Wellington on a Plate

Wellington’s annual epicurean mecca is on every NZ foodie’s calendar as a staple to attend. With a myriad of restaurants forging the most creative dishes and cocktails, you just cannot get enough of Wellington’s finest produce – which keeps reinventing itself year after year.

Both Hippo and Hot Sauce took part in the iconic Wellington on a Plate festival, and it was safe to say that our Executive Chef Jiwon Do and his talented team’s masterful skills came in handy when creating innovative dishes and menus for the festival.

At Hippo, the absolute standout proved to be the ‘Sound” dish, “Roar of the Waves”. This was an epic creation of Ocean Direct crayfish and catch of the day with wild harvest wakame, sea chicory and Lot Eight Sweet Aromatic Olive Oil. The exceptional execution of this stunner took out the award “Outstanding Interpretation of the Theme” at this year’s Wellington On a Plate.

As part of the Burger category, we decided to put on an unexpected twist (in true Hippo fashion and ta-da), and that’s how Bourgeois Burger High Tea was born. This decadent high tea featured Zelati cookie s’mores; macaron ‘burgers’; and luxurious sliders with wagyu, truffle aioli and onion or Woody’s free-range pork cheek, Granny Smith apple and candied bacon.

At Hot Sauce, things were heating up as well. The Bang Bao Bun burger stole the hearts of locals and was an absolute hit. This exceptional dish was crafted with turmeric spiced ‘Ayam Penyet’ chicken thighs with achar slaw, honey lime sambal and crispy chicken skin in a house-baked bao bun, and accompanied with smokey shaker fries with smoked seaweed and sweet curry sauce.