Tongariro Lodge
Reviews · · · ·Rating: 4
We ate dinner here in October 2024.
Flatbread with hummus and harissa seed oil
Honey roasted carrots
Cauliflower steak
Fries with truffle aioli
Halloumi, grapes and chorizo
Fried chicken with wasabi mayo and sweet soy
Burnt New York style cheesecake with parmesan and yuzu
What a glow up. It’s hard to believe that 3 years ago we slapped this place with a 2 after being served one of the worst fish dishes of all time (perhaps it’s a three-way tie with White Horse Inn and LA Bakery & Coffee Lounge). Tonight, they have achieved our highest accolade, the coveted 4 rating.
While Tongariro Lodge is not a tapas restaurant, tonight our group of 4 chose to order a bunch of plates and share them round. There wasn’t a dud in the bunch. The halloumi, grapes and chorizo wasn’t particularly exciting, but it was tasty. Perhaps the chicken itself could have had a bit more excitement in texture or flavour, but it was well compensated by two delicious sauces.
Then we come to the stronger dishes. The flatbread came with a great hummus and was super well laminated and piping hot. The honey roasted carrots had a lovely honey flavour and were cooked just right. But two dishes stood above the rest. The cauliflower steak had this gorgeous flavour, the kind that makes you go ‘why can’t I make cauliflower like this at home, what have they done here?’ The cheesecake was very strange, with parmesan for goodness sake, but it totally worked. The top was burnt like a brulee and it came with brulee’d fruit too, everything worked together. We’ve never had a cheesecake like this before, big points for innovation. Welcome to the upper echelon, Tongariro Lodge.