Waiting for the Dark Elves at the Vampire Cafe

Continuing their special menus for Moi-même-Moitié's 20th Anniversary, Vampire Cafe offered up two new drinks and a new pasta dish for July and August.

So at the end of my July trip I found myself once again in the den of darkness.

This time my dining companion was the new acrylic EGA Mana.

I started with the non-alcoholic drink "A bloody tragedy of love and madness swirling at night on prom". Created by Mana, it's a mix of Calpis (Calpico) and lemon juice, into which you pour tomato juice. Since I had never tried Calpis before, this was something new for me. I wasn't sure at first but the sweet and sour taste of this drink won me over.

It was topped with a blue jelly rose which glowed as it floated on top of the Calpis and tomato swirl. The effect of the tomato juice seeping down into the Calpis reminded me of the movie "Carrie". I'm not sure if that was the movie reference for this drink, but it seems appropriate.

The second drink looked amazing in person. "The frenzy of blood starved zombies reviving in Matul" is a reference to the movie "Sangeria" also known as "Zombi 2". 

This Mana created drink was made with rum, Malibu coconut rum, milk and pineapple juice. Into which you get to pour blue caracao. Since the light inside the drink was blue, the color did not change much. It was really pretty to look at. This was my second Mana pineapple drink at Vampire Cafe this trip. The first was pineapple juice and blue caracao, and possibly either Calpis or milk. Sweetly bitter, which I believe was the effect that was desired. Some of Mana's drinks are like this. It is a taste that some are not use to in drinks, but bitters are used in other countries to flavor mixed drinks, so it is not unusual there.

My last choice for the evening was the special pasta dish "Dark elves dancing in the white night in a rose garden dripping with pleasure".

This was a cold dish for the hot summer weather. Steamed chicken with pasta in a yogurt sauce that gave a pleasant sour taste which reminded me of Greek cuisine. The blue rose was made of daikon radish and added to that summery feeling. If I made this I might have added more parsley or even dill to it. Still it was good. I was surprised with all the dairy in the drinks and this dish that I was able to eat all of this and not feel uncomfortable. I think that speaks to the quality of ingredients that are used. This was a very nice meal and service was great. My compliments to the excellent host Vampire Rose, the staff and chefs, and of course to Mana.

This menu is still available till the end of August. While reservations are good to have, I have found that by going early in the week and at the time they open, they do usually have tables available.