Number 5 is alive!! - Restaurant Review

Number 5

5 City Rd (behind the Langham)
Auckland City

Ph: 09 309 9273

7.5/10

I'm sure I'm not alone in feeling frustrated by the sudden influx of group buying sites infiltrating the market.  Frustrating they are because they promise to deliver you something cheap.  The bargain hunter in me cannot ignore the potential opportunity to pick up a bargain.

Signed up to nigh on nine million emails a day it seems I am forever deleting promises of amazing deals, days after they've even expired.

However, every now and then a golden nugget comes along.  A reputable business with a name you can trust offering a true deal which cannot be missed.  Such it was with Number 5 restaurant in City Rd.  The deal was 2 for 1 on the $99, five course, degustation menu.

Number 5 was appealing in two ways.  Firstly it has a reputation as being a provider of fine food in an elegant setting.  Secondly it's name is shared by my favorite of movie characters.  Yes I am a big kid at heart and any reference to the Short Circuit movies has me weak at the knees:

We excitedly booked ourselves in for a Tuesday night.  5 course Tuesday?  Yep.  A bit wild.  No Shortland St this evening!

We were welcomed into a quiet dining room by the lovely waiting staff.  It's a really inviting space to dine.  Intimately sized but not too crowded.  An ornate fireplace and chandeliers combine with well chosen fabrics and colors to make the place feel fancy, but inviting.  There is a sense that they are trying to create a feel of opulence and it does seem a little like the type of place where you may have to question which fork to use.  However the friendly staff counter this with their warm persona.

We're quickly shown through the five course menu and my mouth is watering.  I feel like I'm going to have to make excuses when we pull out our 2 for 1 voucher because it truly is a bargain.

DEGUSTATION MENU
 

TEMPURA PRAWNS
SHELLFISH BISQUE, ROUILLE

*****
LOIN OF VENISON TARTARE
JUNIPER SALT, FREE RANGE HEN’S YOLK

*****
LIMONCELLO SORBET

*****
SEARED DUCK BREAST, CONFIT DUCK LEG
BROAD BEAN FRICASSE, FONDANT POTATO

*****
CHOCOLATE RASPBERRY FONDANT
RASPBERRY RIPPLE ICE CREAM

Matching wines are available for $55 extra per person and as the restaurant is quite noted for it's wine list it is definitely worth considering that extra embellishment.  However as we're both driving home we decide to go with just a couple of the recommendations.

As it's a school night we quickly tuck in and the first course arrives.  The flavors are adequate and I'm quickly asking for some bread to sop up the bisque.  The tempura batter is more like a beer batter although I think the dish is better for it.  It's matched wonderfully with the 36 bottles Central Otago Pinot Gris.  A quite strong drop that shows that NZ Pinot Gris does not have to always be the light bodied variety.

Following this is the venison loin tartare.  It's topped with a raw egg yolk.  A hen's yolk to be as precise as the menu.  Sometimes clarification can go overboard but I am thrilled they've chosen the hen's yolk as opposed to....?  It's perfectly seasoned with juniper salt and capers and served with crispy toast.  It's yum. Perfectly seasoned to highlight the beautifully tender venison.  It is fresh and invigorating.  Again it is wonderfully paired with a very fruity Pinot Noir.

Our third 'course' is a limoncello sorbet.  Not so much a course as a menu filler, however they could give me a tub of the stuff to take home if they like!  It possessed a beautiful balance of tart and sweet.

By this time the fact it was Tuesday was starting to hit home.  We're going to have a full belly after this lot!

Fourth course was one I was very much looking forward to.  Seared duck breast and confit leg served on a fricassee of broad beans and peas with potato fondant.  It screamed French Bistro and is the type of food I love to cook.  The duck was cooked well, with the confit leg shredded and incorporated into the fricassee.  As it happens the potato fondant was cut so small that its flavor got lost in the fricassee and it became merely a texture.  It was a well constructed dish however it needed maybe one extra flavor or one extra piece of wow to bring it up to fine dining standards.

