My First Reveiw

As you know this blog has been all about my cooking so far. But this post is going to be a bit different.
Last night Andrew took my out for my birthday. Usually when we go out we go for sushi, but I wanted something different for my birthday. After exhaustive research I decided we should try, "Victoria's Gastro Pub" in Columbia, MD. The main reason for this decision.....they serve french fries fried in duck fat!
When we arrived I was surprised to see how busy they were for a Sunday night. Even so, we were seated at our table with in 10 minutes, which was the time the hostess gave us for the wait.
I immediately liked the decor. We were surrounded by dark wood and burgandy walls. The lighting fixtures reminded me of what you would expect to see in a castle, they were made of iron and had "pillar candles" surrounding the bulbs.
After looking over the wine list I decided on a Malbac. The description they provided was perfect for the wine. It was very drinkable and had a nice body to it.
We ordered to appetizers to start with , the duck fat fries and their meat platter.
The food arrived...and oh my goodness! They fries were everything we wanted them to be. The duck fat provided a gaminess that went perfectly with the earthiness of the potatoes. The aioli that came with them cut the richness of the dish quite nicely. They were 7.00 and totally worth every cent.
The meat plate had smoked duck, a patte' as well as a homemade prosciutto. To accompany the meat there was a wonderful grainy mustard that you could tell was made in house. There was also homemade bread and butter pickles, which Andrew and I "fought" over. Olives and grilled baguette were also included.
After we finished those we decided that we were too full to eat another thing! We ended our meal with coffee. Andrew had a cappuccino, while I decided to live a little and had what they called "Toffee Coffee". It was a wonderful concoction of coffee, hot chocolate, Kahlua and Bailey's topped with a healthy serving of real whipped cream.
It really was a wonderful experience, from the atmosphere, to the service, to the food, Victoria's Gastro Pub lived up to our expectations. Next time we hope to save some room to try some of the entrees.....