Two hours of power at The Arborist

Wellington on a Plate wrapped up its tenth birthday today. We ended a foodie fortnight by saving the best for last. Two hours of power at The Arborist was described as a kiwi take on yum cha. Apparently the kitchen was given free rein and came up with a seemingly endless menu. This is what they promised:

An ambitious promise

The menu listed nine courses, in no particular order, plus two desserts. We actually started with a bonus dish not on the menu: baked potato with pulled pork filling. (Don't worry - each potato was to share between two people.)

Baked potato with pulled pork appetiser

So, with our palettes ready, then dishes kept coming in yum cha style. There were so many highlights and I only remembered to take a few photos. Marmite glazed pork ribs, hot smoked salmon devilled eggs, prawn cocktails with avocado on melba toast, mushroom and feta mini quiche, slow braised lamb shoulder with smoked kumara pastries ... we were served continuously for an hour before needing to slow things down a bit - a welcome reprise before starting again.

Would we like seconds of any dish? Although we were pretty full after nearly two hours, here's what we chose to sample again.

Beer battered snapper with salt and malt vinegar fries

Coq Au Vin chicken tossed in hiracha honey and garlic with blue cheese dip

Mini pavlova with strawberries, kiwifruit and chantilly cream, and a mini lemon curd tart topped with crumbled meringue finished off an amazing meal at The Arborist. The service this afternoon was exceptional and the food simply divine. A fitting end to another Welly on a Plate season.

A sweet ending