My calendar today
was marked with a Surprise Day. I love
surprises :).
The plan today as it
turns out was to go to the Hama Hama Oyster Rama. A 2.5 hour drive towards Olympia. However, when we woke up, it turned out that
the weather was pretty wet and chilly… so instead we had our oyster rama at
Taylor Shellfish instead. Wuhahaha. Taking the bus there, we would eat a bunch of
oysters, and also the geoduck sashimi.
One of these days, we need to go to an oyster farm. Perhaps this is the year I will do it in
Washington (since I have talked about it for multiple years now!
The item to note was
the geoduck sashimi we had today vs. the night before at Maneki. Taylor Shellfish definitely cut it nicer (and
thinner), but today they had very little geoduck sashimi (it almost seemed like
half the plate was missing!). While
Maneki had served a lot more, but the cut was a bit thicker. For me, I think I liked the thicker cut, but
it did come at the cost of a little bit of texture. Ahhh, if only there was more.
For the dinner
surprise, we drove towards Benihana, and for a second I thought that was the
surprise dinner. But I knew it couldn't
be, especially since earlier this week I was just there. We ended up stopping a block from it… and
then I realized that we were actually valet parking. The place: Capitol Grille
This was I think the
first (or maybe second) time I have been there.
The first time (if I have), was a couple years back for someone's
birthday - since they loved their steaks.
That time though, I didn't remember the service being all that
great. This time though, the service was
definitely spectacular. The lady that
served us was amazing, and was pretty awesome.
So we walk in, and
the first thing is that they greeted us with our name (last name), took our
coats, and then led us to the table (note: technically it was just lil friend's
last name, and they assumed we had the same last name). Nothing special yet, but from then on, things
started picking up.
Our server greets
us, then asks if we wanted to try their cocktail drink (pineapple infused
vodka). We went no (since we were gonna
have wine anyway and I was really a fan of vodka). She went, oh, ok… but then later she came
back with two small glasses and gave us a taste anyway, saying that "oh,
you have try it, even if it is just a little bit". What a nice lady. Not only that, she also asked if it was a
special occasion. Shy lil friend says
no, and of course I went, yes, it is - it is our anniversary :). So the lady went oh, congratulations…. Then
later she comes back and throws some red hearts on to the table, and gives us a
hand signed thank you for celebrating your anniversary with us card. She starts chatting with us more and asks -
'oh how long has it been', and to that I reply proudly 22 :). She must have thought we were crazy… lol. To top it all off, she even comp'ed us
dessert (which had happy anniversary etched with chocolate on the plate), and
we also got a picture. What service!
The meal itself was
yummy. The steak (I had a demonic) was huge, and was done really well. We also had the lobster mac and cheese, and
also the wild mushrooms as sides, but we couldn't finish it. Lil friend had a porterhouse, which I would
definitely have wanted to eat the remains of, but I was already so full from
the steak, and the sides, and the calamari appetizer (which was huge!).
The best part of the
night was that it turns out we had a $50 coupon for the place (another
surprise!). Great deal, great service,
yummy food. Perfecto!
Happy 22 months! :D
