NOT NEW JUST TRIED AND TRUE - BEST WELLINGTON DISHES

The Sydney Morning Herald has done an article on the city's eateries that survived for decades by serving up simple favourites to regular customers.

Its often not the new or innovative we look for in choosing a place to dine. Sometimes its the comfort of the familiar that we seek.

There are restaurants around Wellington and even some further afield that we frequent where we cannot go past what they do best.

Its food that welcomes you. You know it well. It evokes good memories and it is done with pride and passion by the chef who understands it is the dish that embodies their cooking style.

The same goes for wine, Lake Chalice Merlot, Spy Valley Sauvignon, Palliser Sav, Seresin Pinot Gris, are among the wines we love to drink over and over again no matter where we eat.

So here are some of our favourite restaurants and the dishes we are happy to have time and again.

Tulsi - the butter chicken - kiwi hot. Its dominates "best curry lists"

Zicos - Franco does the best calamari in town. His duck pie ( on request )is heaven.

Green Parrot - the Mixed Grill - includes liver and all dishes come with the thin white buttered bread with sprinkles (DIY) of black sauce. It echoes memories of big meals eaten after a days hard labour.

Boulcott St Bistro - the Lamb Shanks with mashed spuds and peas - nowhere does it better. Its so simple yet cooked to perfection. It tastes like there is a little old lady in the kitchen who makes nothing else - its so dam homey.

Arbitrageur - The Snapper Pie in Winter. Rich, luxurious, you swim the pureed potato in the sauce , thickening it to the just right consistency. The pastry flakes into confetti at the mere whisper of a breeze from the fork.

The Wellesley - The Steak - its now one of the best in town.  Its a big, proud and tender -  bite me cut. The surroundings take you back to early last centuryas it is arguably the city's grandest dining room.

Osteria Del Toro - the meatballs - soft and melty. They fall apart in your mouth. and this  establishment introduced Wellington to Churros - petite donuts dipped in chocolate sauce.. Almost better than sex they are.

The French Onion Soup at Le Metropolitian in Cuba St. The onions are never ending ribbons of sweetness.

Mussels in Blue cheese cream at the Leuven, Plump shellfish bathed in a creme sauce with a layer of blue cheese that gives them a depth that no other sauce does.

And we will go to Dockside for the first of the Bluff Oyster Season March 2. They serve them simply. Raw on ice. They will charge us a fortune but they know that bringing together oysterphiles and fresh Bluff oysters is a recipe for success. We will wash them down with nothing but NZ bubbles, probably some Cloudy Bay Pelorus.

However, we would prefer that they serve them just like the picture above. On the flat abs of some delicious yummy man. Please... Do it and we will guarantee a table of powerful princesses

.

Those are some of our favourites - the restaurants, the food and wine we return for time and time again. They are the signature dishes, of wonderful chefs, that ooze passion and refuse to bow to fickle food fashions.

BEST LOCATION IN TOWN - SHAME ABOUT THE FOOD.

We wish it wasn't so but the food at Dockside is not the best. And its very pricy. We only had time to stay for an entree earlier this week and on reflection we are glad that we didn't have time to assault out tastebuds with an equally substandard main.

Our dish was a hotpotch of tastes, the texture was of surimi flavoured cardboard.

Chicken, Chorizo & Crayfish Terrine cauliflower cream, smoked almonds, Manchego, watercress & quince salad ...$25

It sounded interesting but the fact of the matter is we should have seen the culinary disaster coming - waaay too much going on here. And the crayfish must have been but a passing traveller.. At 25 dollars - with no bread - just a smudge of wet slimy caulifower puree and a very odd salad - it was about $5 a mouthful.

A bit much to swallow really.

Sad, because yesterday was one of those outstanding Wellington days, balmy, soft blue sky, that harbour glow thing going down, faces a gentle pink in solar appreciation, and the water greenstone clean after a storm.

The beer was cold, the waitresses good and the company outstanding. But we would really like Dockside to get the food sorted.

Its not an Icon any more - just a con.

JUST DRINKIN AND EATIN ...

The Beaujolais orphans have found a new home.. We are all in heaven. It's little, out of the way ( so the boss will have a bloody hard job finding you, unless you are of course with the boss), a bit smoky, foods better than good and wont break the bank, wine list is great, its warm, stylish and comfy...We have made it ours.

So for all of the out of towners who are missing the " Boj" email us and we will let you know where to go....

