Anniversary dinner continued

Chargrilled field mushroom filled with a coriander, chilli and cashew pesto

The pesto was beautifully flavoured but I found the mushroom wept too much watery liquid for my liking.

Crispy skin quail with a honey, pepper and black bean sauce

I enjoy ordering a tasting menu because it includes dishes which I would not normally order, such as this boned quail with a peppery sauce which offsets the juiciness of the meat perfectly. The smidgen of sticky rice served alongside was just right.

Pepper beef & scallop hotpot with a side of stir-fried cucumber and pumpkin

And here is our second favourite course, though by this stage we were starting to get reasonably full as you can imagine! Oh this was delicious. The first time I had this hotpot dish, many years ago, I finally realised why chefs prefer cooking their beef rare: it the result is so tender and flavourful. The hotpot also includes perfectly cooked, tender and meltingly sweet scallops. The side dish was sublime and spicy. The stir-fried cucumbers were crunchy and contrasted with the soft pumpkin; I would never have combined these two ingredients in a stir-fry but it worked very well.

Peter's dessert: coconut sago pudding with black sesame ice cream

I made Peter choose this one so I could see what it tasted like :) The warm sago pudding was like tapioca, and the black sesame ice cream was very unusual -- nice, different, unusual.

Becky's dessert: caramelized eggplant on mango mousse with basil seed sauce

I could not resist. Eggplant for dessert?! As the waiter gave me this, he murmured 'excellent choice, madam' haha (husband rolled eyes). Lightly battered and deep-fried, the eggplant tasted like banana fritters, but not quite as sweet, with a sesame caramel sauce. The mango mousse wasn't quite as mango-y or as refreshing as I'd expected, and the basil seeds were tasteless little frog eggs which seemed to be there for the texture. Altogether, a lovely dessert. I'm sure my brothers would love this (I introduced them to the joys of eggplant when they were young). Perhaps when they visit I will try cooking it?