squishies 16 September 2009 Dessert, Dinner, European, New Zealand 9 Comments  Print This Post  Email This Post

A group of friends and I travelled to New Zealand’s South Island for a week of snowboarding in August. The boys decided that they were going to cook for most of the trip (and oh boy, did they!) so we didn’t eat out all that much (to the relief of my wallet). We did however manage to visit a restaurant and pigged out at two burger joints – look out for the versus post from me next! It will be exciting! =D (Maybe…)

The resort that we stayed at boasted a pretty nice looking restaurant and going by our adage of “we’re overseas, we have to eat out at least once” we booked in a dinner at The Hub. It was a bit amusing when F made the booking but realised after hanging up that they never asked what time he wanted the reservation for. Sure enough, five minutes later, the restaurant called back sheepishly (no pun intended) asking the time we wanted for the reservation.

I hadn’t had a proper look at the restaurant when we first checked in, so I was pleasantly surprised to see that it looked quite warm and welcoming – also highly polished. They had these huge windows, but because it was night, they only reflected the interior, but I could imagine it giving way to those glorious white-tipped mountain peaks in the distance.

Bread and Butter

Yes, another bread shot. Sorry. These rolls were wonderfully crunchy on the outside and ever so soft on the inside; the basil butter simply melted in its warmth.

Entree

Seared Wild Scallops with Celeriac Remoulade, Blue Swimmer Crab, Sweet Corn Puree and Lardons ($21)

The scallops were decently seared (just slightly overcooked) and the sweet corn puree was quite smooth. I don’t know what lardons are but Wikipedia tells me that they are small strips or cubes of pork fat used to flavour food, which I suppose explains the bacon-like bits on top of the scallops. The crab was well-seasoned and it was a pretty nice start to the dinner.

Crisp Duck Breast with Fennel and Grapefruit Salad, Duck Liver Parfait, Apple Calvados Jelly and Walnut Oil ($19)

Jack ordered this dish with his eye on the parfait. I’m not sure if it lived up to his expectations, but he told me that it was “alright”. I wanted to ask him more questions, like whether he thought the grapefruit was sweet or a bit too tart and what the apple calvados jelly was like, but I felt perhaps I was being too intrusive. He looked like he was enjoying it though, so I guess that’s something.

Yellow Fin Tuna Carpaccio with Cucumber Capellini, Herb Salad and Chive Oil ($19)

I lit up when my carpaccio arrived and had to restrain myself from gobbling it down before I took a photo of it. The carpaccio was wonderfully thin and the salad complimented the delicate tuna quite well. All in all, it was rather refreshing.

Mains

Wild Venison Loin with Parsnip and Apple Puree, Saute Forest Mushroom, Glazed Baby Beets and Thyme Jus ($41)

I was told on good account while the thyme jus with the beets and mushrooms married well with the venison, the meat itself was found to be a little too rare, rendering it a bit chewy. Despite the chewiness though, the flavours were excellent.

Beef Fillet, Braised Oxtail, Fondant Thyme Potato, Baby Spinach and Confit Garlic Puree ($41)

Lynda and Jack had this dish and while I remember they were a bit uncertain about the oxtail at first, they really enjoyed this dish and found the oxtail to be quite delicious.

Crisp Baby Snapper Fillet, Prawn Ravioli, Poached Scampi and Saffron Veloute ($39)

Ruby thought the snapper was moist and very well cooked. While the flavours didn’t knock her socks off, Ruby rated it as an above average dish where the prawn ravioli was pretty decently flavoured and the sauce complimented the seafood components rather well.

Chargrilled Roast Rack of Cardrona Lamb, Confit Lamb Shoulder with Baby Carrot, Boulangere Potato and Tomato Oil ($39)

Pan Seared Roast Rack of Cardrona Lamb, Confit Lamb Shoulder with Baby Carrot, Boulangere Potato and Tomato Oil ($39)

The roast rack of lamb came in two options: pan seared or chargrilled. Both of which were cooked to perfection and I loved the boulangere potato (am I showing my biasness here? Haha) with a drizzled of tomato oil. The confit shoulder lamb was wonderfully fatty tasting and went really well with the potato. I liked how the lamb (both ways) did not have that strong lamb taste.

Parmesan Salad and Broccolini with Almond Salad ($9)

Mark had the parmesan salad and I think it went down well with him as he finished the whole plate. I know the broccolini with almond salad was perfectly seasoned because I kind of sneaked some into my mouth while F wasn’t looking – who knew almonds complimented them so well!

Dessert

Coconut Panna Cotta and Mango Gelee Terrine with Pineapple and Basil Salsa and Passionfruit Syrup ($14)

Coconut Panna Cotta and Berry Gelee Terrine with Pineapple and Basil Salsa and Passionfruit Syrup ($14)

When we ordered the panna cotta, our waitress came back from the kitchen apologetically telling us that they only had two mango panna cottas left and if it was okay that the other two orders were berry. After a slight hesitation, we agreed and I somehow felt like I got a 2-for-1 deal (in terms of photographs of course haha).

Everyone was impressed by the presentation of the dessert and F none so subtly did the wobble test on his mango panna cotta. F thought that while it was a nice idea, the execution wasn’t quite there as the gelee was a bit too firm in contrast to the relatively soft panna cotta and the mango flavour was a bit more subtle than he would have liked. However, the overall taste of the dessert was received well by everyone.

Whipped Kawau Gorgonzola Style Blue Cheese with Pear Puree and Gingerbread ($16)

In taking the teeniest bit of the gorgonzola blue cheese and eating it with the pear puree and gingerbread, the dessert tasted quite astonishing – that is to say, astonishingly good. Though Mark found that it was a bit too easy to take a bit too much cheese, where it easily overpowered the other components. The whipped gorgonzola was so light that we could hardly believe the strength of its flavour.

We dared Ruby, our resident cheese lover, to eat the whole cheese quenelle and to our wide-eyed amazement she did… with no ill effects. She asked me to write that the gorgonzola was exquisite.

Pear Tartlett, Apple Syrup, Pear Crisp and Pomegranate Cream ($14)

I was really impressed with the presentation of this dessert – it looked too good too eat! Maybe it should have stayed that way as I found it incredibly hard to eat. I had the pear crisp in one hand, nibbling at it after struggling to cut a piece of the tough tartlett to get just a spoonful. The cream was lovely though – light and faintly sweet.

The Hub

The service at The Hub was exceptionally friendly and attentive and while we weren’t exactly wowed by the food, it left us feeling quite satisfied nonetheless. I also love that we can just walk back to our room afterwards instead of having to drive at least an hour to get home. =)

The Hub
Cnr Cardrona Valley Road & Studholme Road
Wanaka, Otago, 9305
New Zealand
Ph: +64 03-443 7707
Web: www.oakridge.co.nz/