The Boat Shed

Our first evening in Nelson, we were wandering alongside the seaside boardwalk, watching the sun set and checking out the menus of the scattering of restaurants along the harbour.

We came to the Boat Shed Cafe - it jutted out over the water on high wooden stilts - just like an old fashioned boat shed you can see anywhere in New Zealand.

We were looking for the menu display, when a dark-haired waiter opened the door and said hello and invited us in. "Don't be shy." he said to us in his foreign accent. When we explained we were looking for the menu he handed it to us and we quickly decided to stay.

The restaurant was quite full, so the waiter took us up a small flight of stairs to a little attic room right at the top. The window looked right out over the water. We sat at the little retro table with the red vinyl chairs and preeeded to enjoy ourselves. Tucked away in our own private dining room, where tomatoes and peppers ripened on the windowsill, we had the best view in Nelson, overlooking the islands, the ships and watching the sunset. When the waiter bought us our whitebait entrees, we were in Heaven. It was the best whitebait we have ever had. Not patties, but it seemed each whitebait was coated in a crumb and cooked individually. I don't know how the chef did it, but the result was divine! A truly memorable meal. We actually regret not getting it upgraded to a main, but as we had been travelling for nearly 6 hours, our appetites were not huge.

Halfway through our meal the waiter bought up an American couple. They were obviously tourists as they asked the waitress what the name of the Bay was, but were not happy to be in the little attic room, and asked to be moved down to the main dining area. Fine with us! We were asked if we would like to move too, but we declined. In my opinion we had the best table.

I truly regret that I did not have my camera with me. I so wish I could have recorded that night and that meal. For desert I ordered the tiramisu, and Robin had the Eton's Mess. They were both outstanding and by far the best dining experience that we've had in a long time. The tiramisu was soaked liberally in some kind of alcohol. I don't know what it was, but it was strong and it was good!

As we left, the sun had long since gone to bed and the lights from the restaurant were flickering on the tide under our window. I wish we could go back to Nelson, just to have that meal all over again. If you ever go there, you must go to the Boat Shed Cafe, and order the whitebait. It's one of the best decisions I ever made.