When you go out for a meal, two things can change it from just a dinner outside, to an evening well spent.
Great food, great company.
No Einstein guesses there. But even with great food, great company includes wait staff that make you feel comfortable and not like an inconvenient prick if you have additional requests. On the other hand, it’s a real test of character for diners when they’re presented with inattentive wait staff or a heavy waiting time. For some reason, our self-righteous stingy side always seeps out when the hangry-ness sets in.
Moral of the story: go to a hangry help group, don’t embarrass your table or make hospo people’s lives difficult.
Back from my tangent, moving on.
The Corner Kitchen & Bar in Clevedon is one of those places where great food meets great people. Even though it’s not that bad of a drive from my work out south, I wouldn’t normally think to go out to Clevedon. I was lucky enough to visit a friend in the area and as an avid foodie herself, this was her restaurant of choice.
When in Clevedon, I happily obliged to try their Clevedon Coast Oysters. As I hoped, they were fresh and succulent but being served with smoked kahawai & pancette pate, it took the oysters to a WHOLE new level. It just reminded me why sometimes I should order oysters at restaurants instead of DIY shucking style.
For mains, I had the BBQ beef short rib on corn puree. It was slow cooked to perfection and sticky to my liking with jalapeño and red pepper chutney. The amount could have been enough to be shared but the meat slipped so effortlessly off the bone that I didn’t even think twice about sharing..
This is nothing bad, but the desserts were massive. Maybe used to seeing the small tantalising desserts at restaurants, it was probably the first time I struggled to finish my sticky date pudding. The chocolate mousse was just as generous and delicious.
Thumbs up for The Corner Kitchen & Bar. Worthwhile to hang around in Clevedon after a drive or for the markets.
1 North Road
Clevedon, Auckland
