The Cornerstone Bar, Blenheim

We found The Cornerstone to be a busy bar in Blenheim that was quite noisy due a Hens party whilst we were there, but it contributed to a nice relaxed vibe. We started with a plate of mussels (in a white wine sauce) and chips; the mussels were overdone and the chips were limp and soggy.

For my main I had the fish of the day, which was blue cod and was accompanied with prawns, mussels, salad and rice. The blue cod and prawns were nicely cooked and flavoursome. The mussels were also thankfully significantly better than the entree and very enjoyable. The rice felt a bit lost on the plate and the salad was basic but perfectly fine.

Jane had the Coq au Vin and found the chicken to be beautifully tender and falling off the bone. It was a basic dish that whilst okay, she wouldn’t order again.

Wakatipu Grill, Hilton Queenstown

Wakatipu Grill is the flagship restaurant at The Hilton in Queenstown and is set on the lakefront with beautiful decor throughout. Last night I went there with two friends for dinner but for some reason they couldn’t find our reservation even though I had phoned them that afternoon. We were seated at the bar while they set up a table for us, and after about 15mins we prompted them to be seated. The service was thankfully significantly better once seated.

We started with a nice selection of breads and then I had the all day braised ox tail as my entree. This was beautifully tender and the accompanying parsley puree lovely, however I missed the richer Ox Tail flavour I can remember having in Spain.

For the main course I had the Venison. This was beautifully cooked and accompanied by baby beetroot, but for me it lacked any wow factor. It was however a nice dish.

One of the others had the tortellini with blue cod and scampi for their main and thoroughly enjoyed it.

We had a swede mash and brussell sprouts as sides; both of these were lovely.

Chilean Red Crab is HUGE - Our meal out at Jervois Steak House (Herne Bay)

We decided on the spur of the moment to go out for dinner mid-week and ended up at Jervois Steak House (after a quick phone reservation and consequently delaying our departure by 45min). The restaurant was full, with a great vibe and we were seated upstairs.

We have always found the service at Jervois Steak House to be outstanding and tonight was no exception. Our waiter was superb and very knowledgeable about the menu. We also noted how we had a story to tell to every table and made everybody feel very welcome.

To start Jane ordered the steamed Chilean Red Crab that came with three different butters (garlic, ginger and spicy). When this arrived, this was definitely a Wow moment. This was a huge (and I mean HUGE) crab leg that must have been about 60cm long, that had lots of meat within and was already cut along it’s length to make extraction easier. It tasted great on its own and we thought the butters all tasted similar; our conclusion was that they were really just there so that the crab didn’t look lonely.

I had the Sirloin steak for my main with a Porcini Jus. It was a lovely tender steak with lots of flavour, although it was rarer than I was expecting for a rare steak (which I’m okay with). I didn’t get a Wow that’s an awesome steak feeling that I’d had on a previous occasion when we got the T-bone for two.

Jane had another entree for her main, Lamb Wellington, that she was a bit disappointed with; the accompanying green chimichurri sauce was not to her liking and the dish didn’t meet her expectations as a delicious dish.

We accompanied our main meals with a Peanut Slaw and a Rocket lettuce salad w aged manchego cheese. Both were good although the slaw stood out as being an excellent accompaniment that is quite different than normal.

For dessert I had the Nougatine semifreddo “sandwich” w honey wafers & hot chocolate. The homemade marshmallow was lovely and the ice-cream beautiful and creamy. As for the hot chocolate, it was an odd accompaniment.

Jane had the Spanish chocolate fudge figs for dessert. The figs were perfectly ripe and the chocolate rich. A nice and simple dessert although you couldn’t eat too much of it, so I helped Jane out.

It is not a cheap meal out and there other other places around that I think are better value for money, but the nice ambience, superb service and a couple of different items on the menu will drag us back.

Cafe de Klos - Ribs in Amsterdam

This evening we decided that as our favourite meal so far in Amsterdam was the spare ribs starter we had at Rancho, we would seek another ribs meal. Simon asked Google where the best ribs in Amsterdam were to be had and after a touch of consideration for the location (the result was a 1.5km walk away) we headed to Cafe de Klos at 41-43 Kerkstraat.

