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- By PJ Taylor, Eastern Times
Ethereal Restaurant, at the high-quality hotel Double Tree by Hilton, is a superb dining experience, and the best surprise of all is that the menu is priced to cater to a wide range of budgets.
If you’re looking for an affordable fine-dining treat in a cool, classy and modern hospitality environment in Karaka, Ethereal Restaurant’s new winter menu – Seafood & Wine with Nautilus – may just be the bait to lure one in.
It’s apparent as soon as the Times arrives on the opening night of the new menu, there’s friendly energy and excitement.
The adjacent and stylish Horseshoe Bar, which connects to a spacious outdoor area with a cosy open fire and heated pool, has the rugby on a TV, and the shape of the bar is in sweeping accordance with its name.
Heading to the Chef’s table, you pass a grand display cabinet with an exquisite painting of Ethereal, the Melbourne Cup winning racehorse of 2001, the restaurant is named after.
With the open kitchen, chefs are in full view, and it’s a pleasure to be able to see skilled food professionals specialising in what they do so well.
The Seafood & Wine with Nautilus winter menu has a spectacular star, the Seafood Platter, at $150, or paired with a bottle of Nautilus Estate Alberino Marlborough at $200.
It’s a delicious banquet, as there has been a lot of thought gone into considering its offerings, with it adequately feeding one to four people.
The vino is a Marlborough-grown Spanish grape, Alberino, a flavoursome fruity amber white that accentuates and blends with the platter that presents perfectly cooked, tender and juicy grayfish tail thermidor, Moreton Bay bug with garlic butter, seared scallops, grilled prawns, spanner crab croquettes, Chilean squid steak, and Clevedon oysters.
Take time to saviour each bite, splash it with the wine, and appreciate the delicious cuisine and textures. It’s the highest-quality seafood platter.
Earlier, the five main meals are discussed, and two are sampled and consumed eagerly – a Seafood Chowder that just melts with every spoonful in the mouth and crunch of complementing garlic focaccia, and Warm Smoked Salmon combined with confit beetroot, miso and sesame short crust and tonka bean mayo.
The four entrée To Start selections are equally interesting as the mains, and we got to enjoy seasoned, tender Salt & Pepper Squid with Sichuan pepper and aioli, and smooth Tuna & Caper Mousse with sesame nori cracker.
That followed warm breads and spreads, and an introduction to the accompanying Nautilus Marlborough wines, the ideally matched traditional Brut and Sauvignon Blanc 2024.
Ethereal Restaurant at DoubleTree by Hilton is well worth a try, for its unique modern charm and class and innovative culinary delights.
