Two fat ducks waddle away slowly in the distance while fat droplets of rain fall. The seemingly never-ending green lawn goes for as long as the eye can see and the manicured trees and pink blossomed trees sway in the wind. Two stone lions sit guard outside the entrance to the lodge and look straight past me ignoring my rush inside.

I rush up the soft blue carpeted stairs, hearing the ladies clinking glasses and china and I can imagine their hats bobbing in conversation. I open the double doors at room number one and enter the room and plop down on the king sized bed, limbs tired. I’m not in a fairytale, I’m at Sarnia Park, Cambridge in the Waikato region and I’ve just entered my room, the Kotuku Room, or the Bridal Suite.

The king bed is enormous, much like the room and on one side is a spacious balcony which looks out onto the freshly mowed lawns. On the adjoining side there is a long window seat with another spectacular view and large painting and bride worthy sized mirrors cover another wall.

The bathroom, about the size of some hotel rooms nowadays has a free standing claw foot bath with a handy rack in the centre, a bidet, two sinks and a separate shower as well as a large soft rug under my feet as well. And if I need to recline or find somewhere to towel off, there is also a chaise lounge in the bathroom. The amenities kit is deluxe and includes, shampoo, conditioner, moisturiser, make up remover towelettes, shower cap, shaving kit, swing kit and soap. And you can adjust the temperature of the hot water in the shower-or your butler can!

But please excuse me for a while, while I cut off a sliver of black truffle brie…

Over the Moon Dairy

Now where did I get that black truffle brie? A most wondrous gift it was from Over the Moon dairy which is based in Putaruru in the Waikato area of New Zealand which is known for its lush greenery and dairy industry. Here, owner Sue Arthur built up a multi award winning artisan cheese making business. She started it three and a half years ago built on the fact that she simply loved eating cheese.

Sue Arthur from Over The Moon

Sue recruited the help from Australian cheese master Neil Willman who helped her set up the operation and develop recipes for the cheeses which are soon to become available in Australia. Neil later bought into the business and then became her live in partner (she tells us they’re both similarly obsessed with cheese!).

Over the Moon dairy specialises in blends of cheeses and creating unusual cheese. Sue uses cow, goat, sheep and buffalo milk either by itself or in combination with others with one cheese, the Southern Cross as a combination of all four milks (and it is divine, with each milk coming to the fore at different stages on the tongue).

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I’m certain that we’re in the naughty corner. When Gina texted me to tell me that she was sitting in the back of the restaurant at a very small corner table she wasn’t kidding. Just a few minutes earlier at 6pm she walked into Bar H and asked for a table for three people. Asked whether she has a booking (she doesn’t, as bookings are only for 6 persons or more) they call over the manager who tells us that we can have a table until 8:15pm where there is an existing booking. So the moral of the story? Grab five friends and make a booking or be prepared to haggle for a table (or wait outside as we see many outside do) because being a table of three that walks in at 6pm on a Friday night in a restaurant that seats 40 may not net you a space.

Wedged underneath a mural and the kitchen Gina and I perch on the banquette, Teena sits on the black plastic stool and we examine the menu. It’s a good sized menu with a nice choice of entrees and mains. Chef Hamish Ingham is behind the counter and we are directly facing him. Formerly with Kylie Kwong at Billy Kwong, the menu has an Asian influence to it (and the tables and stools are tiny, much like those at Billy Kwong). Teena, Gina and I haven’t caught up for months so a catch up and Happy Hour cocktails are in order but girl talk must halt momentarily while we order our food and drinks lest we overstay our two hour dining time.

Meiwei $10 (centre)

I’m not driving tonight so it’s cocktail time! The Happy Hour menu has four cocktails at $10 each (normally $14.50-$15.50).  The Meiwei is utterly drinkable and I take the waiter’s recommendation for it as it is a sweet cocktail comprising of vodka, pomegranate juice, rambutan and fresh lime. I normally sip at cocktails and pass them on but this is deliciously sweet with a rambutan at the bottom. We do a circular round tasting each other’s cocktails-Gina and Teena have the Gin Chi and the Ren Chen, both tarter but also good. And at 7pm our waiter helpfully lets us know that the happy hour is almost up and asks us if we want to order another cocktail.

Now the issue with the table was that there was no way that any more than one plate of anything would fit with the three of us crowded around it. Not a problem they tell us as each dish arrives just one at a time and they’re all meant to be shared. We breathe a sigh of relief that we didn’t bring the boys-the close quarters would have annoyed Hot Dog and Philippe doesn’t share so he wouldn’t have liked the sharing.

Steamed pork wontons with shellfish and chilli oil dressing $4 each

The wontons come out first. They’re sitting in a slick, dark pool of seafood and chilli oil and they’re silky, slippery and generously filled with pork mince. The seafood and chilli oil gives an interesting dimension to the wontons.

Prawn filled eggplant $6.50 each

I do love eggplant and this reminded me of the yum cha prawn stuffed eggplant but this one has a deep and rich with a dark, sticky sauce redolent in dark soya sauce.

Braised beef short rib with betel leaf $6.50 each

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