Pepper Potts asked me if I wanted to do any burgers on Wednesday and honestly I thought I was all burger out, but I had heard good things about Sterling and their Sterling Burger. Also about their overall food, as they are a new Restaurant on the The Terrace from the owners of Egmont St Eatery. So we rocked on up at 5.30 straight from work and discovered they were actually full booked but if we left by 6.30, they could squeeze us in. So we decided to have a light meal and maybe head somewhere else and have another burger.
Sterling Burger
Awatoru venison burger with beetroot relish, housesmoked cheese, juniper pickled celeriac and Sterling secret sauce, with truffled shoestrings
Pepper Potts and I shared this burger, well shared everything actually. The presentation was normal, nothing fantastic. However, you could instantly see they made their own ketchup. The fries were nice, and nicely seasoned with truffle oil. The venison patty was nicely cooked and you could definitely taste the beetroot relish, smoked cheese and loved the juniper pickled celeriac, which had freshness and crunch. Not sure what was the special sauce but went really nicely with the burger or fries (if it was the side sauce).
Rye Gnocchi, ham hock, butternut, peas & Pecorino
This was really nice with earthy flavours. It had boiled green leaves in the dish, which was really nice and savoury but also sweet. The gnocchi was very nice but maybe a bit too soft in texture for my liking but it was not gluggy. The buttercup was nicely cooked to al dente. Nice ham hook with lots of flavour, nice cheese and peas. Overall a very nice dish and I thought was very generous serving for an entree.
Fat-cut crinkle chips, truffle aioli
These were a standout. Nicely cooked some soft and some crunchy. Well seasoned and really nice truffle aioli.
Overall a nice place to eat. The burger was very nice and combining all the elements especially the smoked cheese was beautiful as the cheese gave it this really nice sweetness and savouriness that cheese can do. As I said, loved the celeriac and the venison was cooked beautifully. I will definitely come back and try their other food. A great first impression for me.
Website; Sterling
Address; 101 The Terrace, Wellington
Trencherman's Travels 