On a chilly winter Sunday evening, we headed down to Daisy’s restaurant in Thorndon, to celebrate Karl’s birthday a day in advance (which we also celebrated on Monday as I mentioned in my last post). It had been a wee while since we had eaten there, so it was good to go back and enjoy their food.
Bread and butter are brought to the table automatically, which I always appreciate, especially when it is as good as that served here. To start, we shared the wild pork and duck liver terrine served with Daisy’s own picallili and toast, and waffle crisps with onion dip. These are no ordinary crisps or a dip made from a packet of onion soup, but a carefully crafted dish from real onions and sour cream. The recipe was published in Cuisine magazine if you want to try it yourself!
For our main dishes, I chose the fish (which was moki this time), served with Jerusalem artichokes, winter greens and a citrus based sauce. Karl had the steak frites served with Café de Paris butter, which is melted onto the meat with a miniature blow torch at the table – a fun touch that always brings oohs and aahs.
We enjoyed a glass of Daisy’s own Marlborough sauvignon blanc to start and Hamden Estate in Martinborough’s pinot noir with our main dish. As usual we had no dessert, but we enjoyed an after dinner chocolate mint (72% dark chocolate, mint and ‘a hint of kawakawa’) with our coffee.
It was a lovely early celebration, ending with a walk home. Daisy’s can be found on Thorndon Road, Thorndon village, a stone’s throw from parliament.
Also entered into the weekend coffee share blog event hosted by Natalie the Explorer.
You can find Thistles and Kiwis on Facebook, and also on Instagram @thistlesandkiwis. As for Twitter….am totally inactive these days. If you want to get in touch, email me on thistlesandkiwis@gmail.com
Thistles and Kiwis 
What a pleasant way to celebrate a birthday 🙂
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It was lovely!
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All your foodie posts sound delicious. A lovely way to celebrate.
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It was a lovely evening.
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Wonderful to be served and eat so well. Greetings from a cold and wet Cape Town, South Africa
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The food looks amazing. I love to hear how chilly it is in your area. Here in the US in the south we are experiencing record high temps.
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It will only get to 12C today but it is a glorious sunny day with bright blue skies.
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As usual, your food photography is absolutely mouth watering. Thank you for including the recipe for onion dip. I’d love to give it a try!
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Thank you for giving us a seat at the table! I could almost taste the delights you beautifully described (especially the blow-torched butter on the steak…). And your feature photo — capturing a figure in the bowl of the wine glass — is stunning. Take us with you again soon!
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Thank you Carol Ann! It was a lovely evening.
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It all looks and sounds delicious! As Carol said, thanks for giving us a seat at the table.
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You are welcome!
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What a lovely and delicious birthday celebration! Thank you for sharing this and the chips and onion dip recipe with us at #weekendcoffeeshare.
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Happy birthday celebrations with good food and company; can’t be beat.
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I would enjoy all your choices!
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That all looks sooo good! Great way to celebrate 🙂
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It was!
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It all looks and sounds wonderful. Thank you for sharing
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Sorry for being so late this week T&K. I had distractions.
You have so many elegant venues for dining. It all looks so wonderful.
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What an elegant dinner. It all looks scrumptuous. 🙂 Happy birthday to your husband.
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