Lunch in the park, old boy?

A stately classic delivers a delicious slice of Christchurch in the spring. It’s affordable indulgence, says Alastair Paulin.

The forecast called for a sunny 21 degrees Celsius, which posed a puzzle. Where to dine outside in Christchurch?

Summer is on its way and in most cities that would be time to dust off the pavement seating and sun umbrellas. But Christchurch’s heat tends to come with side dish of howling nor’wester, making outdoors dining blustery. I was after a decent lunch, not beer garden pub grub, in a sheltered sanctuary.

My solution was Garden Court Brasserie, the restaurant at the renovated Chateau on the Park, now branded as a Doubletree by Hilton. The restaurant opens onto a beautiful garden courtyard, sheltered by three-storey wings of the hotel.

I had recently had a staycation at the hotel, and knew the tulips, camellias and rhododendrons were in beautiful bloom. I was looking forward to dining al fresco, as opposed to my usual al desko.

High-end hotel dining has been transformed recently, with many such restaurants becoming cutting edge. And you might expect that the extensive renovations to the Chateau to bring it up to Doubletree’s four-star requirements last year would have resulted in a hip dining room.

But the Chateau, opened in 1975, remains an icon of old Christchurch, and some parts of the restaurant appear to have lasted that long.

“I haven’t seen placemats like this since my mum was making apricot chicken!” exclaimed my lunch companion as we sat at an outdoor table. The forecast sun had not arrived but it was warm and sheltered outside and with the gardens to ourselves, it felt as if we were cosseted guests in a stately home.

The Probus crowd, as my sharp-tongued friend called them, were all inside, where blond wood and bland table settings made the otherwise attractive light and airy room feel a bit institutional.

We decided to order off the reasonably priced $19.50 express lunch menu, with the only other option an all-day menu. Neither offered innovative selections, but there were plenty of safe choices. The express menu had five mains: pork belly, lamb cutlets, chicken piccata, beef filet mignons and grilled dory fillet.

My friend beat me to the pork belly but promised some tastes so I went for the lamb. And from the all-day menu we tried an appetiser of chicken polpette, as we had no idea what it was.

It turned out to be crumbed balls of minced chicken, served with a summer salsa of pineapple, mint, red peppers and red onion. The balls were bland but the salsa was fresh and vibrant and the whole dish worked well together.

Our mains arrived just before our fresh cutlery, giving us time to admire the full plates. The pork belly was two large hunks of falling-apart-tender pork, yet the crackling was crispy. It came with a slightly gelatinous apple cider gravy, which was delicious, gratin potatoes that were thankfully not overloaded with cheese, and perfectly steamed seasonal vegetables.

My two thin lamb cutlets were slightly overwhelmed by an overseasoned crumb, but were still tender and tasty. They were served with sauteed thyme potatoes, aka little fried cubes of joy, and early season courgettes done ratatouillestyle with tomato and onion.

We were both impressed by our dishes, if not blown away by anything surprising. This was conservative, old school continental cuisine, but with excellent ingredients and cooked to a high standard. No mushy boiled vegetables or dry roasts here.

Given that it is all too easy to drop $20 on forgettable cafe fare for lunch, the chance to dine in such a magnificent setting just across from Hagley Park on a warm spring day felt like an affordable indulgence. We added to that impression by bumping the express lunch up by just $6 for the dessert of the day: a tiramisu slice. It had a robust coffee liqueur taste, a few early season strawberries, and it was better than many drowned-by-cream versions I have had.

The dessert summed up our experience: an updated, classy slice of old Christchurch spring.