Food Club no. 14 {Clever Koi on Central}

This month, Bitches Food Club decided to try Clever Koi, an Asian Infusion Restaurant on Central Avenue in Midtown.  Here are their; dinner, drinks and lunch menus.

We chose patio seating because the weather was so amazing but they also have a decent sized indoor dining area as well.

It was also really cool to be sitting on a patio that faces Central, every once in a while the light rail would drive by and it would feel like a real metropolitan city.

I Started with the Daku {Junmai Nigori Unfiltered Sake} 

Warm tea for a few ladies. 

As part of a special menu; "It Takes Two" Emily and Gretchen got this Punch, it was slightly tart but the pineapple sweetness completely masked the alcohol {which could be actually sort of dangerous}

From Left to Right: Summer Shirt; sweet with pineapple, very refreshing.  CB4; mostly bourbon with a good lemon lime flavor. Four Peaks Sunbru.

Above: Beef and Vegetable Gyoza Dumplings.  They were good but the black bean appetizer was better.  They were well crisped and had a very flavorful sauce.

Steamed Bok Choy Dumplings had smokey black beans inside with lemon grass garnish and sweet red pepper jelly over grilled bok choy.  They were oily but also very crispy.

Steamed Buns; they actual bun felt like clouds, super light and fluffy but also very filling.   We order two types the Brisket Bun- Which had brisket, wasabi cream sauce, and pickled onions. Very good, wasabi cream sauce was tangy with a hint of heat at the end, really awesome sauce. 

Eggplant Bun- Was fluffy and light, I dipped it in soy sauce and the sirracha aioli the creamy sauce was just the right amount of spice to accent the plain fluffy rice bun and {I believe Sautéed} Eggplant. 

The Broccolini was in a delicious cream sauce highly recommended!  I think this was my favorite dish especially with the tempura veggies on top.Seafood Chow Mein

 Lemongrass Chicken Chow Mein 

Pork Ramen, no mushrooms

Tofu Chow Mein was slightly soy sauce-y but I'm not sure what other sauce would be appropriate and I have a low sodium intake so it might have just been a bit much for me.  

Seafood Pot with Octopus Cake! Looked pretty flavorful. The noodles were thick with a soup like consistency and the octopus cake looked like a square crab cake. Nora seemed to enjoy every bite. 

Detail from the Seafood Pot

Detail of the Octopus Cake under the noodles.

The "Bitches" which by the way actually does have a full story behind the name, we're actually not that bitch-y. Maybe one day I'll tell it... but probably not.

After reviewing all the items I think the overall consensus is that clever koi knows how to make a sauce, or more so, sauces. Each dish was accented so flavor fully with a companion sauce that brought out perfect pairing of ingredients specifically the broccolini dish and the sweet pepper jam from my dumplings.

Poor Brittany had to finish all the drinks because I had to drive and we didn't want to waste any.

Banana Fritters with Caramel Sauce. It was like eating warm banana bread rolled in cinnamon deep fried and dipped in cinnamon. Decadent. Delmara and I are already craving them again.

And how could I not mention the moon rise we saw while enjoying our meal on the patio.  Another lovely night with my loveliest ladies!

Have you tried a new restaurant recently? Have suggestions were we should go next month? Leave a comment.  We love to try new places!