Share the taste and the cost
Whoever coined the phrase ‘‘sharing is caring’’ was clearly a good person to head out to dinner with.
Sharing food goes beyond just being a cheaper option or a handy way to avoid the dreaded food envy (although these are big positives, too). Sharing food is a way to further connect with your fellow eaters and with the items on your plates, which often work even better together than on their own.
Neat Places shares the sharing love by putting together some favourite spots for shared plates.
Inati
48 Hereford St
Inati’s innovative offering of small and larger sharing plates includes wonders such as Boeufnuts – a salty-sweet doughnut filled with braised beef cheek in a rich pool of beef liquor and Donkey Carrot – a beautiful slowcooked carrot served with pear, taleggio cheese and hazelnut praline.
These two dishes sit alongside a host of other delicious plates created by chef Simon Levy, all designed for sharing, whether you’re in degustation mode or just wanting to share a snack with a glass of wine. And Inati’s wines are sourced only from vineyards and viticulturists known to the restaurant, and sit perfectly alongside Inati’s memorable fare.
Civil And Naval
16 London St
Much-loved Lyttelton institution Civil and Naval knows a thing or two about simple, delicious food.
Offering a very well thought out sharing menu dotted with memorable plates such as polenta crusted calamari, miso buttercoated edamame beans, hand-cut chips and bottomless aioli (genius), and delectable deep-fried cauliflower with maple and chipotle, it’s well worth visiting this cool spot for a drink and a few plates on any or every night of the week.
Super
5 Norwich Quay, Lyttelton
Designed for sharing, the menu at Super hosts Asian fusionstyle dishes perfect for devouring with friends. The Sang Choi Bao – Chinese lettuce cups filled with your choice of sticky beef or lemongrass mushrooms – as well as wontons, tofu in kombu broth, a range of toothsome bao, and many more morsels, are the ultimate crowd-pleasers and work perfectly alongside an enticing drinks menu involving sake, Japanese plum wine, cocktails, beer and wine.
Much like the food, Super’s fitout is cool, casual and stylish without trying too hard to be any of those things.
Rona’s
42 Rue Lavaud, Akaroa
The sharing menu at this Akaroa gem often evolves with the season and the availability of ingredients on the peninsula, but it is guaranteed to be delicious. Heavily influenced by the sevenyear Berlin cooking stint of chefs Harriet and Finbar, the food focuses on humble, flavoursome ingredients. The pair have brought impeccable dishes to Rona’s such as kohlrabi, pickled grapes, quince, pecorino and walnuts or smoked mussel escabeche, preserved lemon mayo, bacon fat croutons and black garlic. Smoking, preserving, infusing and roasting are some of the favourite techniques used at Rona’s.
The Craft Embassy
Level 1/126 Oxford Tce
The view and the beer alone make The Craft Embassy an extremely appealing spot to visit, but once you’ve set eyes and taste buds on its sharing menu, the deal will be sealed. Offering delicious sharing options from fried chicken to crispy falafel and pork belly, The Craft Embassy knows how to do favourites and do them well. Pair them with a tasty brew and you know you’re on to a winner.
❚ Discover more neat places around town at neatplaces.co.nz and download the free and offline Neat Places smartphone app.