RW lunch #2: The Lambs Club redux

I know, I know, I always say that one of the things I love about Restaurant Week is that I get to try new-to-me restaurants.  I actually had a reservation for yesterday afternoon at a French restaurant I've never been to before.  But then I got an e-mail from the Lambs Club, as a previous patron, and when I saw their Restaurant Week menu, I just had to cancel that other reservation and head over to the Lambs.

It's a bit pricey, but I just love going to the Lambs Club.  The food is first rate, the atmosphere is relaxed and cool, and the cocktails are to die for.  Yes, I ordered a cocktail with my lunch yesterday (it cost almost as much as my three-course lunch, but oh well).  I was seated up front at a small table and I was next to a family of tourists (at least I'm pretty sure they were tourists, they had several guidebooks on their table).  They kept giving me kind of odd looks, most especially when I over-enthusiastically exclaimed YUM when my drink arrived.  I guess they could've been uphappy at my cocktail, too - they were having, I kid you not, milk, and they said grace (not that there's anything wrong with that) before each course.  Oh well.  I guess I could be a story for them to tell their friends when they get home.  If they had had one of those cocktails, their story would be more interesting.  I can highly recommend the Mad Men Cosmo - I asked my server to confirm they they make their cosmo without vodka (I'm on an eternal vodka wagon); since they do, I was free to order it.  DELICIOUS!  Perfect for a summer lunch.

For my first course, I was briefly tempted by the burrata appetizer, but I knew I would be getting the chilled sweet corn bisque. I adore corn bisque, especially when it features lobster and pepitas.  This soup was delicious, so silky smooth and full of corn flavor.  The lobster was plump and sweet, the pepitas were crunch and delicious, plus there was a little bit of heat and a touch of licorice flavor from a couple of tarragon leaves (tarragon will play a major part later in the meal - I am now a huge fan).  With the soup, I also got a very tasty couple of slices of warm bread covered in crunchy seeds and salt.  Yummy.  I was highly happy and I'd only started!

It always creeps my mom out, but if I see duck confit on a menu, hello, I'm ordering it.  So when it was on this RW menu, I had to get it.  And it was DELICIOUS!  It was served with an amazing whole grain mustard vinaigrette, frisee, cherry tomatoes and a soft poached egg.  I'm going to admit here, the egg was a little underdone for my tastes.  But I did appreciate the pretty yolk cascading over the greens.  I sort of swept the whites aside and left them behind.  But that crispy duck - sublime.  The skin was crackling and was terrifically seasonsed, and the meat was tender, juicy and delicious.  This was just a great great dish.  It was rich, delicious, but not so heavy that I couldn't enjoy my dessert.

If truth be told, the part of the menu that swayed me to go back to the Lambs Club, it  was the dessert.  They had a steamed chocolate cake, which sounded yummy, but the other choice was a pavlova.  I LOVE PAVLOVA.  Meringue, cream and fruit.  What's not to love?!  Here it was presented in a deconstructed format - the merinque cookie was served alone, with a delicious peach cream in little scrumptious dollops around the plate, plus there were delicious sauteed fresh peaches, a coconut sorbet, and a few sprigs of tarragon.  Wow, the tarragon was amazing here!  Just a pungent, sharp herbal taste that just popped alongside the creaminess and the fruitiness.  The meringue cookie was perfect, crispy on the outside, with a creamy, yet chewy, inside.  I adored this dessert and it was the perfect end to my meal.  I'm bummed I can really only afford two Restaurant Week lunches this go-round, but both of them have been outstanding and only whets my appetite (see what I did there? tee hee) for next year.  Yum.