The Tasting Shed

This is a place I have always wanted to go, and I was not disappointed.  The staff were fantastic, the food was DIVINE and the idea of small plates to get a taste of food that you wouldn;t normally eat - BRILLANT.  What a great idea.  I can't wait to arrange a dinner of friends and this will be by next location.

At the T/Shed its a place you can catch friends, but also have a quick drink alone in admiration of NZs beautiful farmland. Great food selection of platters and wine list! would love to organise a big party lunch here, absolutely stunning

Tucked away, it was lovely having a private function here recently.  Food was great and so was the wine tasting.  Great Staff, great service - would be so happy to recommend to others to try it out !

While not being the biggest fan of wine, I agreed to come along with some friends to this place after being enticed by the promise of some good food. We had the pig head and roasted quail, which was just delightful! I was recommended a few wines including a very good Pinot Noir that I bought a bottle of before headed home that night. Excellent food and drink that I am sure a wine lover will be in heaven!

Great way to dine. Instead of just one or two meal items, you get smaller dishes and can share them around the table. Makes for good conversation in a group too as you discuss everyone’s favourites. And if you’re still a little peckish, just order more. We were originally sitting in the outside covered patio area but there was a slight breeze so we moved inside. The inside area is like being in someone’s rustic kitchen – big slab tables and chunky wooden chairs. There’s a wall of glasses and bottles that separates the actual kitchen, but you still feel like you’re part of it. The staff are great, though they did forget our bread, which would have been nice at the same time, to mop some of the juices. The menu is fabulous for carnivores but not so adventurous on the vegetarian side – we chose the roast beetroot salad, brussels without the speck (pork fat), balsamic mushrooms (melt in the mouth) and potatoes. The potatoes were a bit on the deep-fried side, rather than rustic, like the rest of the menu. By far the stand-out for our meal was the desserts. And having not gorged on the main, as you sometimes can at restaurants, we had plenty of room for dessert. The crème caramel (with caramel & semillon jelly, caramel sauce, caramel cream and bergamot ice cream) came in a small glass and was delicious on the first few mouthfuls. After a few spoons had dug into the glass it ended up a bit sloppy and the blend of flavours started tasting like tea. We also went for churros with chocolate sauce, some ice cream, and peanut butter and banana. The latter was a peanut butter mousse, with banana banana & white chocolate cake and banana ice cream. No one at the table could get enough of that one.

We chose The Tasting Shed for a birthday celebration a few months back & what a treat. The adults were delighted with the food from the banquet menu & the recommended wines were devine. The kids were well looked after & had a fab time eating ice creams in the garden where we could keep an eye on them. Highly recommended.

It's like the Hard to Find bookshop in the dark - we drove right past the first time and almost missed the entrance on the way back too - but well worth the effort!

A fantastic wee venue - awesome host a great tapas - small plates menu and a decent wine list. Lovely intimate setting and if the weather is good this is the ideal venue to sit out in the garden. We went to holly smith here - perfect live venue - not too big. Big fan I’ve taken friends back.

Tasting shed = tasting plates. Feel slightly dim for not realising the connection earlier. I love this way of eating. It’s like tapas or a degustation. Instead of just one or two meal items, you get smaller dishes and can share them around the table. Makes for good conversation in a group too as you discuss everyone’s favourites. And if you’re still a little peckish, just order more. Which I did with the brussel sprouts – sprout heaven. We were originally sitting in the outside covered patio area but there was a slight breeze so we moved inside. The inside area is like being in someone’s rustic kitchen – big slab tables and chunky wooden chairs. There’s a wall of glasses and bottles that separates the actual kitchen, but you still feel like you’re part of it. The staff are great, though they did forget our bread, which would have been nice at the same time, to mop some of the juices. The menu is fabulous for carnivores but not so adventurous on the vegetarian side – we chose the roast beetroot salad, brussels without the speck (pork fat), balsamic mushrooms (melt in the mouth) and potatoes. The potatoes were a bit on the deep-fried side, rather than rustic, like the rest of the menu. I was fascinated to see the rolled pork’s head. Apparently it’s more of a terrine though. By far the stand-out for our meal was the desserts. And having not gorged on the main, as you sometimes can at restaurants, we had plenty of room for dessert. The crème caramel (with caramel & semillon jelly, caramel sauce, caramel cream and bergamot ice cream) came in a small glass and was delicious on the first few mouthfuls. After a few spoons had dug into the glass it ended up a bit sloppy and the blend of flavours started tasting like tea.   We also went for churros with chocolate sauce, some ice cream, and peanut butter and banana. The latter was a peanut butter mousse, with banana banana & white chocolate cake and banana ice cream. No one at the table could get enough of that one. I’d like to go back for a long lunch in the summer. Ideal.