Choking on horse for mane course

Canvas manager Rachel Oliver wanted to offer something different. Picture / Amos Chapple

It is a case of picking the horse for the course at one Hamilton eatery. The main course, that is.

But Hamilton restaurant Canvas' decision to serve cheval, as part of this year's Monteith's Wild Food Challenge, has raised the ire of racing icon Sir Patrick Hogan.

Wild horses, Kaimanawa or otherwise, could not drag Sir Patrick to the dish.

"I'm not impressed at all at the fact that horse meat is available as a delicacy in a restaurant in Hamilton," he said.

The dish was "distasteful".

"My life with horses has been my passion," said Sir Patrick.

"If it was the last restaurant in Hamilton I wouldn't be having it."

Since the dish received publicity, the restaurant has had one threatening phonecall, said manager Rachel Oliver.

The police were notified.

"It's not that we want to offend anyone or upset anyone. We just wanted to do something different for a change," she said, adding that horse meat was readily available on menus in France and Belgium.

Ms Oliver said the dish had been selling well since they started in the competition on Monday. They had sold about 15 dishes and it was a talking point for people visiting the restaurant.

Some people were shocked, she said, but when they got past the idea of what they were eating, the dish went down very well.

The Monteith's Wild Food Challenge runs from July 10 to July 31.