WHERE: St Patrick's Square, Wyndham St, ph 368 4129
OUR MEAL: $225 for two cocktails, two entrees, two mains, vegetables, three glasses of wine, cheese and dessert.
WINE LIST: Extensive, from the modestly priced glass to the expensive bottle.
VERDICT: Grove's reputation for consistent excellence remains unblemished. Wonderful.
OUT OF 10
FOOD: 9
SERVICE: 9
VALUE: 9
AMBIENCE: 9
My belief is that these days it's more difficult to find a truly bad meal than a decent one. Which means you can dine out, so to speak, by telling friends about a lousy dinner you endured. And if the popularity of Anthony Bourdain and other travel-noshers is anything to go by, more people are attracted to seeing someone eating live snake and wasp larvae than observing something approaching sophistication with a white tablecloth.
Well, I've done the snake and wasp larvae thing and while I would again if the occasion demanded, there are few things more enjoyable than good company, a comfortable restaurant and a sommelier who can match good wine with excellent food. All those factors came together when we went to The Grove, which has never, in my experience, traded lightly on its fine reputation.
When you go to The Grove you can relax because you are in excellent hands. We'd both had a busy week so cocktails seemed in order - my lemongrass martini with a touch of ginger wine took the edge off the chilly night, Megan's tamarillo sour was soft and subtle - and then we took in the menu.
As I've noted, I'm up for a challenge when it comes to food - I was born in Edinburgh and as Billy Connolly noted, "Scottish food is a dare" - so why not an entree of ostrich (a particular favourite) on finely grated chocolate with chorizo and sumac?
What sounded absurd not only looked exceptional - like a minimalist Malevich painting on a plate - but was a sublime blend of refined flavours, the like of which I had never experienced previously. Megan's lightly smoked eel with calamari, avocado, and an exceptional olive oil powder (which came with a light apple sorbet atop a sake jelly) was its equal.
The cares of our week evaporated. With intelligent wine recommendations - mine a smooth but tart shiraz from the Barossa, a light Martin Codax Albarino for Megan - we ordered from the short but effective mains menu of veal, duck, beef, pork belly, snapper, lamb.
Megan's snapper with baby clams and scallops vinaigrette was "perfect" and if my beef fillet was rather on the medium side of medium-rare, it seemed a small debit. With more excellent wine, a dessert of kaffir lime bavarois with feijoa sorbet and saffron jelly (absolute heaven) and cheese, we reluctantly came to the end of a wonderful evening.
While it is true that small and unknown places can surprise, there's some comfort in a place where you can confidently walk in and let yourself be taken care of. That's so at The Grove - but do you think anyone I know wants to hear about it? They prefer stories about Scottish food and wasp larvae.
