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| - La Banane was highly recommended by a friend, and it did not disappoint! I was looking forward to the seafood and trying other dishes. But, I was really on a mission to get the Ziggy Stardust Disco Egg :) That was the highlight of the meal. I didn't read beforehand, what it was made of and what was in it, as I love surprises. Cracking it open to a burst of chocolate truffles inside was everything! it also contained dried cherries and some other chocolatey goodness that resembled chunks of Aero chocolate. The price is steep at $50 for one dessert, but it was a lot of fun, great quality ingredients, it was artfully painted, and apparently each component was handmade and took three days to prepare. No two eggs are painted the same, so I am definitely going back for more. Let's get to the food. We ordered the petite plateaux, a 3 tiered platter of an assortment of seafood. The top tier contained sliced raw scallops in garlic buttermilk served on a scallop shell - the texture and flavour not a fave for me, but my date liked it. The second tier had Argentenian shrimp which was lovely and sweet. At the base are dungeness crab, Alaskan King Crab, lobster, lucky lime and strawberry point oysters, and marinated mussels. The dungeness, king crab, and lobster was just ok for me, a little on the dry side, but the mussels were plump and tasty, and the oysters were really fresh. The platter was accompanied by several sauces/dips: tarragon mayo, cocktail sauce, hot sauce, a mignonette, Crème fraîche, and butter. We also ordered sweetbreads and pommes aligot. FYI, sweetbread is a fish, which was smoked and served atop a shrimp and lobster sauce, which I found a little salty, but still good. The sweetbread had a nice light coating on the outside and soft on the inside. The pommes aligot is to die for; a rich, creamy potato puree with cheese, and it paired really well with the sweetbreads. This was a recommended pairing by the very polite and knowledgeable server. Every time a dish was brought out, the servers recited the ingredients, which was much appreciated. They had an extensive drink menu of which we tried the Charlie Chaplin (gin, apricot liquor and lime) and a couple of whiskies, Elijah Craig and Buffalo Trace. All were smooth and yummy. $300 later, we were left full and happy. Looking forward to another experience there.
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