Birthday Dinner at The Engine Room

Food & Drink, General, Reckons, Reviews

We were at a bit of a loose end as to what to do for my birthday, it’s not a significant number, so a quiet night out seemed appropriate, we decided to roll on over to the 2007 Metro Restaurant of the Year Supreme Award Winner: The Engine Room.
Twice Baked Goat Cheese Souffle, $18

I started with the Twice Baked Goat Cheese Souffle (a bargain at $18), and let me just say that this is simply the best souffle (goat cheese or not) I’ve ever had.  With a brilliant balance of crispy and creamy, and a simply divine melt in your mouthness, it was so good I wanted another one.  Or two.

(Actually, I started with a glass of Craggy Range sauvignon blanc – made with grapes from a relative’s Marlborough vineyard.)

‘Freedom Farm’ Pork Chop with harricot beans, fennel, & salsa verde. $29

On the the main, which in this instance is a Freedom Farm pork chop with harricot beans, fennel, & salsa verde.  I don’t think it’s going too far to say this is the best pork chop I’ve ever had in a restaurant.  Everything was right.  Delicious.

Poached peach with vanilla rice pudding and amaretto. $14

At this point the wheels fell off.  Poached peach with vanilla rice pudding & amaretto.   But it was ruined as the rice pudding was completely undercooked, very disappointing.

So I replaced it with…

Wild berry tart with pannacotta and all that.  $14

A delicious wild berry tart – that was as good as the poached peach should have been.

The service was wonderful, location is great, and so on, so it’s very disappointing that they filled up my dessert with fail.  Ignoring the dessert, this was one of my top 10 dining experiences.  But I can’t ignore the dessert.

It was still a wonderful evening on the Shore, and I recommend this place strongly to anyone – well, anyone with a good palate.  Reserve well in advance, even several days out we had a little trouble getting a table.