  The flavor is balanced and the same throughout.  It doesn't stay with you for days like some cigars.

The cappuccino is my making from a Gaggia machine.  I learned to make cappuccino in Italy.  I like it with a touch of sugar and nothing else.

My dog, named Chino--after cappuccino is guarding me from the squirrels and birds.  Since it feels like it is freezing outside, I'm glad he has a furry coat.  I'm not outside, by the way, he just likes the outside--he doesn't like cigars.

Tuesday, December 6, 2011

Wasabi in Wichita

A Wasabi sushi restaurant opened up on the east side.  I went there with the regular copilot on Saturday night. 

We are fish and sushi snobs.  This is because my family was raised with fresh fish and the regular copilot loves fresh fish.  We live part time in Florida for goodness sakes.  In this modern era, you can get fresh fish in almost any large city in the USA, and Wichita has some great fish.  Until Kwon Court had to shut down, that was the best sushi in Wichita and likely in the Midwest.  There really wasn't a great sushi restaurant on the east side.  Now, Wasabi has put a branch in the east and it is excellent.  They've been open for about 10 days.

We went on Saturday and didn't need a reservation.  You usuallyneed a reservation for Wasabi in old town.  We were seated at the sushi bar, but they have lots of table space.  I like the sushi bar, the regular copilot, not so much.

I drank hot saki.  The brand was good and the saki was hot--hot is important.  The regular copilot drank a Saporo light.  I ordered the avocado salad (because I wanted to see what it was like).  The regular copilot ate a seaweed salad.  Both were excellent.  The dressing on the avocado salad was perfect.  They were both huge portions.

For the main dish, I had a chirashi sushi (bunch of raw fish on sushi rice--a junk box, the common Japanese sushi meal).  It included salmon, tuna, yellow tail, tomago, crab, and abachor tuna.  The regular copilot had the chef's choice sashimi.  We each ordered a spicy tuna hand roll and miso soup.  The fish portions were huge.  Even after the first blush, when the portion sizes decrease--if they are half, they will still be large.  The fish was very fresh and high quality.  We took loads home (because we had too much to eat in a single setting)--the fish was still great the next day.  The handrolls were excellent and the miso soup was good, but not great.

All in all, Wasabi is an excellent restaurant.  It is better than the old town location with a better ambiance and a very attentive staff.  We highly recommend it.