Nelson Blue

Nelson Blue Restaurant Review:

New Zealanders have long been overshadowed by their rollicking Australian cousins, but Manhattan has its own outpost of NZ cuisine. Nelson Blue at Peck Slip at the South Street Seaport is a casual, open-air restaurant offering down-home New Zealand specialties plus a Southern-hemisphere wine list. The wood bar attracts a lively group; for more tranquil, private conversation, ask for a table in the corner. The menu offers starters, sarni (enormous sandwiches) and main courses, with a large variety of seafood, entrée pies and grilled meats. Grab your Speights beer and indulge in chili-salt squid, pork in ginger lemon grass sauce, and panko-encrusted salmon. Signature dishes include a curried lamb potpie served with mashed potato. Desserts are slightly less successful with the two specialties, a classic white Pavlova and the manuka honey fruit tart, a bit dry and lacking in flavor. A better choice, if available, is the native Hokey Pokey ice cream that has a nice caramel crunch.