Our we can't eat anymore but we will dish was the dessert.  Raspberry Chocolate Fondant served with Raspberry Ripple ice cream and a chocolate chip tuille.  It's one of those moments of undeniable dining room joy when you slice through a hot chocolate fondant to see a slowly exuding richness of goo flowing onto the plate.  And this dish didn't disappoint.  It became a pleasurable pain as we paused for minutes between each mouthful hoping our tummies would work overtime to make a little extra space for another go at the joyful offering.

The chef had managed to infuse the fondant with a fantastic raspberry flavour, yet the texture of the pudding was smooth and delectable.  Not wanting to miss a possible technique I find out from the staff that freeze dried raspberries are ground up into a powder and then incorporated into the fondant batter. 

I briefly encountered freeze dried fruits in the Masterchef kitchen.  You can purchase them from Sous Chef.  Quite pricey for the home kitchen but if you want to give a dinner party dish a real wow factor they're worth considering.

All in all Number 5 was a very pleasurable dining experience.  I really enjoyed the setting and the food.  Three dishes out of the five were standouts.  It seems like a dependable place.  Really good food and a fantastic wine list in a fine dining setting with warm and friendly waiting staff.  What more could you ask for?

Another 2 for 1 voucher perhaps?  Yes Please!

Land of the Rising Star - Cocoro - Restaurant Review

Recently Metro held it's annual review of the Top 50 Auckland Restaurants. The awards are designed as a show and tell of the best cuisine that New Zealand's largest city has to offer. Often the list contains the evergreen enterprises. Those restaurants that have always been the stand out performers, such as The French Cafe and The Grove. Now and again the list will also contain a new, rising star.

Hard at work in a well designed kitchen

This year's new star was Cocoro, a recent addition to the Ponsonby dining scene. Luckily for them the awards were held in Auckland, otherwise they may have needed to pay for excess baggage on the flight home. Overall the restaurant walked away with 3 Top Honors. Two for the Restaurant and one for the Chef/Owner, Makoto Tokuyama, who was awarded Restaurant Personality of the Year.

Cocoro describes itself as New Japanese Cuisine. It's a cuisine that has come a long way in the last five years. Tokyo now places itself as one of the culinary meccas of the world, with more Michelin star kitchens than Paris. Of course this is helped by the sheer monstrosity of the mega metropolis and the incredible wealth that is there but none-the-less there has been a definite advance in the appreciation of the skills, the application, and the flavors that top Japanese chefs are now bringing towards the concept of modern cuisine.

The popularity of Fusion cuisine in decades past allowed the introduction of the flavors of Japan onto the western palate. Ingredients such as Miso, Yuzu, Sake, Mirin and Black Sesame all became identifiable with your standard diner. Japanese cuisine has now gone past that idea of fusion and it is starting to demonstrate it's true reportoire.  Cocoro goes a long way to proving that there is more than Chicken Teriyaki and California Rolls on offer.

The restaurant is a very stylish room. A small number of well positioned tables line each side of the restaurant while an impressively imposing Makrakapa table, large enough for 20, adorns the middle. Slat walls and minimal decorations create a precisely relaxed feel. Whish is appropriate to the dining style on offer, exact but enjoyable. We have little hesitation in choosing the degustation menu. With six courses priced at $80 it has to be one of the best value degusations on offer in Auckland.

The first course comes served in a persimmon. Snapper marinated with a Yuzu-Miso sauce and combined with the persimmon to give a delightfully sweet dish. The snapper, being cooked by the marinade only, is delicate on the tongue and works wonderfully with the sweet persimmon and the sour sauce. We're off to a good start.

The next course typifies the joy that Cocoro can deliver.  And it's one of those moments that you can have only once.  *Spoiler Alert*  The waiter brings out four tower style boxes, which he cheekily calls our mystery box, every Masterchef contestants most hated of words.  The top is lifted to reveal a Te Matuku Bay Oyster delicately decorated with Ponzu Vinegar, Ginger and Chive.  It is presented as if it is on a throne and gives a great sense of theatrics to the meal.  Th tower is then folded open to reveal two hidden layers with further treats.  Akaroa Salmon Sashimi of the highest quality and a Bluefin Tuna Nigri which earns it's place as the best single piece of Sushi I have ever eaten.

