Lychee Martini to die for!

martini
Originally uploaded by lools.

The Mojito at Le Colonial. The Lemon Drop at The Redwood Room. These were my absolutely favourite drinks in San Francisco. Here in Manhattan, I've finally found my drink of choice - it's the Lychee Martini at Nobu.

I wrote about Nobu a while back on this blog - it's one of Manhattan's most sought after restaurants. Folks wait months to get reservations! I usually rely on my tried and tested method - show up and try my luck! Somehow it's always worked for me. Believe it or not, we got in yesterday as well. Not at Nobu Next Door which is supposed to be the first-come first-serve part of the establishment but at THE Nobu itself. I'm sure it was because everyone else stayed home to watch Kerry and Bush go at each other!

I won't write much about the fantastic Japanese food but I have to tell you about the Lychee Martinis I sipped on throughout dinner. They are to die for!!! They were the smoothest, most perfect martinis I've ever had. Even the lychees, which are usually canned and lifeless in these type of drinks, were fresh and incredibly succulent at Nobu just like their sashimi.I'm not exaggerating when I say that I was "oohing" and "aahing" after every sip! I'm so thankful that I passed on my original order of the fig martini after the waiter raised his eyebrow, suggested it might be a bit too sugary and recommended the lychee one instead! It certainly seems to me that the bartenders at Nobu have perfected this tres trendy drink that was born at the Buddha Bar in Paris.

In case you feel like shaking up some vodka at home, here's the recipe:

INGREDIENTS:
1 measure (50ml) premium vodka
2 tsp fresh lychee juice
ice
1 lychee, peeled and stoned


PREPARATION:
Shake together the vodka, lychee juice and ice and strain into a martini glass. Garnish with the peeled lychee.

Cheers!!