Mushrooms by the sea

If you’re lucky enough to visit Wellington you mustn’t leave without calling in at The Chocolate Fish café in Scorching Bay. It's a bit of a trek to reach and will be out of your way – the hilly road that hugs the coast twists and turns forever – but as soon as you glimpse it round the bend, you’ll know it was worth the effort.


And that’s before you’ve even tasted the food.

Most of the café is across the road from the kitchen. Lots of brightly painted rickety tables and chairs overlooking the rocky beach. They’re only allowed 54 chairs out there (it’s the law) but one of the waiters tells me last Saturday they squeezed in 104.

To make life safer for the waiters, they put a couple of cones in the road to slow down passing traffic. There’s even a road sign: Waiters Crossing. I wonder if there’s ever been any accidents. The waiter tells me someone once drove over his foot. Was he okay? “Yeah, luckily I wasn’t carrying anything,” he says. I laugh, but he wasn’t joking.

We’re the first customers of the day – not even the veg has arrived. In fact, the kitchen's completely out of mushrooms. But not to worry - they’re on their way over the hill.

A few minutes later, another mushroom update: they are about to arrive! I check my hair and at 8.46 a jeep pulls up, the back loaded with boxes – two of which contain mushrooms. They’re whisked inside – I’m lucky to catch a fleeting shot of them.

Less than 15 minutes later, they’re back – only now they’re sliced, fried in lemon butter and mixed up with what must have been several handfuls of spinach, now wilted.

No wonder they call it a Popeye’s Slammer. A pretty smug and tasty way to take care of your five-a-day.

Resident daschunds Vegas and Jamie return from their walk a little earlier than expected at 9.30. Here they are with Penny, who owns both them and The Chocolate Fish. That’s fennel she’s holding – it’s better than dill when cooked, she says, as the texture’s more robust. It smells amazing, too.



Vegas and Jamie aren’t interested in that though – they’re trying to get a look in at the biscuits she’s holding.