But wait.....there's more

 

The Mystery Box revealed.

The fish course has a pan fried fillet of Warehou served on Tempura battered Eggplant with a sweet Yuzu-Miso Sauce. The fish is slightly overcooked and the eggplant comes in rather large pieces, resulting in a mushy texture, rather than that wonderful crispness you expect when you see the word Tempura. The sauce however is divine.

Our main course is a duck confit which has been slow cooked at 60 deg C in duck fat and then finished on a charcoal grill. The slow cooking results in melt in your mouth meat and the charcoal flavor of the crispy skin is a delightful touch. It is served beautifully with two types of fig along with two contrasting sauces. A sweet Nori sauce and a salty Miso and Sesame sauce. It's a great marriage of flavors and my only regret is that it has disappeared in six exuberant mouthfuls.

Decorated Duck

We are then offered an extra course of Buckwheat noodles in a Miso broth. We are perhaps a bit keen in getting this as already we are filling up and the idea of what is essentially a lunch sized noodle soup after already consuming five courses was perhaps due to us not wanting to miss out on anything exciting, rather than needing more sustenance. For the record the dish is tasty, but it isn't exciting.

Dessert, which can always be a scary concept in an Asian restaurant, consists of a black sesame creme brûlée, that is the definition of fusion cuisine, a particularly refreshing green tea miso and vanilla ice cream and a valrhona chocolate fondue. I wind up creating my own ice cream sundae with the components and leaving some rather forgettable additions such as the chocolate and sweet bean cake.

To finish the adventure Chef Tokuyama himself comes to deliver a refreshing granita of plum wine, mandarin and mint which whisks away any thoughts of over consumed lethargy and leaves our palates clean and excited. As we tell him of our favorite parts of his menu it is obvious that he loves what he does and like all good chefs he has a real passion for the origin of the food and the quality that he puts on the plate. Our meal has been a classic demonstration of using quality ingredients, sourced with care, in an exciting and innovative way.

The service was exceptional and food was almost the same. We entered the room with two non sake drinkers and one who wouldn't eat raw fish or anything weird. We left as four people converted. Converted to Cocoro. If you like a bit of adventure in your food and appreciate good aesthetics then this is the place for you.

Cocoro

Ph:09 360 0927
56A Brown St, Ponsonby
Website

Cost $100pp for degustation menus, Sake and Wine.

Food:  8/10 
Atmosphere: 8/10
Service: 10/10
Price: 8/10

Overall: 8/10  Essential Dining

Soljans Winery and Cafe

West Auckland. Land of the long haired bourbon drinking folk, adorned in black with the sounds of the Eagles and Metallica drifting from their stolen stereos.  The emergence of Outrageous Fortune as one of the country's favorite TV shows has only gone to cement the idea that West Aucklanders are cut from a rough type of cloth.

Of course before all this West Auckland was famous for other things.  It's wine being one of them.  Populated by immigrants from the Adriatic these people bought with them both their possessions, their hopes, and their love for producing wine.  Lincoln Rd, the arterial hub of the west, was once awash with vines.

Urban development and the need for more shopping malls saw this change as land became more valuable and the need for a winery to have locally grown grapes diminished.  Luckily for us, one of these westie wineries hasn't moved too far.

10 minutes down State Highway 16, before you come to Kumeu, is Soljans Winery and Cafe.  Standing at the gateway to the wine country of Kumeu it is not only a great place to sample some nice wine but also to sample some pretty tasty food.

Having relocated here in 2002 it is now a well settled enterprise which attracts both the tourists on the wine trails as well as the locals looking for a relaxing meal.  Described as a Cafe it certainly looks that way.  But do not fret.  Your trip out west will not be in vain.  Once you receive the menu you will see that it is more than muffins, pre-made sandwiches and carrot cake on offer.  In fact, for a place that is only open for lunch it has quite an impressive selection of main meals for you to enjoy.

