LUNCH

Press, 5 December 1985, Page 46

LUNCH

Flappers Occidental Hotel 208 Hereford Street Phone 68-255 Licensed

(By HANS PETROVIC) Flappers is another extension to the ever-increas-ing complex of restaurants and bars at the Occidental Hotel. It offers first class food, in interesting surroundings, at first class prices. In other words, if you can afford more than a couple of dollars for your lunch, I can think of no finer place in Christchurch for a convivial lunch.

Perry’s Restaurant has been open for lunch and dinner at the Occidental for more than two years, and

the hotel now also offers a second venue for lunch in the Flappers restaurant and bar, which is also open some evenings for drinking and dancing. As the name suggests, Flappers boasts a 1920 s art deco look, predominantly grey, with touches of burgundy, chrome and mirrors. The seats are grey, the table tops black, and the plates white with a black rim. The waitresses wore black satin dresses with burgundy trimmings. The over-all effect is more sterile than warm — it is the kind of place where you would expect the Man in the Grey Flannel suit to come to lunch. The tables had salt and. pepper mills, and fresh carnations. As befits a place serving food during the limits of lunch-time, the waitress was quickly at the table with the menu, ready to take orders.

One quick look at the menu indicated that we could not do it justice with just one visit, but decided to start with two appetisers: Mushrooms, crispy, served with herb and garlic mayonnaise ($4.50); and avocado, served with roquefort dressing ($4.95). We mentioned that we had only one hour for lunch, and were reasured that this would be no problem. After a brief wait, I was served with very attractive presentation, — slices of avocado with the creamy roquefort dressing containing shrimp, surrounded by grapes, slices of orange, cucumber and tomato, and a touch of parsley; all on a lettuce base. The avocado and roquefort blended beautifully. My friend’s mushrooms had been deep fried, but in

a very light batter, and not at all oily. They were also beautifully presented, with grapes and orange and on a lettuce base. Having a definite weakness for such mushrooms, my friend declared them “really lovely.” The side salad included olives, kiwifruit slices, tomato, orange, cucumber, sultanas, cheese, carrots, hazelnuts and lettuce. Garlic bread was also served.

For my main course, even better was to come: Sole, steamed, rolled and stuffed with shrimps ($9.25). In fact, this included mushroom, and was swimming in lots of lovely, yellow butter sauce. The plate was garnished with grape, cucumber, tomato, lemon and fennel, and included some sliced casseroled potato in white cheese sauce.

The avocado entree, and the stuffed sole were two of the finest dishes I had tasted for a long time. For her main course, my friend chose Fruits of the Earth, a vegetarian selection ($8.75), which included gherkins, mandarins, grapes, avocado, red and green pepper, sultanas and fennel. She seemed more than satisfied.

By then, our hour was almost up. We had eaten more than sufficient to be able to skip dessert and coffee. The cost, including $3.55 for glasses of wine and orange juice, was $31.95. On our second visit, we decided to do away with the main course entirely, and just have one appetiser and entree each. I could not resist having the avocado again as the appetiser, and found it as delightful as the first time. My friend ordered the pate maison ($4.25), described as “hedgehogs served

with almond spikes.” this was served with crackers and very fresh, light, butteered bread. Well up to standard.

Side salads and garlic bread were again served. My entree dish was calamari, lightly sauteed in garlic butter ($4.95). This was beautifully presented, with six big, uncrumbed calamari rings (marinated to tenderness) topped with a strawberry, and surrounded by lots of slices of cucumber and orange. The excellent sliced casseroled potato was also served. My friend topped this dish with her choice of beer and herb crepe, filled with parmesan, mushrooms and dill ($5.50). This was served with the orange and tomato slices, parsley garnish, and potato. The crepe was smothered in a creamy cheese sauce, and was smooth and delicious.

Although we had definitely intended to try the dessert this time, we were again running out of time and space. In fact, our meal proved more than sufficient for an average lunch.

For the record, the desserts include candied oranges, sliced in a caramel sauce; Jamaican bananas, with rum and brown sugar; cassata, Italian ice-cream and fruit; freshly homemade cheesecake; and brandy snaps stuffed with cream and served with icecream. All are priced at $4.45.

This meal, including wine and orange juice, cost $28.10. Flappers serves some of the finest lunch-time food around, and is well worth a visit if you can afford the time and money.