Sunday, August 30, 2009

Hazel Restaurant - Marjoribanks St, Wellington

It was some time ago now that we went to Hazel restaurant on Marjoribanks Street, Wellington.

The occasion was a celebration of my exams being over, and we wanted to try something new.

The restaurant itself was nice, small, and located in one of those neat villas that line lower Mount Vic streets.

The restaurant had no vegetarian entrées, which I failed to notice on the sample menu I'd checked out before we came. However, once I asked if they could do something for me, and after the slightly taken aback waitress went off to check with the chef, it transpired that they were able to do a half size of one of the four vegetarian mains. Two of these mains were gluten free, so I had a buffalo mozzarella and spiced pear salad as an entrée, and a pumpkin and goats feta risotto as a main.

The salad was light and very tasty. I'd never had buffalo mozzarella, and this was tender and soft. Perhaps softer than it should have been in the middle, but I don't know how it should have been, because I'd only had quite hard mozzarella from the supermarket in the past.

The risotto, too, was really tasty. Not too creamy, and with nice tangy feta, I was glad I'd chosen this as my main. If I recall correctly, that was also served with some spinach stirred through.

All very yummy. I had ice cream and sorbet for dessert - a very generous serving - perhaps a bit too much, in fact. Two balls of icecream and two of sorbet, stacked on a plate.

Overall, a good meal out. The atmosphere was good, after getting over the initial apparent resistance of the waitress to provide me with something I could eat. It seemed strange to me to offer so many vegetarian options (four is a lot for that kind of restaurant!), but nothing on the entrée menu! Anyway... The food was definitely up there, though the desserts were slightly less exciting for some reason. Still, recommended for a meal out, and accommodating for gluten-free folk - even when vegetarian!

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