For our second night at The Lindis Lodge we returned to the same dining room as there are only twelve rooms in the entire lodge, so no dining options per se! There were fewer people as midweek approached and the summer holiday period winds down. The service again was excellent and the food was all superb.
There was an unremarkable guacamole starter with our cocktails, but once we sat down the warm crusty sourdough bread that is irresistible arrived this time with brown butter and sea salt.
The first course was Fiordland Crayfish coming from just around the corner where we started our trip here on the south island closer to the west coast near Milford Sound. The sauce was more like a light broth with almond slices, kumquat slices and pickled pink onions. This is the kind of dish that could win me over at any meal.
We had been given a complimentary bottle of the wine made by the owners in nearby Central Otago. Clos Ostler 2024 was perfect chardonnay to have with this seafood.
We returned to our leftover PinotNoir (Peregrine) from the night before, with our main course. Lake Ohau Waggyu Eye fillet comes from a ranch just to the northeast (this entire remote area is virtually all farmland or nature preserve) which was buttah and served with peas, pea pods, pea purée, new season potatoes and a thick black garlic jus, that you only needed a touch of on each fabulous piece of meat.
Dessert was less rich than the previous night and my favorite so far: Baba of Titoki (New Zealand rum soaking the fabulous sponge cake) with mango Chantilly, fresh mango and coriander(just a loose leaf!). We were very happy.
The last night was by far the best, and the snack was a huge winner of Kumara (sweet potato) chip with Lake Pukaki Salmon Tartare, Tarragon Goat Cheese Mousse and baby courgette from the garden. At the table the bread was a Hazelnut & Apricot Sourdough with a thick Black Garlic Butter that was almost the consistency of pate! We loved it.
The starter was a Paua (Abalone) & Prawn "Dumpling" which was simply a mousse of the two shellfish wrapped in a cabbage leaf topped with slices of abalone and salmon caviar with Roquette (Arugula) mayo and Onion Consommé poured around it tableside.
By this time, we realized we were enjoying the best meal here. Will had a glass of Bannockburn Rose that was quite fruity while I loved the Clos Ostler Pinot Gris "Audrey's Cuvee". We then went on to finish our bottle of Clos Ostler Chardonnay from the night before that was still rich, creamy and unctuous. Clos Ostler is the label of the family that own the Lindis.
The main course was the best fish so far in New Zealand and was a simply salted very crispy crusted Red Snapper with Graden Greens (daikon/broccolini/baby yellow beets/turnips) from the hotel garden with Confit Kumara (sweet potato) in a divine Curried Crayfish Bisque. We could not stop raving.
The dessert was simply and light and called Strawberry Delight and was gone so fast there is alas no FB photo! Strawberries and Blackberries were in Elderflower Syrup with Coconut Yoghurt Sorbet, a coconut tuille shortbread (that was a tad gummy) all dusted with Strawberry Powder.
The Lindis really went a level up on this night indeed.
