03 September 2012

Wellington Eats and Wellington on a Plate



Last weekend saw me down in Wellington for our second annual NZ Food Bloggers Conference which very happily coincided with Wellington on a Plate.  What a weekend....food filled, fun filled, wonderful to catch up with old friends and a joy to make new ones.

More to come on conference but here are some of the eats....so many eats, so many delicious eats.

Floriditas

For me their is only one place to start when it comes to eating in Wellington and that is Floriditas.  I’ve gushed before over here and I make no apology.  I love the ambiance, slightly bohemian, a little shabby chic, the tall frosted windows, the Victorian tiled walls, cups of tea served in vintage tea cups, their home baked bread and homemade preserves.  



So it was our spot for lunch on Thursday and we opted for the Wellington on a Plate menu.  To start Butternut Pumpkin and Olive Tart with Herbed Yoghurt and a Watercress and Preserved Lemon Salad.  Buttery puff pastry topped with sweet pumpkin, a briny sharpness from the olives and a peppery salad made a little fragrant from the preserved lemons along side a wee glass of Pinot Gris was a great start to a weekend of food.  Next up Otaki Lime and Roasted Coriander Grilled Chicken with a Radicchio and Fennel Slaw, Bees Blessing Cider Vinegar and Honey Dressing.  The chicken was perfectly cooked and full of flavour.  The salad the perfect light and crunch alongside the chicken.  Though I think I would also have been happy with the Yellow Brick Road Diamond Clams, Pencarrow Sauvignon Blanc, Flat Leaf Parsley, Greytown Gold Saffron and Richards Linguine.  No room for dessert as had to save plenty of room for dinner....




Floriditas
161 Cuba St, Wellington Central
Wellington
04 381 2212

The Portlander


Dinner on Thursday was a little eating and tweeting courtesy of the Portlander, a newly opened restaurant in the Rydges Hotel on Featherstone Street, who were very generous hosts and provided the perfect “official start” to our weekend in Wellington of all things food.  10 food bloggers, lots of iPhones and several full monty cameras it was a very well photographed and tweeted meal.

The Portlander is at the upper end of grill houses sourcing the best local ingredients from the land and the sea. To start, and in the spirit of being a little adventurous, I opted for the Paua, chargrilled and and served with panko crumbed calamari atop a cauliflower puree.  The paua was slightly chewy but wonderfully sweet and a little smoky. The calamari golden and crisp on the outside and tender on the inside.  A great, and picturesque, start to the meal.


Being a grill house it felt only appropriate to order steak.  On offer Wakanui eye fillet, sirloin on the bone, Black Angus rump, T-bone and wagyu among others. I ordered the wagyu, not having had the pleasure of trying it before, with a just a little horseradish sauce on the side.  I wasn’t disappointed, unbelievably tender, it was like cutting through butter, and like butter it melted in your mouth.  There are a wonderful array of sided on offer from hand cut fries, that were ginormous, to  garlic and herb roasted field mushrooms.  Gourmet Gannet and I shared the rocket with Parmesan and balsamic salad, gratin potato and crumbed onion rings and they almost all got scoffed.  The onion rings even met with Gourmet Gannet’s approval, previously not a lover of these crispy golden rings.



After all of the tweeting and eating I was well fed and it was time for me to call it a night in preparation for a few more days of very enjoyable over indulging.

The Portlander
Corner of Featherston & Whitmore Sts
75 Featherston St
Wellington
04-498 3762
www.portlander.co.nz

The Tasting Room


Friday lunch was put on by the lovely people at Wellington on a Plate as part of our conference.  Food bloggers were dispersed all around town to try all sorts of delicious food.  Anna, Anne, Alli and I were picked out for The Tasting Room, just on the corner of Courtney Place and Cambridge Terrace, a gastropub serving good, honest and tasty food.  



For their Wellington on a Plate menu a bright, fresh Roasted Vine Tomato Soup drizzled with olive oil and a basil infused cream.  On the side fresh bread and a massive slab of butter!  You know you are in a good place when they are not stingy with the butter.  It reminded me of my Gran...who always liked a little bread with her butter. For the main a Wairarapa Beef Wellington on top of Truffled Lyonnaise Potatoes.  A lovely aroma of truffles, tender beef topped with mushroom duxelle and all wrapped in puff pastry...yes it was very good. As with tart at Floriditas, I am usually a fan of anything with puff pastry.

2 Courtenay Place, Wellington Central
Wellington City
04-384 1159
www.thetastingroom.co.nz

The Oyster Saloon


I am not a fan of oysters but I was persuaded by Gourmet Gannet to give them a go.  Julie had also highly recommended the deep fried variety which removes the somewhat slimy and slivery that I am not a fan of.  So en route to dinner we did a little detour via The Oyster Saloon, a retro food truck, or rather oyster shack, located in a car park on Cuba Street serving up an array of NZ oysters with some local wines, local craft beers and Six Barrel soda. The Oyster Saloon is run by Yellow Brick Road’s Rachel Taulelie, more about Rachel later as she was one the great speakers we were lucky enough to get to  listen to at our conference.


