Steamed Mussels at the Mussel Pot

From my vantage point just inside the large shopfront windows of main street Mussel Pot I was able to watch the world go by. Of course, in early July little of the world is to be found in Havelock but this unstoppable adventurer boosted visitor numbers by one, surely a creditable contribution given my well known penchant for overspending on most things, especially food.
Havelock holds itself out to be the “Mussel Capital of the World” and good luck to them for being so bold. The famous Nobel Prize winning physicist Ernest Rutherford went to school in the town but its more recent claims to fame are centred on its mussel power, magical and atomic you might say. It is certainly a fine destination for those wanting to enjoy a meal or two of the legendary and therapeutic Green Lipped mussels, as fresh as the incoming tide. After all, it's all about the food!
The season was fast drawing to a close (mid July) and so I consider myself fortunate in arriving just in time. A portion of steamed mussels, whole in shell, is a formidable sight and presents one with the exciting prospect of extracting the ‘meat’, soaking up the juices in which the dish is cooked and savouring each and every bite of what must have been well over a dozen of these Perna canaliculus. My position inside the window allowed for a pleasurable infusion of sunlight onto my pot of steaming bivalve molluscs, the green lips of the shells displaying an attractive, ethereal translucency.
I’ve used the following line before with some foods and I will undoubtedly use it again and again where it is well deserved - It was a most excellent moment in time!
The walls of the restaurant are graced with valuable information on mussels and I found myself reading each of these informative notes, headed “ Did you Know?”
For instance, each mussel is capable of filtering about 300 litres of water per day and as there are 1100 million of these little rascals grown commercially in the Marlborough Sounds this equates to the filtration of 330 million tonnes of water daily. The sex of a mussel is determined by its colour – male is creamy white, female reddish apricot.
There is also a helpful suggestion as to how to eat mussels in the shell: “Take out the first mussel with your fingers. Now use the shell like a pair of tweezers to pull your other mussels out of their shells.”

You can have your mussels at the Mussel Pot in a variety of ways, steamed or grilled. To capture the essence of flavour I favour steamed and I chose the aromatic combination of coriander, chilli, ginger and coconut milk to further excite the palate. For a grand total of $18.60 for this delicious dish of the shallows I felt like a thief as these were worth much more. Certainly no chance of overspending here.
The Mussel Pot is closed July 10th until August 31st so plan ahead and treat yourself in the Springtime or over the Summer . I have every confidence you will not regret it.