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January 2020

THE GARDEN SHED

thegardenshed.kiwi

Many of us were saddened in 2018 when The Garden Shed tragically caught fire and had to close its doors. Needless to say, when we heard that this pocket of green garden glory had reopened, we made plans for a nosey to see what had changed! Unfortunately we didn’t think to book an outdoor table ahead of time – this meant our group were seated inside and away from the luscious plant-filled patio. It was a struggle to keep the hunger at bay while we were waiting what felt like a decade for our food to arrive, not even kidding. The raging ‘hanger’ may have tainted the overall menu verdicts – we found that though the portions were decent, the flavours weren’t anything to write home about.

Katie had the Veggie Patch with garden greens, beets, radish, cherry tomato, red quinoa, walnuts, strawberry, smashed avo & goats cheese with pink pepper chicken. She said, “Very substantial portions, no complaints! Do try to book a table in the back garden, it’s stunning but always packed in the summer.”

Mel had the Curious Chook with char-grilled lemon & pink pepper chicken breast, streaky bacon, lettuce, smashed avocado, tomato, aioli on Dom’s focaccia. She drank a Otago Summer Fruits Summer Iced Tea with sugar syrup and fresh orange slices. She said, “I had a lovely refreshing iced tea, the curious chook was good. I was really hoping to be sitting out the back in the beautiful courtyard as this place is known for how pretty it is, unfortunately there was no space this time round 🙁 Maybe next time!”

Bri also had the Veggie Patch, but made vegan by substituting mushrooms for the goat cheese. She also drank a Otago Summer Fruits Summer Iced Tea. She said, “The iced tea was refreshing and not too sweet. It was nice of the chef to add mushrooms to my meal to make the salad more substantial, flavoured nicely with lots of ingredients. Large venue, which means it was a bit of a wait for food. Would like to sit in the courtyard next time. Staff very friendly.”

Jeffrey had the Hand Rolled Squidink Linguine with market fish, prawns, clams, squid and seafood bouillabaisse. He drank a Ginger Lemon Kiss Summer Iced Tea with honey and fresh lemon. He said, “My food wasn’t great, but everyone elses’ seemed nice.”

Phil had the 200G Grain Fed Angus Rump with afe de Paris butter, chips & garden salad. He drank Diet Coke. He said, “Really nice indoor outdoor feel. Good portion sizes.”

Kate had the Spiced Pulled Pork on ciabatta bread with coriander mago, pickled red cabbage and garden salad. She drank a Hawkes Bay Old Fashioned Ginger Beer. She said, “The old fashioned ginger beer was a great way to start. Due to our late booking we ended up seated inside, which although pretty doesn’t compare to the courtyard. The food took a while to arrive. The Pulled Pork was tasty and filling but nothing too creative.”

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