Friday Five: Five Courses…

So anyways, todays Friday Five is a little different.

There’s no round-up of the week, no what I’m doing, reading, cooking, writing or watching.

It’s an unashamed #foodporn post.

It’s a post in five courses…plus drinks…and bread.

Now, before I get too far into this, a disclaimer- I wouldn’t normally eat at places like this…fine dining or hatted establishments. Maybe once a year, maybe not at all. Perhaps it’s because of that, because it’s a saving up for treat, that the experience is one that absolutely isn’t taken for granted, and is savoured in all its glory.

The venue:

Aria Restaurant.

The occasion:

A girlie catch up lunch with a dear friend from Wellington.

The cost:

Trust me, you don’t want to know…nor does my husband…Besides, it’s not something you do every day.

The Cocktails…

Variations on the martini.

A gorgeously purple one with violets on the top.

A gorgeously vodka-y one with pickled onions on a toothpick.

The Amuse Bouche…

Teeny tiny tartlets filled with pea and ricotta with a teeny tiny dollop of lemon curd on top.

The Bread…

House-baked sourdough with two variations on the butter theme. As if one wasn’t enough. Carb heaven…with porcini and garlic butter.

The Starters…

I chose the calamari with Iberian jamon, dashi custard and shiitake mushroom tea. The weird octopussy thing on the top was a squid ink cracker. The calamari was sliced into tongue meltingly tender noodles. It was one of those dishes that made you want to take really small bites of- to make it last longer.

My friend went for the oysters with ice plant and persimmon. What’s ice plant? No flipping idea…but it worked with the oysters. They tasted of the ocean.

The Mains…

I went for lamb loin with globe artichokes, harissa and green olives.

My friend had beef with watercress, yuzu and soy dressing.

Naturally, there were more words used in the menu to describe where the produce was from. We were too busy eating to take that in.

The dessert…

Ok, I’m not a fan of dessert. I rarely eat them…and average just a couple a year. I thought I’d had my quota in Bali- remember the passionfruit tart and the coconut ice-cream?

The dessert I chose wasn’t like your average dessert. It wasn’t cloyingly sweet. In fact, it wasn’t sweet at all. It was, however, a perfectly refreshing end to a fabulous meal…

I had goat curd pannacotta with grapes, mint sorbet and melon. The melon was sliced so finely to form a little cylinder for the pannacotta. The shards were super-thin lime meringues.

So pretty I had to take another view of it- an aerial shot.