I got an email Air New Zealand with an invitation to the Koru lounge for the day of my trip home. It is how a business fix problems that says a lot about them and I very much appreciate the day in the lounges ( Christchurch and Auckland) and also that the team manager emailed me while he was on his own time. If it wasn’t for his emails I would still be very upset. Thanks Air New Zealand.
Tonight I went for dinner at “the Bunker” . It is very small ( around 25 ish seats ) and you have to book in advance. It is well worth going to as the food was beautiful and plentiful. I had the “taste of the South” menu which is like a degustation but the main section is apparently very generous. ( I asked them to make mine small).
There is also a cocktail bar upstairs
I had
Chef’s daily creation or local delicacy. ( baby squid and a croquette)
Deutz Prestige (Marlborough)(75ml)
Roasted South Coast Scampi with pulled pork and prawn risoni puttanesca, salsa verde and micro coriander.
Peregrine Pinot Gris (Central Otago)(75ml) ( without the coriander as I don’t do coriander)
Agnolotti of hand picked West Coast Paua (abalone) with confit garlic cream and shaved parmesan.
Brancott Letter Series ‘O’ Chardonnay (Marlborough) (150ml)
Seared backstrap and braised shoulder of Otago alpine merino with noisette
potatoes, caramelized carrot purée, minted broad bean salsa and thyme jus.
Church Road Reserve Merlot Cabernet (Hawke’s Bay) (150ml)
Central Otago manuka honey and saffron creme brulee with citrus salsa and pistachio biscotti. .
Wooing Tree ‘Tickled Pink’ Dessert Rosé (Central Otago) (50ml)
and they sent me home with
Duo of Whitestone cheese with fresh honeycomb and crackers as there was no way I could fit it in.
The staff are lovely and have great personalities. The manager Cathy totally owns the room. She has a great laugh and laughs a lot.
It was very kindly turned into “with matched wines” by a generous donation from Mike and Sue. Thanks guys 😀
I am off to the TSS earnslaw steamer BBQ lunch tomorrow. ( hope I have room) and a trip up the gondola .
Bron Voyage 
Still typing fluently after 500 ml of premium Kiwi plonk, Broni!!!
of course. 😉
and there was the pink lady cocktail before dinner.
to be honest I cut n pasted most of it . HA
Struth Bron, what a menu. Out of this world. Good luck tomorrow. I suppose you’ll walk it off! Love Julie & Ralph
Sounds like an amazing degustation as all meals from this wonderful establishment are !
You are most welcome; the wines sounded great-were they up to your standard?
My sister missed out on a meal there 2 weeks ago due to family turning up (surprise) and the guys there couldn’t seat anyone else as they were fully booked.I will send her the meal description, she was so looking forward to another meal there.
Enjoying your blog,
cheers Sue x
Thanks Sue everything about it was wonderful. X