Salt n Peppa

Salt n Peppa, Cafe Ristorante, is located on Woodlake Boulevarde, Durack, Palmerston. Ph 8932 1818.

NOTE: Salt n Peppa now has a liquor licence.

This restaurant is a welcome addition to Palmerston's eating establishments. Palmerston has been sorely lacking fine cuisine...now we have Salt n Peppa...this is a must-go-to restaurant.

It has a warm, cosy ambience for diners seated inside, with its ochre hues and panoramic mirrored windows. The outside seating also looked comfortable; diners sitting on the front veranda made a picturesque setting.

The staff were pleasant and waited on us in a professional manner.

We started with Roasted Garlic Focaccia, $6.60 -  four large, delicious pieces.

Moroccan Lamb - marinated lamb cooked medium rare served on a red lentil mash, harissa sauce and a mint yoghurt, at $19.00, was an absolutely delicious meal. The lamb was tender and not too pink; it melted in your mouth. The lentil mash had a slight spicy tang to it which made it very pleasant indeed. The harissa sauce and yoghurt complemented the meal with their unique flavours. The meal was served with baby spinach. I'm not sure if this meal was meant to be hot or warm. It came out warm, I wondered if it had been sitting for a while and had lost its heat. This however, did not detract from my enjoyment of the meal.

Thai Prawns - marinated prawns, vermicelli pancake served with a mixed herb salad and chili, ginger and lemon grass dressing (imported), $28.00. Nine extremely tasty butterfly prawns, a rather plain looking salad, and an interesting looking vermicelli pancake. This was an unusual mix that worked well.

Crispy Skinned Chicken Kiev - stuffed avocado and Camembert cheese served on wilted spinach, potato fritter and a home made hollandaise sauce, $29.90. This meal caused the most discussion at the table. It was chicken on the bone which looked like it had been poached then lightly fried, and it was swimming in chicken jus (which was not mentioned on the menu.) A diner at a nearby table ordered the exact same meal and hers looked quite different, with not as much jus, and the chicken looked crispier with a definite charred finish to the bone. We wondered what had happened to ours.

The meal was served with home made bread rolls, although we did have to ask for them after we noticed that every other table had been served with bread rolls and ours hadn't. They were delicious. It's really good to see a restaurant that still serves bread rolls, so few do these days.

Wildberry Stack

We don't normally treat ourselves to dessert, but this evening we decided to try our luck. Chocoate Mousse, Wildberry Stack and Chocolate Mud Cake. All baked on the premises. The Wildberry Stack was the nicest of the three. All three desserts were beautifully presented and we were especially delighted to find they were served with real cream. The Chocolate Mousse was disappointing, lacking texture.

The chef, Chris, came out to chat with diners at the end of the evening. It's great to see a chef who is keen to learn if his patrons enjoyed their meals, he took on board all our comments. He was eager to chat about his recipes and ideas for future menu changes.

Choc Mousse

Choc Mud Cake

This restaurant was busy, all tables being reserved. Since opening nine weeks ago they have done a roaring trade and have been packed nearly every night.

It would be wise to book if you intend going.