We also had occasion to dine at the splendid Foxglove the other nite... We had been invited to the opening but sadly were in the Wairarapa. The guys who own Foxglove also own the Matterhorn and its clear they know what they are doing. They have turned a cold, uninviting, badly run barn of a pub called the Loaded Hog - that was legend for its crap food, into what we think will become a very popular top end restaurant. It is all class and no pretensions.

We had the duck - sticky, salty and delightful moist and melty it was. (gosh that almost sounds rude). We love the decor - a bank of ferns grace the wall at the entrance. The little cosy Window on the Waterfront dining room is fab. It really is a great addition to the Wellington Harbour eateries. We will be back .

We have also heard that the Dockside has undergone a bit of a facelift. We haven't been there for months because we decided that the food was mediocre and didn't match the exorbitant prices. And apparently there has been some sort of change in ownership.

We also note that some of the prices have been reduced.

So we will be off to have a visit soon to see if it has improved.

We are also pleased to report that the Green Parrot food is still pretty damn good. Mind you after a great night of carousing one wonders if it is possible to be a good judge of the quality of the nosh. But the flounder was a stunner - well we think it was.

And the place is always spotless - including the toilets. We like that in a restaurant. Well BustedBlonde did.....

STILL MORE OYSTERS

Apparently a table of ten of my mates and guests at Dockside yesterday devoured 50 doz oysters between them. $47 a doz they were. The platinum cards melted under the pressure - by all accounts. The Dining prawn did his best but was overshadowed by the Greek prawn.

A little bit of conspicuous consumption every now and then is good for the economy....

Yeah baby!

And an update - TV3 has admitted via Throng that the oysters pictured behind the newsreader on the TV3 item were not Bluffies. Well done Phil Corkery for setting the matter straight.

Phil is a good bugger from down home. and still one of the best newsmen in the business.

I bet he ripped the philistine in charge of graphics another butt bit.

VERY FISHY LUNCH AT DOCKSIDE

We were lucky enough to be invited out to lunch today - only trouble is it was at Dockside. Now we haven't had many good experiences there lately. The venue is undoubtedly one of Wellingtons finest but boy has the food gone down hill.

Today we had fish and chips. Now normally they do lovely crumbed terakihi and shoestring fries. Today it was poor mans shark - Warehou and boy it was older than Neptunes trident. We were very polite because we were the guest of a good mate but we only ate about a third of the offering. It tasted like it smelt - fishy. And it was overcooked and the one thing you cannot do to Warehou is overcook it. Its a firm , large flake fish that needs to be slightly undercooked in our opinion.

Anyway our mate got called away and our old lunch buddy Spaz decided he needed a change of venue. So it was off to Shed Five. He had a taster of crab and we had one of those volcano chocky puds - all crispy on the outside all slurpy liquid inside... it was one of the finest desserts we have had in ages.

And it was rugby day at Shed Five. Website boys wooing the Rugby Union and Leon Grice lunching with two of the most beautiful men we have seen in a while. Leon is doing some big time rugby stuff for Minister McCully.

Cactus is a firm believer that the best eye candy is always to be found in the best restaurants.

She is right. Todays beefcake offering would have had her insides turn to the same consistency as our chocky pud.....

FRIDAY ROUND UP

Is someone looking to buy Kiwi Rail? We heard it is so.

Why do Metrolinks conductors, shovel everyone into a few carriages on the trains to the Wairarapa, leaving some empty ones then halfway thru the trip the conductors take turns at sleeping in them ?

Why does Metrolink only employ geriatric narcoleptic sociopaths as conductors?

Hasn't Dockside gone downhill?

Is everyone else proud of our SAS - who are so good at their jobs that they only get the most interesting assignments?

Would an 18kt dildo feel better than a rubbery one? And will the Saying " good as Gold" take on a new meaning?


Is Boris Hampton really an insider?


Who else is hanging out for a feed of whitebait?

LUNCHTIME BITES

We had a nice sojourn at Dockside today. Not lunch, just an afternoon fizz, Allan Scott Blanc de Blanc. At the next table was a venerable gent who was in town to support his wife who had flown in for an interview for one of the top Govt jobs. She will have to get on with the Mccullievellian one.

We were please to see that one of the silent partners in Dockside was doing a very long lunch in the loudest lime green shirt we have seen for some time.

We gazed out at two buildings that despite the bite of the recession have sold for princely sums. The Maritime Towers fetched a reputed $62mil and the BP towers sold for a piffling $26mil.

And just when we thought we had seen the last of the layabouts of the last regime, we hear that Mahara Okeroa is doing a bit of graft for the Office of Treaty Settlements.

