Ryne

We’ve got a new fine dining establishment in the neighbourhood. Ryne, which is anglo saxon for a course continuously moving onwards. It’s in St George’s Road just South of Piedmontes. There have been a few restaurants here over the years and we hope Ryne makes a success of a difficult site. We’re happy to form the nucleus of an appreciative local clientele. It’s nice to have a fine dining experience in walking distance.

We took Joe there for his birthday and had a very pleasant night. You can choose between 2, 3 or 7 courses, choosing anything from the main menu if you opt for either the 2 or 3 courses. But if you select the 7 course option you place yourself in the hands of the chef; a nice thing to do if you have time and energy. It being a week night when we were there we chose three courses with matching wines. The food was really, really good. We were there in the restaurant’s very earliest days and the service had a few wrinkles; too long for drinks to be served, a bit of a gap between the later courses. Presumably these will have been fixed by now.

First course for two of us was one of the specials of the day. Marron. Delicious, perfect combination of flavours. Pretty, as well as being nice and light.

For the second course two of us had duck from the standard menu. It was a very substantial dish. Perfectly cooked and very flavoursome. Very good duck.

Joe had the pigeon dish which was one of the specials of the day. It was not quite as substantial as the duck but was a very fine dish.

And Sam had the Confit Kin Ora Salmon, a house specialty and another very successful dish.

Chocolate souffle for dessert. Who could resist this. Berries and chocolate, the perfect combination.

Joe opted for one of his favourite desserts; Tiramisu. Not a traditional approach but he liked it a lot.

And then we got a surprise. When we came in they asked whether we were there for a special occasion; then presented Joe with this at the end of his meal. Subtle and sweet.

Here’s a happy couple.