Trailin Restaurant Trailways Motor Inn Trafalgar Street Nelson Phone 80-694 Licensed

Press, 26 July 1984, Page 29

Trailin Restaurant Trailways Motor Inn Trafalgar Street Nelson Phone 80-694 Licensed

(By

HANS PETROVIC)

During the last two or three years, Nelson has become one of the few cities in the South Island where one can happily stay a week knowing that one can eat out each evening at a different first-rate restaurant

During a recent visit, I stayed at the Trailways Motor Inn which, after a quick perusal of its restaurant’s menu, was obviously one of those places. A colleague of mine, his wife and I had a most enjoyable dinner there on my last evening in town.

The Trailin Restaurant is in a large, barn-like room with a high, angled roof, and small kerosene lamps on each table for added atmosphere. Actually, it was that first whiff of kerosene on entry that proved to be one

of the very few points of criticism of the entire evening.

For soup, we each chose differently. Both the cream of chicken and asparagus were somewhat bland, but the cream of seafood was of a delicious flavour, and contained a wide variety of fish pieces. All soups cost $2. For entree, my friend chose prawns, pan-fried in garlic butter ($5.50). He particularly enjoyed the garlic which, he said, was just enough to make it interesting without overpowering the prawns. His wife’s crumbed scallops ($5.50) were deep-fried, served with tartare sauce and a lemon wedge. She enjoyed them very much. I ordered the Kiwi Clams ($4.50), which were actually succulent Marlborough mussels baked in their shells, finished with lemon and garlic butter. I was told that these were green-lipped export mussels, aimed for Japanese and American markets. They were certainly splendid enough to

delight any mussels lover. The extensive maincourse menu included many seafood dishes, five different grills, and many other courses, including Tasman Rabbit Hot Pot ($9.50) and Chicken Almondine ($10), which was half a chicken glazed with apricot sauce, and served with toasted almonds. My friend chose the Filet Mignon ($l3), fillet steak wrapped in bacon, served with a creamy mushroom sauce. Cooked medium-rare, and garnished with mushrooms, the Bcm diameter steak was “superb,” said my friend. His wife ordered the pork oven-roast of the day ($10), which was served in the traditional manner: two big slices with gravy and apple sauce. The accompanying vegetables were carrots, peas and cauliflower: “Everything that should go with roast pork,” she said. My Seafood Portugaise ($9) was thick fish fillet baked with tomatoes and onions, topped with cheese and glazed, and served on top of rice with lemon slices. The fish came separate from the vegetables in a

dish in which I assumed it was baked. For dessert, my friend tried the chocolate rum mousse ($3), which he described as very delicate. His wife ordered the Steam Pudding William ($3), named after the restaurant’s chef, Bill Copson. She was disappointed with this. The evening was completed with strong, warming Irish coffee, served with plenty of cream on top in miniature brandy glasses, wrapped with paper napkins. The evening cost $62 for the food, plus $12.80 for a bottle of Wohnsiedler wine and two glasses of orange juice — $74.80 for three people for a pleasant evening.