Dining Review: Shed 5 – Wellington, New Zealand

March 2019

Shed 5 – Wellington, New Zealand

Friday

Our dinner this evening was at Shed 5, which was a recommendation on our trip to Alba. We overheard our waiter telling another couple about the best meal he has ever had while traveling New Zealand. Knowing we would be planning a trip, I asked him for the name and that restaurant was Shed 5. We were very excited for this meal!

Since most of our packing was for our physically active days, we were definitely under dressed but wore our darkest colors to blend in. We were paying with the same money as everyone else even if we didn’t look the polished part.

Having been so impressed with New Zealand wine on this trip, we opted for a bottle of Mt Difficulty Pinot Noir. This came as a result of a long discussion with the sommelier and our desire for a smoky/earth Pinot as opposed to fruit forward but that certainly got… lost in translation!

This menu was full of so many awesome choices! It took us quite awhile to review the options before making our decision.

To start, Kevin started with one of the Bruschetta offerings of Ōra King salmon gravlax, whipped cheese, onion jam, and fried shallots.

A hearty piece of bread topped with an elegant display of lox. The salmon was so fresh and the whipped cheese and jam complimented so well.

I started off my meal with the Roast duck & shiitake spring rolls with pickled cucumber, star anise & citrus hoisin, crystalised ginger yoghurt.

I love mushrooms, I love duck, I loved fried food, so I knew instantly this was going to be my appetizer. This was a great medley of flavor that we both really enjoyed!

We both wanted more of our first dishes but we knew we had more coming- forced portion control!

I think we both had a craving for vegetables as the Caesar Salad felt like it spoke to us, hiding in the Side Dish portion of the menu. The Caesar Salad had romaine lettuce, croutons, bacon, parmesan, egg, aioli, and Ortiz anchovy.

This really hit the spot! We really love how New Zealand does hard boiled eggs, perhaps it is just the quality of the eggs but the yolks are so delicious. This was like a Caesar salad meets a Cobb salad – what a great combination.

For my entree, I ordered the North Atlantic Scallops with bacon jam, cauliflower puree, and apple syrup. 

We are suckers for cauliflower puree after having it so many times in Paris and it was just as delightful here. The scallops had a perfect caramelization, wonderful sweetness that mirrored the bacon jam and the apple syrup. I loved everything about this dish.

Kevin opted for the Market Fish, Grouper, with heirloom tomatoes, buffalo bocconcini mozzarella, basil avocado mousse, caper berries, Forum vinegar reduction & Lot 8 reserve.

What a bight dish! So many colors bringing different fresh flavors. The accompanied selections kept the dish light and complimented the perfectly cooked pan fried fish. Kevin really enjoyed everything on the plate from the fresh tomatoes to the buffalo mozzarella and the avocado mousse. Such a great dish!

Needless, to say, I was very happy with my pick. I even liked the cherries which I generally do not eat. The dish was very rich so the cherry tart actually cut it a little into a nice balance. Plate licking good!

Overall score for Shed 5 was definitely a hit! The menu is very creative and I can see why the waiter all the way back in Alba had a wonderful gourmet experience as we did. This meal truly connected two worlds for us, highlighting how small our world really is and why we love to travel.

We enjoyed a relaxing stroll back through the harbor, a proper passeggiata to digest our meal before a good night’s sleep. Back at the Airbnb, we had a lovely conversation with our host for almost two hours. One of the reasons we love Airbnb is the opportunity to connect with people keeping our world small. Good night Wellington!