Majestic Cuisine, 11
Courtenay Place, Tel: (04) 381-0338
It’s
just not the ease of access, being only a couple of minutes away from Regional
Wines, but it’s also the excellent food, very friendly service and good
value. These clichés extolling the
virtues of a restaurant are bandied around easily, but in the case of the
Majestic, they are very apt. Wine
enthusiasts and winemakers have decent palates and an appreciation of what is
good eating, and most are not inexperienced in dining out. Without exception, for all the times we have
frequented the Majestic, we have been well-served in the goodness of the food
and the congenial service. We feel as if
we are family when we are there, one big family, especially when we descend
upon the restaurant in a sizeable group.
The word ‘family’ is one of the keys
to the magic at the Majestic. Owned by
three siblings, Walter and Simon Yan and the ever-youthful Ida Chiu, who are
first, third and sixth of the Yan family, their children are also involved with
the operation. Jeremy Yan looks after
the wine list and the effervescent Vicky Chiu oversees the service between
university studies.
The food is classical Cantonese with
a bit of a Szechuan twist. It’s what the family know best. It’s also the Chinese cuisine I know best, my
family running a Chinese restaurant for over a decade, so I feel reasonably
qualified to judge it! Our favourite main
courses include crispy roast duck, king prawns and seasonal vegetables, pork
ribs in OK sauce, beef in black bean sauce, a steamed whole fish, ‘Eight
Treasure’ tofu, bok choy with garlic and combination fried rice. My mum couldn’t cook these dishes better. In addition to the comprehensive range of
main courses, there is the traditional selection of entrees, soups, and
desserts. As with any respectable
Chinese restaurant, banquet set meals are offered, but often we put our trust
in the kitchen for a selection of interesting, tasty and different dishes. The entrees range in price from $4.00 - $8.00,
mains from $18.00 - $40.00, averaging in the mid $20.00s and desserts at
$6.00.
The more subtle Cantonese flavours
suit a surprising range of wine styles, but recently we have enjoyed Mt Edward
Pinot Blanc 2009, Schaefer Graacher Domprobst Riesling Kabinett 2007, Schoffit
Alsace Gewurztraminer ‘Harth’ 2007, Spade Oak Viognier 2007, (surprisingly) Te
Mata ‘Elston’ Chardonnay 2008, Pond Paddock Pinot Noir 2008, Drouhin Beaune 1er
‘Greves’ 2007 and Yalumba ‘Hand-Picked’ Tempranillo/Grenache/Viognier 2006 with
the food. If you don’t BYO, then there’s
a sound wine list of New
Zealand wines with favourites such as
Astrolabe Sauvignon Blanc, Redmetal Chardonnay, Wild Rock Pinot Noir and
Instinct Syrah.
The Majestic serves Yum Char in
addition to dinner daily. You can walk
out from lunch, replete, for less than $20.00 per person. For dinner, you spend $25.00 - $35.00 per
person, excluding wine. I call that
incredible value. How can they manage
it? It must be magic!
- Raymond Chan