My wife and I generally prefer to stay in for Valentine’s Day. Restaurants are crowded. It’s hard to get a table where you want. They have limited holiday menus. Service is awful. So, in the past I generally cook a nice meal (with lobster or Alaskan King Crab Legs often being at the center of the meal). This year we decided to order out from a restaurant that we have not been to for some time, largely because it gets too crowded and the tables are close to one another. By ordering out, we got to decide the pace of our meal, where we wanted to eat (dining room, kitchen or den), and even pair each course with the beverage of our choice. The restaurant we ordered from is called Monalisia and it is located in Williamstown. This is how our evening went…
Pre-dinner Cocktail
I recently purchased two four packs of Cutwater Ready-to-Drink cocktails. Thursday night we enjoyed the Espresso Martinis. They were much better than I was expecting. On Valentine’s Day evening, we tried the Long Island Ice Tea. Not bad! My wife was skeptical, but admitted they were better than she expected. While our bar is pretty well stocked, I must admit, it was nice to have this already prepared-just add ice and pour. I will be returning to the Ready-to-drink topic (perhaps the hottest selling things in liquor stores right now. Just check out the space slotted for them on shelves and in the refrigerated section). I will be sampling and reporting on these items from New Jersey Distilleries in coming weeks. Looking forward to the research!
Appetizer
We decided to have some shrimp and my wife made cocktail sauce the way that we like it-a little more spicy than they tend to serve at most restaurants. I chose a Sparkling Rose made from Pinot Noir from Hawk Haven Vineyards, called Fizz Nouveau. It was delicious and the perfect pairing with the Shrimp Cocktail. See picture below.
House Salad
A simple, but very good salad came with the meal-mixed greens, grape tomatoes, cucumbers, and a house dressing on the side. It provided a good excuse to try our Chardonnay, described below.
Entree
We both chose their Flounder Stuffed with Crabmeat, served with sautéed mixed vegetables. The Flounder was served with a creamy rich beurre blanc sauce and was delicious. We paired the entree with one of our favorite Chardonnays-2022 Unionville Vineyards Pheasant Hill Chardonnay. This is one of my favorite Chardonnays, with a great creaminess, coupled with tasty lemon and lime on the palate.
Dessert
For Dessert we had their Sweet Eats Cake. This dessert comes from the locally famous bakery in Cherry Hill, called Sweet Eats. It was a delicious vanilla layered cake with vanilla icing. Simple, but delicious! We decided to enjoy the cake in our den while we watched 50 Years of SNL Music.
I chose to enjoy a glass of Port Style wine from Hawk Haven. This was a wonderful wine made from Muscat grapes, with luscious notes of orange, figs, and a nutty flavor, reminiscent of a sherry. This was a wonderful after dinner wine and an awesome accompaniment to our delicious cake. My wife had trouble finishing her piece of cake and passed on the Port, but she made me promise to save her some of the Port.
Coming Attractions
- Working Dog Winery Changes
- NJ Distillery Ready-to-Drink Cocktails
- Cape May Winery Winter 2025
- Terra Nonna March 2025
- More NJ Wines of the Week
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