Ken Downie & Nicola Legat
- Great, worth seeking out.
We're back at The Grove for our first serious
inspection since our Restaurant of the Year
Awards judging earlier in the year. And it's
a pleasure. We are lucky enough to have one
of the very nice tables for two that are
right up against the Albert Street window.
The room has been softened by a delicate
wash of colour on the walls; suede-covered
padded chair seats offer comfort. granted,
it's not quite so pretty if you have one
of the tables in the long narrow part of
the room that runs down towards the bar and
St Patrick's Square, but the cluster of tables
round the eastern exposure is snug and elegant.
The lunchtime crowd is corporate and distinguished,
the music is set just right, the tableware
superior, the service is attentive and expert...
and one taste of Michael Meredith's entrées – succulent
smoked eel in a delicate batter and confit duck with an assertive chilli sauce
and a coconut panna cotta – and we are hooked.
An impressively moist fish of the day (hapuka) and a very good pork fillet with confit belly, apple, fennel and quince settles the impression that Meredith is working at the top of his game. These are intelligent dishes, with strong flavours that still hang in balance, and they're generous and beautifully plated. (They are also relatively pricey: entrées up to $20, mains $30 to $33.) It's an ambitiously comprehensive menu, supplemented by a dégustation ($90 with wine matching, $60 without). The wine list is admirable and there are 17 by the glass; not bad.
Back for a Friday evening date two weeks later, we found the restaurant exceptionally busy but the service never faltered. We went all rare red meat with the beef fillet and the venision, both of melt-in-the-mouth tenderness and accompanied by robust but well gauged flavours, the venison dish I'd noted having a sweetness in the fish; some might prefer that sweetness level turned down a notch.
What can you do that's new with beef and venison? You can pair the beef with an intense little taste bomb that meredith calls a mushroom custard, and circle the pile of venision on carrot purée with roast chestnuts. The man is nothing if not inventive. And he does great desserts: a licorice icecream with poached tamarillos, a coconut tart with a jewel-like passionfruit reduction. In my view, right now this is some of the best cooking in town. I suggest you check it out.
