New Year’s Eve 2013 – Dateline Doha, Qatar

New Year’s Eve 2013 – Dateline Doha, Qatar

Although Qatar follows the Saudi lead in not declaring New Year’s Day a national holiday, that does not stop all the local hotels from offering ex-pats and locals the opportunity to ring in the new year with lavish food, drink and loud music. Two blocks from my apartment is the La Cigale Hotel, consistently voted as the best hotel in Doha. While billing themselves as a 5-star hotel they do not offer an early-bird special. Our reservation for the fixed price five course dinner was set for 7:30.

We were fashionably 5 minutes late and walked into a nearly empty restaurant. We were seated and immediately Gary, our favorite waiter, came to our table. Exchanging Happy New Year wishes turned into catching up on each other’s lives since our last visit. My health report was trumped by Gary’s tale of returning with his wife to his typhoon ravaged home in Tacloban, Philippines. “Thanks God” was repeated constantly as he revealed that although wet and soggy, their two children, both sets of parents, homes, three dogs and the pig were all safe and sound. Thanks God.

But as usual, I ramble. This post is about the 5 course dinner. Gary left to take care of the smoking section and Karen started us with a palate cleansing Black truffle ice cream. It tasted a bit like an earthy mushroom ice cream. Wow, a fungus amongus. Don’t look for the BEN & JERRY’S version. It will not supplant Salty Caramel anytime soon.

The first course was a very nice creamy chestnut soup with mini raviolis and avocado oil.  Not a lot of depth but still very tasty. This turned out to be my second favorite course.

We paused to enjoy our complimentary proseco and a review of the wild and crazy year 2013 had been for the Schoenes.

Soup settled, we signaled Karen to proceed with the second course. A beautiful piece of roasted red tuna encrusted with artichokes on a bed of sautéed mango. Patty eyed this with great anticipation, but I like my sushi fried. Apparently, encrusted artichokes and sautéed mango really need semi-raw tuna to complete this gastronomic experience. Patty found the tuna tough and somewhat unappealing, even though she usually loves raw fish.

I was in bad need of another palate cleanser. The Chef had anticipated this and provided a Granny Smith Apple Sorbet topped with pineapple meringue and finished with a sprinkle of basil and Szechwan pepper. Holy smokes. I was reminded of Dolly Parton’s response to the talk show host about her over-the-top stage appearance. Dolly said lots of women wear wigs, makeup, false eye lashes and flashy jewelry. They just don’t wear it all at the same time like I do. This menu has a lot going on at the same time.

With a touch of my glass and a nod of the head, our glasses were refreshed with Hildon “gently sparking” water. The service at La Cigale is wonderful. A well trained staff quietly attending to our every  need. 

With my palate cleansed and thirst slaked, I was ready for the main course. Seared veal medallion on pomme frite cake flavored with lawn grass clippings. A small oven-hot serving of blended carrots and tomatoes completed the main course. We gazed at each other across the table completely under-whelmed. At least, I ate my veal and baked carrots. Patty hardly touched anything. As she cleared the plates, a concerned Karen was soothed by Patty’s words of just being too full.

But not too full for fifth course. Laid out where the salad bar normally is found was an all-you-can-eat smorgasbord of desserts. A sampling of these and a cup of tea - Jasmine for Patty camomile for me - finished our meal.

But wait, there’s more. My sixth and favorite course: the tooth picks, individually wrapped with a tiny drop of green Retsyn (like Certs) on one end to help freshen your breath while you clean your teeth. Incredible.

Dusty