Friends, Wine and Chinese Food. Does it get any better?

Last night we had some friends over and when you are visiting our household in the evening, generally dinner is involved. It was a long week so I pulled a nice bottle from my collection to drink. We were all hungry, and I had that little voice inside me that said, "You want duck!", so I casually demanded Chinese. There were no objections in the room, what a great start!

So let me tell you a bit about this wine. It was a bottle of Chalone Vineyard Estate Grown Gavilan Grenache 2008. This is a very limited bottling with only 1,650 bottles produced. For those who are unfamiliar with Chalone Vineyard, it is a step back in to California wine history. Dick Graff purchased the property in 1964 for its potential for growing exceptional Burgundian chardonnay. Chalone Vineyard was also involved in the Judgement of Paris in 1976, you may have even noticed a bottle from Chalone Vineyard in the movie Bottle Shock. Chalone Vineyard also has it's own AVA, Chalone!

The Senior Winemaker at Chalone Vineyards is Robert Cook and he is making some pretty impressive Burgundian style wines. The grenache is a step out of Burgundy and in to Rhone. The aroma is enticing, with hints of strawberry and vanilla. These were also present on the palette with a bit of cherry and raspberry too! A lot of bright fruit, very soft tannins it was a delight to drink. I only wish I had more :(

Dinner came very shortly after we ordered. I have ordered from Ken's before, the prices are right and they deliver. This time it came very quick, 25 minutes. I was impressed, and as you will see, we got a very nice variety of dishes! Some of the items I have had before but we tried a new dish too.

 So, as you can see, we did get roast duck. It was so moist and tender and the skin was even crispy after delivery...wow! They do Peking duck as well, but it usually requires advance notice and this one is almost as good! Another faithful item we usually order is the Cantonese Chow Mein. It had tender pieces of BBQ pork, chicken, shrimp and squid along with pan fried vegetables. All this on a bed of noodles, which swim in a delicious sauce!

This was not the first time I ordered the Sliced Chicken with Five Spice Salt, but it was definitely the best. Deep fried to a nice golden crispy goodness, they are then drizzled with a mixture of peppers, onions and red chili flakes. If you like heat, you will enjoy this dish! The dish is then finished with a special Five Spice Salt which is actually quite subtle.

It has been quite a while since I have had Mooshi however our friends had never tried it at all. I want to thank Ken's for using authentic Mooshi pancakes, unlike the last place I had Mooshi at which used flour tortillas. You need a pancake that will contain the liquid and not break from the hoisin sauce which I love so much! The filling was delicious bits of pork with egg, bean sprouts and a little green onions.

The one dish we had never tried before was the Sliced Beef in a Satay Sauce. The beef was very flavorful and juicy. It was bathed in a rich satay sauce with onions and peppers. We finished almost everything, including the wine! How can you top that?

Well we were all full and the bottle was finished. The moral of the story...go to Ken's. Your right, that is not a moral but, it is what you should do. You should also get some of that grenache if you are lucky enough to find it. I know that is not a moral either, but who needs that when you have great friends, awesome wine and Chinese food?

Ken's Restaurant
333 Ellice Ave
Winnipeg, MB
943-1062
Sun-Thur: 11am-3am
Sat&Sun: 11am-4am