There is a lovely outdoor section which is a sun trap in summer time, and with a small playground and large outdoor area it is a great place to bring the little ones.  Kelly and I peruse the menu.  I'm torn between two or three dishes, which is always a good thing.  I would rather be spoiled for choice than limited to one thing.

I decide on the Roasted corn-fed chicken breast farced with basil, parma ham and boccocini.  Farced, I have now learned, means stuffed.  It always intrigues me how eateries come up with fanciful ways to describe rudimentary things.  Almost as if it is essential that there is one misunderstood word on every menu.

The chicken came served on a risotto mixed with Olives, Sun Dried Tomatoes and Rocket.  It looks amazingly rustic.  And I can't wait to dive in.  To stuff, sorry I mean farce, the chicken breast the chef has bored a hole right through and then filled it with the good stuff.  Mozarella, Ham and Basil.  The chicken is well cooked and it quickly starts to disappear.  The risotto is not as creamy as I would like.  The olives and tomatoes are a lovely touch, however the rocket has wilted with the heat of the dish and wound up like peppery pieces of rope.  Having so many strong flavors on the plate it surprises me that the dish lacks a bit of punch which I think comes down to the seasoning.  It needed just a little more to take it to that extra level.

Kelly chose the Pork Belly.  Now a popular cut in restaurants the world over.  My only gripe on this is it's made a cheap cut more expensive as butchers eye an extra dollar or two!  This version is slow cooked and served with Potato Fondant, Shanghai bok choy a red wine jus and a mustard and apple foam.

I can tell the pork is good because it's almost disappeared by the time I pluck up the courage to ask my wife for a taste.  When I do get a forkful I find that it is melt in your mouth tender.  The skin has crisped up perhaps a tad too far but it's good enough that none gets left on the plate.  The Potato fondant is a nice accompaniment and while the jus and mustard apple foam are nice again there is a lack of elevation in the taste that seems like it could be easily rectified.

The fact that the dishes have these fancy touches, like the foam, or the stuffing of the breast, indicates that you have chefs who are trying to do more than just feed people, but excite them as well.  The relaxed cafe atmosphere, and casual student enrolled service belies the sophistication which is presented on the plate.  Each dish was priced at $24.  For the amount of cooking and the style that you are receiving this is good value.  It is a shame that the dishes have just missed the mark in terms of their true potential.  It would also be nice to have service where the staff are interested in assisting you.  My inquiry as to what the word farced meant was responded with a simple 'Sorry, don't know'. 

It would be remiss of me to discuss our meal at the winery without at least commenting on the wine.  As you would expect the list contains an exclusive selection of Soljan wines.  The menu has helpfully provided the staff picks for each dish and in a winery cafe you know that their recommended pairings will be able to be trusted.

The pork is paired with a lively Chardonnay.  The Barrique 2010 reserve.   It is full of asian flavors like lychee and ginger.  I'm suddenly whisked to Victoria Harbor, Hong Kong.  With my chicken I have a Pinot Gris that is light and buttery, almost like a more subtle Chadonnay.  Both wines are enjoyable.

So all in all it is a good lunch and a worthwhile adventure to the west of the west.  For the price per dish you are getting value for money and with a relaxed, family friendly environment it is a definitely a place to go.  So why not don your best black jeans, tell the lady to grab her leopard print jacket and head to the west.  Just remember to lock the car door ok?

Soljans Cafe And Winery

366 State Highway 16, PO Box 590 Kumeu, Auckland 1215, New Zealand
Ph: 09 412 2680

Food                   7/10
Atmosphere        6/10
Service               6/10
Value                 8/10
Overall          6.5/10

Menu

Summer hours (1st December-31st March):
Monday - Friday 10am-3pm
Saturday & Sunday 9am-3pm.

Winter hours(1st April-30th November):
Monday to Friday 11am-2.30pm
Saturday & Sunday 9am-3pm

Serafin Tapas Bar - Restaurant Review

Ahhh, the serenity of a four day weekend.  Nothing quite like it really.  Forced holidays for those of us lucky enough to receive them (apologies to all the hospitality workers out there!).  Being such a planner it can take me a while to get an organized holiday together.  That's why I love Easter.  Without wanting or planning I suddenly find myself with respite.  With time.  A chance to catch up on those things I've always wanted to do but never got round to.  Like gardening, or cooking a big batch of stock for the freezer, or *cough* *cough* changing the oil in my car.   

