what a night

Friday: Nel and I met at the Metro for drinks. The place was jumping but access to the bar area was not too difficult. After our very watered-down drinks, we headed off to The Bar on Castro. The drinks were much better as you could actually taste the alcohol. That place was packed, too. I haven't been there in awhile and the place looks better though the beer smell is still there. Then we headed to dinner.

Our choice that night was Malacca, 'the world's first fusion fare'. There was about a 10-minute wait. Luckily, the bar Moby Dick was next door. With people spilling out the door, we somehow were able to squeeze in and ordered our cocktails. A couple were smiling at me but before they could get to me, we get a call that our table is ready.

The restaurant was beautifully decorated in muted colors with paneled walls. For a Friday night, especially pride weekend, they were not very busy. I guess people were mostly at the bars. We were deciding on what wine to drink when I noticed that they had specialty cocktails. We ordered our apps, a combination dish, and the cocktails. The appetizer consisted of bbq ribs, a beef and a chicken satay, calamari and shiitake rolls. The peanut sauce for the satay was good but the tamarind sauce for the calamari was better. Still undecided with the wine, our server brought us two to taste. We ordered a mid-priced wine and he kept insisting that we should go for a $65 bottle instead. We didn't go for it. We ordered our main dishes, Nel had the beef rendang and I had the crispy wrapped salmon. I insisted that my salmon be cooked medium rare. The beef came with yellow rice and sauteed vegies. The salmon was served over roasted potatoes and sauteed vegies. My salmon was cooked perfectly. The beef on the other hand was so tough that to this day, Nel is still upset about it. On paper, the menu looks fab but it was just okay. The dishes should have better descriptions. We skipped dessert, finished our wine and ventured out.

We ran into some friends who just came from Crave. A newly opened restaurant though it hadn't officially opened yet. It was a tapas-style restaurant with a full-bar. The inside gave the illusion that you were inside an ice-hotel/restaurant, it was very mod and hip. We sidled up to the bar for more drinks and chatted with the bar staff. Definitely worth checking in the future. That ended our evening and while we stood at the corner of 16th and Market, I took out my camera and Nel snagged a bystander boytoy to pose with him.