WELLINGTON
Grill Meats Beer Top 5 227 Cuba St, Te Aro
I MUST CONFESS that I don’t own a barbecue; it’s not because I don’t want to, it’s just that city apartment life makes this only a dream, so I enthusiastically take up invitations to friends' baches or suburban backyards to get my Kiwi summer grill fix. When none of these invites crop up, I venture into the Cuba Street badlands and on any given day there are plenty of options for eating, but one place always sates my appetite for grilled food. Situated across the road from its legendary father Logan Brown, Grill Meats Beer offers a high-quality grilled fare with an outstanding and regularly changing beer list. Executive chef and owner Shaun Clouston has hit the ball out of the park here with crowd-pleasing fare, and this lively Cuba Street diner, while famous for its excellent burgers, also boasts some of the best seared food in the city. I toddled up there recently to meet some friends for lunch from the grill and here’s what we ate.
Beer-can Smoked Freerange Peri Peri Chicken
I have no idea what zuni pickles are but they are an excellent addition of acidic zing to this smoky, moist bird. Smoking had given the meat a good texture while only delicately flavouring it and the peri peri, always good with chicken, made the skin glisten with spicy caramelized sauce. Texan macaroni salad and a charred cos lettuce half was a great addition to this fun dish. This is a textbook summer lunch that would not be out of place anytime of the year. I’m not sure what can of beer was used to cook this chook but the Mcleods 802 I was chopping while eating it was a great match.
Pan-fried Market Fish
Despite the default title, this dish was the most surprising of all; arriving in a piping-hot skillet with scintillating aromas. The curry sauce had reduced so much it had taken on a madeira-like quality, filling the cockle shells and coating the potatoes with a deep Indian flavour. Sitting proudly on top was the star of this show, a superbly fried fillet of lemon fish, sweet and flaky with crunchy fried edges. This fish capped off an awesome example of very comforting and nourishing cooking.
Rare Seared Grass-fed Wagyu Bavette Steak
This cut of beef is one of the greatest when seared on an extremely hot flaming grill: its flavour is the essence of steak. Rested, then sliced across the grain, its texture is second to none and compared to much pricier cuts it’s excellent for feeding hungry groups. This baller edition, topped with smoky chipotle butter, is decadent as hell, especially with its accompaniments of beef croquette and grilled mushroom. Mop this lot up with the ridiculously good habanero mustard and it’s an umami-party, people! This will be the first thing I order every time I return from now on.
Crispy Duck Salad
This adaptation of gado gado salad is exactly what was needed on a table full of smoky grilled tucker; just as the meat sweats started to kick in this little ripper showed up and provided instant satisfaction. Fresh mint and green papaya generously hydrated with lime juice is one of the world's greatest combinations – it’s acidic, floral and fresh, and I can’t get enough. It’s so damn refreshing you forget the liberal amount of fresh chili you are also consuming at an alarming rate, all part of the magic of this famous Indonesian combination. Soft crab and duck are great with this dish and the latter here is terrific, with salty rich meat perfect against this barrage of fresh chopped intensity. Cold lager is the perfect match for this dish and won’t last long as you chomp your way through. This is how you win friends with salad.
GMB Spice-rubbed St. Louis Pork Ribs
I recently visited Charleston, South Carolina and was lucky enough to try some of the best barbecue food the planet has to offer. After consuming many different cuts, ribs were always the best thing on the menu. There’s something so great about getting your hands all messed up and sticky and not giving a shit; just don’t wear your wedding dress while eating them, even though that would look amazing. GMB’S ribs are a little more generous with their meat content than our Southern counterparts and this is great news as they can hold heaps of the hoisin and hop sauce that has been poured all over them, like some glistening hot lacquer. While not falling off the bone, the meat comes away beautifully which gives a much better texture and flavour. This generous serving (500g) is plenty for a few people to get messy over – the final rib will be insincerely offered round the table, when in all honesty you want all of them. There’s also a fresh creamy coleslaw on hand here to prevent this dish being a total one-way meat street.
Shaun Clouston has hit the ball out of the park here with crowd-pleasing fare, and this lively Cuba Street diner, while famous for its excellent burgers, also boasts some of the best seared food in the city.