SAD DAY, BAD DAY AND OYSTERS

On the way to the Dockside we discovered that Rex Morgans lovely restaurant Citron is going to eventually be based in the new WaterMark building at the wharf end of Taranaki St.

The good news today was that the Bluff oysters served up by "Norm the oyster shucker" at Dockside were superb. Interestingly we were expecting them to be around the $55 a dozen. They were plated at $40 a doz any way you liked. We had a doz natural and a doz tempura.

The bad news was that Dockside was only half full. Now we have been at most "Start of the oyster season" days at the Dockside and we have in the past had to settle for being on the waiting list. So times are getting tough. Even tough for us, as it will be our last visit to Dockside for some time but with the sun shining good company and the chance to eat one of the finest seafoods of the world, it was a nice day to reminisce of better times.


The sad news is that Sealords is laying off about 160 staff. We were a bit shocked when we heard this earlier today but are confident that rationalisation will put the company in a stronger position to weather the economic storm on the horizon.

TIOTIO ANYONE?

Bubbles and Bivalves today - And where? Dockside of course..... We are the guest of one of their VIP customers .... Anyone else cumming???


Now i would give a sizable proportion of my weekly fees to a charity if someone would serve them like this...........

That would definitely be an orgasmic experience....

ABOUT BURNT SPERM, BEAUJOLAIS, AND BOULCOTT STREET BISTRO.

Cactus Kate is in town - they tell me. And she reckons our Wellington coffee tastes like burnt sperm. For someone with extremely high class standards she swallows a lot. Come to think of it if they were burning it means they were travelling too fast, so she must elicit a quick conclusion to the down and dirty.

Anyway we have had a good week. First up was Arbitrageur. Stunning it was and Wellington is undoubtedly the Oasis in the desert of Recession. The bloody place was chocker and we were not the only ones drinking Laurent Perrier fizzy. The Pork Belly was tender, gooey and melty unlike the dry stuff we had at Dockside the other day.
Then last night we holed up at Duke Carvells - and we drank a lovely, yummy, bollocksy Pinot Gris from Alsace, which is always much more sophisticated than our ballerina light versions that dominate the NZ Pinot Gris Scene. We had all sorts of tasty morsels and apart from the squid which has been away from the Sea for just a little too long - they were great.

We also met some mates at Beaujolais for a quick glass of - you guessed it bubbles.

Today we were at an old favourite Boulcott St Bistro and we let the wise and very interesting Rusty guide us to the best selections. We had a stunning buttery tripe entree followed by a very meaty Duck confit . We were all girly again and drank a nice drop of Taittinger. Sweet stuff was a chocolate pot with cherries that exploded in your mouth.

We had forgotten how good the place was - we will save up our pennies for a return trip soon.

And for those who like a good fizz, Boulcott does half price bubbles on a Monday.

SATURDAY ROUND UP

SEVENS
We had a great day at the sevens. It was good to catch up with people we hadn't seen for a while. the crowd heaved with good humour and the lengths that some people go to to dress up is mind boggling.
DOCKSIDE
We had a very average lunch at the Dockside choosing pork belly which should be all sticky and moist and gooey and melty but it was dry and bordering on cold and the potatoes were overcooked as well. However the company was great.
BACK TO THE SEVENS
But Dockside was the place to be to watch the crowds migrate their way to the stadium along the waterfront. Arabs and tutus seemed to dominate. The Loaded Hog was pulsing with hundreds of people enjoying the great weather and the costumes. It is staggering to see the number of normally staid men dress up as women. Sadly, the fun police were out in force at the Stadium removing all helmets and plastic swords, and a few other bits and pieces. We also think that just about every bar and restaurant was surcharge free. That raises a very interesting point - if it was good enough for all bars and restaurants not to charge it why the hell did the Stadium continue to charge it? ? What did happen was the people were tanking up on the way to the stadium so they didn't spend much while they were there.

WAITANGI
John Key showed that one of his finest attributes is his ability to think on his feet and judge the moment. After being jostled by protestors - he then adopts a couple of kids and tells the crowd that the future is all about them. It was a wonderful gesture, from the heart that will be the enduring memory for many at Waitangi.
We have talked to many Maori and everyone is just simply ashamed at what happened. It was also very unexpected. Everyone was very relaxed about this Waitangi day so the protestors came out of left field.

WELLINGTON GOSSIP - COVER UPS AND DOCKSIDE STORY RETREADED BY DOMPOST

Like all Wellingtonians, BB keeps a keen eye out for Blanket Man. Last we heard the judge said he could get out of jail for Christmas if he wore undies.

