Dinner

Press, 25 October 1978, Page 23

Dinner

A. PETIT

The Malando Restaurant 813 Colombo Street. Tel. 799-272.

Once upon a time—but this is not a fairy story—a Canterbury resident who wished to dine out had the choice of doing so in a hotel, a cafe (grill room) or the pie-cart. About 25 years ago this began to change, when—if memory does not deceive—first the Kashmir Coffee Lounge (but they did interesting if modest meals there) and shortly afterwards the Malando Restaurant were established. The Malando was called after a famous Dutch band specialising in Latin American music. Those were the days of “April in Portugal” and such—-takes you back a bit, doesn’t it ? In any case, the name had a pleasant sound, a nice exotic touch, and was easy on the tongue —like their food. But in spite of the lack of competition, the Malando began, on a high note, and became quickly and deservedly popular because of its high standards and excellent food. It would have succeeded under any name. . The restaurant has changed hands a number of times in the intervening years, but successive owners always kept up the high standards with which it began. One of the more attractive features of the Malando is the decor: subdued but warm with the lighting just right to set a romantic mood conducive to relaxed eating. An Australian friend who I entertained there one Saturday night was full of praise for the atmosphere, and said that it compared very favourably wjth Sydney restaurants of the same class. The music especially came in for favourable mention: quite a few decibels below the noise often made in a restaurant which features dancing. it was pleasant to dance to and yet could lie lived with while eating. The Malando has a dance floor the size of a handkerchief, and with four couples on the floor dancing becomes a close struggle, but the patdons do not mind.

Another worthwhile feature is a separate lounge with bar, where patrons waiting for a table can while away the time in relaxed comfort. The menu is extensive and interesting: it includes a fine range of seafood. Most of the dishes have German names, which seems an unnecessary gimmick: chicken ragout does not taste any better for being called Huehner Fricassee. I am not going to use the German names; in any case, the type-fonts of “The Press” do not include the “umlaut.” My mussel chowder was excellent and full of flavour; my friend chose Westland fish soup, and could find no fault with this delicate concoction of white fish with a hint of vegetable. My friend followed this with garlic prawns which indeed lived up to their name. My chicken fricassee seemed a little bland, but this was probably my fault for having this after the strong-flavoured mussel chowder. In fact my friend and I really ought to have switched entrees. One of the distadvantages of doing this column is that the writer always deliberately tends to eat differently from his party, to extend the range of food tasted, and to provide wider and fairer criticism. I had Crayfish Thermidor for the main course—l have already commented on the reason for such a strange choice of courses — but enjoyed it tremendously, it was perfect. This was washed down with a Seppelts Rhymney Chablis which was a fine marriage with the food. While somewhat short on the Chablis flavour, it was a fine example of a white Burgundy type, and I could have gone on drinking it all night. My friend had duckling in orange sauce for main course: this was disappointing. The flavour of the sauce was good, but the texture gooey and sluggish, if I may use this word for a sauce, while the bird had been shot flying uphill. Perhaps we were too slow with our meal, and the dish had to wait too long keeping warm. However, all in all, dining and dancing at the Malando proved a most enjoyable occasion. Dinner for two, including wine and Irish coffee, $46.20.