Dinner

Press, 13 June 1979, Page 10

Dinner

A. PETIT

Town Hall Restaurant.

Town Hail.

Phone 66-651.

The advertisement cleverly says that the only thing the Town Hall Restaurant overlooks is the Avon River. Fair enough. Let it immediately be said that this is a very nice place to go to for a night out. Unfortunately, from the inside, at night, you cannot see much of the river or the lighted fountains. There is too much light inside and not enough outside. Also, of necessity, the number of tables near the windows is restricted.

Going up Victoria Street at night, and looking at the Town Hall Restaurant, it is like seeing a fair from a distance, fairy-land even. Inevitably, it is different on the inside—it reminds you of the story of the spectators watching the festival train go by. However, this is not the fault of the restaurant management, rather a question of the siting of the building and the lighting of that part of Victoria Square. The restaurant is pleasant enough inside. It is a large room, capable of seating some hundred guests, and very suitable for larger' parties.

The colour scheme is brown, gold, and grey —comfortable and relaxing, although a few accent of red (candles, tablemats?) might just lift the decor a little.

On the Saturday night of our visit there was a small band with a lot of the electronics that seem so fashionable these daj's, catering for the dancers. For once, the decibels were at a tolerable level; however, the music was disappointing to our taste, but younger people probably would enjoy it. _

The a-la-carte menu offers plenty of choice: a good variety of starters and appetisers, three soups, four entrees, four seafood main courses, two roasts, three poultry main courses, three cold collations, five “special” main courses, and four desserts.

We began with sauteed mushrooms on toast, and the Andalusian soup. The soup is a kind of cross between minestrone and a hot gaspacho—with lots of tomato and green pepper—and very nice indeed.

An entree of fillet of sole followed: like the previous course, this could not be faulted.

For main course we chose the groper steak with ginger and pepper, and a Steak Diane.

The delicate seasoning of ginger and fresh pepper was just right for the fish. The Steak Diane was not, unfortunately, prepared at the table, but came fully prepared from the kitchen: however, the flavour was beautiful.

It was very busy on the night, and the staff were run off their feet, but the service was good. A nice touch was that our various courses were held back until we wanted them, and we could dine at our own pace.

Another good feature was that the portion sizes were just right, so that we really enjoyed our dessert, for which we chose the waffle—which was delicious.

Dinner for two, with coffee and a bottle of New Zealand wine, came to $30.50.

The Town Hall Restaurant has a special after-theatre supper menu; also a special luncheon menu.