Beer Week 2010 Super Blog, Pt 8

Day Seven


Misconduct

Phenomenal flavors plus a high ABV, it is pretty hard for me to turn down a Southern Tier beer whenever I see one on tap. When Misconduct Tavern featured 6 Southern Tier beers in one night, Aiiyah involuntarily migrated toward the bar like a pack of hungry wolfs smelling prey from miles away.

I am greedy. There are 6 different Southern Tiers. I want them all!

The Heavy Weizen is a 7.3% imperial unfiltered wheal ale. It is what every summer beer should be; flavorful, light tasting, refreshing, and thirst crushing. Plus, it has the added benefit of high ABV. The 6.9% IPA is a bit hoppy but manageable. It was a good drinkable IPA for me. The Unearthly Imperial IPA supposedly was to be a more hoppy beer, but I tasted more bourbon in this beer than anything else. At 9.8%, it won my approval. The Iniquity Imperial Black Ale is a 8.9% darken ale. I was expecting a more pronounced flavor but it was very calm and just something different comparing to the other beers. The 9.6% winter seasonal Oat Imperial Oatmeal Stout lived up to its name. The beer was so full of the oat flavor that it was like drinking a bowl of oatmeal. Last but not the least was one of my favorite Southern Tier beers: Mokah. This is in essence a forbidden affair of the Backwater Serious Jahva Stout and the Choklat Stout. Drinking it is like doing a double espresso shot mixed with melted chocolate, with a chaser of 10.9% ABV.

My six beer shoot-out had interrupted my bar stool neighbor Susan, from her regularly scheduled drinking program and convinced her to try a flight of Southern Tier herself. I couldn’t quite figured out which was her favorite since she could not stop marveling at each beer.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

  


After doing the six Southern Tiers, Susan went back to her regularly scheduled Golden Monkey.
 

Many hours and many beers later, we became each other’s BFF. (Clarification: The first “F” does not stand for “female”)

The MisConduct manager stopped by to say hi.













Zama

Beer could be filling, but it also has the effect of creating hunger. After bidding goodbye to my new BFF, I caught up with Center Point Margie at Zama for a few quick bites during her in-between conference call period.

Zama has only been open for a few months but it already has received accolades for quality sushi and unique dishes.

It would be a sin not to start with a few house special sashimi pieces for the night. The live scallop was a big “Wow!” Repeat after me, “U-n-a-m-i !” It was incredibly rich and deep in a sweetness of flavor. The o-toro was so o-fatty and so o-good! The king yellowtail was much different. It had a more subtle but richer taste than regular yellowtail. All the perfectly cut pieces were a showcase of the chef’s knife skill.


Clockwise top right: King yellow tail, o-toro, live scallop.

Spicy Chilean Sea Bass Tempura with Broccoli, Cauliflower


It looked like popcorn shrimp with a nice sauce over it, but indeed it tasted much much better since it wasn’t popcorn shrimp with a nice sauce over it. Each morsel was tender, moist, meaty, and cooked just right. Biting into the creamy mayonnaise’ish sauce with a hint of sweetness over the crunchy skin followed by a little taste of tender meatiness and a slight spiciness was an excellent rewarding experience for the sensory receptors.

Oyster with Plum Jelly, Ponzu and Chili Sauce


You start with a fresh West Coast oyster (forgot the name) on the shell. Inside the cup are the jelly, ponzu, spice, and a dab of chili sauce. Drop the oyster into the cup and do it as shot! Woohoo!!! The freshness of the salty sea taste, the spice, the chili kick, and the textural change with the jelly… It was the best $3.00 oyster I ever had.

 
 

Black Spider Roll

Kind of like a regular spider roll but with roasted red pepper and black caviar on the outside. It was definitely something different.

 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 

I like that a good amount of quality ingredients were generously used in the roll instead employing a thick layer of rice filler.
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 

Whole Tempura Spicy Tuna


Translation in English: It’s a spicy tuna roll fried whole in tempura batter, served sliced. After biting through the crispy tempura crust, you would encounter the still perfectly raw tuna in the middle protected by the rice surrounding it.

 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 

To give it an extra kick, my waitress, Roxanne, brought Sriracha sauce to the table. It did give the roll another dimension in a different direction.
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 

The quality of a meal does not depend solely on the food. The restaurant environment and the staff play a significant part in this experience. Everything I had at Zama was super. What made it stand out was the personable and entertaining Roxanne who informed, educated, and encouraged me to try different items available that night which I normally would not order. Having a knowledgeable waitress was a big plus. She also showed professionalism and care by seeking an answer from others if she didn’t know how to answer one of our questions.


After learning from Roxanne that I was one of the Beer Week geeks, the manager informed me of the Echizo beer that was available exclusively only at this restaurant in Philly. Unfortunately, I was on Diet Coke for the dinner following the Southern Tier orgy, but they had already completely convinced me to return to the restaurant for the beer…, and a lot more of its food.



Day Seven Beer Tally:


Southern Tier Heavy Weizen
Southern Tier IPA
Southern Tier Unearthly Imperial IPA
Southern Tier Iniquity Imperial Black Ale
Southern Tier Oat Imperial Oatmeal Stout
Southern Tier Mokah