Valentine's Day at the Tasting House

With Valentine's Day approaching,  I made early (30 days in advance) reservations at the Tasting House - one of our favorite local restaurants in Los Gatos.

When we arrived at 19:15 (right on time), we were quickly seated at our table in the main dining room. It was busy, and all the tables were occupied. It was deafening inside (and I prefer quiet surroundings where I can talk without raising my voice).

Our waiter came by and brought us our menus, and offered tap or sparkling water. While the food was excellent, the dishes could have arrived faster. The entire dinner service took about 3 hours.

Inna ordered the Valentine's Day Tasting Menu ($180/person food & wine) included:

• First Course
• 1/2 oz Caviar with Blinis & Creme Fraiche
• MV Telmont Reserve Brut Champagne, France
• Second Course
• Seared Tuna Crudo
• 2021 Roger Neveu Cote de Emboouffants, Sauvignon Blanc, Sancerre, France
• Pasta Course
• Duck Confit Papperdelle
• 2021 Forstmeister Geltz-Zilliken Saarburger Kabinett, Riesling, Germany
• Entree Course
• Grilled Lobster Tail with Bearnaise
• 2019 Patrick Pluze Bourgogne "Tonnere" Chardonnay, Burgundy, France
• Dessert Course
• Banana Fosters Bread Pudding
• 2016 Royal Tokaji 5 Puttaonyos Red Label, Tokaji, Hungary

Inna really enjoyed the Duck Config Papperdelle and the Grilled Lobster Tail.

 I ordered the following dishes a la carte:

• First Course
  
• French Onion Soup
• Entree
• Grilled Salmon 

I really enjoyed my French Onion Soup (though I prefer more cheese) and the Grilled Salmon.

I would have preferred to have more cheese in my French Onion Soup.

 

The Duck Config Pappardelle is a signature dish and excellent.

The Lobster Tail was delicious but a bit small.

The Banana Bread pudding was excellent.

We enjoyed our time at the Tasting House, but we would come on a different day next time. Valentine's Day is too hectic, and we spend too much time waiting for dishes.