The Mangapapa Hotel has introduced Steak Night with delicious winter fare and is celebrating Mother's Day for the entire month of May. Photo / Supplied
You can’t beat simple, hearty fare on a winter’s evening.
Of course it has to be delicious, full of flavour and beautifully presented.
That’s exactly what you get at Steak Night at the Mangapapa Hotel. However, that’s not all you get. You also get to sit in beautiful surroundings, while staff take care of you.
I went along to try the Tomahawk Steak served with beautiful seasonal vegetables.
Before we went into the dining room we were seated by the fire with a glass of wine. So relaxing.
Our waitress for the night, Ashley, who is also the assistant manager, showed us to our seats in the dining room. She was absolutely lovely.
We were served house-made bread with salted homemade butter, drizzled with honeycomb. I really wanted to spoon the butter into my mouth. I restrained myself and had some on the yummy bread instead.
The Tomahawk Steak did not disappoint. Served with garlic butter and a luscious classic beef jus, it just melted in my mouth.
Mangapapa chef Young Yi said he likes cooking protein.
“It is cooked with care for our guests. I like cooking steak and with a Tomahawk Steak I do it in reverse, searing it, cooking in a dry oven then finishing in the hibachi grill,” Young said.
Mangapapa manager Michael Coutts said the dish was proving really popular.
“Sometimes simple is best and this meal with a beautifully cooked decent steak and roasted vegetables followed by dessert proves that. It’s a good hearty back to basic meal with lots of spuds and a good variety of fresh veges served with carrot puree.”
He’s absolutely right. The only fancy thing about the meal was the flavour. The carrot puree was outstanding, the vegetables divine, but the meat was the hero of the dish. My companion put the bone on their plate to ensure there was no meat wasted.
Dessert was beautiful to look at and scrumptious to eat. The vanilla icecream was smooth and creamy and I’d go so far as to say it’s the best icecream I have ever eaten, there was a little cup made of chocolate, filled with delicious berry compote and a slice of superb chocolate cake. Bliss.
It was such a lovely evening. I left with a big grin on my face.
Mangapapa is also celebrating Mother’s Day and not just on May 14 but for the entire month of May.
Michael says, “To honour and celebrate our mums, we have created a range of delightful treats to pamper and indulge a very special woman in our lives.”
The treats include Give Mum the Night Off Dinner, a three-course dinner starting with a glass of bubbles and ending with a family photo to treasure, the Mangapapa Royal G&Tea treat, high tea accompanied by their signature gin, and the Mangapapa Billecart-Salmon & Tea, a tribute to Elisabeth Salmon in the creation of BillecartSalmon, one of the finest champagne houses in the world. Combine a superb glass of Billecart-Salmon Champagne with high tea.
Then there are spa days for grandmothers, mothers and daughters to create magical wellness moments and a “My Wonderful Winter Retreat Package” which includes a one-night stay, a five-course dinner, two one-hour relaxing couple massages, a bottle of bubbles and late check-out.
Steak Night is Sunday, Monday, Tuesday from 6pm until 9pm.
The popular wine series dinners begin May 19 with Easthope Family Winegrowers, which includes the limited edition Paddock Six Syrah.
Hawke’s Bay has this wonderful hotel, restaurant and spa right on its doorstep. Treat yourself. We could all do with a bit of pampering right now.
Reservations are essential. Go to mangapapa.co.nz for more information.
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