Palm Terrace and Chocolate Bar

On Friday, I went to the Park Terrace Restaurant for dinner with my friends: Linda, Sam and Lauren. The ONLY reason we went was to try their Chocolate Bar. Now we could have paid the $18 for the bar but well, why when the appetizer and entree would give us the free bar.

In hindsight, I'm glad we didn't pay for the Chocolate Bar. It wasn't worth the $18 b/c it was only one table. Even though it was the "all-you-can-eat" buffet, honestly I wouldn't have paid $18 for it. I think it was because I was full from dinner.

Let me go a step back and go from the beginning:
I must say their version of sourdough bread and mushroom spread was wonderful. Their bread was warm but not too tangy and really good. The spread was tangy but light and a great alternative to the butter. It was probably the first time I didn't even think about the butter.

My first course was the Macaroni and Cheese made with elbow macaroni, Talaggio cheese, crushed truffles and a Parmesan Tuile. It came in a dish that reminded me of the Large Egg from Mork and Mindy. (It has since been pointed out that the dish looks quite unusual. Can you guess what it is? LOL :oP) Just a hint more cheese would have been perfect but it was still good although I didn't taste the truffles. I'm glad I didn't get the tartare though b/c it was the amount of soda can lid which isn't much or filling.

My entree was the the Prime Beef Short Ribs. I was pondering the fish but I thought meat b/c I can always take it home if I wanted to. It was described as sous vide for 48 hrs in rum and pepper for 48 hrs and put on a potato puree and Irvine Ranch Vegetables. Sous Vide is a method of cooking food in a water bath at a low temp while still maintaining the ingredients integrity like a slow braise. The meat was very tender and hearty though sweet. I did take some home because I wanted the dessert. LOL

And then my adventure home. Although I did have my navigator on, I missed the turn on Jamboree and wound up on the access road on East Bluff road. It was so tight, I could not make a U-turn so I just had to take the windy, rainy road cliff side until I made my way back to Jamboree. It was the longest 3 miles ever and I thought I was never going to make it. I kept thinking one wrong turn and I would fall go off the cliff into the ocean and no one would know. Thankfully I made it home in one piece.