Let’s Do Lunch

It was my turn to organize an outing for our SLG friends and it was very fortunate that the stars aligned.  Originally I decided to invite our friends up to our home, and I would cater lunch for us all.  Then by a stroke of good luck, I discovered that the Horowhenua Learning Centre was open for lunch at the training restaurant, cooked and served by the pupils.  That seemed a much better idea, and would save me hours in the kitchen.  Everyone gathered at our place for morning tea, and my only spot of cooking was to bake some tasty cheese puffs.  Served with butter warm from the oven with a cuppa, they were delicious.

Fresh  from the oven

I had a copy of the menu at home which we passed around,  and after much discussion, decided what we would like for lunch.  The chicken dish sounded nice, and what about the Seven Seas Pie?  It’s always so hard to decided.  Dessert was easy, it was going to be Profiteroles for me – but then, the Chocolate Berry Trifle could be a winner too.

 

Then it was time to drive the short distance  the rather posh sounding restaurant, 152 on Bath.  This building had a former life as the local Maternity Hospital.  HLC offer a wide range of courses, from hospitality, business studies, tourism and trades.

This way for lunch

We were shown to our table and discovered that all those discussions on what sounded best for our lunch choices had been in vain.  I hadn’t read the menu properly, as it clearly stated that lunch was a buffet, and we could in fact have a little of everything, if we so desired.  After trying a bowl of spinach and potato soup, I then tried some of the mains.  The oven baked chicken served with sage, orange and juniper gravy was the winner in my view.

Buffet lunch

Les, Robin and Calvin were all smiles as they inspected the desserts on offer.

It was a lovely meal, and great value t $20 a head.  We will certainly be happy to return here again on another of their Open Days. We returned to our home for a while, and Robin played a DVD showing photos of Pam one of our SLG members who passed away 10 years ago.  That certainly brought back many memories, especially the photo of glamorous Pam going for a ride on the back of a rather large Harley Davidson!  As these photos spanned many years of our get togethers, we commented on how young we used to be way back then!  So nice to have our group of friends up in our home town, and to take them to somewhere completely new to us all.  After many years of monthly outings, there are not many places we haven’t been.