Eatin’ & Drinkin’ – Nage

Saturday night, I went out for another 30% off dinner compliments of Savored.

I really think sites like Savored are the future of frugal dining.

I’m still a group deal addict, but in the end you often end up spending more on food when you buy a group deal in order to reach the maximum amount. And most of the time alcohol isn’t discounted on group deals.

With Savored, you just make the reservation through the site, and 30% is automatically deducted from your entire bill. It’s a pretty sweet deal. Remember to tip off the pre-discounted total though.

It costs $10 to make a reservation, but you get an initial “free” reservation when you sign up. Mr. T used his credit on Sou’wester, and I used mine to go to Nage.

I actually have another credit now, but I don’t know why. I hope to use it as a post-move celebratory dinner reservation in the future.

I don’t remember what prompted us to pick Nage, but it was definitely a winner.

We started out with a bottle of Oberon Cabernet Sauvignon, since I had already received confirmation from the SIL that it would be amazing.

She was right, of course. I don’t know when I became a bottle buyer at restaurants though. It kind of makes me feel a bit pretentious or like I’m playing grown up or something, but it really is the better deal if you’re planning on having more than one glass of wine per person. This one was also very reasonably priced, and with the discount, not bad at all.

Plus, I think everyone has something that they overspend on, and for me it’s food and drink (and shoes, but I’m getting that under control).

Because it seems we’re becoming quite predictable, we started out with baked oysters as an appetizer.

Before they arrived, we were served an amuse bouche of some sort of salmon salad on top of a toast point, but I don’t do salmon. They also brought out fresh bread and hummus on the house.

Therefore, an appetizer wasn’t really necessary, but the oysters were good nonetheless. I think I liked the fried oysters at Sou’wester better, but these were rich and didn’t taste of seafood at all.

For my entree, I had a maple glazed pork tenderloin with haricot verts and sweet potato gratin.

I was more than a little taken aback when the waitress asked me how I wanted my pork cooked. I didn’t think it was customary to serve pork anything other than “all the way cooked”. So that’s how I ordered it. It still came out a bit pink, but just in the center and I didn’t eat that part. I’m getting accustomed to the undercooked red meat thing, but I was not ready to do so with pork.

Because I ordered it thoroughly cooked, it came out a bit tough and chewy. I think they probably recommend the undercooked option to make the meat more tender, since it is cooked to order. I usually slow cook pork so that it is cooked throughout, but I’m not a chef at a nice restaurant, so what do I know?

Anyways, it was still flavorful and quite good, and the sweet potato gratin was delicious.

Mr. T ordered the boeuf bourguignonne, and said it was great. In fact, I think he mentioned wanting a cup of the sauce to go. I had a bite and it was indeed very good, but I’ve been overdoing it a bit on the red meat lately so I kept my distance before I inhaled the whole thing while he wasn’t looking.

There is a lot going on lately with the move and switching jobs, so it was nice to be able to sit and talk and relax for a few hours.

Then Mr. T took me to Vidalia and forced me to drink martinis, so I ended up spending all of Sunday sitting and relaxing as well, and nursing a headache of epic proportions.

I’ve declared this a booze free week until I land in Vegas on Saturday. A girl can only take so much.

What are you most likely to overspend on?

Have you ever eaten undercooked pork, or any other meat besides beef or lamb?