"Baby, it's cold outside..."
And when it's cold, I love to eat something warm and comforting like this Coq au vin de Bourgogne at Tapenade Restaurant in La Jolla - my retreat during the holidays. It's a "traditional chicken stewed in Burgundy red wine sauce with prosciutto chunky mashed potato," and it's deliciously rich and filling. The veggies on top make you feel a little less guilty for indulging in something so heavy.
But what's best is that this $20 dish is HALF-priced during happy hour in their bistro bar. (Sun-Wed from 5:30-8:30 and Thurs from 5-9pm with live jazz).
And I ate it all with no qualms of scraping my fork to get all the bits of mashed potatoes in reduced sauce. Yes, it was THAT good.
MS and I also ordered the Tiger Shrimp Cocktail [$6.50, Happy Hour Price - HHP] and a platter of garlic, parsley & hazelnut buttered Escargot [$4.50, HHP]. The shrimp were huge and the remoulade it came with was deliciously tart and a nice change of pace from the standard cocktail sauce that usually accompanies shrimp. And the snails were more for MS than for me. I wasn't impressed with tasting only BUTTER, but then again, I'm not a fan of escargot.
I especially loved the Raviolis aux champignons - "homemade raviolis with wild mushrooms, port wine & white truffle oil, aged Parmesan" [$6.50, HHP]. Very different from ANY ravioli I've EVER eaten, this light and frothy dish tingled my tastebuds. I easily could have devoured another plate's worth. Too bad the kitchen was fairly slow in taking and preparing orders.We tried a few other dishes, but only the above were obvious winners in our books. And in all, our happy hour visit to Tapenade with friends was definitely an evening of good company, good wine [$2 off select wines], and good eats.
Tapenade Restaurant
street: 7612 Fay Avenue | La Jolla, CA | 92037
tel: 1.858.551.7500
web: www.tapenaderestaurant.com
8 comments:
Oh everything looked delish, and a pretty good steal @ Happy Hour Prices -- but it's funny that BoLA is in LJ ;)
Silly girl. Everyone knows that escargot is all about enjoying copious quantities of butter, guilt free. Since you're being so adventurous and sophisticated by eating slimy snails, surely your diet will forgive all the butter used to mask their ooky twang. Nevermind that you used lots of crusty bread to soak up the delicious butter soup. =D
I'm an escargot fan too. I've had boiled snails with a little dark soy sauce (the Taiwanese way). Trust me, butter is best. Taste sensations these were not.
Hi BoLA - Tapenade, one of my favorite restaurants...we can't eat there without having some Foie Gras! It all looks so yummy!
Hey HC! Yes, with those prices, you could order EVERYTHING on the menu and not break the bank (completely). And yes... BoLA tries to get out and see more than just LA. heheh!
Hey Chubbypanda! Yes, I am a silly girl. If only you really knew... Hmm... still not a fan of the slimy suckas though. LOL!
Hey Kirk! Yeah, our friends ordered the foie gras - ALSO on the Half-Price Menu!!! But I can't get myself to order it on my own. And felt guilty eating it at Bistro K a while back. BAH!
I'm glad fred & liz recommended the place, since it was a great deal. Remember i ordered the saucy cosmo? We went to a lot of cool La Jolla eating joints like Ropponggi (best appetizers), forever fondue (funnest meal), sushi on the rocks (good sushi), cafe de villa (ocean view), ...and i forgot the name of the place they were playing live jazz. I'll miss SD.. and my per diem here.
Oh wow, $4.50 escargot...I'd die of a snail overdose! Mouth watering!
Hey MS! You so silly!!! Good times, for sure! Can't wait til you move clients!!! Closer to LA, closer to me!!!
Hey Elmo! Snails galore!!! Can't go wrong at those rock-bottom prices! ;)
These are so attractive prices for such delicious food! Mmmm... It is a pity, that I live far from the restaurant.
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