PIC's Birthday Dinner at Euro

November 06, 2011

For his 33rd birthday, PIC and I went to Simon Gault's Euro for dinner at the Viaduct Harbor.

This is the third of Mr Gault's restaurants that we've tried and if I were to rank them, this would be tops, followed by Bistro Lago in Taupo and third would be Jervois Steak House in Herne Bay.

World Top 50!

The Menu

Upon reaching our dinner destination, Euro actually feels a bit secluded in its corner at the viaduct. Its just a smidge away from all the other restaurants. This location may have been chosen more for its proximity to the Hilton hotel similar to how Bistro Lago is situated at the Hilton in Taupo.

While the set up and tables were all laid out in understated elegance, the restaurant had a bright open feel to it that was more inviting than the usual intimidating austerity of its other fine dining brethren. So inviting that guests were in varying states of dress ranging from casual, smart casual, and plain old dapper. It was perfect.

SG's Crab & Prawn Starter

For starters, I had the SG crab & prawn while PIC had cauliflower soup. When the dishes arrived, I was actually surprised to see that mine was a creamy soup dish as well. It had those moving bonito flakes on top similar to one of the fish dishes we had at Lago. My first thought is that this must be one of Chef Gault's favorite presentation styles. The dish turned out to be slightly on the salty side for me though and I wonder if those bonito flakes were the culprit. PIC loved it after having a taste or too. He specially liked the crunch of the light green roe scattered in it.

PIC's Cauliflower Soup

PIC's dish on the other hand left him feeling that it was a bit on the blander side. He also met another of chef Gault's favorites -- truffle oil. Unfortunately, PIC finds it rather off putting and believes it actually makes his food taste like gasoline. I thought his soup was good and just right. And while I can understand why he couldn't appreciate truffle oil, I don't really mind it at all. Despite the slight mix up in preferences, we were happy with our starters and but can't deny that it left us a bit on the fence on what to think of Euro.

Then came our mains.

I had the Savannah fillet while PIC had the surf and turf. Yes, there was that drizzle of truffle oil on both plates again but as soon as we sliced into our oh-so-juicy steaks, all was forgiven. While the jus that went with the meat was utterly divine, you hardly had any need for it to be honest -- such was the greatness of the beef we were presented.

I definitely wont be waiting for another big event before we return.