Banu Kabob and Vodka bar

So for a friend's birthday festivities yesterday we found ourselves at Banu on Queen Street. This is an Iranian restaurant with a queen west-y feel... You know trendy, sleek etc. It was my first time trying Persian food, although it is very similar to many things I have had. They had some crazy vodka martinis and the food was fresh and very good. The food wasn't cheap but everything was organic, super-fresh and it was a fun sharing experience so was worth it.

We had:

Chai - this was with saffron and cardamom... Very different from Indian Chai with more delicate flavours. It was served with a small dish of cookies. They were great with cardamom and spicy flavours, yum!

Martinis - I had a cucumber, mint and basil martini. It was fresh and delicious but again very delicate. Don't expect your average bold martini. You can tell that they used high quality ingredients and at $13 they should! Others at our table tried martinis with pomegranate, sour cherry and even saffron all with that same fresh delicate flavour. We all had a sip of each others and I think we all agreed that the one with the cucumber was the best.

Nan o Paneer - barbari sesame bread with sheep’s milk cheese, walnuts, and fresh herbs
- This was delicious! The cheese was very creamy not overly flavourful but it was very good. It came with sour cherry preserves which were amazing with the cheese... In fact, I will buy some to go with my cheese platters in future.

Zeitun Parvardeh - green kalamata Olives mixed with pomegranate molasses, anjelica, garlic, and ground walnut
- Although others at the table loved this, I was not a fan. The sweetness and strange spice combined with the salty green olives was just too much for me. I'd pass next time.

Laboo - oven roasted beets on a bed of endive and sheep's milk cheese
- Good but not amazing. It tasted like beets.

Koobideh - 2 skewers of minced ground sirloin
- Amazing! This was tender and flavourful, my favourite dish of the night. All of the meats came on a share plate with a thin nan (like roti).

Torsh - pomegranate molasses and walnut crusted beef tenderloin
- We ordered this medium and it was perfect. Again, you could taste the quality. Everyone loved this. I again, wasn't sure about the overwhelming sweetness... but don't listen to me, I was alone! I did enjoy it but not as much at the Koobideh.

Murgh - grilled saffron citrus chicken breast .
- This was fantastic. Very fragrant and cooked perfectly

Everything came with fresh herbs mainly basil and tarragon. It was all fresh, flavourful and tasty.

There were 5 of us,we were all satisfied and the bill came to $185... just over $200 with tip. Would I go again? It was a fun place to try and go as a group but I don't see myself becoming a regular. My rating: Fun!

Oscar Party Preparation

So the oscars are on this Sunday and we have decided to have an impromptu get-together to watch, eat, drink and all that. Firstly, how sad are the oscars this year? I've watched all 10 of the films up for Best Picture and although I really liked "An Education", "UP" and "Inglourious Basterds" nothing seems best picture-worthy this year. AVATAR??? Come on!

Anyway, now to my second and most important point. What am I going to make? I bought an insane amount of steak last weekend, because it was on sale... when I see that big yellow sign in the grocery store I just can't resist. We had huge steaks and then the next day still had more... so I decided to make steak and mushroom pie. Well, that idea went out the window when we got a call from one of my fave people to come and watch the Olympic hockey match. I don't watch Hockey, but it was a fantastic experience... the yelling, the patriotism, the beer and high-fat foods (yum). Then when we won there were hoards of people on the streets screaming, yelling, blocking traffic... Yonge and Eglinton was insane! People were jumping on cars... fortunately not mine because we were stuck in traffic so long we decided to get onto side streets. Needless to say, I did not make steak and mushroom pie. Just more steak and now I have leftover beef broth that I MUST use this weekend so it doesn't go to waste.

I want to make something easy, delicious and it must go with wine. I'll take any opportunity to do a good wine pairing. I'm thinking of making flatbread pizza type things. No, I'm not going to make the flatbread from scratch. I'll probably be hungover from a Saturday night birthday event and of course amazing Efterklang show! So I'll buy some of those delicious flatbreads and several types of cheese. I also have apples that need using, so I'll add those into the mix. Here's what I'm thinking:

Wine:
Pierre Sparr - Alcace
- I have yet to buy this so I'm not sure which one. I have tried the Gewurztraminer and it is phenomenal!
Chateau Des Charmes - Chardonnay
- never tried it but it is supposed to be a great Canadian winemaker

I also have a few reds so I'm not sure which I will open.

Flatbread Pizzas:

Apple, cheddar and carmalized onions - maybe a bit of bacon too

Potato, bacon, cheddar and onion

braised beef, gorgonzola (or maybe a fantastic blue haze or this other smokey blue I tried last weekend), caramalized onions, provalone and mushrooms - I'm going to make a gravy (with the beef broth) that we can dip this into. This will sort of be like a deconstructed roast beef dip sandwich.

I'll come back to you with the actual wines, actual recipes and how this all goes over. Wish me luck!

I really hope I win my Oscar pool... doubtful though. I do also hope Christoph Waltz wins, he was amazing in IB. Also, FANTASTIC MR. FOX deserves something, it was such a beautiful film and Roald Dahl is amazing. Anyway, all this for another post.

HAPPY OSCAR WEEKEND!