It was positively buzzing, beer barrels for tables, gas heaters to fend off the Wellington weather, and by 7pm only the mahurangi oysters remained. These are of the larger variety, so deep fried was the only option for me.  I am happy to keep trying to come to love, or at least enjoy,  au naturele but it needs to be baby steps and baby sized!

Well....it was delectable! Golden and crunchy on the outside, sweet on the inside.  With a squeeze of lemon and just a little fresh tartare, oh I could have eaten a bucket of them.



Along with this year’s Wellington on a Plate, sadly The Oyster Saloon is no more for now.  Hopefully it will make an appearance somewhere sometime soon....selfishly I would most definitely advocate a road trip to Auckland as I think only fair to share! In the meantime Gourmet Gannet has convinced me to continue on my “getting to know and love oysters” at Depot so watch this space as my oyster journey continues.

Osteria del Toro

On to dinner and a great Wellington on a Plate menu at Osteria del Toro....A Taste of Spain.  An exotic Moroccan interior and an eclectic menu with Mediterranean, Moroccan, Spanish and Italian flavours.  Hard to believe we were still up for dinner, but with great company and good food on offer we somehow managed to keep going! Another great Wellington on a Plate menu, this time a A Taste of Spain.


Before the food a little cocktail, The Amalfi, Absolute Vanilla, limoncello, citrus and basil, light and refreshing.  To start a selection of tasty tapas and we also had to try Zorba's Famous Saganaki Cheese.  Greek sheep cheese that is doused in ouzo and set a light to cries of "Opa!"  Quite like halloumi and like halloumi savoury, salty and moreish.





For a main course Basque Style Fisherman’s Stew.  The tomatoey broth fragrant and full of flavour, the seafood fresh and light.  We even found room for dessert, easy when it is Fried Zany Zeus Organic Milk Fritters with Cinnamon Sugar, they were almost churros like and one can always make room for a little churros.

Ground floor of Wildlife House
60 Tory St, Te Aro
Wellington
04 381 2299
www.osteriadeltoro.co.nz


Six Barrel Soda Co


To finish our Wellington food adventure a little trip to the Six Barrel Soda Co.  It is a little cafe on the corner of Eva and Dixon Streets.  Just head up the alley a little and then up the stairs to a lovely light filled little cafe.. Six Barrel Soda Co make small batch natural syrups, including ginger, kola nut, cherry and pomegranate, lemon and lime. We were in need of a little Sunday afternoon refreshment, having walked the streets of Wellington for an hour so post breakfast at Floriditas, and a Lemon and Raspberry Six Barrel Soda , lemony, with the subtle hint of raspberry hit the spot leaving me feeling refreshed.

In the spirit of all things food we felt obliged to share a slider, they are only little burgers after all....Halloumi with Pickles and Kettles.  Delightful and I will always love anything with kettles on the side.  A return visit definitely in order to try more...the trio of mini hot dogs looked particularly good.



Level 1
33-35 Dixon St
Wellington
Mon - Fri 8am - 8pm
Sat & Sun 9am - 8pm

What a delightfully food and fun filled weekend!

12 comments:

  1. Wow, that's a lot of eating. Glad you had such a wonderfully gourmet weekend. It was so good to see you again.

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    1. So much eating! And lovely to see you too....hopefully not too long until the next time :)

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  2. So much food and such a great time. This weekend felt rather flat in comparison:(

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    1. Such a great time, can't wait until the next time. In the meantime must get next Auckland food bloggers catch up sorted :)

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  3. Ooh some of my favourites there too! I've had a couple of amazing meals at Osteria del Toro and amazing prices too ;) lovely round-up Mairi!

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    1. Thanks Gemma, Osteria del Toro was fun....especially the ouzo drenched halloumi..opa!!

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  4. Oh my! All that food looks amazing, I should have stayed in Welly longer! Love the photos!

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    1. You should have! Look forward to catching up soon.

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  5. My goodness, you have me salivating over all the dishes we ate, I wish I could eat them all over again particularly those oysters. I think we will be obsessed about them since we didn't get our second tasting in. Yes the onion rings were good, you have converted me. Logo forward to catching up soon. Alli Gourmet Gannet

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    1. Yes that oyster....delectable...here's to doing the raw bar at Depot!

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  6. Like Alli, you have me wishing I could eat all those things all over again. I have dreams about those oysters.

    Was great to see you again - hope it's not another year till the next time.

    Sue xo

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    1. Me too Sue....must keep an eye on Grab A Seat....love sunny Nelson xoxo

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