Shepherd – Wellington

Shepherd is a newly opened Restaurant and is a joint venture between the owners of Ti Kouka/Leed Street Bakery and Goldings Free Dive. Mulan had been and recommended that I try it. She originally suggest that we go for Father’s Day, but as the family were looking for Brunch, Shepherd was out of the question as it is open Wednesday through to Sunday in the evenings only.

Pepper Potts and I decided to give it a try one evening. The place is pretty hipster though with the decor. There are high chairs and high tables on the same level with the bar and open kitchen and normal seating on the lower level, where you enter. There is also an indoor herb garden and the furnishings all suit the location of the Laneway.  

Chicken liver pate, almond biscuits & rhubarb

This is not what I expected especially with the almond biscuits. I thought they would be more like crackers not like american biscuits. The chicken liver pate was very nice and very smooth but slightly under seasoned. However, when you have it with chutney it was very nice. The almond biscuits were very good and the rhubarb was slightly pickled. When you add all four elements together it was beautiful. I was very impressed with this dish.

Miso beef, crispy j.artichokes, carrot & fresh wasabi

Again I was also surprised with this dish when I arrived. For some reason, I thought I was getting a steak not a slow cooked piece of beef. The dish had several elements to it. The artichoke was baked and were very sweet. The Carrot was presented three ways; roasted. thinly sliced and pickled and in a puree. Lastly the beef was slowly cooked and vey tender and well seasoned with a hint of miso in the beef. Overall I really liked this dish. It worked all very well together. Unfortunately though I did not taste any fresh wasabi in the dish.

Hot goats cheese, grilled kiwi fruit & ginger bread

I did not know what I expected from this dish as I asked for the kiwifruit on the side. The ginger bread was beautifully baked. It was crisp and had a nice ginger taste to it and also had a nice toffee after taste. The Goat Cheese went really well with the ginger bread. However, I do not remember it being hot, just warm. However, a nice dish.

W.C.F chocolate sponge cake, caramel,compressed pear & pepper

This was the first thing that attracted me, when I looked though the menu at the beginning. However, I was surprised to see the lack of presentation to this dish compared to the other dishes when it arrived. When eating this dish though everything just worked. I thought the caramel would be too sweet. However, when you have it with the pear it just tones it completely down. The chocolate sponge was really nice and had a very nice dark chocolate taste to the dish. The pepper presented it self after taking the initial bite and was a nice surprise. A beautiful dessert where everything works together.

Overall the dishes we ordered were very good. As well, Pepper Potts ordered the Chicken with Parsnips, hazelnuts and bacon vinaigrette and the Fix & Fogg peanut butter beignet. She was very impressed with both dishes she ordered. I tried some of the chicken and was impressed. The use of local ingredient and foods sourced from food producers inside the Laneway is pretty cool. With the City Council cleaning up the Laneways, Hannah’s Laneway is becoming pretty hipster. I will definitely go back to Shepherds as it looks like they change their menu monthly. The service was very good and the food came out pretty fast. Overall a nice place to dine.

Website; Shepherd Restaurant