Mr NQN and I were a touch tired and our feet sore from strolling around Wellington and seeing all that it had to offer so we were grateful when we realised that our place to dine that evening was metres a couple of hundred metres away from our hotel in Oriental Bay. It was the very high end Martin Bosley’s at the Yacht Club on the water which is known for innovative cuisine with an emphasis on seafood.
Apertif: “Tracer”
Boats bob up and down in the water outside. We start with a complimentary aperitif. The waitress named it after one of the yachts outside called “Tracer” that had come in while she was making it. It’s gin, creme de cassis and lime as well as other goodies. it’s absolutely delicious. We make a mental note to order aperitifs.
Amuse Bouche
Our amuse bouche is a seared prawn with a peanut sauce which is a cream sauce that is peanutty but not quite satayish due to the creaminess. The prawns are an ideal texture and it whets our appetite very nicely thankyou very much.
The trio of tartars $30
The trio of tartars is prettily plated with 3 cubes of raw fish tartars and the corresponding flavours working their way vertically down the plate. With the tarakihi there is a chilled crab bisque, saffron milk wafer and a red capsicum gelee. With the Queensland spanner crab there is wasabi sherbert and pork crackling and with the tuna there is trough clam, soubise (a bechamel sauce with strained onions) and Earl Grey tea powder (the item that persuaded me to order it). They all work wonderfully and even what could have been strong (wasabi sherbert) or strange (earl grey powder) it’s well balanced works well with the tartares and lifts it.
Diamond Shell clams 200grams $12
I liked the idea of ordering seafood by the weight so I went for the Diamond shell clams (there are also green shell mussels and salt and pepper fried Malaysian softshell crabs available by weight). I can’t decide on whether I want soffrito or chimichurri with it so I leave it up to the chef who chooses chimichurri. The diamond shell clams come out sitting up like little sculptures (and yes rather diamond shaped). Chimichurri is a sauce based on herbs and can change according to the herbs that you have and usually parsley, oregano, chilli and garlic are used in it along with oil. This is not so spicy (we learn that in NZ spicy isn’t very spicy) and is mostly parsley, garlic and butter which is aromatic and delicious. Our waitress perhaps knowing how good the sauce is, immediately offers me another roll to mop up the garlicky butter sauce and very drop is scooped up.
Roasted Snaper Head $30
We realise that the roasted snapper head isn’t quite for everyone. They tell us that used to throw out the snapper heads so they would end up going to a staff member. Curious, they asked him what he did with them and the told them that it was cooked for the family whole so now it features on the lunch menu. The waitress checks with the kitchen if it is available and thankfully it is (it was a recommendation of Yellow Brick Road’s Rachel Taulelei). It comes out in all of its glory and they point out the meatiest bits, the cheek and the back of the neck of the snapper. The meat is sweet and juicy and it comes with mash and a lemon and caper butter sauce. It is finicky and they do provide the tools to eat this dish and Mr NQN in particular enjoys finding the pieces of meat (and yes he does try the eyeball).
Furred and feathered $47 with James Pinot Noir 2006 from Martinborough $21
The “Furred and feathered” dish was a must order and it is pretty as a picture and features cocoa dusted venison short loin, mushroom thyme cake, wild mushroom reduction, beetroot, blackberry powder, carrot puree, smoked tomato jam, suet pork pie, truffled lentils, silverbeet and roasted quail. Wow what a mouthful – literally. This dish was aromatic with thyme, mushrooms and the addition of blackberry powder. The chef appears to like using thyme and incorporating a sweet component to his dishes (at least from the items that we’ve tried). It’s lovely and rich and what I would call an elegant hunter’s ideal dinner with all of the delicious components and it’s like a mini degustation on a plate. As such I try combining the components but end up eating them separately as I wasn’t sure what went together. Mr NQN asks for a wine recommendation to match this meal and they give us a 2006 James Pinot Noir from Martinborough which he adores and says that it’s the perfect match.
Alas with the snapper head and the other dishes we have no room for dessert. Looking at the dessert menu it sounded fantastic so it was a decision made with much anguish!
So tell me Dear Reader, have you ever tried a fish eye or fish head or would you if offered the chance?
NQN and Mr NQN visited New Zealand as a guest of Tourism New Zealand
Martin Bosley’s at the Yacht Club
103 Oriental Parade, Oriental Bay, New Zealand
Tel: + 64 (04) 920 8302
Open: Lunch Monday to Friday
Dinner Tuesday to Sunday
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30 Comments | Add your own
That all looks very flash indeed! Love the snapper head – nice that they found a use for it, although I feel sorry for the employee who’s now missing out!
our local butcher sells pigs heads for $5, let me try something thats a little more familiar like that first!
Yep, I’ve eaten fish eyes before. I was really adventurous as a kiddlywink – I think I always wanted to prove I was Grown-Up.
Now, though, I think I’d rather have the trio of tartares!
The trio of tartare’s is a great looking dish. I really like how great chefs can come up with fantastic dishes like this.
Oh wow, this is my kind of restaurant and food. I will go there any time .. We do eat the whole fish in Lebanon, served deep fried and the Tahini sauce in a separate plate to drizzle on top.
yumyum i didnt have that since ages.
You had me at the Aperitif, WOW what a place, sounds like my type of restaurant!
Yes, I gleefully eat the meat in fish heads as it’s sooooooooooo sweet, particularly the bit behind the neck. While not a fun of the eyeballs, my dad used to love them and we’d reserve them all for him. He was from a family of fisherman, so it was par for the course that everything edible from the fish was consumed.
wow- what an amazing visit. And such innovative cuisine. I haven’t had a fish head before, but I probably would. Not a fan of eating the eyeballs though.
