We finally made it to Logan Brown Restaurant as a very belated 25th Anniversary dinner. Our SLG friends had given us a Restaurant Association vouchers last year and I was very keen to go to this particular establishment. Being voted Supreme Winner of the 2009 Cuisine NZ Restaurant of the Year competition was an extra reason to go there. Logan Brown is set in a beautifully restored 1920s banking chamber, and our meal was out of this world.
The emphasis is on fresh New Zealand ingredients and the two chefs share a passion for hunting and fishing when time allows. So what fabulous courses did we enjoy? We received a complimentary small bowl of cauliflower soup flavoured with truffle oil. Truffles were a new taste sensation for us and was just divine. For starters Robin had whitebait, and I ordered tua tuas (similar to small scallops). For the main Robin chose Angus beef and my choice was crispy duck. Of course, we each had to have a taste test of the other’s meal. After all these fabulous flavours we felt that we wouldn’t be able fit a dessert in so finished our meal with coffee and liqueurs. We have to admit that this is quite an expensive restaurant but the wonderful food, service and surroundings made it a good choice for a special occasion. I hope I don’t have to wait another 25 years before we go back there! Pre-theatre dining with a smaller menu choice (and priced accordingly) is also available so perhaps that could be an option for a return visit.
To make a real night of it we decided to spend the night in a hotel, this was much better than the tiny hotel room we had on our recent trip to Christchurch: we could hardly swing a cat in that room. A check on the internet a week previously had found us a hotel offering specials including a cooked buffet breakfast – that certainly sounded like us. The TV mounted on the wall at the foot of the bed welcomed us to our room. We left the car in the underground car park and caught a taxi from the rank outside the hotel to and from the restaurant.
Waking up on Sunday morning we made a cup of tea while we watched the TV news from our king sized bed, this is certainly the life, isn’t it. Then it was downstairs to see what was on offer for breakfast. How about stewed fruit, followed by bacon, eggs, sausage, and a hash brown? A glass of juice for me, a cup of coffee for each of us, and a piece of toast for Robin to fill up any holes, and I tried my hand on the waffle machine. While we were enjoying our breakfast we overheard two couples chatting at the next table. How were the children doing, one couple asked. Very well, was the reply, one looks after the farm while the other looks after the helicopter business. My goodness, how the other half live!! However, we did wonder why they were staying in the Ibis and not that very flash hotel over the road.
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