Eating Auckland: a week away

What are the best restaurants in Auckland? I guess everyone has an opinion. I for one want to eat at restaurants that I can’t eat at elsewhere: when I go away I like to discover a unique way of eating that’s particular to the region. I’ve always associated New Zealand with seafood, fritters and fruits, but that’s just my take. In much the same way that Sydney has a certain ‘Sydney style’ I was keen to discover if Auckland had one too.

SAILS My companions for dinner number one were probably ruing sticking up their hands to join me as they trudged up a deserted highway in the dark, in the mud, towards a restaurant that we weren’t entirely sure would be open. Our hopes were lit and dashed when we stumbled upon the garish Swashbuckler restaurant (though I’ve heard the food is actually quite good) only to be pointed further up into the mist and told it was still a bit of a trudge away. We approached from the dark side, and nearly didn’t make it at all as we negotiated a deserted carpark and worried that the weather was coming in. I’m glad we did keep going however because when we were finally welcomed into the restaurant’s bosom it was as a reward for our toils. Particularly striking in the restaurant are the beautiful zigzagging paper chandeliers, the same as those found in Wildfire (Circular Quay, Sydney). As it was a cool winter night we couldn’t appreciate the sea of bobbing boats behind the glass but I reckon it would be quite delightful on a sunny day. Standouts on the menu were the succulent braised lamb neck with beetroot and tiny lamb cutlets, and a gorgeous plum ice cream served on the dessert platter which reminded me in the best way possible of tinned dark plums at my parents’ dinner parties. In the quest to sample as many New Zealand sauvignon blancs as possible, the Sails wine list yielded two that were particularly enjoyable: Craggy Range Te Muna 2007 and Pegasus Bay 2007. A cheese that I’ll also be seeking out next time I get across the ditch will be Kahurangi Single Cream Blue – heaven.

DINE Peter Gordon is something of a New Zealand hero and one who champions fusion food. However, despite the hype, and despite the restaurant’s location in the SkyCity Grand Hotel, the restaurant and food struck me as upper-end bistro rather than fine dining. That’s not a bad thing though and I think it compliments the food, which is robust and vibrant, rather than fussy or elegant. We were convinced by the familiar and engaging waiter to put ourselves in his hands for the degustation with matching wines and the end impression was that this was food better suited to eating as a meal rather than as a trouping of small dishes – quite simply because the serving sizes were huge for degustation and the food, once again, bistro-style and came looking like slightly under-sized meals rather than small, contained courses. Similarly the wine matched was poured in a very generous manner. I’ve a hazy recollection that a riesling and the following pinot noir were very, very good. I just wish I’d remembered their names.

FRENCH CAFÉ I’d avoided booking The French Café because I’d worried that this wasn’t going to be a unique restaurant to Auckland, but that it would be of a certain French style that is reproduced somewhat around the world, or at least would be similar to certain European restaurants in Sydney. I was wrong. The restaurant began to help me flesh out my impressions of New Zealand dining. For one, it’s generous. The chef’s degustation was extremely good value and each serving was similarly generous in size – perhaps too generous as I was rolled out at the end of the meal and couldn’t finish the last few courses: mon Dieu! Despite a long day myself and dining companion’s moods lifted as we were lulled into enjoying the patter of courses. My companion, The Cocktail Queen, gave the restaurant’s Moulin Rouge the thumbs up, and subsequent wine service was attentive but not pushy and delightfully warm and knowledgeable. A stand out dish was the prawn cocktail of tomato sorbet, prawn jelly, prawns, avocado and seafood dressing in a fine glass bowl rimmed with lemon salt. Another was the sublime beetroot, onion and fig tart topped with a cushion of goats cheese and a single star of borage: the low, comfortable lighting made the photo hard for you to discern, however hopefully conveys the beautiful attention to presentation. This is excellent presentation in my book: at once inventive and understated. I quite understand how The French Café won the awards it has. There were few dishes that missed (a cigar of foie gras was a little overwhelmed with caramel and apple), and many more that both surprised and delighted.

Michelin & the Street: Zurich

ZURICH You’re definitely in Switzerland when your first evening catching up with friends involves fondue and schnapps. The nature of fondue means schnapps is necessary: to burn a ‘Norman hole’ through all the congealing cheese in your stomach, and it works very well I think. Also makes for interesting English-Swiss conversation! So that was fondue number one, a hearty meal on top of the heart-stopper we’d had earlier in a beer hall.

The beer hall we stumbled into after pouring off our overnight train was no steins-on –the-wall-and-cowbells piece, but a serious den for alcoholics. I think we were on the verge of being chucked out when we asked for mineral water rather than beer, and opted to share a heaving plate of rosti, cheese and bacon, rather than attempt one each. Good move. This was the kind of food that either kills you or makes you stronger. We redeemed ourselves only a little with the waitress (who looked like she carried a rolling pin behind her apron for use on the hall’s patrons) when we ordered our coffee topped up with bitter herbal liquor – no name for it, it was ‘house’. Though we were in one of the richest cities in Europe, we’d stumbled on the bottom-end’s pub.

Cheese is of course synonymous with Switzerland. Especially the big wheels of ‘Swiss’ cheese in all its holey glory. There are many surprises however for anyone willing to try something other than emmental or gruyère. A Swiss meal other than fondue that celebrates the cheese board is boiled potatoes (kept warm in a special padded bag unique to that purpose) served with a selection of cheeses and salads. I adored the Rostiger Ritter (‘rusty knight’) cheese, and not just for its name as it has great smooth texture flecked with tartaric crystals. Also L’Etivaz is a remarkable cheese, named after our good Swiss friend’s ancestral village. Apparently it’s made the way gruyère was 100 years ago, only from the milk of cows on summer pasture and made by hand by our friend’s grandparents. Similar to gruyère it’s creamier and subtler. Another I particularly enjoyed was the white cheese bärlauch, which is soft and flavoured with a centre of wild garlic – quite pronounced and quite delicious, especially smeared on warm potatoes.

And then there’s the charcuterie. As we poked around Swiss sites, at every opportunity a very hospitable friend of our friends would duck into an aromatic shop only to emerge with yet another of his favourite sausages for us to try. Paired with beer, local wine, local schnapps, crisps or whatever, invariably the Swiss Army Knife would come out of his pocket and slice and dice as soon as we sat down for a break amidst our wanders.