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Chalet Restaurant

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UK Flower Girl
UK Flower Girl
First Reviewer
4 out of 5
Avg. Member Rating
1
Review
3
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Editor Pick

Chalet Restaurant: Dawson Falls Mountain Lodge

  • September 26, 2006
  • Rated 4 of 5 by UK Flower Girl from Market Weighton, England
Chalet Restaurant: Dawson Falls Mountain Lodge

A lodge on the side of a mountain is a bit remote. It doesn’t leave many options when you want dinner. When reserving a room at the Dawson Falls Mountain Lodge I included dinner as part of the rate. The meal turned out to be better than I expected even though I wasn’t feeling great that evening. My body still wasn’t adjusting to the jetlag and I just didn’t feel hungry in the evenings.

Just off of the lodge’s common area is a small dining room with a variety of larger and smaller tables to accommodate groups of many sizes. Another couple had already been seated when we arrived for dinner. We chose our dinner from the table d’hôte three-course set menu. The menu was limited, but this is understandable being a small lodge and not having a full house every night.

We started off with a bottle of Saint’s Sauvignon Blanc from the Marlborough region of the South Island. Tom and I both ordered the same meals: mushroom vol-au-vent followed by crumbed chicken with vegetables and an ice cream sundae for dessert. The starter was especially remarkable. The flaky pastry and creamy mushrooms were out of this world. I managed to eat the entire starter but only a few bites of the rest. Tom finished all of his and loved it all.

The entire operation seemed to be managed by only two people—one in the kitchen and one out in the dining area. The setting was intimate enough that I felt like I was comfortably seated in some one's home rather than in a restaurant. The woman serving us wasn’t overly friendly or talkative, but not unpleasant either. The dining area was quiet and dimly lit with a candle burning on the table. The other couple sat quietly across the room and finished rather quickly before retiring back to their room.

The restaurant had the same ambient feeling as the rest of the lodge. I imagined hiking around the park on a cold, snowy July, returning to the lodge with a roaring fire and relaxing until it was time for dinner in the restaurant. A hearty meal finishes off your day and you return to your room for the night…

Meal options

Starters:
Curried Kumara Soup
Farmhouse Vegetable Soup
Mushroom Vol au Vent

Freshly Baked Tomato Pesto Bread

Mains:
Blue Cod with Citrus Sauce
Crumbed Chicken Breast with Spicy Apricot Sauce (our choice)
Roast Beef and Yorkshire Pudding (isn’t it ironic that we live in Yorkshire and traveled to NZ to have this on the menu?)

All Mains served with Roast Potato, Roast Pumpkin and Seasonal Vegetables

Desserts:
Ice Cream Sundae
Apple and Prune Shortcake
Rhubarb Tart
Sticky Date Pudding

Desserts served with (Whipped) Cream and Ice Cream

Overall, our dinner was excellent. I highly recommend you take dinner with your bed and breakfast should you book yourself into the Dawson Falls Mountain Lodge.

From journal A Journey to Mount Taranaki

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