WOAP2015: The Grill at the Amora
Where? The Grill at the Amora (Wellington CBD, Wellington, New Zealand) Map
When? Friday August 28, 2015
Who? Juliann, Jordan, Dwayne, Tim
Food Style? Contemporary European
The Grill at the Amora Hotel (formerly the Duxton) hosts several food events during the year, most notably the Chocolate Buffet which was held just last weekend. They boast a large dining area and catering facilities, perfect for business functions and private parties. Of course, we're not interested in that at all, we're here for their Burger Wellington entry - though, in typical Asian fashion, Juliann and I split a three course meal and the burger for maximum variety. Last year's burger was a double patty Sunday Roast - one patty made with lamb, the other made with roasted vegetables.
Entree: Coriander-infused pumpkin broth
With Wellington Trawling Co. tarakihi, fresh chilli and lime olive oil
A great pumpkin flavour to start off the meal, but not as thick or rich as a traditional pumpkin soup. Still, the spice was subtle but noticeable, and the tarakihi was excellent - sweet and fresh - and it accompanied the pumpkin very well. Love that they served it on top of two lemon slices - this ensures that lovely fresh and zesty juice doesn't disappear from the fish.
Mains: Slow-cooked Randwick Meats pork belly
With pear, fig chutney and prune jus
Not bad, but definitely nothing to rave about. Though the meat was soft and tender, there was no crackling (you can't give me pork belly and not have crispy, crunchy crackling :(!) The sauce was nice, quite fruity with the influence from the pear and figs, but nothing mind-blowing.
Burger: Wairarapa Game Burger
Char-grilled venison and chorizo patty with guacamole, nacho chips, salsa and coleslaw in a Pandoro burger bun, with kūmara chips
A very large burger that was difficult to split between Juliann and myself. Having half was probably the right amount - others at the table had a tough time eating the whole thing. It was okay, the predominant flavour was the sour cream in the burger which made it taste like a plate of nachos, but without any spice or excitement - the chorizo was not noticeable at all. The kumara fries were a bit soggy and felt like cardboard - Burgerfuel does better kumara chips! - but the salsa and guacamole I thought were pretty good. On the whole, a bit disappointing but not an awful experience - would have probably been worse if I had to eat the whole burger. I gave them a six out of ten.
Dessert: Limoncello crème brûlée
With feijoa ice cream
Individually, the creme brulee and the ice cream were excellent, but together they tasted odd. The biscotti had pistachio and cherry, and worked well with the brulee. The ice cream was refreshing and the feijoa came through quite nicely. Not a bad way to finish the meal.
Pretty good meal overall, but others at the table who had simply too much food were a bit disappointed. Subsequent comparisons with other peoples' experiences led me to believe that some restaurants have had some serious consistency problems with their burgers, and that's what it looked like here.
Posted by Jeremy at 8:09am on Tuesday September 8, 2015 :: 0 comments :: 