We can report that he was sun bathing on the Sports Cafe corner of Courtney Place yesterday soaking up the rays.

Without doubt we can assure the judge that the human eyesore has invested in some gruts. Tight fitting black undies - and nothing. What a relief! However the Judge should have made him invest in a new blanky and some deodorant - you can smell the bugger a block away.

OUT SCOOPED

Today's Dominion Post recorded that the flash Dockside restaurant was purchased by tyreman Tony. (Just a week behind Roarprawn.)

Also reported that former All Black manager, Mike Banks, will be the front man.

By the way, Tyreman Tony payed a cool $1.9 million.

WELLINGTON BIGGEST BAR GOES BROKE AND OTHER RESTAURANT GOSS

We have it on good authority that DB stepped in and dealt a death blow to what was arguably Wellingtons biggest Bar - the Temperance complex. this morning. It was viewed as an ambitious complex by Wellingtons hospitality industry. It's fit out was estimated to be around $3 mil. DB and the Wellington Rugby Union were significant investors. Everyone is asking what Wellington Rugby is up for after the bars and restaurants failed to make good. Sad really - it would have been good to see it take off but we understand that fit out, cost overruns and very high rents meant it was an intemperate investment from day one.

Bizarrely the goss round town is that Steve of Tony's Tire service (TTS)is the mystery buyer of Dockside.
Industry sources reckon he will be about 2- 3 mil out of pocket. What sort of changes will will see?
Since Justine,the goddess of good service left Dockside it hasnt been the same. It is hoped thart Steve,of TTS, who prides himself on service, will change the values of one of our favorite haunts.

WELLINGTON FOODIE GOSSIP

Word on the wharf is Dockside has been sold, apparently everyone was saying so - no-one was confirming but it would come as no surprise. Something to do with Palmerston North connections. We know no more.

But the best news is Wellingtons best up and coming publican Dermot Murphy ex Black Harp now publican -owner of the delightful D4, and latterly the Establishment up the top end of Courtney Place, has added Copita to his collection of good Wellington places to eat and drink. It is to be renamed Koi - and will be a fusion of Japanese and Kiwi kai.

Nice Dermot, very nice.

BIG QUESTIONS OF THE WEEK

1)Remember the story that appeared in the Herald a couple of days after the election, that never really got legs because Key stitched together a govt faster than a Hong Kong Tailor can stitch together a suit, about the $100k that Vela gave both NZ First and Labour ?Well what we want to know is who is going to keep a track on what Winston does with it?

2) We know there are at least 4 more interviews with grumpy scampi skippers - when are they going to end up on U Tube?

3) How long will it be before we see the results on the inquiry into the Immigration /shane Jones/ Bill Liu passport for donation allegations?

4) Will there be any good stories being written after National has poached all the good journalists?

5) How many Ministers told Department CE's that their briefings to incoming Ministers were crap?

6) Which Wellington property developer has skiddy undies as the defaults on various transactions start to pile up?

7) Which PR company is so desperate to curry favour with its clients that its offering one hour " one on one insider briefings" to CE's for free even though they were Labour pets and have F***k all contacts in National?

8) How many massive government departments comms teams went through "restructuring" in the last 6 months and renamed some of their staff as information management or knowledge management, or other such weasel terms in an effort to hide them from any National departmental review?

9) Why were a bunch of Maori getting out of a Crown Car on the Wharf last Thursday when there was no Minister around? If it was good enough for Dame Whina to walk why can't they ?

10) Who wasn't at St Johns Bar on Friday Night Basking in the sun and does this mean that the " Drycleaners ( Dockside where you go to get a Suit) finally has some serious Friday night competition as the place to be seen and pick up a lazy shag on Friday night?


and yes big questions of the week will be a regular feature - feel free to send us contributions - bustedblonde@gmail.com

WE CANT STOP CELEBRATING

Ah tis bliss - but the liver is in a permanent state of quiver. Yesterday it was Dockside - including members of the Maori caucus of the VRWCNZ. Them fellas know how to drink.
A few weeks ago some of the top end restaurants were doing a bit of a starve but it seems that there is joy in the air again. We still reckon things are going to get real tough on the financial front - the markets tanked in the US last night and Key got some shitty but expected news from treasury yesterday but this week everyone seems to enjoying a bit of conspicuous consumption.

Note to Dockside - if you are charging over $30 for fish and chips then make sure the fish is v fresh - the gurnard was bloody awful. But we love the new maitre de - she is great. The service was fantastic. And the recommendation for Central Otago Rockburn Savignon Blanc was spot on.