Tatsumi, Queenstown, New Zealand

This restaurant is a mostly Japanese style place, where we had a fixed price menu that probably would have knocked our socks off if we hadn't eaten at an even better (and somewhat more affordable) restaurant the night before. This sushi plate is an example of how good it could be--this tasted just as good as it looked! The setting is elegant, and the wait staff are dressed traditionally, adding to the atmosphere.

We had several dusion dishes, which married local ingredients, Japanese preparations, with European influences. This was my favorite dish of the night, with a piece of salmon, a grilled scallop (perfectly cooked, both of them, and flavorful to boot), with a mushroom ravioli and taro root puree, with crisped noodles on the side. Not everything worked perfectly together about this course (I would have preferred the dishes to be separate, and a bit more of the ravioli and the scallop, but that was not an option), but each component was delicious and overall the dinner was a success, and I would recommend it to others.