Dine by Peter Gordon, Auckland central

Sophisticated surroundings are a hallmark of Peter Gordon's temples to fusion food. Picture / Babiche Martens

Herald rating: * * * * 1/2

The fragrant Bridget and I sink into aged leather at dine, the Auckland chapel of Peter Gordon's temples to fusion food that now range from Auckland to Istanbul, London to New York. We begin with cocktails, for dine makes one come over all daiquiri. Bridget admires the chandeliers, hooped and contemporary. Bridget admires chandeliers, full stop. I admire designer Tom Skyring's room: height, wide-spaced tables, those leather chairs and banquettes, dark wood floors, marble bar; sophistication rare in an Auckland restaurant.

The dining room, and the elegantly paced service, have claimed deserved praise since opening in spring last year. Gordon's food, however, has divided the gourmeaucracy. Purists sniff of complicated dishes that sound "as if they have three flavours too many" or more unkindly, "unpronounceable ingredients and random acts of palate harassment".

One wonders why: Gordon's style has evolved but the principles have not changed since he helped to create fusion, nee Pacific Rim, 20 years ago. Come to a restaurant subtitled "by Peter Gordon", you're not gonna get steak and chips.

Gordon made one of his four annual visits recently to launch a spring menu, leaving delivery to the head chef, Cobus Klopper. Signature dishes remain, like the starter of creamy smoked laksa with green tea noodles, crunchy soft shell crab, fried quail egg, coriander and shallots.

It would've been nice to have had a laptop to google the eclectic elements of my starter: salad of fried haloumi on tabouleh, olive oil poached golden beets, green olives, pickled Medjool dates, hempseed oil and golden beet leaves. I can report it was an enjoyable, cleverly constructed platter with lots of nice-tasting things.

Next, roast lamb chump rubbed with sumac and fennel seeds on roast baby kumara with spiced eggplant relish and Moroccan mint pesto. We do roast lamb and kumara rather well in Aotearoa. Even better ... oops, sorry Mum ... when a master takes the theme, spices it up, and drags it into a new century.

Typical of Gordon, there's a lot going on and you'll want a short break afterward. Did I enjoy? Yes. Wowed? No.

Bridget began with pork belly, mash studded with chorizo, watercress, pear chutney and den miso glaze. She said it, too, was rich and "good for the soul".

She followed with the standout fish, pan-roasted snapper, edged with potatoes braised in capers, star anise and crab. The main players in the sauce, nori and lime salsa. And mushy peas. The snapper was tasty, she offered, "but the sauce overwhelming. The peas weren't mushy but they were good all the same."

We considered deep-fried chocolate truffles with mulled wine shooter but Bridget sighed.

"That," she calculated, "exceeds my calorific intake for a week."

Address: SkyCity Grand Hotel City
Ph: (09) 363 7030
Open: 7 days, lunch and dinner
Cuisine: Fusion
From the menu:
Sauteed veal sweetbreads, snails and oyster mushrooms in a vol au vent with pickled garlic gremolata
Pomegranate chilli braised lamb shank crepinette and grilled lamb cutlets on celeriac mash with spiced cannellini beans and sauteed kale
Vegetarian: Dishes on menu
Wine: Aotearoa's finest, and some other stuff