Malabar Restaurant

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Address

5 Conical Hill Road
Hanmer Springs
Region: Canterbury
Licence: Fully Licensed
Cuisine: Asian
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Contact

Phone: 03-315 7745
Fax: 03-315 7745
Email: malabarltd@xtra.co.nz

Open

Open for dinner and takeaways - 5.30pm till late

Comments

Malabar serves a unique style of Asian fusion cuisine which prompted 'Zest', the food section in The Press to label it as one of the "best restaurants in the world".

Menus

3703_menu_2010a.pdf

Overall DineOut Score based on 36 reviews

Total		8.2
Food		8.5
Dessert		7.9
Presentation		8.3
Service		8.3
Environment		7.9
Toilets		7.5
Child Friendly	Very

Review by: Titch [DineOut VIP] (73) on 18th July 2010

Total		9.2
Food		9
Dessert		10
Presentation		9
Service		9
Environment		8
Toilets		N/A

Needing a break, a weekend in Hanmer is one of the best way to get away for Cantabrians! And what better place than to try out the praised Malabar for ourselves...
Friendly welcome, quickly seated, cocktails delicious and soon the starters arrived, too: Excellent scallops, perfectly cooked - what a treat! Mains were the fabulously spiced chicken with vegetables and a cleansing broth - and the very tasty thali veg for my partner! Desserts simply exceptional, with a Ginger and Lime Crème Brulee and an out of this world pannacota!
All above served in timely manner, even on a very busy Saturday night, with a smile here and a quick "How is the meal?" there :-)
I am surprised not to see more reviews about this very special restaurant here on DineOut - my guess is that after indulging at Malabars, it is not easy to find the right words to do it justice... I have tried - and will try again after our next visit to Hanmer - hopefully very soon!

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Review by: Robert Donaldson (2) on 8th April 2010

Total		8.3
Food		8
Dessert		8
Presentation		9
Service		9
Environment		8
Toilets		N/A
Child Friendly	Yes

Having pre booked for a busy weekend, we were pleasantly surprised. The service was prompt and efficient. No detail was spared. The restaurant was extremely busy but the staff did not look flustered and coped very well.
The food was also good. It was tasty and well presented.
Our whole family declared the meal a great success. We would definitely rate it one of the better restaurants we have been to in the last year.

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Review by: food.love [DineOut VIP] (151) on 15th September 2009

Total		9.3
Food		10
Dessert		9
Presentation		9
Service		10
Environment		7
Toilets		N/A

This was the best restaurant I've ever dined at other than just one other restaurant I've been to, plain and simple! Their standards in everything were 10/10! Service was very quick and very attentive and we were told the specials of the day and given water straight off the bat, without having to ask for anything. Ordered our entrees and our mains and some drinks and everything arrived in great timing. We ordered the Tandoori Akaroa Salmon, the Thai Beef Noodle Salad and the Scallops (which were enormous!) as entrees and for mains we ordered the fillet steak (apparantly cooked to absolute perfection), duck confit and the pork belly (so damn good) plus garlic naan, cheese naan and fries. Yes, we ate like pigs and yes we are all convinced that our diets will start tomorrow. :D None of us could find fault in anything and since everything was so delicious up to that point, of course we had to give their dessert menu a go. The ginger and lime creme brulee was served warm and was absolutely perfect! Same with the chocolate tart. It was soft, decadent and served with fresh berries. YUM! Partner had the sorbets which were equally tasty, especially the mango one. I'm quite gutted we don't have many restaurants in Christchurch with standards this high! Basically, if you're going to eat dinner in Hanmer Springs, you need not look any further than Malabar. As a matter of fact, I think I'd rather take the 90 minute drive for this place than I would the hot pools! Perfect.. can't wait to go back! :)

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Review by: Tammy Bell (3) on 26th August 2009

Total		9.0
Food		9
Dessert		10
Presentation		9
Service		8
Environment		8
Toilets		8

We were heading to Hanmer for a break (our first getaway in 18 months) so checked out reviews on dineout and decided on Malabar. We were not disappointed, I can highly reccomend the lamb kebabs for the starter, both of had the selection of curries (Mike had meat, I veggie.....washed down with a Kingfisher beers. I don't normally do dessert but as this was a special treat I had the pancotta and Mike the Chocolate tart, I think these were the best desserts I have ever tasted.
Cheers
Tammy
move2nz.com

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Review by: AnniePinot (64) on 21st May 2009

Total		7.6
Food		8
Dessert		N/A
Presentation		8
Service		7
Environment		7
Toilets		7

We were glad we had ordered some some weeks ahead as the restaurant appeared full on a Saturday night. When we arrived the service was attentive and we ordered a round of the cocktails of the day. The menu sounded delicious and it was difficult to decide what to order. When we ordered our meals we also ordered a second round of cocktails and a bottle of wine, which may have made some of my recollections of my companions dishes a little hazy.
However, I had the tandoori salmon entree, which was nice but I wondered if the tandoori flavour was complimentary to the delicate flavour of the salmon. My companions appeared to be enjoying the Indian pastries.
On to the mains, and we enjoyed the wok tossed chicken, the lamb rack, the beef fillet and the four curry dish. All of my companions were very complimentary about each of these dishes, and my choice of the curries was fabulous.
Mains were around $30, and the quality of the food was superb.
Staff were very helpful and this was a very pleasant dining experience which we all enjoyed.

