#nextrestaurant

It was Friday and it was 5.30. I had decided in the past few days to check Facebook for discounted Next tables. And there it was, 45% off, for 6.15. 

It was a little bit of a rush, as I had to go grab a picnic I had ordered. Fortunately, I had gone to work dressed rather properly, so off we went. 

Here was the entrance, China style:

The tables were red/pink lacquered, with the first course sitting in front of us, incognito. (Despite being gorgeous, the tables made it hard to take photos). 

The golden pamphlet explained the theme of the night: Chinese, modern, a little different. Mainly based on Chinese ingredients, but going fun on it...

The first course was a soup that came from the okra that was in our centerpiece. Look closer. It was fun and rather tasty. 3.75 jujus

Bamboo shoot and Lilly bulb. Mhhh, interesting textures but wasn't super convinced. 3 jujus.

3 amuse arrived. On the left the congee as a hot foam with pork floss, awesome, it was foamy and a little sweet. Great. 5 jujus.

In the middle the pork dumpling with Jujube and cuttlefish. 3.75 jujus.

On the right, the scallop dumpling with watercress and white fungus. 4 jujus.

Then: sturgeon with leek in a roasted spine broth. 4 jujus

The crab with green chili paste and fresh coconut (grated right there) was absolutely delicious. Hot, yes. Amazing, yes. 5 jujus.

3 more amuse arrived. 

The first one was the skate chops in the style of muslim lamb. I have no idea what muslim lamb but that skate was awesome. 5 jujus

In this little bag was hidden delicious pieces of tingly squab with Tarragon and sumac. Sooo good! 5 jujus.

Last, the tiger salad with cold skin noodles and seitan. Can't really remember that one...

Palate cleanser: I don't really like lettuce, so it was a lot  better when i just ate the orange stuff. Really cool! 4.5 jujus.

Shrimp in a duck yolk "sand" was next. Love eating the head and really cool flavors. 4.5 jujus

A take on a Chinese-American famous dish: Beef and Broccoli in liquid and solid state. The (solid) beef was some sort of jerky, sweet. Interesting. 4 jujus.

The broccoli was dehydrated and crunchy! 4.75 jujus.

The consome was good, salty, umami, but a little too rich. 4 jujus.

Beautiful plates:

The Duck in Layers came with a bunch of bowls with a lot of things inside!! Very playful and delicious.

Here there was an egg, something and nuts. Really cool.

Some sauce and veggies.

The duck, proper. smokey. 

A bao. 

Some cool type of jam.

For some reason, the sweetbread is missing.

This was the sauce. It was served on a super hot plate, very very hot and you had to dip it into this sauce so that it would cool down. At the same time, a crisp envelope would form. Really cool! And quite good. 

First dessert was a frozen rice soup with legumes and whipped vinegar. While it was cool I didn't like the taste of the peas in a dessert. 

Last one used the honey that was on the table to make Dragon's beard candy with a pressing of honey. Interesting dessert. 

Last but not least, the giant fortune cookie!! To be honest, we barely touched it. But we brought it home and ate the whole thing for lunch the next day. Amazing! 5 jujus.

Overall the experience was pretty awesome! We also appreciated the ability to buy a cocktail by the glass, rather than do the whole pairing.