Again I find myself at Larder in the depths of Miramar. My whole Wellington family are here to celebrate my cousin K entering the Bar. As you may know I was there for their Turducken Christmas Feast before I went to NYC and again I am back. I have a funny feeling that this place my be my Auntie and Uncle’s favourite local haunt.
So my Aunty and Uncle decided to go for the set menu they have at the moment, which is a four course Sicily Dinner.
Antipasti; Artichoke focaccia with pecorino and basil
The dish was nicely presented and overall was a nice dish. There were a few things that did bug me. I did feel that the bread was a bit too doughy for my liking and I saw no basil. The artichoke was nicely cooked and was well seasoned.
Primo; Snapper with Calamari, pine nuts, currants and parsley
This was my favourite dish of the night. The fish was cooked well and the skin had a bit of crispness to it. The currants gave it a bit of sweetness and the grilled pine nuts gave the dish a savoury flavour to the dish. Also there was a tangy / sour sauce at the bottom of the dish which just lifted the overall dish.
Secondi; Sicilian Easter Lamb with caponata and haricot beans
This was served in serving bowls and also had a side bowl of chunky fries, which I found slightly interesting. I thought roasted potatoes would have kept to the theme not chunky fries. However, Larder do some great chunky fries, they are some of the best in Wellington. The Lamb was nicely cooked and the flavours were very nice. The caponata, was also very nice and even though I am not a fan of egg plant it was very nice. It also had onions, garlic, tomato and olives. I basically ate it for the olives. The haricot beans have a nice flavour. However, it was a bit too al dente for me. Overall was a nice dish, if you mixed the three parts of the dishes together. My only one thing was, that I actually do not think there was enough food and my Uncle made the smart move of ordering more chunky fries.
Dolce; cannoli with whipped ricotta and citrus
A nice light dessert. The cannoli was nice and crisp and the ricotta was nicely flavoured. No overpowering flavours, which was very nice.
Overall again a nice meal at Larder and they handle my party of 12 very well.
Website; The Larder
Trencherman's Travels 