Restaurant Trip Reports and Recommendations

[666HARPS666]

The country taste, fresher meat, the way its cooked . the hospitality the flavours in the vegies & sauce
"p.s i not eat the vegies .so is heresay/from Giz " .
meals are cooked the way you ask for them + good value .

p.s A picture does not show or give the flavours of a meal .Is vic, wine country every thing is fresh .

p.p.s. had meal in our room not in the pub . next time ill use real camera not phone & go chinese

[Swanky]

Here's the thing. I don't care if it looks the same as any other pub. If it tastes great, was great value with friendly staff etc. I want to hear about it.

Thanks for the trip report Harpy. And pics help to make the thread. Cheers.

[maccatak11]

Here's the thing. I don't care if it looks the same as any other pub. If it tastes great, was great value with friendly staff etc. I want to hear about it.

Thanks for the trip report Harpy. And pics help to make the thread. Cheers.

I agree. the trip report afterward was the info i wanted to read Just seeing pictures of an awesome steak is good, but i wanna hear about how awesome it was to eat too.

[Garth Kay]

I better contribute to this, for those of you who don't know I just spent the last three days over in Vanuatu conducting some form of business, more on that later, but whilst I was over there I was treated very well and taken out everywhere and went to very nice restaurants.

On Friday night we went to he Watermark with the Casino COO and the Casino Duty managers. This place was very pleasant set on the beachfront of an Island (Irriki resort) which is a minutes ferry ride across from the Grand Motel. It had a vary ambient, relaxed atmosphere and we sat on the front decking. The menu was a mix of Japanase/Chinese/Thai fusion dishes and I had the best Nasi Goreng I have ever had. I cannot describe it but the Nepalese chefs there had the ability to infuse so much flavour into each morsel. It was like a satay chicken that had been hit with some oyster sauce infused vegetables and then still hit with a flavour hammer of something else.

But the next day got even better, I was suffering a slight hangover after the duty managers plied me with continuous free alcohol to stay in the casino, but Bernie (COO of the Grand Hotel and Casino) picked me up at 11am to take me on a tour of Vanuatu and to eat at his Favourite restaurant.

After driving from one side of Port Vila to the other (I haven't seen so much green, lush foilage since poison ivy last made an appearance in Batman comics) we stopped at Tamaru Resort and restaurant.

This restaurant is situated two steps from the most beautiful and exotic beach I have ever seen, the sand was white and the water was almost sapphire in colour, it literally sparkled. But the food there was AWESOME!

We ended up having three courses.

1.) Oyster shooters - I love oyster shooters and the only thing holding back on me declaring them the best was that they weren't chilled! Still only a few degrees off, but the plethora of taste sensations was off the scale. A gint of lime juice, the taste of a supremely fresh oyster, tomato juice, there's bit of vodka and then the spicyness builds up and whacks you and then your again left with the final tart bitter taste of lime and oyster. Man I am salivating at how good it was.

2.) Entree for me was squid filled with spicy pork mince and served with a home made sweet chilli sauce. The squid was cooked perfectly and again, this whole mix of flavours and textures just blew me away.

3.) Finally the best for last. I ordered veal stuffed with proscuitto, herbs and a mix of cheeses (mainly mozzarella) and this was just unbelievable.
First off all, all beef in vanuatu is fully free range and organic and this really shines through in the taste of the beef (I would almost give up on a prime cut of wagyu for another shot at Vanuatu Veal) and then just the mix of flavours and the delicate presentation and cooking style just of the dish was undescribable. I loved every mouthful of that main and actually took me about 20 minutes to finish it off as I sat back and took my time (something that is impossible for me to do most times I eat).

Many of you here know that my favourite restaurant is the Cork and Cleaver in Adleaide, great service, excellent menu, even better wine list, knowledgable staff and great memories keep on bringing me back there.

But right now, nothing would make me happier than to declare Tamaru as my favoruite restaurant but first I would want to take all the usual suspects there to enjoy the surrounds and menu and share first hand in the experience first before making such a declaration.

[Des]

Oh god, going out to dinner with Garth is going to get more expensive.
Who has some frequent flyer points I can borrow?

Good trip report!

[666HARPS666]

Very well written Garth .
A bit too expensive for me unless plane trip is for free

Cheers

[maccatak11]

The 'Indian Harvest' Restaurant has a bloody hot, but great Vindaloo. That is all.