Istana Malaysia Restaurant, Xmas dinner

Wednesday 14th December is your Cellar Club’s Christmas dinner
Being held at Istana Malaysia Restaurant
Arrival at 7 pm for seating at 7.30 pm
1-5 Allen Street, Wellington – Directions

Thank you to everyone who let Wayne know whether they would be attending or not. It certainly makes the organising easier, and it is exciting to see that 43 people will attend our final event of the year. This year, as we have shared dishes, there are no meal choices to decide upon. But so there is no confusion on the night, we will still be allocating people to set tables and letting you know your table number before the dinner.

Given there are some members attending the dinner for the first time, it is perhaps an opportune time to mention how our dinners operate.

  • You are asked to arrive as close to 7 pm as practical. Please don’t turn up early, as it can cause confusion at the venue.
  • When you arrive, you will be greeted with a complimentary glass of bubbles.
  • The meal is BYO wine, and your prepaid cost includes corkage. During the evening, it is customary to share the bottle of wine you have brought with your neighbours.
  • We expect to finish sometime between 9.30 pm and 10 pm, but this is a guideline only, in case you arrange transport home. Please try and stay as flexible as possible.

This is the 30th year of operation for Istana Malaysia, with Danny, the owner/chef, still on board. Everything is prepared fresh in the kitchen daily, guaranteeing quality and enjoyment.

If some members are a little weary about the spiciness of the food, please be assured that everything will be catered to milder tastes for the dishes with extra chillies and tofu on the table for people who want to add it to their plate.

A Reminder: We have planned no dessert for the evening, but please bring your favourite dessert wine, as this will complement both the food and finish the evening off nicely.

Bistro52 Weltec Training Restaurant

On Wednesday, 3rd August, some Club members attended the last evening meal put on by WelTec’s Bistro52 Training Restaurant for this year. It was a well-balanced and portioned meal with well-matched wines.

The food was prepared, presented, served to a high standard, and was top-grade! The menu we savoured included:

Tasting Menu
Sourdough Bread, Cultured Butter, Kapiti Sea Salt
Course One
Prawn Chorizo Sausage, Puffed Pork Skin, Scallop XO, Almond Crema, Nashi Pear Compression
Wine Match: Sauvignon Blanc
Green gages on the tongue, this wine took away some of the saltiness of the food and smoothed things out.
Course Two
Salt-Fish & Potato Churro, Fennel Bulb Confit, Saffron & Tomato Sofrito Miso
Wine Match: Te Mata Chardonnay
Wine toned down the spiciness of the food on the back of the throat, nice.
Course Three
Slow Cooked Lamb Rump, Leek Custard, Lost Bread, Puy Lentils, Pickled Mushrooms, Red Wine Salt
Wine Match: Babich Syrah
Smooth, divine, blackcurrants on the tongue, the food made the wine almost caramelly.
Course Four
Hangi – Kumara Steamed Pudding, Kumara Skin Infused Buttermilk Ice-Cream, Spiced Caramel, Torched Mandarin
Wine Match: Veuve du Vernay
I’m sure we’ve had this at the Cellar Club; bottle fermentation left a light fizzing on the tongue, and the food brought out extra fruit flavours in the wine.

The only query I had for the Maître that evening was course three: at our table, we debated if the ‘lost bread’ that accompanied the lamb rump was a euphemism for mountain oysters! It wasn’t, but the Maître was both amused and said he would speak to the chef about perhaps changing the description of the petite loaf that came as part of the meal!

Looking Back

The Christmas dinner was an enjoyable evening at Juniper Gin Bar & Restaurant, with just over 40 people attending.

The food was as good as the last time we used the restaurant and the getting there and home was easy and pleasurable for everyone.

Thanks Wayne, for organising and ensuring the bubbly got there!

Newsletter, Save the Date, Dinner

Newsletter

Rest easy team, I am back. I would like to follow up on Wayne‘s message re the bit of disorganisation over the newsletter. Much has been happening in the last couple of months and Pat and I have spent six weeks in Sydney and are still getting back into a groove. Overseas visitors and other activities have further impacted. Please bear with us, things will come right in time. Some really excellent events coming up over the next year so there is much to look forward to.

Save the Date

This feature will continue over the next few months with the March event being the first of 3 special themed events your committee is planning in 2020 to celebrate our 40th anniversary. A full calendar of events will be sent out separately so you can update your diaries.

Dinner

Please find attached the menu for the December Dinner. The second attachment is the payment advice for the November tasting. This includes a section allowing you to indicate preferences for the Dinner. The ability to let the restaurant know our requirements in advance is of benefit in keeping costs down.

See you there Wednesday,

Cheers
Robin Semmens
Editor

End of Year Dinner – Saturday, 8 Dec – Juniper

We discussed this with members a little earlier in the year and have made the decision to opt for a Saturday for the December Dinner this year.

We believe that this will be convenient for most members. So we are off to Juniper, corner Featherston and Johnston Streets in the CBD for this year’s dinner.

We are working on final details for the menu and pricing. Wayne will supply members with a combined “payment advice’ form before the November tasting. So forget about second Wednesday of the month this time and put 8 December into your diaries.

We are sure it will be a great event. As I say, more detail from Wayne shortly.