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LAKSA HOUSE

Thursday, May 16, 2013

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[Photographs: David Straight]

There are times – a rainy Tuesday, say, or maybe Friday – when nothing but Malaysian hawker food will do. And when that happens, we head straight to Laksa House in the Newmarket Plaza Food Court. The environs are nothing special: it’s in a narrow covered street under the Rialto carpark affectionately known by some as “Smelly Alley”. Fluorescently lit, though it’s clean, there are just a handful of stalls – it used to be much bigger here, and we mourn the late, great Xian De Lai.

No matter. Laksa House is painted bright orange, the service is friendly and it does what it says on the box – classic Malaysian hawker food, including said laksa. Everything seems to cost $11.50. There is a char kuay teow – an accomplished iteration, nicely smoky from the wok – and a very, very good laksa and a roti canai with a thick, fragrant curry sauce and chicken that just falls off the bone.

Our latest discovery? Wat tan hor. They make a char kuay teow, then add an eggy gravy and put it in a wide, shallow bowl. It comes to the table looking all gloopy and you wonder quite what you have done, before adding a saucer of soy, rice wine vinegar and chilli, which cuts through the egg and makes for a wondrous gravy – smoky and eggy and salty. See you Friday? SFG

HOURS TBC

ADDRESS Newmarket Plaza Food Court, 5-11 Kent Street, Newmarket.

IMPORTANT DETAILS Pop across the alley while you’re there to Seafood Harbour – some of the best fish in town.

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SAKANAYA

Thursday, May 9, 2013

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[Photographs: David Straight]

The rain starts falling and we find ourselves drawn to this little shop on a windswept stretch of Symonds Street. We go there in summer and it is good then too, but there is something about this joint that just suits the winter. Part surf shack, part fish restaurant – “sakanaya” actually means fish shop, though you can’t buy wet fish here – it is woodsy and homely, with surfboards and handwritten signs.

The specials menu is the best bit; it changes regularly depending on what chef-owner Yuji Minagawa can source the freshest. There is usually a grilled kingfish or hapuku wing ($18) on the menu, not to mention grilled fish heads, which as anyone who loves fish knows are the best bits: beautifully salty, unctuous and the fatty-salty mix is undercut by pickled ginger. Recently, we ordered a wing and to our delight a head came too.

There is also excellent sushi (“chef selection”, $18.80) – which includes an oyster, in season; they’re happy to remove the tuna. There is tako wasabi ($7.50), which is octopus leg marinated in wasabi: weird, but good. And there is ochazuke ($7.50-$10), home-style rice in stock, topped with pickled plums or salmon or snapper. Homely and comforting, perfect for warming up.

HOURS Lunch Monday to Friday, 12pm to 2pm. Dinner Monday to Saturday from 6pm.

ADDRESS 160 Symonds Street, Grafton, ph 309-1965. sakanaya.co.nz

IMPORTANT DETAILS There is parking around the back, with an entry through the kitchen.

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ORTOLANA

Tuesday, April 2, 2013

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[Photographs: David Straight]

Breakfast, lunch, dinner – it doesn’t matter which you go to at Ortolana, because it’s all brilliant and so we find ourselves there at odd times in search of early breakfast or late lunch. It opens at 7am and closes at 11pm and so you will never be told that the kitchen is closed. It is that rare thing, a downtown dining room, and best of all it’s not expensive at all.

It is a beautiful space, all reclaimed brick and soaring plywood ceilings and linen cushions – serene, contemplative and light by day, dimly lit by night. You might be in Rome by way of Los Angeles, only much of the produce on the menu came from the owners’ – Jackie Grant and Scott Brown of the Hip Group, owners of a number of successful cafes – farm at Kumeu. They even filter and carbonate their own water.

Head chef Jo Pearson’s food is casual, loose and it uses beautiful ingredients very simply: it is everything cooking in Auckland should be. We like the beetroot lasagnotte ($19) – heritage beetroots with hazelnuts and big sheets of pastry – and we like the chitarra pasta, with zucchini, almond, parmesan and baby mint ($19). Breakfast? A folded egg ($16) with house-smoked mackerel and sorrel pesto: tangy, salty, eggy. Most of all, we really like the braised lamb ($25), which comes with green lentils and labneh – and it may be this one single dish that is the reason we return as often as we do. SFG

HOURS Monday to Sunday, 7am to 11pm

ADDRESS 31 Tyler Street, Britomart, ph 027 230 4561. britomart.org/ortolana

IMPORTANT DETAILS No bookings. Not so much an issue by day, but you might queue at night.

 

 

 

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KAZUYA

Tuesday, March 19, 2013

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[Photographs: David Straight]

The food is nothing short of extraordinary, wave upon wave of it, coming out in tiny servings and brought to you by deferential waiters wearing white gloves. The place is tiny and dark, though the outside is completely white, and there are large booths so you can’t hear anyone else’s conversation. It is the perfect temperature. The service is deferential and efficient, as well as knowledgeable. They cater for special diets by making it sound like it’s their fault for having had dairy or gluten on the menu in the first place, and rework every dish so you don’t feel like you’re missing out. It is, in short, everything you want a Japanese restaurant to be.

Back to the food for a minute. There is an extraordinary “caprese” but we won’t spoil it. The signature “texture” is the highlight – 30 different types of vegetables, from tiny shavings of baby beetroot to exquisite mustard greens to perfectly cooked broccoli, with a myriad of tiny amounts of dressing, so each and every mouthful is different and yet still perfect. If you go soon, you might catch the ratatouille of summer vegetables, each piece perfectly cooked and topped with cream: it works. Ora King salmon confit: perfectly balanced, exquisitely treated. A paradise prawn with a scallop, with a creamy mushroom sauce was a highlight recently: each piece perfect, and strangely harmonious. Desserts are a triumph.

All this can be yours as part of a five-course menu or seven-course tasting menu that cost just $65 or $85 – there’s an a la carte menu, but why would you bother? This is some of the best cooking in town, at some of the most reasonable prices. Book now. SFG

HOURS Lunch, Thursday & Friday, 12 to 4pm. Dinner, Tuesday to Saturday, 6pm to late.

ADDRESS 193 Symonds Street, Eden Terrace, ph 377-8537. kazuya.co.nz

IMPORTANT DETAILS The nine-course degustation ($125) is only available by ordering in advance.

Filed in Formal, Japanese, Uptown | Tagged , , | Comments (2)

HARVEST LUNCH

Thursday, March 14, 2013

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It’s hard to believe, but March 24 is our last lunch with The Golden Dawn. We’ve done seafood, we’ve done vegetarian and last month, we went slightly overboard with a meaty feast that had everybody raving, even visitors from Wellington.

So while we’re sad to say this is the end of the series – for this year, at least – this one is a cracker. It’s an end-of-the-season feast – celebrating everything that is good about this time of the year, the last of summer warmth, the best of the harvest, even a little game and, of course, apple pie. As always, much of it will be cooked out of doors over a charcoal fire – chef Bex is a genius and we can’t wait.

Roasted figs w/ goats curd & honeycomb

Smoked eel, pickled beetroot & horseradish
Air-dried smoked pork w/ parsley broadbeans
Braised pheasant w/ fennel sausage & puy lentils

Coal-roasted Cadrona merino lamb w/ herb oil & preserved lemon

Tomato & sourdough salad w/ pecorino
Spiced pumpkin, toasted hazelnuts & quince jam
Local wild greens

Apple & blackberry pie w/ chestnut ice cream

The important stuff: tickets are $56 a head and available from Under The Radar.

 

 

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