A seat at the table: an early Christmas treat

Thistles and Kiwis,

On Thursday, we headed out for a celebratory feast for my name day (St Barbara is the patron saint of explosives and firearms amongst other things….). It was also an evening celebrating 10 years of Noble Rot Wine Bar and also them acquiring local Truffle Wine Imports.

As ever, the menu and wines were perfectly matched, starting with a sparkling wine and a lovely little smoked salmon amuse bouche. After welcoming us to the evening and telling us about some of the wines we enjoyed a really tasty prawn croquette, served so beautifully it was almost a shame to eat it. I noted there were ‘compressed cucumber’ aka pressgurka the Swedish pickled cabbage I like to make – and eat. The Austrian white was quite distinctive and complemented the fishy dish.

After welcoming us to the evening and telling us about some of the wines we enjoyed a really tasty prawn croquette, served so beautifully it was almost a shame to eat it. I noted there were ‘compressed cucumber’ aka pressgurka the Swedish pickled cabbage I like to make – and eat. The Austrian white was quite distinctive and complemented the fishy dish.

The pressed ham terrine that followed was so delicious, and service with beetroot (it was at least chioggia), pickled cherries and a very good dried cherry brioche. The wines with this both hailed from Alsace, and were both ones I might not have picked otherwise. Beautiful combination!

We then moved to the reds, with an Italian chianti up against a rioja from Spain, both types of wine we enjoy. I slightly preferred the chianti, but both went beautifully with the soft and juicy lamb, served with a mint and pea purée, broad beans and a twirl of courgette.

This was followed by the cheese course a ‘brûléed camembert, served with a chutney reminiscent of mince pies, Marmite crackers and a little bit of honeycomb. Even Karl, not a bit cheese eater, enjoyed this Christmas-y take on this course. We were actually served two wines with a madeira and another one neither of us can remember! I should have written it down.

The dessert was a sort of deconstructed pavlova, a kawakawa (a New Zealand herb) bavarois and strawberry sorbet served with a riesling dessert wine. All in all, a fantastic evening and start to the festive eating season.

Note – the wines are all tasting sizes!

Venue: Noble Rot Wine Bar, 6 Swan Lane, Wellington

Barbara’s star rating: *****

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

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Published by Thistles and Kiwis

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

33 Comments

  2. Nice review Barbara and everything soundes mouthwatering. I didn’t know there was a patron saint of fire! Sounds like you were on fire that evening😬

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  3. An evening to remember! It all looks wonderful. I don’t know when my name day is. I’ll have to look it up. An opportunity for a celebration is always welcome xx

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  8. On reading this I immediately, if not sooner, had to google two things: if bruleed camembert was what I thought it was (yes – YUM!) and whether my name was that of a patron saint (of course not). Not that it would rival fire and fireworks!!

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  10. I love it! St Barbara and what she is a patron of!

    Beautiful plates! and each with its own paired beverage … sounds like a fabulous evening. That pavlova is something else – so unexpected in form!

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