Visa Wellington On A Plate is so good it has to be done twice.  Well, in my case, three, if not four times!

Yes, my exercycle and I are very good friends these days and I only allow myself fabulous lunches and dinners with the discipline of 10kms before breakfast;  make that a light breakfast.

The hot spot for me this week was Hippopotamus Restaurant at the Museum Hotel.  It has been creating waves and the sharp luncheon menu was calling to me.  $35 for lunch at Hippopotamus is a decidedly good deal, especially when groper, prime sirloin and a superb risotto were the main course luncheon dishes.

On arrival I managed to briefly acknowledge Laurent Loudeac, Executive Chef, as he passed by.  He’s always happy to chat in French with me, as is Timothee Lepoutre, maitre’d extraordinaire.  This particular French connection is a huge point of difference for me, and not because I can spin a yarn in French.  The French consider service as an art form, and a meal at Hippopotomus morphs me into a feminine, and slightly more petite version, of Matt Preston as words like “impeccable” roll off the tongue.

And impeccable it was too.  My dining companion, a close Swedish friend, and I enthused about the tender steak, the beautifully deglazed red wine jus and the pommes frites cooked to a perfect crisp.  OK, so I am back on the steak again.  After two months on the liver cleansing diet a girl is allowed to knock back a bit of prime beef from time to time!

The dessert was a light and caramel infused tart served beautifully, and typically French.  The Ata Rangi wine a treat with the meal and our coffees served with a heavy silver sugar bowl replete with sugar lumps and the requisite servers.  Oh la la!

Laurent Loudeac at Hippopotamus Restaurant

Let the good times roll and so they are.

Tomorrow I complete my round up of Visa Wellington On A Plate with a luncheon for eight at Monsoon Poon.  As fortune would have it, three of my dear friends share their birthday time in August, so why not eat, drink and make Wellington very merry?

I won’t have time to give you the full details, but I can say I have it on authority that Monsoon Poon has been working it during Visa Wellington On A Plate with lots of bookings.  My pick for lunch tomorrow is the Twenty-five Herb and Spice Wairarapa Lamb Curry with Saffron Rice.

Back to the exercycle…..

A la prochaine,

Jennifer Looman