January 5, 2017: Trois Mec

After I told Jeffrey that we were moving to Honolulu over Christmas vacation he went and bought tickets to Trois Mec so that Christal and I could have a dinner out with him and Jenny. Needless to say we were pretty excited to be able to go again and since it had been over a year since Christal and I went I was pretty confident that most of the menu would be different. Our original plan was to leave Luke with Keira and Blake, but he was getting over a slight cold and was pretty clingy so we ended up taking him. Luckily he did really well and the hostess doted on him all night. He even enjoyed some of Christal and my food. We had a later reservation for 8:30 and when we arrived our table wasn't quite ready so Jeffrey and Jenny got a cocktail next door at Petit Trois and after they finished our table was ready and we were seated. They gave us the table just inside the door, which had a corner bench and allowed us to spread out a little. Jeffrey and I noticed that the table next to us was about the same size, but only had seating on two sides and squeezed six people in, which made us appreciate our table even more.

Our meal started out with the snacks, just like last time and the first snack was buckwheat popcorn, again, just like last time. This was Luke's favorite dish because he probably ate at least half of Christal's. He seemed to enjoy both the crunch and the vinegar flavor, or at least that's what I enjoyed most.

Buckwheat Popcorn

The next snack that came out was a tandoori madeleine. It had a very pleasant "tandoori" flavor that was strong, but didn't overpower my palate. I think the best part of this bite though was the texture. It was light and fluffy with slightly crispy edges and enough of a chew to be satisfying.

Tandoori Madeleine

The third snack they served was a foie gras beignet. We were advised to eat it in one bite otherwise the liquified foie gras would spill everywhere. When I bit into the beignet I expected it to have more of a crunchy texture on the outside, but it only had a subtle crispiness that quickly gave way to the liquified foie gras. The whole bite was very rich and luxurious and overall very good, but seemed like it was lacking a little something.

Foie Gras Beignet

Next they brought out a square of crispy tapioca with parmesan and passion fruit, which we had last time as well. I have to say, it was just as enjoyable this time around as the first time. The crispy exterior gave a satisfying crunch as we bit into it and the salty earthiness of the parmesan immediately came to the fore with the aroma and flavor of the passion fruit balancing the parmesan perfectly.

Crispy Tapioca w Parmesan & Passion Fruit

The last snack they brought out was a dijon crème brûlée, which I forgot to take a picture of unfortunately. It had a perfectly thin brûlée top that had a nice crack when we broke into it and the texture of the custard was silky smooth. The dijon mustard flavor came through well, but when tasted along with the brûlée top the sweetness made the mustard seem more like wasabi than anything else. It was a bit of a strange sensation and for me this was probably the least successful flavor combination of the night. Of course I still enjoyed it though.

After the snacks were finished they brought out Nantucket Bay scallops with pear, cauliflower and sesame. It also had a dollop of some sort of foam that had a very creamy flavor, which helped add some richness to the dish. The scallops were really tender and sweet, which was accentuated by the cubes of tender poached pear along with some thin slices of lemon. The cauliflower was grated raw over the top of everything along with some lemon zest to help give added body to the dish and the sesame was a really nice textural contrast as well as a nutty element for the dish. When you had a spoonful of everything it all seemed to balance out nicely.

Nantucket Bay Scallops w Pear, Cauliflower & Sesame

The next course that we were served was root vegetable dumplings with a parmesan broth. We received three dumplings and each dumpling was filled with a different root vegetable puree. One had a carrot and cumin puree, another had a parsnip puree and the third had a beet and black pepper puree. I personally enjoyed the carrot and cumin dumpling the most because I felt like the parsnip puree was almost too sweet and the beet flavor was ever so slightly masked by the black pepper. The real hero of the dish though was the parmesan broth. It was simply amazing. It had a really strong salty flavor with a pleasant nuttiness, yet it was really light on the palate. The saltiness of it balanced the sweetness of all three dumplings, but especially the parsnip dumpling. For a dish that looked so plain, it definitely delivered on the flavor.

