The White House is one of Wellington's top restaurants, we chose it for our last meal of 2008.
http://www.whr.co.nz/
Amuse bouche
Ceviche with raw red onion and chive in a sour cream sauce.
Sourdough roll with truffle salt butter
Main
Rack of lamb in a manuka sauce and shoulder of lamb cooked sous-vide (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sous-vide) with celery and tomato. This was accompanied by cubes of halloumi wrapped in mint leaves and deep fried. Served on a bright green spinach puree.
Side
Chips with aioli
Cheese
Over the Moon New Zealand brie, Neudorf Mount Arthur aged sheep's milk cheese (NZ), and Talbot Forest NZ Aged Cheddar, served with quince and fig jellies, crackers and raisins on the vine.
Amuse bouche
Cherries dipped in chocolate, served over dry ice.
Wine
Te Mata "Bullnose" Syrah 2006 (Hawkes Bay, NZ) http://www.temata.co.nz/index.php
Coffee
Short black
I felt that the ceviche amuse bouche was rather overpowering and there was a danger or spoiling the palate if you were having a delicate starter.
The main course was just the right size and the balance and range of flavours was good. I wasn't aware of the sous-vide technique before, but thought that it worked well. The fried halloumi cubes wrapped in mint were the star of this dish and joined the two lambs well.
I was disappointed at the lack of NZ cheeses on the menu and felt that the cheese that we had could have been kept better. The cheddar in particular was sweaty and dry.
The wine was outstanding, I would definitely look for it again, and the Syrah went well with the lamb.
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