Barrel of Fun

Our friends Chris and Amy took us to a great place last night for dinner. The restaurant is called Tonneau, which in French means cask or barrel. As you can see from the photo it is shaped like a giant barrel. Once you enter the restaurant you discover that it is two stories. Most of the restaurant is made out of wood that resembles the exterior of the building.

Before being shown to our table we were asked to take off our shoes and place them in a rack. After storing our footwear we walked to the back of the restaurant and sat down at our table. The tables are made in the Japanese style and are about six inches off of the floor. This would have posed a problem for the less flexible of our party, exepct that the area below the table dropped down far enough to allow those with longer legs to sit normally. We were handed two Japanese/English menus and was brought an appetizer that appeared to be a large, green and semi-translucent radish that had menced beef or pork that had been spiced. After we had finished our appetizer and made out dinner selection, Sean used the telephone at our table to inform the waiter that we were ready to order our meal. We decided to try a few different things on the menu. Our order included a garlic salad, a California roll (here it comes with tuna instead of crab), a cheese spring roll, and tuna with tomato sauce. We had a pleasant time talking and getting to know more about Chris and Amy (both of whom went to Texas A&M) while we waited for our food. The next thing we knew plate loads of food were being delievered to our table, and before you knew it there was no more room left. All of the food was delicious. At one point we were afaid that they had forgotten about our tuna with tomato sauce order, which was almost a good thing since we were stuffed, but it appeared and disappeared quickly since it was so good. This place is certainly a favorite of ours now and we can't wait to take others there.