avra

when L first told me about avra, i didn't realise just how upmarket it'd be. later on, i surmised it had to be pretty darn atas if that's where J had been wine and dined by "the counterparties". ooh! new word! occasionally i envy these corporate types with bottomless expense accounts. and i was the unlikely beneficiary of J's limited (read: only fancy schmancy) exposure to the NYC restaurant scene. didn't help that the first thing i did was to mistake an important looking patron for a waiter (asked him for directions to the loo, yep, i'm classy that way) and later when the haughty hostess refused to seat us till J came*, L and i went back outside and broke out the marks&spencer cookies i'd carted across the pond.

initial hiccups aside, dinner was absolute yums and best of all, i got to meet the guy who stole L's heart. quite the milestone in my little friendship ledger :)

if you ever go to avra, we had the bread with assorted dips (roasted eggplant, carp roe and garlic chive), octopus and squid appetisers were good, as was the spinach side. the fresh grilled tiger prawns were practically alive when they reached our table but the barramundi was unimpressive. just like how the waiter was unimpressed when we all said no to wine. sigh.

*quite common to only seat the table when the entire party is present