A seat at the table: Craggy Range

Thistles and Kiwis

To say we have had mixed weather this summer is an understatement. From lovely warm sunny days in December, so a cold and wet start to the new year, with even falls of snow on the Desert Road. Anyway, we headed north to a favourite destination of ours, Hawke’s Bay on Sunday, stopping with friends in Masterton on the way, where it was 13C! At least Napier, where are staying for a few days, been much warmer, though not the usual hot days we would expect there.

On Tuesday, we headed over to Craggy Range Winery for lunch. This was a real treat, and a such a great opportunity to sample great food and wine. Below you can see the grounds of the estate, including the giant cows, with Karl standing beside them,

It was, as you can see, a bit of a cloudy day, though not cold, and the skies make the hills of Te Mata Peak more dramatic.

The building on the left below is the shop and cellar door where you can do some wine tasting, and the one the right below is the restaurant. The restaurant was named Winery Restaurant of the Year for the sixth consecutive year and was awarded ‘Two Hats’ at the 2024 Cuisine Good Food Awards.

Behind those building you can see part of the vineyards, stretching out. You can actually see patches of blue sky as well…

The menu is based around seasonal produce, with many of the vegetables coming from their own garden. We started with bread that was brought to the table. This was was out of this world, and I could have had endless slices of it with the butter that I think they said had camembert and a drizzle of honey – anyway, it was fantastic and a perfect way to start the meal. We had actually been there for lunch in 2020, and I vividly remembered how much I had enjoyed the venison tartare. I was pleased to see it still on the menu and was not disappointed a second time. Served with house made crisps, a tarragon mayo, calendula petals, fried anchovy and other good things this was a real delight. Karl had the spring garden falafel, with a garlic cream and a broad bean and zucchini (courgette) salad which got rave reviews too.

I had the fish, which was flounder when we were there, with a buttermilk dressing, prawns and beans. This was perfect, a subtle combination of flavours that just went well together. I could hear Karl muttering ‘mmmm’ in delight as he tucked into the braised beef short rib, with cavolo nero puree, hazelnut and baby carrots. We also had a bowl of garlicky confit potatoes on the side. I had a glass of chardonnay, and Karl a syrah. We had no room for dessert, but did enjoy an excellent espresso.

All in all, this was a definite treat and so worth it. Every mouthful was a delight to savour and enjoy.

Verdict? 10/10 Go back again? Yes!

Thistles and Kiwis is a Wellington, New Zealand based blog written by Barbara, who likes cats, summer, good food and pretends to garden.

You can find Thistles and Kiwis on Facebook, and also on Instagram @thistlesandkiwis.

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Published by Thistles and Kiwis

Loves summer, sunshine and cats. Beginner gardener, likes eating, cooking and reading about food

35 Comments

  3. I’ve never been to NZ but I remember when we visited Australia 20 years ago doing a winery trip and they all looked like this, very well-ordered. I was used to French ones which were somewhat more rambling! Mind you, it’s even longer since I went to a vineyard in France so I might be out of date!

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  18. I have a soft spot for cows and those sculptures are amazing! I don’t think I could have kept myself from hugging them 😀
    What a beautiful landscape, too. Sounds like a wonderful trip. I have never been to New Zealand, so I really enjoy seeing this.

    Visiting from Weekend Traffic Jam Reboot
    Cat
    https://catswire.blogspot.com/

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