What A Wine Deal for Dinner…
I’m going to have to jump out of order to report on my dinner at Astaria, as there’s a need for urgency. It was a happy surprise the other night to find out all bottles of wine are half off through July. So if you live in the Bay Area, definitely try out this Mediterrenean restaurant soon… We had two very nice split bottles, an app, and two great entrees for a little over $100. That picture was our appetizer of chorizo and corn pancakes with prawns mole. The mole was maple-syrup infused, and it made for an extremely interesting combination with the corn, onion, and avocado salsa. The NV Veuve Clicquot Brut Yellow Label was refreshing with pear, apple, lemon, and biscuits, though maybe not the best pairing ever. The shrimp were fairly spicy and overpowered the bubbles too much.
The wine for the main course was a 2002 Mount Veeder Cabernet Sauvignon and a much better companion for the food. While it was a bit lighter than expected at first, it opened up into something quite delicious. At turns, I found black currant, tobacco, nutmeg, cinnamon, cherry, and mint. It went rather nicely with my filet mignon (cooked extra rare) and side of gouda and proscuitto potatoes. And though the desserts at the next table looked mouth-watering, I didn’t have any room.
With good food and a great deal on wine bottles (which is not even mentioned on the website), I highly recommend giving Astaria a go.
Astaria, NV Veuve Clicquot Brut Yellow Label, 2002 Mount Veeder Cabernet Sauvignon, San Mateo restaurant, good wine deals
July 16th, 2007 at 7:34 am
[...] at Wine Outlook, talks about her dining experience at Astaria, while Soccer Buzz blogger, Dent, brings us all up-to-date on the Beckham Press Conference from [...]
July 16th, 2007 at 8:29 am
Those prawns look delicious! I’ve seen the Mount Veeder cab before and that is a good year for CA Cabs, right? I guess I’ll have to try it now!
July 16th, 2007 at 8:38 am
Yes, 2002 was a good year. One of my very favorite wines is a 2002 Napa Cab from the winery where I used to work. This was my second Mount Veeder wine and both were very good.
July 17th, 2007 at 6:26 am
I think that reducing the prices on the wine, once in awhile, is great PR for the restaurant. Good way to get the wine drinking crowd in and for the newbees to try a bottle without thinking they are spending the weeks grocery budget on one bottle of wine. I surely would be adverrtising the heck out of it. During off season in Key West, some of the nicer restaurants will offer specials on the food, say 3 courses for $27, but not on the wine. So I look at it as a bargin, since the food is less, splurge on a bottle of wine.
July 17th, 2007 at 10:15 am
I agree with Deb, exellent way to market to the wine geeks. I wish other resturants did the same thing, but in Los Altos, as close as anyone else has come -is Los Altos Grill, no corkage fee on any bottle you bring in. Harldy anyone ever asks to see their wine list though…
July 17th, 2007 at 7:54 pm
This is a cool place, I’ve had several good wines here and the food is tastey. Those were some damn good pancakes.
July 18th, 2007 at 5:17 am
Deb and Sara, I have no idea why they aren’t promoting this thing more. It wasn’t that crowded when we were there on a Thursday, and this wine special could really help fill the place up!
Yeah, BK, some damn good pancakes.