2/21/2011 Wai, Queenstown, New Zealand

there doesn't seem to be a dress code in NZ. if there is queenstown didn't get the memo. but that worked in our favor. we spent the afternoon on the zipline and when we were done a little after 6pm we were famished. we had hoped to get a table at wai, a nice restaurant we found. we decided to walk past and reserve a table on the way back to the hotel where we would shower, change and then return for dinner.

the hostess appears and said yes there was availability that night. then she asks me when we were thinking of eating. i grinned and said "if you'll take us looking [and smelling] like this we'll dine now if you have a table." no problem! she took us in and gave us a table. i know we must've been a bit stinky along with being a bit dirty after ~3hrs on the zipline. but if they don't mind we don't mind.

i think that was the grubbiest i've ever been when dining in a nice place.

we chose to have the tasting menu with wine pairings. and it was the right choice.

we started with a sparkling white for our pre and amuse courses:

beetroot tartar wrapped in a sesame cone with goat cheese cream

this was pretty good. the goat cheese cream made the entire thing sweet which surprised me a little bit.

pea and watercress soup topped with paresan foam

i'm not fond of peas and this definitely tasted like peas. but overall was quite nice.













 course 1:

scallops:
scallops wrapped in pancetta with cauliflower foam, potato croquets and caper viniagrette

this was actually a special the eel (next) was on the menu. when described this sounded so good we asked if we could have it as well. then matt and i split both plates so we each got to have both.

this was pretty durn good. yummy, one might even say. :) the scallops were properly done, the croquets were wonderfully crunchy on the outside and creamy on the inside (unlike the ones we had all over spain), and the cauliflower foam actually tasted like cauliflower so i left most of it for matt

smoked eel:
smoked new zealand eel mousse wrapped in cured salmon, served with seared scallops, corn, tarragon and pancetta salad

this was the dish i was most hesitant about. i wasn't sure just how 'eel' it would be. and i was surprised, i really liked it. it was a cold, not hot component of the plate. the corn salad was a little too reminiscent of creamed corn but had a nice sweetness to it. and the scallop was of course wonderfully seared.

served with:










course 2:

bouillabaisse:
seared northland snapper and banana prawn with crispy baby octopus, accompanied by a saffron creme fraiche jelly and garlic crumbs, finished with a rich crayfish and tomato jus

i wasn't able to eat the octopus. it was left 'whole'. had it been cut up into pieces i think i'd've had no problem. i have had octopus in the past, mostly in asian dishes, and both chefs holly and ethan's served it to us, and i've enjoyed it. but i have issues with the entire thing. maybe part of it is the fact that different cultures clean fish out and some leave stuff behind. personally i'm a clean it out type of gal and i had no idea which this was. the crayfish was pretty much emulsified so it gave the flavor but other than reading the description you'd never know it was included. the prawn was wonderful as was the snapper. while being a fish soup didn't seem to be a fishy soup.

served with











course 3:

southland pork belly:
slow roasted belly of pork on a toasted walnut, apple ball and celery salad with cinnamon doughnuts and a sour apple puree, finished with walnut brittle

uh yum! matt's belly was prepared a little better than mine. i think mine was left in the pan just a wee bit too long as it was quite difficult to cut through. turning the piece over i discovered a slightly darker than what was probably intended by the kitchen, but the flavor was fantastic.

served with











course 4:

quail spaghetti carbonara:
hand rolled spaghetti, braised quail, marsala and sicilian olives wrapped in parma ham and finished with a quail yolk

when i was looking online at their sample menu this dish was on it and as matt will tell you i said 'wow' when i looked at it. i was thrilled to see it was on the actual menu. and the dish did not disappoint. it was divine! WOW! the pasta was perfect, the quail was perfectly cooked, the ham was not to thick. even the olives didn't offend. i wanted another one of these but sadly wasn't able to get it.

served with










cleanser:

red and green grapes, grape granita under (remember the consomme at comerc 24? this was the same thing) a 'balloon' of pinot

overall i did not like this. the grapes were ok, and the shaved ice was ok, too, but the ball of pinot was bitter. thankfully this was the cleanser










course 5:

grain fed ribeye of beef: with onion ring, mustard, ketchup and mayo aiolis, a dark grain crouton and salt/pepper

deconstructed hamburger. that's right, if you want to know what it's like to have a hamburger at a very high end restaurant, this is perhaps the best description. the beef was perhaps not rare enough for matt but was a little redder than i usually prefer. the onion ring was great.

served with











course 6:

strawberry shortcake:
fresh strawberries and home baked shortbread with strawberry and vincotta jellies, strawberry caviar, lemon creme fraiche and honeycomb crumbs

this was pretty good. the strawberry sorbets i think is the 'caviar', the jellies were fine but not really my cup of tea.

served with















mignardise:

petit fours:
(L to R) indonesian spice cake, pine nut and chocolate caramel, grapefruit pastil with lemon sherbet

not a bad ending to a really nice meal.