It's a tiny little place with wooden floors and walls and a central bar, with a small open kitchen off to one side where we saw the grill, flaming the foil-wrapped baked potatoes and various meat dishes.

We sat at the bar, and after a little playful banter with the bar tender, and frankly being thoroughly insulted (he called me a pussy!), we both had an Amstel (don't worry, the banter was good-natured - and it continued for the rest of our visit).  I ordered the plain spare ribs and Simon the smoked ribs, however our server advised him that the smoked ribs were a dry american rub style rib - great if you like really bacony flavours.  Simon switched to also having the plain ribs.

They were served with a generous helping of salad, a basket of bread and refresher towels!  We also had one baked potato that we shared (one each would have been a meal in itself) - and thoroughly enjoyed the garlic butter it was served with.  Both of us got to our last section of rib and freely admitted we were full, but they were so good we didn't want to leave any behind.  Good thing we had to walk 1.5km home again! (The sauces in the pic below were a seafood style sauce (I have no idea why) and the ubiquitous mayonnaise - despite the absence of fries. Oh! And the plate was wooden!).

Note - that glass of beer at back right is a pint - the plate is actually much bigger than this photo makes it look.

We would absolutely return and would certainly recommend anyone visiting to stop in for a drink or a meal or both.  The servers were all incredibly friendly, leaving us feeling like we had just popped in to our local - there's nothing quite like being insulted to make you feel at ease. (In case you're wondering - the banter was prompted by me foolishly asking if they had Amstel Light.  I was laughed at and told 'we don't have light beer, we cycle', then 'light beer is for pussies'.  I did call him out on this pointing out he was insulting me - which he rapidly denied while emphatically nodding his head.  Hmm.  I enjoy a server I can play with and he was great value right to our departure.)

Dinner and Drinks on Saturday evening in Amsterdam

This evening we wandered along Damrak to Dam square and then up a couple of quieter streets beyond the Magna Plaza to find somewhere for dinner.  We weren't overly fussed about what we were looking for, just something different to what we've had before and preferably outside - the sun has been shining since first thing this morning and the city is positively hot!  I even regretted taking my cardigan (although I was glad of it a few hours later).

We eventually came upon a fondue restaurant in a back alley and once we'd convinced the waiter that while we appreciated his advise, we'd really like some time to think about what we'd order, we settled on a couple of different fondues, served simply with bread (instead of the 50 euro all-the-bells-and-whistles option he was urging us to 'trust' him on. He was charming.  Well, until we rejected his advise, then he was positively peevish, but even that had a certain charm.)  I chose the Normande fondue and Simon the traditional one with a name containing more esses, cees and aitches in weird combinations than I am prepared to try and repeat.  As it turned out, his traditional one was significantly better than my supposedly spicy one.  I think spicy ought to have been translated as ripe.  It was a basic, but different meal that we don't regret but wouldn't hurry back for.

Next we wandered back towards home via Van Zuylen - a bar with many tables spreading out on the very wide bridge across the Singel.  Simon had a couple of odd beers (well, I thought they were odd, he seemed to enjoy them) and I enjoyed first an apple juice and later a hot chocolate - which I chose mainly because by this stage I had put my cardigan on and was still feeling rather cold.  We saw many meals being consumed here and by the looks of everything served we will definitely return for a meal.

Amsterdam is clearly Hen and Stag central on the weekend and the evening was filled with free entertainment, both on the road by way of ambulatory and pedal-powered revellers and of course on the canals - I expect there were several 'man overboard' instances through the evening, although we didn't witness any.

We still haven't adjusted to the unfamiliar hours of daylight.  Simon asked the time of me at one point and I was rather shocked when I looked at my watch to discover it was in fact twenty to ten.  And yet it wasn't even quite dusk yet!  Amazing!  It is finally dark outside as I write this at 11pm (although the bars next door, and next door to that are both still going strong - not so strong that I won't sleep through it mind you - it's a very civilised clientele - no pre-wedding parties here!)