I am with you on that. Anyone who is squeamish about fish heads is missing the best part of the fish — the silky cheek. My parents used to pick out those little morsels to give to us when we were kids. As we got older, we demurred, letting our elder aunties have them instead. Now that it’s just my hubby and I, we each get one a piece, so we’re both happy campers.
In Mykonos my husband and I had stayed for many months in a converted garage on the beach and eaten beautiful food at Vagellis on the beach also. On out last night he cooked us a speciality just for us and of course it was very rude not to eat the eyebals. Once and never again but we did the right thing!
I have had a fish head curry, does that count?
i love smoked salmon heads.
I must confess no eyeballs but the children fight over the cheeks.
A good kiwi manuka, honey ,salt and brown suger mix in the home hot smoker. YUM
Fish head is a much loved delicacy in my family, esp done in curry. I was amazed though that my 4 year old absolutely loves fish eyes and when I steam a nice fish, goes for it. *sigh* competition! My oldest boy is grossed out by it on the other hand.
The fish head is normally reserve for the head of the family in our culture, in our case, for my grand father, but he is always happy to share it with the grand kids, especially the eye ball
Fish always look so mad when you see their cooked heads! =)
Wife likes the look of the diamond shell clams. Must pay this place a visit next time we fly into Wellie. Have you tried Logan Brown? Had an incredible meal there a while back.
the snaper reminds me someone ..; ah yes .. my mother-in law ! and god I would prefer to eat the snaper’s eyes than hers although thinking about it, it would not be a bad idea…..
Oh yum! That prawn served as an amuse bouche looks enticingly delicious and the clams and furred and feathers too. Too bad you didn’t get the chance for dessert but that is a lot of food!!
the snapper head frightens me, and that’s that.
i love the presentation of the tartars, though–that’s fabulous!
Oh those clams, that butter and chimmichurri sauce,the snapper head! Lovely place.
Not a fan of eating fish eyeballs but, being Chinese, definitely used to seeing fish heads! The cheeks are always the prized parts, as you know, and have a lovely texture.
What a gorgeous meal, Lorraine! Everything looks super, and I’m especially drawn to the clams. They’re a favorite of mine, especially doused with herbed garlic butter!
wao! i quite love sea food. unfortunately,Nigeria is far away.to pay a visit.
Love the idea of furred and feathered – a slightly more graphic version of surf and turf.
How sad to miss out on dessert.
I don’t think I could face fish heads and certainly not eyeballs – ugh!
The snapper head looks scary!
The presentation of the tartars is beautiful though.
Oriental Bay is such a gorgeous part of Wellington. Apparently the little sandy beach there was created by importing sand from Australia.
When it comes to eating fish heads, I’m not put off by at all. I just don’t see the point of eating the eyes
Many moons ago, ex hubby and I ate fish head curry in Singapore. Rice and other curries(served with soup ladles out of buckets) plus condiments were served on a banana leaf instead of a plate. It was an awesome meal, the fish head was so tasty and memorable. As we left the restaurant,I noticed an elderly Lady wiping down those banana leaves for re use. mmmmm. I would go back though despite the recycling.
I love this place! The food was fab – I chose to have main and dessert for my 2 courses and was equally stuffed – could hardly walk afterwards (no fish heads though). Love the fact that Martin Bosley came and spoke to me too; and when I ordered his book and it went missing in the mail, they replaced it free of charge. This place has my affection forever.
I’d def eat a fish head. I mean, I have already. I’ll also eat those white balls behind the eyeballs ;P
Hi Celia-hehe you know what? I thought the same thing about the employee!
Hi InTolerantChef-Ooh how interesting. I’ve never done that before!
Hi Hannah-Wow you were indeed!
Haha nothing wrong with that 
Hi Mark-I know, I don’t think I would have thought of those combinations1
Hi Arlette-Wow that sounds delicious with tahini!
It’s a really lovely restaurant!
Hi Matilda-I know, every meal should start with one! So true, the meat was really lovely! Ahhh of course, why waste anything!
Hi Gastronomy Gal-Hehe I’m the same, I liked the meat but I didn’t go for the eyeballs
Hi Carolyn-Aww isn’t that nice and interesting how everyone gets the special pieces, especially in the end
Hi Catherine-What a lovely memory! And good on for trying the eyeballs!
Hi Aubrey-Absolutely!
Hi Fiona-Ahh I’ve never seen those actually!
that sounds delicious and great that your kids like the cheek too! 
Hi Perthgal-Wow all of these fabulously adventurous kids-I love it!
hehe how funny that your 4 year old loves the eyes!
Hi Aliza-Isn’t he nice to share!
Hi Brianna-Hehe it’s so true!
Hi Mike-Oh yes do! Yes we went there and had an amazing meal. That’s in an upcoming story
Hi pierre-LOL are you hilarious!
Hi foodie-central-I know, if only we hadn’t eaten all of that other food earlier in the day! but we couldn’t have missed out on any of it!
Hi grace-hehe I thought it might!
You don’t like the whole fish do you!
Hi Moya-It was lovely indeed
Hi mlle délicieuse-yes they do, it’s so lovely and as Carolyn described, silky!
Hi Faith-Thanks, it was!
Yes the clams and the sauce were SO good!
Hi doyin-Oh what a shame!
Hi Shan-it’s so clever isn’t it!
Hehe fair enough 
Hi delicieux-he looks decidedly grumpy!
Hi john-Oh really? I had no idea about the Australian sand. Oh I see!
Hi MissJane-I agree! Fish head curries are gorgeous!
Haha!
Hi Cakelaw-I remember you asking if I had been in the other post!
Oh how lovely! That’s so classy 
Hi Sasa-Good on you!
I think that’s great!
When visiting china our tour included several shared banquets.All featured a whole fish, mainly passed over.I had great delight in eating the head and eyes and watching their reactions.
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