Living it up

Tonight was my friend Shirin's going away party. Her husband to be got transferred to Fukuoka (Japan's southern island) so she is off to a new life. The party arranger chose a really nice restaurant called Tableaux . We had our little party in the lounge, which was absolutely perfect. The walls were lined with book cases and the chairs were all leather. There was live jazz music for most of the night which created a great atmosphere.

We ordered some nice wines. The first one we ordered was pretty good, but wasn't all that balanced. This was the wine the waiter, who spoke limited English, recommended. I don't think he was all that competent. Later in the evening a woman came over and helped me order (I was in charge of ordering) - I asked about a wine that originally intrigued me, and she said it was very good wine. Glad we ordered it - it was excellent. Very interesting flavours. Usually you get that oak aged flavour in whites, but this was in a red, and combined with a berry undertone made the wine really different from anything I have tasted before. (Mom and dad if you can find it - Costers del Gravet 2002 Capcanes Spain Montsant Denomin acio d'Origen)

Of course as the evening wore on, the cost of all this stuff seemed irrelevant. We ordered a second round of fois gras because it was so good - it was served with persimmon. One of the guys tried to order dessert and Shirin and I instantly complained because he had ordered one dessert for four people to share. We set him straight! The desserts were just as good as the rest of the meal and we were in sweets heaven. After dinner we all ordered a cigar and port - 2000 yen a glass didn't seem like that much after a bottle of wine a piece. Funny how alcohol encourages spending.

The cigars were nice though, and the port was awesome. At one point I looked at my watch and had a minor shock - it was 2 am. We were having such a great time, we didn't even notice. This was bad because it was well past last train. So we just stayed around gabbing and relaxing until 4 am and took taxis home.

Overall it was a really nice night. It brought back some good memories for me of previous nice nights out, and it was really great to go out somewhere nice. Yes, the bill for the evening was a shocker, but definitely worth it. We always go out to izakaya which is like going to a bar for a going away party. This was classy, and something I haven't done enough here.

Of course... tomorrow I might regret all the drinking... I think I drank more tonight than I did all last year.