Lupa

After treating Brian to a deep tissue massage at Bliss, I treated him to dinner at Lupa. I was absolutely thrilled with dinner. We couldn't get reservations but we were immediately seated upon arrival because we opted to eat at the communal table. Hey, we're Chinese. We don't mind sharing a table. The restaurant is very homey, with lots of brick and candles. I was surprised to find that Lupa is right next door to Tomoe. There were many times when I was waiting for a table at Tomoe that friends have suggested trying the Italian place next door. I refused everytime. Little ironies.

We started off with the tuna appetizer and the prosciutto grand riserva. The meat was amazing! It's aged for 18 months. The slices were thin, not too soft, melted in my mouth and absolutely wonderful. The tuna was ok but Brian likes that type of tuna. It's a tuna marinated in olive oil dunked in tomato sauce. For our entrees, I got the fettucine ala paladela?, which was an egg sauce with prosciutto and chives. Brian got the hollow spaghetti with guanciale and fresh tomatoes. Neither of our dishes are on the online menu. My dish was fabulous. The pasta was cooked al dente and the serving size was big enough to feel full but not so big that I wanted to keel over.

Our dessert was wonderful as well. I got the buttermilk panna cotta and Brian got the cheese plate. The cheese plate is big and worthwhile. I tried his ricotta with honey. Quite interesting. I think cheese tastes good with honey. Ever since Room 4 Dessert, I've really liked solid honey too. My panna cotta had a slight kick with the figs and the sourness from the buttermilk. I liked that distinctive flavor. Otherwise, panna cotta just tastes like expensive tofu hwa to me. Overall, I highly recommend.