Restaurant Review: Mount Bistro

On the menu: Steve Barry's culinary flare is obvious from the get-go. From the entrees, which read like a what's what of global titbits, to the mains, which read like a gourmand's wish-list, there's nothing boring about this little lot.
In fact, you can imagine snake-eating kitchen bad boy Anthony Bourdain sitting down to feast on a few of these dishes, such is their offbeat appeal.
The entrees lean heavily towards seafood while the mains include poultry, lamb, steak, pork and venison dishes.
I'll have: The fresh salmon on quinoa and feta salad, with spiced yoghurt dressing ($37). Good choice. The large perfectly cooked slab of salmon sits on a bed of nutty red quinoa, sugarsnap peas, salad greens, and melting feta. There's plenty to like.
She'll have: Barry's duck medley.There's duck sausage and red onion marmalade on mash, seared and sliced breast fanned out over green beans, and a confit of leg on mesclun. It's gone in a flash.
We shared: An entree of blue cheese and walnut cheesecake ($21). Served with poached pear, spiced walnuts and red onion marmalade, it's nutty base and creamy Kikorangi filling is gorgeous.
We also had to try the dessert-tasting platter ($23) which, with helpings of panna cotta, creme brulee (ingeniously served in a kiwifruit), pomegranate flan, feijoa icecream with raspberry sauce and black sesame wafer, and a so-rich chocolate mousse tart, proved the undoing of us.
For the adventurous: That award-winning blue cheese entree, or, if your pocket allows it, the platter menu ($75).
Value for money: You couldn't go wrong with the seafood chowder, served in a bread bowl. Or have an entree and dessert.
To drink: An excellent selection of local and international wines, plus beer.
The staff were: Efficient and attentive.
The buzz: While the decor - Miami Vice meets meets white-tablecloth formality - is somewhat incongruous, it's all pretty relaxed. Birthdays are being celebrated (the front of house crew even sing for you), couples are doing their romantic thing and the boisterous blokes are enjoying a bottle of red.
The verdict: I initially balked at the prices, but having eaten at some reasonably classy joints where they charge a similar amount for something a whole lot less, I've been won over.
Despite the name connotations (the original bistros served food that could be made simply and in bulk), Barry's plates are anything but.
Mount Bistro
Where: 6 Adams Ave, Mt Maunganui
Phone: 575 3872
Open: Tuesday to Sunday for dinner, from 5.30pm until late
Prices: Light meals: $25 Mains: $36-$64