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Review by: hermione (7) on 17th May 2009

Total		8.5
Food		8
Dessert		8
Presentation		9
Service		10
Environment		9
Toilets		N/A

After long journeys 6 of us arrived late at the Malabar on a cold wet night. A spectacular fire made us feel most welcome as did the marvellous service. We were spoilt as by the staff as they smoothly rearranged the restaurant for even later arrivals. We'd all go back again especially for the desserts, the brulee was brilliant.

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Review by: foodtodiefor (8) on 6th May 2009

Total		7.9
Food		7
Dessert		N/A
Presentation		8
Service		9
Environment		9
Toilets		N/A

First time we have dined here and we were quite impressed. The restaurant is nicely fitted out and the service is extremely good. The entree and one main were excellent - the other main was fish, and unfortunately it was very overcooked. Two out of three is not too bad so we will go back again. The wine seemed quite expensive at 9.50-10.50 per glass and the portions served were unnecessarily below the tide. Also, I would have thought a fresh glass for a new wine would have been appropriate at those prices.

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Review by: jani04 (22) on 21st March 2009

Total		8.8
Food		10
Dessert		8
Presentation		9
Service		8
Environment		8
Toilets		8

My dish at Malabar was fantastic and my expectations were met above and beyond. As everyone has already said the main courses are just exquisite. There is a selection of curries available, though for $35+ per main course I'd rather have my rack of lamb or piece of prime meat please.
The entree we ordered was the squid and it was cooked to perfection.
I had a rack of lamb and the serving was very generous. I had plenty for my fill and my dinner date polished the rest off. The accompaniments and sauces were divine. His meal was the pork belly and he was very happy with it. The meal was a welcome respite from the frustrated and unsatisfactory dinner we'd had the night before at another up market restaurant along with it's 'rubber soap pannacotta'.
Thoroughly full and happy from the savoury courses we weren't ready for dessert but after tasting the standard of what they had already offered we just had to ask if a takeaway dessert was available. Our waitress was very accompanying and even let us take away a creme brulee still in it's ramekin for the extra charge of $6 of which when we returned it the next day we were refunded. Creamy, silky and not too sweet it was a great dessert. We also ordered a tart of which was delicious also.
Malabar is a great dining experience and on our way driving back up to Auckland from Dunedin I'm sorely tempted to drive through Hamner just to dine at this establishment once again!

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Review by: bringbackbuck (5) on 17th March 2009

Total		7.9
Food		8
Dessert		N/A
Presentation		8
Service		8
Environment		7
Toilets		N/A

Started the evening at the bar with a nice tap beer (for me) and a cocktail for my partner. Cocktail was apparently very nice and we enjoyed talking to the barman. Had breads to start and then straight to mains. My partner ordered the sweet Thai chilli fish, which was tasty, whilst I went for a selection of 4 curries (being somewhat of a curry fan). Was a treat to be able to dine on four different styles of curry, with different meats in each (well, three meats and one vegetarian). Full of flavour, but a word of warning: they are very spicy! The service was attentive, which was just as well as my beer needed refilling after the curries! A good experience overall

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Review by: Toni G (53) on 15th March 2009

Total		8.4
Food		9
Dessert		N/A
Presentation		8
Service		8
Environment		7
Toilets		N/A

Just a quick review as we went here about 3 weeks ago now and I wanted to get something posted before I forgot. We went here for my birthday and thoroughly enjoyed it. Service was friendly and the food was really good. Malabar is an interesting mix of Indian and other Asian cuisines so the menu had plenty of delicious choices on it which meant it took us a while to work out what we would have.
I started with the mussels which were amazing! Probably the best mussels I have ever had. My hubby is allergic to mussels so it meant I could have them all to myself. He still gave me some of his lamb kebabs which were incredibly tasty and a decent size for a starter.
For our mains, hubby had the steak which he reckons was one of the best steaks he has ever had in New Zealand (he is a big fan of steak houses in the US). I had the pork belly which was good.....I felt the sauce perhaps overpowered everything else on the dish a bit so it became a little boring towards the end. The strong flavours may have been more suited to a starter which would be perfect.
Next time we are in Hanmer, we will be back.

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