Root Vegetable Dumplings w Parmesan Broth

After the dumplings we had roasted lobster with vadouvan, pineapple and fennel. My lobster was just the slightest bit overcooked, but the sweetness of the meat still came through. The pineapple and fennel complimented the richness of the lobster and vadouvan spice by helping to give the dish some lightness. The dish was finished with what seemed like a lobster butter that amped up the richness and was a nice counterpoint to the acidity in the pineapple. The crunchiness of the pineapple and fennel also provided a some textural variety in the dish.

Roasted Lobster w Vadouvan, Pineapple & Fennel

Our meat course was 30-day dry-aged ribeye with sauce "birria," heirloom carrots and sourdough bread. The beef was sliced thinly, which may have helped to increase the tenderness of the beef, because it was one of the most tender pieces of beef I have had.  They didn't say whether it was Wagyu or not, but it was just as tender as the Wagyu that I've eaten. The sauce birria had a great depth of flavor and savoriness that accentuated the beef really well. The carrots were served both as a puree and sauteed, and provided the necessary sweetness to go along with the savory sauce and beef. The sourdough bread had a really crispy crust and the interior was soft yet chewy and it was perfect for sopping up every last morsel on the dish. For me this was probably the most well rounded and balanced dish of the night and my favorite.

30-Day Dry-Aged Ribeye w Sauce "Birria," Heirloom Carrots & Sourdough

After the beef we all decided to get the supplemental dish, which was a black truffle grilled cheese sandwich with buttermilk maple broth and charcoal ice cream. The sandwich was pretty much exactly what I was expecting. It was packed with truffle and the aroma filled my nostrils before I had even bitten into it. Then the bread was so crunchy that it shattered between my teeth and gave way to the chewy, rich melted cheese. The buttermilk maple broth was an awesome accompaniment for the sandwich. It had some acidity from the buttermilk to help cut the richness of the sandwich and ice cream and the sweetness from the maple wasn't overpowering, but still gave a nice punch of maple flavor. As surprising as the flavor of the broth was to me the charcoal ice cream was even more perplexing. First off, for some reason I thought it would have some sort of grayish color, but instead it was white as snow, or cream I guess. Then I expected it to be a sweet ice cream, but it actually had no sweetness whatsoever. When I first tasted it the ice cream just tasted rich and creamy and then after a few seconds it melted a little and the charcoal flavor blossomed. It was a really clean, smoky flavor that went surprisingly well with the sandwich and broth. When we finished it we were all glad that we decided to get the supplement.

Black Truffle Grilled Cheese w Buttermilk Maple Broth & Charcoal Ice Cream

For dessert we were given Carolina gold rice pudding with wakame, brown butter and a caramelized egg yolk. When the server included wakame in the description I had to do a double take because who uses seaweed in dessert? Especially if it isn't agar agar. That being said, it was one of the best, if not the best rice pudding I've had. The pudding itself was significantly more thick than what I'm used to, so much so that they used a ring mold to plate it and the pudding held its shape without running all over the plate. It also didn't have any sliminess like some rice puddings have. The Carolina gold rice still had a firm texture and a floral kind of sweetness. The brown butter was the next flavor that hit my palate and it had the signature rich nuttiness as usual, which brought out the nuttiness in the rice as well. Then after the brown butter a hint of the wakame came on. It added a subtle briny saltiness to the dish that kind of amped up all of the flavors and it also lent an umami characteristic that most desserts don't usually have. The caramelized egg yolk was a really cool addition to the dish. It made the dish have a similar appearance to a traditional steak tartare and when the caramelized sugar was cracked the yolk oozed out and sauced the whole dish. It was a luxurious cherry on top of this dessert and it helped to boost the richness in the whole dish.

Carolina Gold Rice Pudding w Wakame, Brown Butter & Caramelized Egg Yolk

To finish the night we were given wakame caramels for our petit fours. They tasted pretty much like salted caramels, but with more of a brininess rather than a straight up saltiness, as well as the subtle umami characteristic that the rice pudding had.

Wakame Caramels

Jeffrey and Jenny really enjoyed the food and I have to say it met my expectations again, which were still very high. Christal and I had a really great time out with them and it helped that Luke was so well behaved. He ended up falling asleep about halfway through the meal, but the tastes that he got he certainly seemed to enjoy.

Food 5/5
Service 5/5
Christal's Rating 5/5
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