Lamb racks up 12th award for Wanganui eatery

Bob Thomson, 379 The Avenue head chef, with the restaurant's 12th Beef + Lamb award and the winning lamb rack. Photo/Stuart Munro

Wanganui's Kingsgate Hotel restaurant, 379 The Avenue, has made it a perfect dozen in the 2014 Beef + Lamb Excellence Awards.

The hotel's restaurant in Victoria Ave is just one of 164 restaurants around the country to collect the award, the 12th it has received since the awards started 17 years ago.

Head chef Bob Thomson said entrants must have beef and lamb dishes on their menu to be considered.

"I've tweaked the menu a little in the two years I've been here by adding the rosemary to the lamb rack and using smoky bacon on the eye fillet to give it a more depth of flavour," Mr Thomson said. But he stressed that a key to the restaurant's success was the quality of meat.

"Our suppliers are Chef's Choice and there's no doubting the consistently high quality of beef and lamb they get to us," he said.

379 The Avenue's Angus Pure eye fillet is wrapped in bacon with herb-scented portobello mushrooms and a drizzle of bernaise sauce. The lamb rack is served medium-rare, crusted with rosemary, herbs and served with a cranberry jus.

Clayton Norman, managing director of the Kingsgate, said the lamb rack and eye fillet were signature dishes for the restaurant. "We find customers come back time and time again for them. We pride ourselves on the beef and lamb we serve," Mr Norman said.

They were thrilled with the latest award.

"It's nice to keep the tradition going and the standards the restaurant has achieved.

"A lot of our corporate clients come back for the food on the menu and the Wanganui public know what we provide. Hopefully, this will get the message out to more locals of just what we have on offer here," he said.

The awards came after months of assessment of beef and lambs dishes served up in hundreds of restaurants. They were judged on a range of elements including taste, degree of cooking and tenderness.

Rod Slater, Beef + Lamb NZ chief executive officer, said the award was given only to restaurants whose beef and lamb cuisine reached the highest standard of fine dining.

Mr Slater said diners would be able to identify eateries which had reached the standard by the gold-rimmed presentation plate which would be hanging in the restaurant.

"This award really is a guarantee to customers they will receive a consistently top quality beef or lamb meal when they choose one of these restaurants," he said.