As Bar Magda has firmly established itself as not only one of the City’s best dining destinations (with new winter menu dishes to boot) but also one of the most reliably brilliant bars, it makes sense that the restaurant’s wine offering only continues to expand. Adding to the introduction of last year’s vintage comes the 2022 Magda Vision Pinot Noir, hailing from Nelson’s Moutere Hills. Produced with friends Brood Fermentation, the vintage is unfined, unfiltered, and a tactile expression of the growing season — made with the avante garde culinary style of Bar Magda in mind.
It pairs perfectly with the season’s dishes, from spicy potato gnocchi that plays into the richness of the wine while working to elevate its depth via intermittent hits of spice, to the smoky roasted eggplant or barbecue green beans, both of which highlight the pinot’s full-body and unique flavour profile. And as such, we’ve rounded up a series of our favourite pairings below.
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Bugsung of Crab & Prawn
Leaning more into Bar Magda’s traditional Filipino lineage, this dish melds fresh crab and prawn with a rich crab fat curry sauce, known as sauce Alavar — a take on the revered sauce from Zamboanga City’s beloved Alavar’s Seafood Restaurant.
Spicy Potato Gnocchi
Already celebrated this winter as one of our favourite spicy dishes in the City, this spicy potato gnocchi feels like the epitome of Bar Magda’s excellence. Here, spiced potato gnocchi is served with oyster mushrooms, pickled carrots and scallions, plus healthy helpings of scrambled egg hollandaise and mee goreng sauce, which results in a dish that is both innovative and utterly delicious.
Smoked & Roasted Eggplant
The kitchen here has always been known to do eggplant well, and this season it sees a crowd favourite turned on its head as the smoked and roasted eggplant is wrapped in nori and served with coconut yoghurt, Tokyo turnip, cucumber and lashings of garlic oil.
BBQ Green Beans
With a modern slant on this most traditional side, Bar Magda’s BBQ green beans offer just the right amount of umami, smokey flavour and necessary crunch. Charred and served with onion miso, green garlic sauce and almonds, it makes a serious case for eating your greens.
Pork & Duck Albondigas
These tasty little morsels are a soul-warming take on the Spanish meatballs, and as we’ve been told, owner Carlo Buenaventura’s grandmother’s recipe. Made with pork and duck, this gluten-free dish is served on a bed of fresh corn polenta and is smothered with sauce Cocido and yellow sambal, lending the plate an utterly irresistible flavour profile that marries perfectly with the new vintage.
