Gustav's Kitchen & Wine Bar

A group of friends and I visited Gustav's Kitchen & Wine Bar in mid October.  It was an informal birthday celebration, so I was keen to find somewhere special.  Gustav's was opened at the end of July in The Tannery in Woolston.  The Tannery already housed the popular Brewery, where people come for beer and pizza.  The newly developed part of The Tannery boasts boutique shops, restaurant and bar, perfect for a day of shopping and eating.

Gustav's Kitchen & Wine Bar has been receiving praises since its opening.  Foodies had been impressed with the quality of food, the wine selection, the service, and the setting.  It was recently named top 10 finalist for the Press newspaper's Best Restaurant in 2013 Zest Food Awards.  This was announced a few days before our dinner, so we were fortunate to get a reservation!   The restaurant was a small intimate setting, and usually they could only sit maximum 8 people in the largest table, but the 9 of us managed to squeeze in comfortably.

After our arrival, we came to the wine bar for a pre-dinner drink.  Gustav's claims to have one of the largest wine selections in New Zealand, with over 200 New Zealand and International wines to choose from.  A selection of beer from Cassels & Sons Brewery next door is also available on tap.  The knowledgeable staff offers perfect wine pairing advice for the meals, although we didn't try this out.

The wine bar is about twice the size of the dining part of the restaurant, and has plenty of tables and chairs to relax in.  Small plates of delicious food is available on order from Gustav's Kitchen, and I've heard great things about them too.  Live music plays most nights at the wine bar, with the schedule available on their website.

After we all sat down, it's now time for the food!  We all loved the special menu, hand written by chef Richard Till.  It seemed very personal, and fitted well with the vibe of the place.

We were sitting right in front of the open kitchen, and got to see all the chefs at work.  It was a cozy rustic kitchen, and we really enjoyed seeing our food being prepared.  It was like a live episode of MasterChef, but without all the stress!

To start, we ordered 2 meat boards and 2 mandarin salads to share between the 9 of us.  The Woolston Market Meat Board ($23) came with a big selection of cold meats, chutney, apple, and bread.  We all loved the ham, salami, chorizo, and sausage.  Very good quality meat, and really delicious.

I've read about the mandarin salad on a review, and couldn't wait to try this out.  The mandarin and balsamic candied almond salad ($15) was gorgeous, with lots of fresh mandarin, herbs, and citrus dressing.  Very light and refreshing.  It reminded me of the fresh tuna salad from good old Chinwag, which was one of my all time favourites.  The highlight of this mandarin salad would have to be the candied almond.  Sweet and fragrant, perfect with the salad.

Now on to the mains.  Nearly half of the group ordered the braised lamb shoulder with herb dumplings ($33).  This was another dish with good reviews online.  The braised lamb shoulder was slow cooked with tender meat and great flavours.  The herb dumplings were nice and something different from the usual.  I quite like the presentation in the baking dish too.  Felt like a good home cooked meal from a rustic kitchen.

My friend N went for the Kai Moana Stew (seafood stew) - spring version ($30), with side of bread ($5).  Continuing with the rustic theme, the stew came in a whole pot, and the bread was hand torn.  Very nice stew with a good selection of perfectly cooked seafood.  Nice and warm on a cool night.

WM ordered the flounder with asparagus and caviars ($29).  The presentation was fancier than the other dishes, probably appropriate when there's caviar in the dish!  The flounder was well cooked and tasty, although a bit salty with the caviars.

I had the chargrilled flank steak on greens with blue cheese dressing ($29).  This was also available with mustard herb dressing.  I was very impressed with the steak.  Soft in the middle and chargrilled on the outside.  Melt in the mouth perfection!  The blue cheese dressing was delicious with only a hint of the blue cheese, good for people like me who are not big fans of blue cheese.  The grilled greens were nice part of the dish and complimented the steak well.  Outstanding!

Some of my friends also ordered the wok fried vegetables ($6) as a side.  Lots of tasty green vegetables.

After dinner, we were offered a choice of desserts from the dessert trolley, although we didn't actually see the trolley.  There was no dessert menu, and I assume they change the desserts regularly.  I think there were 3 or 4 desserts available, but I can't recall the exact names of the desserts or their prices.  We ended up getting three different desserts.

The first was the rhubarb tart.  Delicious tart with custard, berries, and of course rhubarb.

I tried the salt caramel cheesecake.  Not the prettiest, but definitely tasty.  It was quite rich though, and I had to ask the others to help me finish it.

A couple of the others had the chocolate mousse.  Very nice creamy dark chocolate.  A decadent treat for chocolate lovers.

We had a wonderful dinner at Gustav's Kitchen, with gorgeous food and good company.  Our reservation was at 6 and we only had the table till 8.30 pm.  This is now quite common in Christchurch, as many restaurants want to maximise their customer numbers.  However we did not feel rushed, and even had time to have dessert!  After our meal, we just moved to the wine bar part of Gustav's, and had another drink, while live jazz was playing that night.  A very enjoyable experience!

Gustav's Kitchen is open 7 days from 5 to 11pm.  Reservations available and recommended!  Gustav's Wine Bar is open 7 days 11am till late.


Gustav's Kitchen & Wine Bar
3 Garlands Road
Woolston
Christchurch
(03) 389 5544
www.gustavs.co.nz
https://www.facebook.com/GustavsKitchenandWineBar