A Tale Of Three Martinis

Who knew there were so many kinds of martinis to be had in Corvallis?

We finally cut out of work late Saturday and made a quick stop for a lunch of drinks and appetizers at one of two McMenamins that are in town. McMenamins has over 55 locations in their food and drink empire including their own distillery and winery and coffee roastery. We had been here for lunch the day before and they served up some tasty food -- gotta have the cajun tots. On special was a dirty martini made with Vintners Gin made at the Edgefield Distillery. This style of gin is one of the things we tried back in Amsterdam and is much more herbal than what most folks consider gin to be. Think Beefeater on herbal steroids. As a dirty martini (I usually like mine squeaky clean) it was smooth with a distinctive taste, rounded out nicely by the extra tang from the olive juice. I followed that up with one of the McMenamins microbrewed ales called "Hammerhead". For food, we had the tots, meaty buffalo wings, and a top-notch hummus plate.

We all took a break after lunch and regrouped for another night out. First stop was a local fair that we had been told about. We spent more time in the taxi to and from the fairgrounds then actually at the fair. The description of the beer garden had been exaggerated a bit. Let's just say it wasn't our cup of gin.
We took a taxi straight from the fair to AQUA, a slightly upscale Asian-fusion seafood restaurant just off the river in Corvallis. Things were looking up.

AQUA had a great menu from drinks to starters to the main course. For drinks, it was dark & stormy's (ginger beer and dark rum), followed by their signature AQUA martini that came with two olives stuffed with spicy ahi tuna. The shiso mojito looked great, too, but I ran out of time. The Ben tried the enormous 'Don the Beachcomber Zombie' -- said it was good.

We started with some edamame, kumamoto oysters with shaved sake ice, and scallops with bernaise sauce and truffle oil. Oh my. These dishes weren't cheap but they were so worth it. I moved on to a Thai beef salad. I love thai beef salads and this was easily the best I have had. It was like beef carpaccio with a thai flair -- awesome. I followed that with fish and chips -- and confirmed that the English are really, really good at making these and I should henceforth avoid ordering them outside of the UK.

I couldn't end on a down note so we went with the now trusted Cinnamon's recommendation and ordered up a chocolate milk cocktail. Not unlike the legendary Dutch Whistle, this was a mix of chemicals that ends up tasting like chocolate milk with a vodka aftertaste.

But we weren't done yet.

Next stop was The Downward Dog and Cloud 9. More great drinks at this place made with ingredients that I have never seen before. The Bennerino and I tried the sazerac -- sorta like a Manhattan. The group broke down here and we started to falter. Only Engleman and myself had the stamina to, once again, stumble our way over to the bright lights of LA CONGA for my third burrito of the trip -- this time a pork carnitas variety -- before catching a taxi to the Hilton.

Whew!
Cheers!