Crunch Splutter Crunch

Get Stuffed

Food bills are rocketing in almost all student flats around Wellington, and in eating places around the city the prices are going up even faster. In order to enable students to get the best deal for their money, Salient will check out a different restaurant each week, and give its impressions.

First on the list Garlands Restaurant - upstairs in Manners Street. This place has the reputation for providing a good feed at a cheap price. As it turns out they have a limited menu dinner for lunch or tea priced at $2.00. As for the food, it is the sort of meal your dear old mum used to serve up in the days before she heard of Des Britten, garlic, Montana Rose' and wholemeal bread. (If all members of the family had a go at cooking, and it wasn't left up to 'dear old mum', to keep slogging at it every night you might have had more variety - Typesetter). An old fashioned Sunday dinner.

Menu

1. Soup of the Day:	Roast Beef Roast Lamb and mint sauce Roast Hogget Colonial Goose Steak and Kidney Pudding
2. Main Course:	Roast Potato's Creamed Potato Veges of the Day
3. Sweets:	Rice Pudding Apple Pie and Cream Steam Pudding and Cream Peaches and Cream Jelly

The soup was vegetable - clear, tasty and well stocked up with freshly cooked veges. It could have been a meal in itself. I for one would welcome the opening of a 'Soup House' somewhere in Wellington.

The main course brought back a few memories, with roast lamb swimming in mint sauce and gravy, creamed potato's (mashed) and roast potatoes as promised the meat itself properly cooked and tender. 'Veges of the Day' were tinned peas butter beans and carrots all overcooked.

Pudding of Apple Pie and Ice cream was dissapointingly tasteless and pie not hot. They charged me an extra 20 cents for a small serving of ice cream despite the fact that my partner had no sweet at all at bit slack I think.

Tea to finish - a damn sight better than most Restaurant Tea. Real Tea. I was generally left with the impression of an adequate square meal of an earlier age. Knowing what to expect I went away quite satisfied.

The decor has just been redone in vinyl and vaguely colonial style tables, Take a table by the windows if there during the day as the place is a wee bit dark in places. It's the sort of outfit that you'd go to for a feed, but not to relax and talk at length afterwards over coffee. Nor, I suspect, is it the place to take grog.

The service adequate though unenthusiastic. I managed to get a glass of water without hassle (no charge).... which is a definite plus in todays world.

The ratings that will appear in this column will be purely arbitrary, and because of the wide range of places visited, each will stand alone.

*****	All things considered - price/type of place etc... - I would go again and encourage my friends to as well.
****	Enjoyed the meal - worth a look if you like that sort of thing.
***	Unmemorable or mediocre.
**	Remembered without favour.
*	If you ask me avoid it.
Name:	Garlands Restaurant.
Where:	Upstairs in Manners Street, opposite the Regent Theatre.
Type:	Old fashioned roast dinner open seven days a week. Limited Menu. $2.00 Fixed charge.
Ratings:	(as above) ****