Nadia and a rather excitable Michael aka Kitchen Ninja

Our weekend started on Thursday night when we joined Michael and Nadia to head to Serafin Tapas Bar in Dominion Road, Auckland.  We'd all seen recent comments from Ray McVinnie praising the establishment on it's opening night and it seemed fitting after the Tapas challenge to head somewhere to witness a Spaniards take on their home cuisine.

My wife and I were lucky to make friends with a few Spanish people in our travels.  The year before last one of my wife’s Spanish friends was holding a photography exhibition in Madrid and she invited us over for the weekend.  As we learned you should never turn down the chance for a local to show you around their home town and it turned out to be one of our favourite weekend’s away.  The way the Spanish entertain and dine out is an experience on it's own.  We had been to Spain before and eaten tapas, the bite size taste sensations that are starting to become popular here, but we did it the wrong way, going to a recommended bar and then ordering five or six different things settling down for the night.  

Eating Arroz Negro in a Madrid square

The Spanish way involves a lot more movement!  Essentially each tapas bar is well known for one or maybe two dishes.  They do this dish better than anyone else.  Your job is to tour round the bars keeping your whistle wet and tasting the best the bar has to offer before hitting the streets to the next one.  This activity starts anywhere from 8-10pm but no earlier.  After all this adventure then, and only then, you can consider heading to a proper restaurant and sitting down for a few hours to have a meal, before again hitting the town to dance the night away until the very early hours.

Tapas seems to be a cuisine that has struggled to make a foot print in this country.  NZ town geography and our dining mentality is probably the main killer in this.  No real kiwi is going to be happy with having only a small morsel and an even smaller glass of beer.  

The few Tapas bars that do exist in Auckalnd tend to go for the more western commercial approach to the cuisine.  Offering a large range of small plates for you to satisfy your hunger.  Order a couple each and then share in your companions selections.  I love this way of eating.  The chance to try multiple dishes in an evening feels almost like cheating and getting two starters, two mains and two desserts all for one.  And being able to share in each others dishes brings a real sense of conversation and vitality to the table.

For this particular newcomer to the dining scene red tape also seems to be an issue after being refused a liqour licence due to one households complaint that allowing a glass of Rioja might result in drunk people which might result in noise.  I feel sorry for Serafin.  The council perhaps get frightened by the word bar.  Perhaps they haven't been to Spain to realise what a tapas bar is? Perhaps they don't realise the community aspect of good food?  Perhaps the complainants shoud realise if they are going to enjoy living close to one of Auckland's busiest roads they might have to suffer a bit of noise too?!  Come on council.  Give them the licence.  We don't want to put a hand brake on the introduction of new and exciting cuisine.

Well placed to benefit from the expected rugby mad crowds expected later this year Serafin has made fabulous use of it's location.  With a very relaxed feel and an open and inviting courtyard I can see the place doing very well on a long summer evening.  Feeling less like a restaurant and more like an upmarket cafe it has the right feel for a Tapas bar so let's see if the food fits the bill too.

Michael suggests that we put our fate in the hands of the chef and ask him to choose us six dishes to sample.  The good thing about eating with proper foodies is we will pretty much try anything you give us!  No need to worry about strange dislikes of cooked carrots or a preference for over cooked meat here.  And it's always exciting to have a sense of mystery about what is coming to the table.  Not knowing what's going to be next to tickle the tastebuds until it finally arrives.  So here's a selection of the chef's choices and a quick review of each:

Pinchos:  The pinchos are the free bar snacks that any tapas bar offers to entice in the drinkers leaving the office on their way home and aiding them, after a few too many cervezas, on the way home!  There is a selection available and we hastily accept the delightful waitress's offer of free food.  Various combinations of typical spanish flavors sit on top of some crusty bread.  I have the spanish tortilla which is nice enough.

