Victoria & Albert’s
I woke up from my nap at 4:45PM and slowly got ready. As the meal was in walking distance from our room, we didn’t have to worry too much about rushing. We ended up leaving the room around 5:15PM and were greeted with open arms by the hostesses. We were walked to our table towards the front of the restaurant with a view of the harp but close to the front door.
Place Setting
Menu
We were presented our menu for the evening by the first of our two servers. We did find out that they do have a smaller menu than just the set course where you select one of the two main seafood courses (bass or sole) and one of the two protein courses (quail or lamb.) You also wouldn’t get any of the two bonus courses. My mother heavily considered this option but decided against it. Not sure of the price of that option though. I ended up deciding on the wine pairing and my mother stuck with just having a few glasses of the Chateau de Bligny Brut we were given with the first course (although 3 glasses of it were $86) We were given the option of sparkling or still water. I went with sparkling while my mother did still.
Our Amuse-Bouche was a healthy serving of Imperial Caviar underneath an egg yolk sheet and asparagus. Imperial Caviar is apparently from China but right on the China/Russia border. The serving was large enough that I hope people that decide to do the add-on caviar course don’t get annoyed as that would be a lot of caviar in a short amount of time!
Amuse-Bouche - Delta Asparagus with Imperial Caviar paired with Chateau de Bligny, Blanc de Blancs, Brut NV
We were then given the first of the three breads. The french baguette is my favorite of the three.
French Baguette
We were then presented with our first course. The crab paired well with the melons and bite of the peppercorn for the sauce.
Alaskan King Crab with Sun Kissed Melons and Pink Peppercorn Yogurt paired with Weingut Hiedler, Thal, Gruner Veltliner, Kamptal 2016
We continued our seafood courses with the black bass. The lemon ravioli was the best part of this dish to me as it had nice subtleness to its flavor.
Virgina Black Bass with Poppy Seed and Lemon Ravioli paired with Domaine Bois de Boursan, Chateauneuf du Pape Blanc, Rhone 2016
The next course I paid extra for as it was an add-on course. I’ve loved their lemon/toasted caper sauce no matter what they’ve paired it with although it does taste better with abalone. The turbot is such a nice fish that isn’t easy to find well prepared as well.
Wild Turbot with Toasted Capers with Preserved Lemon paired with Salus, Staglin Family Vineyard, Chardonnay, Napa 2014
We then had the last of the seafood courses. My photo doesn’t really capture how pretty this dish was. The langoustine was perfectly sweet and tender. The sole also had a mild sweetness to it.
Dover Sole with Langoustine and Tomato Water paired with Montagny “Les Bassets” Laurent Cognard 2015
To begin the meat courses, we were given an unlisted course as a ‘surprise’ but this course is given to everyone not doing the ‘limited’ option. The braised short rib was perfectly tender and melted in your mouth. The potato chip was actually potato water that had been dehydrated and was the right amount of crisp to balance the softness of the short rib and puree.
Braised Short Rib w/ Potato Chip and Puree
Our second of the bread courses was a brioche. In the spring/summer, it is herb. I like the truffle version of the winter better but still a nice bread.
Herb Brioche
Our next meat course was a light addition with the french quail. Inside the quail was confit meat so you had two types of flavor to enjoy. The corn pudding was more like a crisp which helped with the texture.
Roasted French Quail with Corn Pudding and Spinach paired with Copain Kiser “En Bas” Pinot Noir 2014
The next meat course was probably the most creative of the dishes. It was a play on the eateries where you enjoy your meal in the dark. The wine was also served in a completely black Riedel glass. The lamb was covered in the olives so that you couldn't tell it was lamb until you cut inside and it became bright red. Very lovely contrast!
Lamb Loin, Piperade, Panisse and Kalamata Olives paired with Cote-Rotie, Lionel Faury, Rhone 2015
The last of the bread courses was presented. It was multigrain and not that exciting. I stole my mother’s brioche instead.
Multigrain
I decided against the upgrade for this course as I know I have wagyu coming my way in November with the Hibachi Experience. The Australian Kobe-Style Beef is good enough for me! I had my prepared to Rare while my mother did Medium Rare. It was perfectly tender and Duckhorn is one of my favorite Cabernet Sauvignon so that was an added bonus to the meal!
Australian Kobe-Style Beef with Potato Pinwheel paired with Duckhorn Cabernet Sauvignon, Napa Valley 2015
Our server carted out the cart of cheese and we made our selections. As we both were really full, we didn’t over pick options. I selected a cheddar, a sheep milk, a soft rind and a goat cheese. I wish I took notes on them but well, I was many wines deep and that just wasn’t going to happen. I know I cleaned my plate of everything but the raisins.
Selection of Cheese from Cheese Cart paired with Pulenta Estate, Gran Malbec X, Mendoze 2014
As we were done with the wines, we were given an option of coffee, tea, espresso. I went with a double espresso as I enjoy that more than coffee. I probably also needed it for sobering up a bit.
Espresso
The first of the desserts wasn’t listed on the menu. It was a light airy banana toffee dessert. I actually enjoyed this one more than I did the second one.
Banana Toffee Tower
For our final dessert, we had a super rich chocolate dome along with some nice airy meringues. While I had a bite o the chocolate, it was too rich for me at this point in the evening. I really liked the meringues though.
Bittersweet Chocolate Dome on Praline Crunch
We both were stuffed to the brim so we each only selected two chocolates from the box as that was all we could handle. My mother had the brandied cherry and a truffle which she enjoyed. I had a toffee and a caramel.
Selection of Chocolates
We were presented our roses along with our individual bills. Overall, this meal is amazing in terms of food, wine and service. That said, I’m good not doing this meal for many years to come. Just my portion of the meal (Tasting Menu + Wine Pairing + Turbot) was $532 with tip. L’Olivo (2 Michelin Star) last year in Capri, Italy was $450 with tip total for my husband and I. Magnolia (1 Michelin Star) last year in Rome, Italy was $325 with tip total for my husband and I. Another place I didn’t review from that trip, La Serra in Positano, Italy just received their 1st Michelin Star and our meal there was $150. When I do a cost-worth estimate in my head - V&A is now officially over that threshold. I’m glad I decided to cancel our Queen Victoria Room reservation in November especially since Queen Victoria Room has no additional special enhancements to it. While some of the courses would be different or slightly tweaked - many will be close to what I had in September as well.
After dinner, we headed back to the room. I saw the welcome party going on for the daughter of a former member of this board. I tried to see if I could find him in the crowd but there were lots of people and I had lots of wine. Wasn’t going to try that hard to say hello so when he wasn’t easily picked out - I left the marina and headed back to Sago Cay. His daughter did look extremely happy and beautiful that night as well as during the photos post wedding as we say them the next day when were were heading back to the park in the afternoon.