Tiffany’s Restaurant cnr Durham and Lichfield Streets Phone 791-350 B.Y.O.

Press, 26 July 1984, Page 29

Tiffany’s Restaurant cnr Durham and Lichfield Streets Phone 791-350 B.Y.O.

(By

HANS PETROVIC)

Jon Helmrich’s new restaurant, Tiffany’s, is turning

into something of a phnomenon: it is probably the most difficult restaurant in the city at which to book a table. Both new customers and satisfied returnees are vying for tables. Friday and Saturday evenings are fully booked until the beginning of October, and Tuesdays, Wednesdays and Thursdays are booked two weeks ahead, even for small groups of two and four. The more cunning of the restaurant’s regular patrons have taken out permanent reservations, ensuring their places every week for up to six months in advance. Jon has introduced a new menu to prevent such fortunate, regular diners from becoming jaded, and to further tempt the palates of the discerning, he plans to make such menu changes every two months or so. We were, lucky enough to get a table for four last week, booking only about seven days in advance, and soon after the new menu came into use. Tiffany’s Restaurant is in that charming Tudor house off Durham Street, near the Bridge of Remembrance. We were served sherry in the comfortable, grey, grape-and-pink reception area, and had only a short wait before being taken to our table. The impression of the dining area is one of relaxed comfort, with no expense spared on decor, furniture, linen, crystal and dinnerware. A piano was tinkling quietly in the background. Our waiter was there quicker than a wink, arranging the table, pouring glasses of iced water and explaining the menu. He had the knack of seemingly popping out of the woodwork throughout the evening and, if anything, being unnervingly over-attentive.

Two of us decided to start with the soups: Double Veal Consomme, served with

quenelles ($4), and Bouillabaise Marseilles, a rich mixed seafood soup flamed with cognac ($3.50). Like borscht, boillabaise comes in so many varieties that one can never be sure what one is going to get. This one, served with a small dollop of cream on top, was creamy in texture throughout, and had the bonus of generous chunks of a variety of seafood. This was way ahead of the average chowder, and one of the best bouillabaise I have ever eaten. My friend said the veal consomme also was firstrate, particularly with the inclusion of seasoned meat balls. For entrees, two of my friends had fried fillet of sole ($5). The size of small, lemon sole fillets, they had been cooked in a light egg batter which tasted “just like omelette, and could melt in your mouth,” one of

the women said with approval.

Another starter which was thoroughly enjoyed was the Fried Mushroom Tasman: mushroom filled with camembert cheese and gently fried ($5). My friend seems to be particularly partial to both fried camembert and mushrooms, and getting the two together went down very well My Prawns Taffrine ($6.50) consisted of prawns and oranges on a skewer, grilled and served with a Grand Marnier sauce. One person commented that it smelled like blintzes, while another pointed out that they had never come across the prawn-and-orange combination before. All I can say is that it works very well. At first glance, the main course offerings looked very basic, consisting of a lamb, a veal, a pork, a steak, a chicken and a fish dish, plus

a combination of three meats in another course. On second reading, however, each one proved to have a particular interest of its own. For example: Trois Fillet Stephanie, beef, pork and veal fillet served with tomato, mushroom and Bernaise sauce ($14.50); Veal Milanaise, milk-fed veal dipped in egg and cheese, sauteed and served with a rich tomato, garlic and tarragon sauce ($16); and Pork Fillets Tiffany, served in a blueberry, cognac and orange sauce ($14.50).

Both women chose the Chicken Saute Grand Mere ($13.50), which consisted of sauteed chicken served with a white wine, mushroom, bacon and tomato sauce. The tender meat obviously was not from a grandmother chicken, and having already been boned did away with that regular battle on the plate. We men decided on the Baby Salmon Marisa ($l6),

made up of a boned salmon, filled with scallops and served with a shrimp sauce. I can think of one other place in Christchurch, which I reviewed about two months ago, that serves a beautiful baby salmon. This one was equally good, with the added fillip of getting a scallop with every third mouthful. The vegetables served with each dish consisted of a tasty mixture of broccoli, choko, pumpkin, celery and baked potato stuffed with spinach. It was here that one of my friends complained about the taste of monosodium glutamate, probably in the pumpkin. It is now a relatively common practice for restaurants to use m.s.g. to enhance flavour, particularly of steamed vegetables, but it defeats its purpose when that metallic taste is left in the mouth. After the generous helpings all through the evening,

we were not particularly interested in dessert until the trolley was trundled up with its wide variety of tempting offerings. After much debate, consideration of weight and other factors, the women chose a banana cake with a very rich lemon topping. Indeed, it proved too rich and they could not eat it all. Mine was some kind of chocolate pudding containing rum biscuits and rolled in cream, which proved more acceptable. The other friend had ordered a special, sugarfree fruit salad, which was obligingly prepared. It consisted of an attractive assortment of freshly-sliced pineapple, grapes, peaches, tamarillo and kiwifruit. Of all the desserts, each costing $3.50, this proved the most popular. We finished with tea, coffee ($1.50) and a Galliano coffee ($3.50), served with after-dinner sweets A corkage and cover charge of $4.50 was made. The bill came to $120.50, which is rather high at first glance, but seems more reasonable considering that it was for four people who had thoroughly enjoyed almost three hours of first-rate dining in superb, comfortable surroundings with top service. Expensive, yes, — but not for what you get.