Dining at Tudors—a memorable experience

Press, 4 December 1985, Page 49

Dining at Tudors —a memorable experience

The Tudors Restaurant is the formal signature of the complex—recreating the finery of the Tudor era. The cuisine and surroundings offer guests a memorable dining experience. The restaurant is open for dinner, and will be open for lunch on Christmas Day. The cuisine is international and a beautifully embellished menu details the wide selection. A wine cellar holds some of the finest vintage wines as well as good loci' wines. European crockery has the restaurant’s own crest and the table sparkles with highly polished silver and glassware. Soft lighting and the dark wooden interior creates an inviting and intimate atmosphere in which to dine. A resident pianist plays during the evening. All dishes are carefully prepared. The sauces and accompaniments to each dish make all the courses a highlight in themselves. There are a large number of dishes offered in every section of the menu.

Appetisers include smoked salmon, king prawns with sliced avocado, spinach and fetta roulade, pate with a spiced boysennerry sauce, sliced lambs tongues on a bed of fresh pasta, and fresh fruit segments soaked in liqueur

served over an iced sorbet. The mixed hors d’oeuvres include a selection of locally smoked seafoods, cured meats and marinated vegetables. Henry’s salad is prepared at the table using a combination of crisp garden fresh salads and sauteed sweetbreads. The appetisers are priced between $6 and $8.75. A sorbet is offered to refresh the palate with the compliments of the restaurant. Two different soups are offered each evening priced at $3.60. Six entrees, priced between $7.50 and $9.80 are offered: Nelson scallops in a white burgundy and cream sauce, served on a bed of sauteed leeks and mushrooms in a light pastry shell; filled mushroom caps with hollandaise sauce; a vegetarian pancake with camembert cheese coated with a tomato and herb sauce. For ' seafood enthusiasts, there are king prawns filled with crabmeat and garlic butter, rolled in breadcrumbs, deep fried and served with pink peppercorns in a butter and white wine sauce. Tender French escargots in a baby brioche and a light fluffy omelette with smoked salmon and shrimp sauce are also offered. Dining guests can choose from 15 dishes—seafood, red or white meat and vegetarian—for the main. All are served with a selection of fresh vegetables and a side salad is also available. Most of the mains are priced at about $17.50 and $18.50. The vegetarian platter is $13.50, a whole fresh crayfish is $3O and the roast forerib of beef, for two, which is flambeed in whiskey and served with a whiskey and horseradish sauce is $36.

The other dishes include king prawns wrapped in sole fillets poached and served with a lobster sauce;

tender Nelson scallops covered with a tomato souffle; fillets of baby salmon cooked in white wine, garnished with shrimps and mussels. The roast duckling is prepared with mandarin segments in phyllo pastry with an orange liqueur sauce. A breast of children filled with fetta cheese and apricots, rolled in flaked almonds panfried in butter and served with an apricot sauce; pheasant and quail, also delicately prepared with sauces, are also offered. Red-meat specialties include beef fillet medallions with mushrooms, bacon and kidneys covered with a sauce of claret and dijon mustard; tender fillet steak; venison steaks marinated in red wine, with juniper berries and sliced pears, served with a game sauce flavoured with gin and red currants; prime tender sirloin steak and escalope of pork fillet pressed with chopped shallots, topped with crab meat and asparagus and glazed with a bearnaise sauce. Tudors offers several desserts to complete a fine meal. They vary in price between $5 and $6. Strawberry mille feuille is a light pastry layered with patisserie cream and sliced strawberries with a fresh strawberry sauce. The crepe souffle is filled with apricots and flambeed at the table with an apricot and brandy sauce. Other desserts include a chocolate truffle cake with creme anglaise; home made ice cream in an almond tuile basket with a fruit puree; poached pears steeped in brandy with snow eggs and a sabayon; iced Creme de Menthe souffle and a selection of cheeses.

Fresh coffee, liqueur coffee and liqueurs are offered to guests with complimentary home-made chocolates.