With a bit of organising Pepper Potts, Winifred, Louie DePalma and I, had our Christmas lunch at Whitebait. I had not been for a while and since discovering that Whitebait do a worker’s lunch and as I was on summer break, I thought now was a great time to try it out again. Some of us decided to have the 2 course and some had three, but overall I thought it was very reasonable and a great way to eat at Whitebait at a slightly cheaper price.
Sourdough
Whitebait are one of the few places that offer free bread at the beginning of your meal. They bake their own bread and churn their own butter. The bread was very nice with a crisp crust and slightly chewy inside with a nice sourness to it. The butter was creamy and had a good amount of salt sprinkled on top. A great start to the meal.
Wagyu Beef Tongue
with sauce gribiche, pecorino, shallot and parsley
This was beautifully presented with the tongue on the bottom and everything else layered carefully on top. The tongue was sliced very thinly across the tongue making the piece very long. The dish was served cold and the tongue was beautifully cooked and when you add all the other flavours like the gribiche which was slightly sour and have the saltness of the pecorino, it was fantastic. Overall a great dish.
Whole Lemon Sole
with devilled butter, crispy shallots and meyer lemon
Firstly I was slightly disappointed with the size of the fish as I thought it would of been bigger. However, again it was a beautifully presented dish. The fish was perfectly cooked and with the fish being cooked in devilled butter, it was a perfect combination. The crispy shallots added a nice seasoning to the dish and also added a bit more crunch.
Confit Potatoes
If it was not for these potatoes, I think I would of been still hungry afterwards. I thought these potatoes would be baked / roasted, but they were more boiled. However, they were nicely seasoned and had a good flavour to them.
I also tired some of the Josper roasted Angus scotch with charcoal roasted caponata. The scotch was beautifully cooked and the caponata was a good addition to the protein.
Overall a great lunch at Whitebait. The service was good and the food came out very fast. Basically as soon as we had finished one dish the next one was out in a few minutes. The food is the same standard as their evening service and I can see why this is one of Wellington’s top restaurants. If you want to try Whitebait the worker’s lunch is a good opportunity to do so. However, you do need to spend longer than a hour there.
Website; Whitebait
Address; G04/1 Clyde Quay Wharf, Te Aro, Wellington 6001, New Zealand
Trencherman's Travels 