Patatas Bravas - Deep fired spuds served with a paprika aioli.  The tapas bar equivalent of the french fries you'd have to do something really bad to muck something this good up.  Crunchy with a soft interior and covered in a gorgeous paprika flavored aioli I would happily get another bowl.  A suitable filler to warm up the evening.

Pan Con Tomato e Jamon - Serrano ham and some dressed salad leaves are served a top lightly grilled bread coated in tomato.  A dish like this is as good as its parts and the ingredients used are quality, with the bread being especially nice.

Bombo de Chorize con Salsa de Mojo Verde - Deep fried potato croquettes surrounding a small piece of chorizo and topped with a Mojo Verde, which is a sauce originating from the Canary Islands, essentially a garlic and corriander vinaigrette.  They look good but wind up being a little disappointing with no real flavor coming from them.  Too bland and not enough seasoning.

Albondigas con salsa de Azafran Guisantes Calamares - Soft pork meatballs with subtle seasoning are dressed in a saffron sauce with finely chopped pieces of squid, a hard boiled egg, corn and peas.  the sauce has a delightfully mild, savory aspect to it that makes the dish.  It serenely carries the flavor to your taste buds, rather than pushing your tongue through the spice and seasoning door.  I'm an instant fan

Langostinos a la Ajillo - I can't enter a Tapas bar without having the Gambas in some way or another.  Serafin's offering is some simply cooked prawns in a chilli garlic and paprika sauce.  Yum.  I could eat these all night.  The hardest aspect when cooking with chilli is to get the heat just right, and this sampling is perfect.  Only getting five prawns for $17.50 seems a bit stiff though.

Paella de Mariscos y Aves - One of the most well known of Spanish dishes Paella is actually a very regional dish originating out of Valencia.  It is traditionally cooked by men around a fire made of orange and pine branches.  Cooked in huge shallow pans which give the dish it's name (paella is a derivitave of the old french word for pan).  It's a very generous serving and the rice was tasty however there was not the crunchy bits sticking to the sides of the pan that you usually get in a well cooked paella.  We all agreed that it could have done with a bit more flavor as well.  Something to lift it.  Perhaps some more saffron?  Maybe we've been hanging round Cameron too much.

Chocolate con Churros:  Fried doughnut batter coated in cinnamon and sugar with a rich milky chocolate sauce.  I don't think I have to say anymore.  Get one each.  You aren't going to want to share.  And you must drink the chocolate when done.  It would be a crime not too.

Torrijas:  The favorite dish of the evening turns out to be a booze laden french toast styled number.  Old bread is soaked in red wine, sugar, cinnamon, milk and then fried in butter to produce the incredibly tasty morsel called a Torrijas.  As it happens this pudding is a typical Spanish Easter treat.  So it is fitting that it is the dish wish makes the most sense.  The combination of the wine and sugar gives the dish a real fruity character.  Topped with some ice cream and orange rind it is a perfect finish to our evening and one which will inspire me to replicate the dish!

After that run of dishes we are all feeling content.  As for the selection from the chef: A couple of stand outs in the Meatballs and the Torrijas and a couple of disappointments.  It did feel slightly like he was giving us the standard round the world Tapas selection, rather than showing us the individuality that Serafin can offer.

The service throughout the meal was exemplary and we also had the pleasure of talking to the chef himself.  He proudly divulged the recipes we wanted stating that 'there are no secrets in cooking!'  Coming in at $120 between the four of us (sin unavailable booze) it really was good value.  While none of us were blown away by the food I would still return.  A convivial environment with food at a good price it may just be a place to know what to order and to stick to it.  Each bar doing one or two good things, enjoy it, and then move on.  That is the Tapas way.

Serafin Cafe & Bar

Ph: 09 630 0228

225B Dominion Road (actually down side street)

Food:  6/10  Some winners, some not.
Atmosphere: 5/10 Good setup but still awaiting a crowd.
Service: 9/10  Looked after with typical Spanish Charm
Price: 8/10 Good value for money.
Overall: 6.5/10  Worth a look