Jano’s Bistro | Muffin Mum

Almost a year ago I went to Jano Bistro for their degustation. Last night, I did it again and Mr Muffin came along too.

This is a minor miracle. Mr M does enjoy eating out but it is normally of the Asian variety and comes with a kick.We went along with friends who had never done a degustation either and they too were left impressed with Jano’s too.

The food looked fantastic and tasted amazing too. We talked about the wonderful thing about doing a degustation menu is eating things you would never order. We all ate just about everything on our plate. Mr M left a small part of the calamari mousse but it was finished by our dining companion.

I am now plotting our next fancy dinner out, I may have to wait a couple of months but I have plans in my head and they may involve the Artisan Dining House.

Now, I am not one for descriptions or remembering the exact description of a dish. I can tell you that all the elements on the plate went perfectly and I am just going to give a brief hint with the pictures (click to enlarge). If you want to go, you need to book and they can adjust the menu to suit dietary needs.

Salmon

Pork

Palate Cleanser

Fish

Lamb

Cheese

Dessert

Last night I went to Jano on Willis Street with three lovely friends. You may be looking puzzled and pondering where on earth Jano is in Wellington? It is up the top end of Willis Street in a cute yellow cottage that was once Citron.

For me, it was one of those places that you think you must try and then you forget to go. This time I remembered and my friends and I made a concerted effort to book a table. We were spurred on by the Entertainment Book voucher and the fast approaching end of the 2015/16 book. We all left feeling very happy that we made the effort and felt like we had had a special meal out.

I have to say, we were not easy customers. If a song could have played as the four of us walked in I am pretty sure it would have been Taylor Swift, I knew you were trouble when you walked in. We were not intentionally awkward and we were very much accommodated.

Out of the four of us, two of us wanted to know what the menu would be and two of us didn’t. I was on the not wanting to know team. Eventually , we came to a compromise and the two fuss pots specified what they didn’t want. These demands included no dairy, no lamb and no raw meat. Each person was given the right meal for each course . On top of that each plate was also impressive. The only gripe through the evening was that some of our party felt the need to season some of the plates. I would put this down to personal taste. The salt and pepper grinder was worth asking for just to have a play.

The service through out the evening was brilliant, right down to the French accent. Jano really is a lovely bistro with the whole package. Go on, stop putting it on your list. It is certainly now one of the tops on my must use the Entertainment Book voucher list and my fancy meal out list. I hope they are part of Wellington On A Plate this year.

Here are a few photographs of my courses in the order they were served. The degustation was 7 courses and these were taken from the A La Carte menu. It is a great way to broaden your horizons and eat things you may not have ordered. I wouldn’t have picked the venison or the pork and they were my favourites.

Just look at the cutlery and plates, aren’t they lovely too?

WAREHOU