By Evan Chaisson

The top of my 2015 Food & Wine list was headlined by one booth and one dish alone – New Zealand and its Lamb Meatball with Spicy Tomato Chutney.  Just like in 2015, 2017’s edition did not disappoint!

As Bob has recommended in the past, a tip would be to ask them to add extra chutney.  Besides adding to the dish’s “zing”, you can soak it up with the bread bowl!

The second offering that we tried was their Steamed Green Lip Mussels with Garlic Butter and Toasted Breadcrumbs.  I found this item to be surprisingly very, very good!

In fact, I would even go so far as to say that it rivaled New Zealand’s meatball!  It’s a ‘must try’ for any seafood junkie.  The addition of the garlic butter and toasted bread crumbs worked magic for the mussels, by the way.

Finally, we tried the marketplace’s Seared Venison Loin with Wild Mushroom Marsala Sauce and Kumara Purée.

We were hoping that this dish would continue New Zealand’s run on quality, but, folks, it was a huge letdown.  We found the meat to be very tough and lacking of much flavor. Neither of us liked the purée.

On the strength of the meatball and mussels, I would give New Zealand a B+, everyone.  Those two items are definitely worth a try!