7th Month Dinner (Trivia post)

7th month dinners have always been a grand affair in my mind. It consists of huge groups of people coming together to the loud sounds of a traditional auctioneer who screams and shouts above the din of willing or unwilling diners to get a reasonable or unreasonable bid for items donated by the participants. The following is a very recent experience that is still fresh in my mind since it only happened yesterday.

(Do take note that this is a trivia post and thus i will not rate the food present in this particular blog.)

The Podium

Tables are a feisty red and so are the chairs and podium. This is actually at a small sheltered hall along the blocks of Seng Kang.

Jacob's Creek Shiraz Cabernet 2004

What a surprise to actually have wine at such an event. These were bought by my grandmother. This came across as spicy and full bodied with a fruity aftertaste that went away really fast. Due to a lack of optimum temperature and a decent wine glass, i could not ascertain the other characteristics well.

Jacob's Creek Merlot 2005

This second bottle had a spicy start with a sour mid finish and a spicy aftertaste. Color was dark red and i'd say its medium bodied as opposed to the first bottle above. On a side note, the caterer had another brand given to all who are present, Corner Stone wine. I had one taste and bland is the only word i could give it.

Dom Perignon Champagne 1973 (!!!!)

I have no idea how this is still intact nor why or whether champagne is supposed to be kept this long. This drink is even older then me for crying out loud. Anyway, it has lost all its fizz which is more or less a given at this point and the taste, i only had one sip, was terrible, it didn't taste like champagne at all, tasting more like Chinese medicated oil. =P

Lee Kian Huat Restuarant

This is the contracted caterer for our meal and i must say i have mixed feelings about their offerings. Lets just put it this way, i probably will not be giving it a try anytime soon.

Cold Dish

The first dish to appear on our tables consisted of samosa, bbq pork (Ba Gua), jellyfish, sotong, prawns in mayonnaise and pi dan (fermented egg?) The Ba Gua is almost definitely bought from Mei Zhen Xiang but thats not a bad thing, jellyfish was very sour but otherwise appetizing. The prawn was obviously not fresh by its powdery texture while the samosa was actually warm enough to pass as nice. Not too bad overall.

Shark's Fin

Ah yes, one of the main reasons why i used to like these dinners is that i get free shark's fin as long as i turn up for it. However, my tastes have grown and this is obviously boiled chicken stock with lots of ingredients APART from shark's fin thrown in to create a facade. There were plenty of mushrooms, egg whites and shredded chicken meat in the stock but little to no shark's fin. Not that i'm complaining because shark's fin has always been tasteless, still, its quite a disappointment.

Medicinal Chicken (Yao Cai Ji)

I've always been pretty fond of this dish because my mother makes an awesome rendition of this. However, this one was also done very well, the chicken must have been prepared a long time ago (not fresh) but it has been boiled long enough to make it very easy to tear apart. The medicinal stock is quite interesting because there's a huge dosage of black pepper thrown into the mix. The result is the first decent though unhealthy tasting item of the day.

Mashed deep fried prawn paste in bean curd skin with achar (Hei Zho)

This was nice as well, the prawn paste inside was still hot and the bean curd skin was crispy and flaky. The Achar was standard chicken rice fare and a little too raw.

Mixed Vegetables Pot

This pot contains mushrooms, carrots, abalone mushrooms, shrooms and a whole lot of vegetables i'm not able to identify. All i can say is they probably did not cook this long enough since some of the vegetables tasted raw and too hard to be liked.

Steamed Pomfret

I was hoping for a good fish dish but was pretty disappointed when pomfret was served. However, it turned out quite decent since the fish was quite fresh and lacked any 'fishy' taste to it. The meat was fine and easy to stomach but the sauce was a little to bland overall.

Steamed Prawns

I only had one of this. It was crunchy and tasted quite fresh but didn't tempt me to have more than one.

Braised Pork Buns (Kou Rou Bao)

I had high hopes for this because i remember it as a really great dish. What i got was more or less a mixed feeling. The pork was not salty nor sweet as it should be but it is surprisingly not oily. The fatty portion was all over the place however, and i struggled to find a lean piece amidst the throng of fatty meat. The buns were steamed hot and that added alot to the taste in the end. Quite nicely done.

Longan

Dessert was simple. Too simple for me to even try actually so there's no comments about this dish.

Experience:
Hoping to find good food here is near impossible i suppose but i do not deny that there were some decent offerings amid the failures. Ambiance-wise, unless you like people shouting over your head and screaming in Hokkien, i would definitely not recommend you try it. Still, as a cultural showpiece of what Chinese tend to do during the 7th month on the lunar calendar, and the fact that the food is generally free, unless you actually bid for anything, this is not too bad an experience. Just not something i would repeat on a monthly or even yearly basis. =P
(I was here because me and my gf promised my grandmother we would be here, otherwise, we could have been with friends instead. Still, family always comes first and my grandmother deserves our company anyway.)

Till next post on a good and actual review then. Au revoir.

Stonehaven Merlot 2006 & Shiraz Cabernet Sauvignon 2005

Time for a barrage of wine posts. *Winks* So here we go.

No doubt if you have followed my posts till now, you'll notice this as the second of such posts and that Stonehaven happens to be a recurring vineyard name. See here for Stonehaven's champagne post. The reason for this is rather simple, Stonehaven was having a promotion at the time and every 2 bottles you got will net you one bottle of merlot free. And best of all, each bottle was going at $17 each at Giant at the time, however, if you check now, you'll realise each bottle has gone up to $20 with nothing free. Just a point of interest if you were wondering.

Stonehaven Background:

Stonehaven is located just 6km south of Padthaway, the gateway to South Australia's Limestone Coast and is just 1 year shy of its 10th year since inception in March 1998. Throughout this time, Stonehaven has garnered numerous awards and was honored by being named 'International Winery of the Year' at the prestigious San Francisco International Wine Competition in the year 2000.

Stonehaven Merlot 2006

Smell: A whiff of this will allows you to find traces of strong spices, olives and black pepper. It is quite easy to ascertain that this is a wine with character and punch.

Taste: True to its smell, the taste will explode in your mouth quite literally. I found it full bodied and very spicy. The acidic taste certainly is evident and it requires a few moments to settle in your mouth. Aftertaste is also spicy and packs only the slightest hint of fruitiness.

Color and Sight: The color is a very deep red which allows very little penetration of light.

Overall: I rather enjoyed the spicy and strong drink by itself but had to portion it with water, cheese or red meats to allow it to be generally palatable. It is difficult to drink on its own due to the intense concentration of spices it embodies. Not suitable as table wine but more towards taste appreciation and food pairing instead. Given free, i would have expected less of this but it proved otherwise. Might have been better if i allowed it time to age further.

Score: 7/10


StoneHaven Shiraz Cabernet Sauvignon 2005

This came as a surprise to me, pardon my lack of exposure to wine but its the first with 3 combinations i got to try. And once again, cabernet sauvignon is hard to pass by.

Smell: Spices were evident, such as olives and pepper but there was also a strong fruity smell probably due to medium aged pickings for the fruit.

Taste: Initial tastes were spicy at the tip of the tongue and salty towards the sides, however, upon futher tasting, there's an obvious sweetness along the middle portion and the aftertaste is decidedly fruity.

Color and sight: Light penetration for this was easy and its more towards ruby red in color.

Overall: I always prefer fruity aftertastes instead of salty or spicy ones. I suppose its more of a personal preference as opposed to what my friend in Australia likes. Still, i liked this mixture enough to get myself 2 bottles and shared with my gf who also says she likes it quite a bit. I'd recommend it as it works well alone or with food. =)

Score: 8/10