Icon, Wellington

By AUDREY YOUNG for canvas

Any restaurant bold enough to call itself Icon is implying the highest of standards.

And being the classiest of eating places at Our Place, the national museum Te Papa, one might also expect the best.

First impressions met expectations: a friendly greeting, a table by the window overlooking Wellington's night lights and an immediate offer of an aperitif to get on with as we navigated the menu.

A glass of Nautilus Cuvee ($10) seemed a fitting way to begin a Friday night out with a couple of girlfriends, though we might have been better off with a French culinary dictionary.

Most dishes needed a translation for some aspect of them (test yourself on nage, tatin, beignet, galette, tatin, and tian, for example).

Importantly, however, the waitress didn't make us feel ignorant for asking.

To be safe, I had an entree that needed no explanation: balsamic duck with a refreshing cucumber and ginger salad and Chinese dressing ($18). One of the girls had the diced raw big-eye tuna and goat's cheese with a delicious walnut, mirin and sake vinaigrette ($18).

The other had the entree sensation: "Caramelised whitlof filled with Kikorangi cheese, honeyed Sichuan walnut and watercress salad, pear oil and 30-year-old Jerez vinegar reduction" ($17). The cheese-stuffed whitlof leaf arrived sitting erect on the plate. Before we had even drawn breath, over it keeled, clearly unable to withstand scrutiny. We were not disappointed, however; it was divine.

The mains came too fast, astonishingly, we were told by a waiter, because it was not a busy night at the restaurant so the kitchen was faster. Barely time to sneak a single cigarette on the balcony outside.

One of the girls had poached chicken with an excellent, delicate sauce of cauliflower puree and prawn ($28) - though she thought it too bland. The other thoroughly enjoyed the oven-roasted lipstick pepper, tomato and artichokes with the lamb rumps ($29) but found it a little difficult to cut. She blamed the knife, not the lamb.

My dish was the discovery of the night. "Grouper roasted and carved on lentils du Puy, braised leeks and langoustine beignet, lemongrass infused langoustine bisque" ($30).

Grouper is, of course, groper which is, of course, hapuku which most people pronounce hapuka. It was on the dry side. Lentils to me will always be just lentils, even if they are top-shelf. But the "langoustine beignet" was sublime - and sounds a lot more glamorous than scampi fritter. Think of a glistening, sweet, crayfish-like meat in a crunchy, hash brown-type crust.

We had potatoes, beans, side dishes and one of the cheaper wines, an adequate Spy Valley sauvignon blanc 2002 ($32).

We finished with coffees and an exquisite frozen-log dessert, which, again, arrived too quickly: "Oriental inspired chocolate parfait of white chocolate and tropical fruits, bitter chocolate and ginger wrapped in pandan leaf, banana and ginger coulis" ($15).

Overall it was quite a culinary adventure. The painstaking care taken in the descriptions of the dishes was reflected in the reality. It is just a pity we felt rushed. We arrived at 8.15pm and were out by 10.30.

Cost: Meal for three, including aperitifs, entrees, mains, wine and one dessert with coffees, $236.50

* Read more about what's happening in the world of food, wine, party places and entertainment in canvas magazine, part of your Weekend Herald print edition.