Mussels in Havelock

This blog was always intended to be describe daring adventures ( or short climbs) demanding hikes in wild places (or gentle strolls to photograph waterfalls). It was never intended to provide culinary critique, but in continuation of a series of posts about the excellent coffee, fruit and wine of New Zealand, it seems necessary to add seafood to the list.

We actually ate out very little during our three week stay in New Zealand, but one meal that stands out is mussels in Havelock. We decided to break our journey between Takaka in the South Island and Tongariro in the North Island at Havelock entirely because of the description in the guidebook. "Havelock is where the produce from the 200 mussel farms within the Marlborough Sounds are taken to be processed. It calls itself the Green-lipped Mussel Capital of the world, which is not a title that anyone would seriously want to challenge." And what else is there to do in Havelock but eat mussels.

One of many restaurants specialising in mussels

After a shared starter we set to work on eating mussel platters at the Clansman restaurant. The green-lipped mussels are larger and have a superior flavour to any I have previously tasted. The platter must have contained over 40 mussels, and getting through these was as daunting a task as pulling on the slopers of Payne's Ford.

Anni with her mussel platter. This included steamed mussels in their shell, grilled mussels, marinated mussels, beer battered mussels and mussel patties.